U.today

Shiba Inu is once again drawing attention to the same question that always arises when the price stabilizes close to the bottom: is a zero removal finally on the table, or is this just another failed recovery? As of right now, SHIB is at a point where both outcomes are still very possible, and the next technical step is more important than any amount of hype.

Shiba Inu hitting recent lows

SHIB has begun to base and push higher from recent lows following months of continuous declines. Downside wicks are appearing more frequently, selling pressure has decreased and momentum indicators are gradually getting better. RSI is rising without exhibiting fatigue after emerging from the weakest area. That is insignificant on its own, but it prepares us for the 26 EMA, the first true test.

During this downtrend, every significant rebound has been capped by the 26 EMA. The first structural indication that SHIB's recovery is on track would be a clean break and hold above it. The discussion about a possible zero removal becomes less hypothetical and more conditional if that occurs. Conditional, not guaranteed. But passing the 26 EMA is only a prerequisite.

It will not be easy

A dense resistance stack is situated above it. The short-term moving average cluster that served as support prior to the October breakdown comes first. This area will probably draw sellers once more because it has consistently rejected prices.

The midterm moving average, which continues to slope sharply downward, is located beyond that. This level has historically served as a barrier between short-term respite and a reversal of the trend, and SHIB is still far from regaining it.

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The long-term moving average, which determines whether a zero removal is feasible or merely wishful thinking, is higher still. Talk about sustained upside is premature until SHIB approaches that level. That is the risk aspect. The bullish argument is based solely on behavior.

The chart's rhythm is altered if SHIB breaks the 26 EMA without being slammed back below it right away. Momentum can accelerate more quickly than most anticipate, buyers intervene earlier and sellers hesitate. Zero-removal narratives typically begin quietly rather than violently.

It is two days to the close of 2025, and XRP is seeing an increase in trading activity, as well as a price rebound.

XRP jumped 65% in trading volume as traders make last-minute moves as 2025 wraps. According to CoinMarketCap data, XRP trading volume rose 65.4% in the last 24 hours to $1.76 billion. This is the first such increase in the last few days, after trading volumes fell in response to light holiday trading.

At press time, XRP was up 1.2% in the last 24 hours to $1.87, extending its recovery since Dec. 26.

XRP reversed a five day drop spanning from Dec. 21 to 25, as traders seemed to take up risk off sentiment in preholiday trading.

XRP price started ticking upwards on Dec. 26, from a low of $1.82, but the price broadly remains in a range.

What to watch now?

The broader cryptomarket rose in Asia trading, hinting at a potential breakout after the markets missed out on a Santa rally that sent stocks to record highs.

The crypto market posted dull price action even as the S&P 500 surged to a record close in the build-up to Christmas. Cryptocurrencies are yet to recover from a weeks-long sell-off that began in October, with the liquidation of some $19 billion worth of leveraged positions.

This largely affected the market, with traders reluctant to bet big on a comeback, but it seems now that there are early signs of a sentiment shift.

Going forward, the market will be watched to see if the current rebound attempts across the markets follow through. The next resistance targets for XRP are currently at $2.06 and $2.57, while support lies in the $1.70 range.

However, time does not seem to be on the side of the bulls, as XRP is down 12.91% so far in December and down 14% on a yearly basis.

Going into 2026, traders will be assessing the Federal Reserve’s monetary rate path, with implications for the broader crypto market.

Cardano (ADA) founderCharles Hoskinson has dismissed new inquiries into the transparency of the audit on 318 million ADA from unredeemable presale vouchers. Hoskinson’sdismissal came as a reaction to a post by a user online seeking clarity into the handling of the asset worth $50 million.

Charles Hoskinson declares ADA audit matter closed

For context, the user, Darkhorse, did not accuse anyone of outright theft but argues that the audit report left some questions unanswered. He also noted that major transparency and governance gaps were left unresolved, and this is unacceptable, particularly since Cardano prides itself on operating a transparent DAO-driven ecosystem.

It's a closed matter. The ada report is the last time I will ever discuss it. We were completely exonerated. The nightmare is over. Everyone needs to move on

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) December 29, 2025

Darkhorse maintains that true transparency requires that the movement of such large sums get DAO approval and a public on-chain governance process. He queried whether the money appeared in the treasury and how expenses were defrayed.

According to him, the audit document felt like an "internal review," not a forensic governance-level audit. He expected a more rigorous testing of the identified governance failures in the process.

However, Hoskinson insists the matter has been resolved and does not need further discussions or back and forth.

"It's a closed matter. TheADA report is the last time I will ever discuss it. We were completely exonerated. The nightmare is over. Everyone needs to move on," he wrote.

This suggests that the Cardano founder considers the audit report as final and any further conversations on the matter as irrelevant.

Cardano community divided as ADA price struggles

Hoskinson’s reply has sparked division in the Cardano community. Supporters are backing his stance that the matter has been adequately resolved, and the focus needs to shift to more pressing issues of growing the asset. They tagged the question as "rage baiting" and needless.

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Meanwhile, critics say it is about maintaining governance standards in the community. These groups noted that declaring the matter "closed" without proper clarification does not truly resolve the issues.

Besides the current questioning, Hoskinson recently faced accusations of dumping ADA on the market, which has led to losses.

Notably, in the last four years, Cardano has suffered an 88% loss and trading below $0.40 on the cryptocurrency market. There were rumors that he sold ADA near the top when it exchanged hands at $3 in 2021 and refused to stock up now that the price is down.

Hoskinson has also denied the claims and called them "made-up noise" and a lie.

As of press time, Cardanoexchanged hands at $0.3748, which represents a 0.35% increase in the last 24 hours.

Two days remain until 2026, and the crypto market feels fine on the surface but still hides some intrigue on a smaller scale.

Bitcoin is holding up, but Zcash is back in full pump mode, and that is the same combo CryptoQuant keeps flagging as a BTC risk tell. XRP just printed a weird stat line, where shorts went to $0 in the one-hour liquidation window, while the 24-hour total sits near $2.63 million. At the same time, Monero emerges as a "dark horse" with a big cup-and-handle pitch and an "80% silver-style" upside target if the breakout is confirmed.

TL;DR

Zcash is pumping again, and the CryptoQuant read is that this has been a bad omen forBitcoin more often than not.XRP printed a zero-short-liquidation window, meaning that bears were not there to be punished, and bulls took the damage.Monero is pressing a long-term cup-and-handle idea, with an 80% projection if a breakout confirms.Bitcoin raises new red flag as Zcash shines green again

ZEC’s move this week is hard to miss. In TradingView's view, it steps up fast from about $460 to $520 in a few hours with barely any pullback, the kind of burst you often see late in a Bitcoin run, when traders start hunting faster action elsewhere.

CryptoQuant analyst Maartunn’s point is as follows: when Zcash starts running on its own like this, Bitcoin has a history of cooling off or taking a hit.

Zcash is pumping again... 🚨Historically, that’s never a great sign for Bitcoin. pic.twitter.com/rYdZ4o7piH

— Maartunn (@JA_Maartun) December 29, 2025

That is not magic, it is paternal behavior, as can be seen on the charts. Privacy coins tend to spike when the market rotates into volatility plays, and the heatmap lines up with that story: ZEC lights up while Bitcoin’s line starts to look flatter. You saw a similar mix in early 2021 and mid-2022, right before BTC spent weeks chopping instead of trending.

Derivatives activity fits the same picture.BTC perps look less aggressive, while ZEC interest is rising, which usually means traders are levering into the chase. Those moves can fade fast, but they often leave Bitcoin with less fuel in the tank right after.

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$0 for XRP: Liquidations without bears

If Zcash signals excitement, XRP represents exhaustion. Over Monday, its liquidation sheet byCoinGlass turned absurd: one-hour data shows over $20,000 of long positions flushed and $0 shorts affected. For comparison, the 24-hour total climbed to $2.63 million, with shorts barely above $1.9 million.

That imbalance translates into a literal “$0 short liquidation” event; there were no bears left to get hit. When short interest collapses and price still drops, it means the entire pressure is coming from spot sellers and tired longs. The TradingView chart showsXRP sliding from $1.90 to $1.87in a steady bleed, without the usual wick signature that accompanies short squeezes.

This pattern often appears after periods of over-levered bull confidence. Traders front-run potential breakouts, shorts exit to avoid funding costs and the market loses its counterbalance. The result is a price that can drift down for hours without capitulation.

The timing is poor for momentum players heading into the holiday pause: funding rates on major XRP pairs have compressed, while open interest remains high, implying stuck positions with little liquidity to exit.

Unless a fresh catalyst arrives around year's end, XRP will likely trade sideways through the first sessions of 2026, waiting for wider market volatility to return.

Monero targets 80% silver-style move

While Zcash is making quick spikes and XRP is digesting messy leverage, Monero (XMR) is building a slow but serious setup.

Capo of Crypto, who got attention for a bad BTC-to-$12,000 call in late 2023, posted an XMR chart and argued that Monero is forming a big cup-and-handle that has been years in the making, and he compares it to how silver and gold looked before their big runs this year.

The idea behind the pattern is that XMR has been spending a long time absorbing selling pressure under a major resistance band around $417-$620. That zone has capped rallies since 2017, but the current “handle” is tighter and sitting on a higher floor, which is what traders like to see before a breakout attempt.

If the price of XMR clears the 2021-area ceiling and can hold above about $650, the classic measured-move math points to something like $1,000-$1,100, which is where the “about 80%” upside talk comes from.

What makes this interesting is the timing. Privacy coins are back in the conversation in parts of Asia and Eastern Europe, and the flow into Monero looks more like steady accumulation than a bot-driven pump.

Should Bitcoin stay stuck around the $90,000 area and money start rotating into "laggards with a narrative,"XMR would become an obvious target. The heatmap shows Monero warming up but not overheating yet, which often means the move is still early if it is going to happen.

Crypto market outlook into 2026

Right now, the market is not giving a simple bullish or bearish read, it is split. Bitcoin still sets the tone, but the ZEC signal is back on the board, and that is the same kind of backdrop that has shown up around previous local BTC tops. The rotation also looks picky: privacy coins and a few smaller coins are getting attention, while the usual big names are not leading.

What may happen next:

BTC pokes into the $78,000-$80,000 support area at least once, more like a test than a crash.ZEC stays wild above $500 because that is where the chase traders are parked now.Monero holds a bid around $390-$420 as rotation money looks for “next narrative” trades.XRP likely stays capped under $1.90 until the leverage imbalance resets.

Early 2026 sessions decide if this is just year-end rotation or the start of a real privacy-coin mini-run that will keep BTC sideways for a bit.

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The market was not prepared for the uneven message that last week's ETF flow data conveyed. Bitcoin spot ETFs lost $782 million between Dec. 22 and 26 with net outflows reported for all 12 products. With $102 million in weekly withdrawals Ethereum spot ETFs came next. At $13.14 million Solana was slightly up. In the meantime, XRP earned $64 million subtly outperforming all of its significant competitors.

XRP's bull mode

When you compare that divergence to the chart, it becomes more significant. XRP does not appear to be an asset in full bull mode in terms of price. It is still below its major moving averages and trading inside a declining channel. The 50-, 100- and 200-day MAs are sloping downward, above which typically indicates that the downtrend is intact.

However, there is a shift in the behavior around the lows. Clearly, there is less pressure to sell. Bounces are held longer, each push lower is smaller and there is insufficient downside follow-through.

After a significant decline, BTC is likewise below important averages; however, ETF flows indicate that institutions are actively lowering exposure rather than carefully reallocating. A similar tale is told by Ethereum. Instead of leaning in, capital is taking a step back. The exception is XRP, where investors are increasing their exposure despite the price action appearing weak.

XRP downtrend slows down

That is the primary contradiction. ETFs do not pursue momentum in the same manner as retail. They start to build up when risk-reward begins to skew asymmetrically, which is typically before charts appear clear. Inflows into XRP point to positioning rather than speculation. In theory, XRP has ceased its downward acceleration. While volume is decreasing on down candles, a classic indication of seller fatigue RSI has stabilized in the low-to-mid-40s and is beginning to curl upward.

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The market is not dumping into weakness just yet, but it is also not bidding aggressively. Regardless of the narrative's appeal, that is accumulation behavior. This understanding is supported by the ETF data. While Ethereum and Bitcoin ETFs saw widespread withdrawals, XRP steadily increased its capital throughout the week.

Instead of a general cryptocurrency allocation, that suggests a targeted trade. There is no guarantee of an instant breakout. To validate a change in trend, XRP still needs to recover important moving averages and exit the declining structure. However, rather than the other way around, ETF flows frequently follow price.

Two weeks after its launch, Ripple CTO David Schwartzacknowledged Cardano’s Midnight in true Schwartz style.

It all started with Cardano’s Charles Hoskinson pitchingMidnight as a serious "next generation" privacy stack and, in the same breath, mentioning the XRP Ledger as an example of a network that is already operating at a real scale rather than just being a concept.

However, Schwartz simply accepted that Midnight exists, with a line that reads as ironic but functions as an acknowledgement anyway.

I hereby acknowledge midnight.

— David 'JoelKatz' Schwartz (@JoelKatz) December 29, 2025

For those who missed it, Midnight is a privacy-first blockchain built on zero-knowledge proofs. The goal is not to hide everything but to separate what must be public from what should stay protected.

XRP and ADA utility questions return

The protocol, nicknamed the "new Cardano," uses a public–private dual-state ledger approach to keep user, commercial and transaction data protected, while supporting situations where disclosure is required. It also uses a dual-component token design meant to reduce metadata leakage because, in crypto, it is often the metadata that reveals everything, even when the payload is hidden.

This is important because it highlights the same principles thatXRP has relied on for years: utility, compliance and systems that can be used by real businesses. However, Midnight aims to achieve this without turning every user action into a public dossier.

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Interestingly, this is where Mike Novogratz’s view comes in. He has recently been warning that XRP andCardano could lose relevance if they cannot continue to demonstrate their usefulness in the real world. He argues that the market is shifting toward "business tokens" with quantifiable value and profitability, and away from narrative tokens.

So, yes, Schwartz's line is small. But in this market, even a small acknowledgement counts as a win.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong hasargued that Bitcoin is actually a net positive for the US dollar, which is a rather contrarian take.

In the 2010s, for comparison, the prevailing view was that Bitcoin could only succeed if the U.S. lost.

Armstrong’s point is that BTC creates competition in a way that’s healthy for the dollar. This helps to provide a check and balance against high inflation and deficit spending.

"I would say that Bitcoin provides a check and balance on the dollar…if there is too much deficit spending or inflation in the US, people will flee to Bitcoin in times of uncertainty," he said.

He has noted that the incentives are actually not aligned for balancing the budget. "...if your inflation outstrips the growth of the economy, you will eventually lose the reserve currency status, and that would be a massive blow to the US," he said.

The deficit issue

The rather grim fiscal landscape of 2025 has provided ample ammunition for crypto evangelists.

Earlier this year, the national debt ($1 trillion) officially surpassed the entire National Defense budget ($917 billion).

Armstrong has also been a vocal supporter of the Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E), which was initially led by Elon Musk.

The Coinbase boss has argued that that deficit could be tamed by bringing modern technology to the government's balance sheet.

Supercharging US dollar

SenatorCynthia Lummis (R-WY), who announced her retirement, is also convinced that Bitcoin could potentially supercharge the U.S. dollar.

She argued that it was necessary to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve to bolster the greenback with a hard currency.

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This "pro-dollar via Bitcoin" narrative has also been adopted by MicroStrategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor. The billionaire is convinced that the US could strengthen its national balance sheet with digital capital.

Survival tactic

The sudden narrative change within the cryptocurrency space is mainly viewed as a survival tactic.

The industry has successfully managed to cluster various institutions and win political favors by rebranding BTC as the asset that actually backs the system instead of attempting to dismantle it.

The narrative of an imminent "supply shock" for XRP, one of the leading altcoins, has beenrejected by a prominent market analyst.

Vet, a pseudonymous XRP Ledger validator, the market remains far too elastic to support the theory.

To back up his argument, he has pointed to deep liquidity pools and the high velocity of XRPL.

The idea that exchanges are running dry on XRP is contradicted by verifiable on-chain data. In a recent analysis, Vet noted that holders currently have approximately 16 billion XRP positioned on the exchange. This essentially means that there is ample liquidity for current market demand. "Plenty for anyone to get some," Vet commented.

The elasticity of XRPL's order books

The technical architecture of the XRP Ledger as a buffer against supply shocks, Vet argues.

XRP transaction settlement typically occurs in mere seconds, which sets it apart from smaller chains.

This speed creates what Vet describes as "dynamic" or "elastic" order books. Even if visible supply on an exchange appears to thin out, new liquidity can be bridged from private wallets to order books in virtually no time.

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"Markets are too dynamic to statically plot movements," Vet explained. "XRP listed on orderbooks for sale is dynamic... it can thicken or dry out in seconds, back and forth."

Debunking the "1.5 billion" myth

Leonidas Hadjiloizou, a prominent XRP researcher, has further pointed out that exchange balances plummeting to as low as 1.5 billion XRP is simply a lie.

"You can even check the wallets for each exchange on XRPscan to confirm that there is more than 15B XRP left on exchanges," Hadjiloizou noted.

Even if one excludes all Asian exchanges, the available supply would still sit at roughly 5 billion XRP.

Ripple moves 65 million XRP to unknown address

Rippleoffloads a large amount of XRP to an unknown adress as the asset continues to trail downward.

Mysterious transfer. Ripple transferred 65 million XRP, worth over $121 million, to an unknown address in a single transaction.

Ripple has stirred discussions across the crypto community today following a large XRP transfer pulled by the renowned San Francisco-based blockchain company.

On Tuesday, December 23, blockchain monitoring platform Whale Alert showcased data revealing a massive crypto transfer from Ripple involving tens of millions of XRP amid the broad crypto market volatility. The data shows that Ripple moved 65 million XRP worth over $121 million to an unknown address, sparking curiosity about what the firm might be up to.

Some market participants interpret the move as a potential liquidity operation, while others worry it could precede a sell-off.

Potential scenarios. Some market participants interpret the move as a potential liquidity operation, while others worry it could precede a sell-off.

The transfer, which was executed in a single transaction, came at a time when the broad crypto market was moving on a negative path, with XRP trading in deep red territory.

While such a move is not frequently noticed from Ripple, the mysterious transfer of such a large volume of XRP from the firm has caused market watchers to wonder about the purpose of the transfer. Some commentators fear that the transfer could signal a potential sell-off from the firm or a liquidity move, considering its timing and nature.

SHIB OI surges despite crypto market-wide weakness

Shiba Inuhas flipped Bitcoin and XRP in futures activity, as its open interest volume shows an impressive 3.42% surge.

OI spike. SHIB futures open interest jumped 3.42% in the last 24 hours, with traders committing 11.03 trillion SHIB to active contracts.

The broad crypto market is down, but the Shiba Inu derivatives market has shown strength, flipping all leading cryptocurrencies, which have continued to see weak futures activity over the last day.

Despite the negative market trend, Shiba Inu has seen its open interest surge notably by 3.42% over the last day, with traders committing a massive 11.03 trillion SHIB to its futures market, according to data from the futures market.

SHIB futures open interest jumped 3.42% in the last 24 hours, with traders committing 11.03 trillion SHIB to active contracts.

Sentiment shift. In dollar terms, more than $80 million worth of SHIB is now tied up in futures positions.

After multiple days of trading negatively, the impressive open interest volume marks a major shift in investor sentiment, as the token has restored hopes with its strong futures activity.

While leading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and XRP have seen their open interest each plummet by about 2%, Shiba Inu has flipped the leading crypto assets in the key metric, as over $80 million worth of the tokens have been committed in active contracts.

Cardano and Solana founders agree on cross-chain bridge plan

The bridgecould make Cardano's native token (ADA) to be usable on the Solana network for trading and DeFi.

Cross-chain. Yakovenko suggested on X that fighting with Cardano or XRP is “bearish,” signaling openness to cooperation.

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson and Solana founder Anatoly Yakovenko have agreed to establish a cross-chain bridge between their two networks.

Historically, the Solana and Cardano communities have been fierce rivals. Hence, this marks quite a significant breakthrough.

It began with Anatoly Yakovenko showing a desire to end the hostility between blockchain communities. On the X social media network, he opined that fighting with Cardano or XRP is "bearish."

ADA vs. SOL. Prominent community members engaged in heated debate over which chain is superior.

However, before the founders could seal the deal, prominent community members engaged in a heated debate over which chain is superior.

Despite the bickering, Yakovenko replied to the idea of interoperability with "Let's do it." Hoskinson then quote-tweeted the interaction with "Time to get cooking."

Midnight (NIGHT) outpaces XRP and Solana

A single token built on Cardanois out-trading both XRP and SOL.

Outperforming. Charles Hoskinson said the NIGHT token has outperformed both XRP and Solana.

Input Output Global CEO Charles Hoskinson has taken to the X social media network to boast about NIGHT, the native token of the privacy-focused Midnight network, outperforming both XRP and SOL.

According to CoinGecko data, the 24-hour trading volume for the red-hot token has surged to a whopping $4 billion.

The NIGHT token officially launched Dec. 8 following months of anticipation. It swiftly became available for trading on centralized exchanges of the likes of Kraken, Bybit and various Cardano DEXs. Hoskinson has described the token's debut as an incredible success.

“Success”. Hoskinson described the launch as an “incredible success” and said Midnight could see a sharp increase in TVL (total value locked) and MAUs (monthly active users).

Hoskinson has predicted that the network could see a huge uptick in TVL (total value locked) and MAUs (monthly active users). He is confident that privacy solves the biggest pain points of the DeFi (decentralized finance) space.

"When Midnight turns on, imagine the 12-month rolling average TVL, transactions, and MAUs. A lot of people want private prediction markets, stablecoins, and DEXes," he said.

In his latest social media post, Bloomberg's McGlone is predicting a devastating downward spiral for the flagship cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin $50,000 in 2026 On the Way to $10,000?2025 may have marked peak Bitcoin/cryptos. Gold has only three major precious-metal competitors: silver, platinum and palladium. By contrast, Bitcoin was the first crypto in 2009, but now has millions of digital-asset competitors.… pic.twitter.com/3PSQF4zVwU

— Mike McGlone (@mikemcglone11) December 28, 2025

He is convinced that Bitcoin will not stop at $50,000 as a "floor" or support level. Instead, he sees the aforementioned price target as merely a waypoint.

McGlone argues that 2025 likely marked the definitive top of the cycle. The next year will be the year of a catastrophic "reversion to the mean."

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The analyst's mean reversion target currently stands at $10,000.

Why $10,000? This figure is roughly where Bitcoin was changing hands before the speculative mania of the post-2020 era. The Bloomberg guru likely views the price appreciation since then as largely driven by "excess liquidity". A drop to $10,000 would represent a "return to normal."

No scarcity?

McGlone argues that gold is fundamentally scarce, not just because it is hard to mine. If you want a precious metal store of value, you only have three other real options in the physical world: silver, platinum, and palladium.

On the other hand, the Bloomberg analyst says that the crypto asset class is inflationary and infinite.

McGlone believes that this oversupply of "crypto assets" dilutes the capital entering the space.

A former bull

McGlone has not always been a bear. In fact, for years, he has been one of the loudest institutional voices predicting Bitcoin would inevitably hit $100,000.

During the stimulus era, McGlone was extremely bullish. He argued that Bitcoin was maturing into a global reserve asset.

By 2025, however, McGlone fully abandoned the "digital gold" narrative. He began pointing out a "divergence": gold was hitting all-time highs, but Bitcoin was struggling to keep up.

He believes the global economy is entering a deflationary recession. In this environment, cash is king. Hence, this is supposed to justify his uber-berish target.

Michael Saylor, the executive chairman of Strategy and corporate America’s most relentless Bitcoin bull, hasdropped his favorite cryptic hint: "Back to Orange."

In the lore of MicroStrategy’s treasury reserve strategy, an orange dot represents a confirmed Bitcoin purchase execution.

The visual comes from the company's public portfolio tracker, where every single tranche of Bitcoin acquired by the firm is plotted as a discrete orange point.

The reveal typically happens on Monday morning before the market opens.

MicroStrategy files a Form 8-K with the SEC or issues a press release confirming the acquisition.

The next batch of dots has been bought but not yet plotted.

Large purchase, little impact

As reported by U.Today, Strategy recently skipped a Bitcoin purchase, disappointing the jaded market.

Prior to this, however, it announced several mammoth BTC buys that still failed to lift the price.

Even if Saylor does announce a significant Bitcoin purchase, it is unlikely to move the market. A $1 billion buy spread over a week represents a small fraction of total turnover. It is significant, but often not enough to reverse a broader macro trend if the rest of the important players are selling.

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Large portions of these trades happen over-the-counter (OTC). This volume doesn't immediately hit the "spot" price you see on exchanges.

Giustra's anti-MSTR prediction

In a recent social media post, Canadian billionaire Frank Giustra has suggested that MicroStrategy might be forced to "unwind" its Bitcoin stack to pay back its loans.

"It may or may not happen, but if it does, it will cause a real sell-off in Bitcoin," he said.

Bulls are dominating over bears on the last day of the week, according to CoinStats.

BTC/USD

The rate of Bitcoin (BTC) has risen by 0.5% over the last 24 hours.

On the hourly chart, the price of BTC is more bullish than bearish as it is closer to the resistance than to the support.

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If buyers' pressure continues, there is a chance to see a level breakout, followed by a test of the $88,500 zone. Such a scenario is relevant until tomorrow.

On the bigger time frame, neither side has seized the initiative as the rate of the main crypto is far from the key levels. The volume is low, which means sideways trading around the current prices is the more likely scenario for the upcoming week.

From the midterm point of view, the situation is similar. As neither bulls nor bears are dominating, traders are unlikely to see sharp moves in the first days of 2026.

Bitcoin is trading at $87,924 at press time.

The end of the week has turned out to be bullish for most of the cryptocurrencies, according to CoinStats.

SHIB/USD

The price of SHIB has gone up by 2.27% since yesterday.

On the hourly chart, the rate of SHIB is on the way to the local resistance of $0.00000741. If buyers can hold the gained initiative, the breakout may lead to a further upward move to the $0.00000750 area.

On the bigger time frame, the price of SHIB is far from the main levels. In this case, traders should focus on yesterday's candle high.

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If closure happens above $0.00000740 and with a high wick, the growth may lead to a test of the $0.00000770 zone over the next few days.

From the midterm point of view, the rate of the meme coin has made a false breakout of the formed support at $0.000007. If the weekly bar closes far from that mark, traders may see a bounce back to the $0.000008 range.

SHIB is trading at $0.00000736 at press time.

The Canton (CC) token just did the funniest thing in a major crypto market top. One day you look and the Shiba Inu coin is still chilling in the big leagues off pure community belief gravity, next day an “XRP killer” style project you barely hear retail talk about is sitting above the established meme coin.

According toCoinMarketCap, Canton (CC) is now ranked 25 with a market cap of $4.6 billion, whileSHIB slips to 26 at $4.34 billion. CC is listed at $0.1254, and it is the one wearing the green badge loudest, +14.05% over 24 hours and +17.04% over the week. SHIB is up too, but it reads like polite weekend green, around $0.000007373 with +2.21% on the day and +2.25% on the week.

The reason this all matters is the label attached to CC. Canton gets sold as the institution-friendly RWA lane, the one that supposedly comes for XRP’s long-held narrative, and that tag alone is enough to turn a ranking swap into a new narrative.

Cardano creator is not pleased with new XRP rival

This week, Cardano's Charles Hoskinson treated that whole Canton pitch like a rival product, not a neutral curiosity. The core point was brutal as he said that legacy finance is teaming up with Canton to chase real-world assets, while ecosystems likeXRP and Midnight are already operating at a scale he called "100x beyond their ambitions," and the RWA prize is a $10 trillion arena where half-built strategy dies fast.

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Fast forward to the weekly closing and the CC token is above SHIB. If Canton keeps printing these leaderboard wins while holding the institutional angle, the“XRP killer” label will stick long enough to force serious comparisons, not just memes.

Silver just had the kind of year that makes traditional assets look untouchable. It is up about 167.70% on the 2025 overlay. Meanwhile,XRP ended the same period down 14.99%. The timing is almost comedic. The chart screams "metals won," and then a one-line prediction says that XRP will outrun both gold and silver in 2026.

That prediction came fromYoungHoon Kim, who claims to have an IQ of 276 — the highest in the world — and it quickly gained traction because it frames XRP in the most provocative comparison possible: not against another token, but against the two assets that people associate with "safe money."

XRP's price is currently around $1.87, up 1.44% in the last 24 hours and slightly up in the last hour. Its market cap is $113,285,137,301, which pales in comparison to gold's $31.719 trillion and silver's $4.485 trillion.

However, "outperform" is not about size. It is about percentage return over time, and crypto is the category that can accomplish in a month what would take other assets a full year.

Is this even possible?

If this bullish call is validated, 2025 may be the setup year where metals ran, XRP lagged and positioning got cheap enough that a single catalyst in 2026 could reprice the whole story. The cynical version is also clear: silver has already proven that it can trend while crypto fluctuates, and a prediction is not a catalyst.

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Either way, the trade framing is now on the table.If XRP reclaims attention at the top-five market cap level, it does not need to outperform gold or silver; it just needs to outperform them on the scoreboard that investors actually track.

The cryptocurrency market is mainly rising on the last day of the week, according to CoinMarketCap.

DOGE/USD

The rate of DOGE has risen by 1.38% over the last 24 hours.

On the hourly chart, the price of DOGE is looking bullish after a false breakout of the local support at $0.1236. If the daily bar closes near the resistance, the growth may continue to the $0.1250-$0.1260 range soon.

On the bigger time frame, the situation is neither bullish nor bearish.

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The volume is low, which means sideways trading around the current prices is the more likely scenario until the end of the week.

From the midterm point of view, sellers keep controlling the situation on the market. If the weekly candle closes around the current prices or below, traders may see an ongoing downward move to the $0.10 range next month.

DOGE is trading at $0.1245 at press time.

Cardano outperformed the rest of the major cryptocurrencies with a 7% surge. Altcoins posted broader gains in quiet Sunday trading as the markets considered a surge in precious metals. Bitcoin held a tight range near $88,000, with several major altcoins posting stronger gains.

At the time of writing, ADA was trading at $0.37, having reached an intraday high of $0.376 after rising for two straight days since Dec. 26. Cardano has reversed a three-day drop in the past week spanning from Dec. 23 to 25 as traders turned risk-off in quiet pre-holiday trading.

Thin liquidity and position resetting into late December have amplified moves around obvious technical levels, with the crypto market now anticipating an end-of-the-year breakout.

Despite this, broader risk appetite has largely faded with price action for major cryptocurrencies remaining choppy into year-end. Rebound attempts across the markets have not shown consistent follow-through, and that lack of momentum has kept speculative corners under pressure.

Cardano (ADA) breakout?

With just three days to the close of 2025, expectations still remain for last-minute market moves.

The market is still on the lookout for a "Santa Claus" rally, which would allow prices to rise in the last five trading days of the year and the first two of the new one.

However, time seems not to be on the side of the bulls, with Cardano already down 10.97% so far in December, poised for its fourth red month since August.

Crucial resistance levels lie ahead of bulls in order to secure the much-needed breakout: $0.427, which coincides with the daily MA 50, and the daily MA 200 at $0.665. Support lies at $0.34.

According to CoinGecko, Cardano is down 57.3% on a one-year basis. 2025 may end with prices in the red, the year still pulled in real institutional adoption and set the groundwork for 2026’s next phase of real activation.

In a recent report, Galaxy revealed 26 crypto, Bitcoin, DeFi and AI predictions for 2026. Galaxy predicts more than 50 spot altcoin ETFs and another 50 crypto ETFs (excluding spot single-coin products) will launch in the U.S. Expectations are in place for a Cardano ETF in 2026, with related filings under review by the SEC.

On New Year's Eve, the major U.S. brokerage firm Robinhood pulled an attention-grabbing stunt by dropping $500,000 worth of Dogecoin. The market immediately tried to turn it into aBitcoin story.

The announcement's effectiveness lies in its simplicity: Robinhood handed out $500,000 worth of DOGE. The community then tagged the CEO of Robinhood, Vlad Tenev, with the message "Now do BTC," turning a meme coin drop into a public dare aimed atTenev with Bitcoin as the next move.

What made it stick this time is that Tenevacknowledged the Bitcoin framing. His reaction is laconic, but it is rare enough in this context that market enthusiasts interpret it as an acknowledgement that talk of BTC is reaching him rather than just circulating in the crypto X community. This matters in the final months of the year, when everyone is looking for signs that go beyond a single giveaway.

👀 https://t.co/apmw5meOKt

— Vlad Tenev (@vladtenev) December 28, 2025

Bitcoin also happens to be sitting at a level where narratives catch on easily. On the daily BTCUSDT chart, theprice of the cryptocurrency is holding at around $87,989, with the mid-Bollinger line at around $88,565 acting as a key resistance level.

What's up with Bitcoin price?

At the same time, the upper band is around $92,473 and the lower band is near $84,657. This defines the range, and the market is essentially waiting for a catalyst to determine its next move.

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New Year does that. The calendar change brings in new positioning and fills up the social feed with talk of big numbers. A CEO being tagged to "do $BTC" is exactly the kind of low-effort spark that can make a sleepy $88,000 market feel like a story again.

The New Year weekend compresses the crypto market into three screens, with Times Square flashing a 589 joke the XRP crowd cannot ignore, SHIB finishing December red while January has a habit of flipping the script and Bitcoin parking on its mid-Bollinger like it is picking a direction for 2026.

TL;DR

Times Square “589” coincidence revives the $589 myth in theXRP community.December is red forShiba Inu (SHIB), but January seasonality is the bull argument.ForBitcoin, monthly mid-Bollinger is the line — hold for $125,000, lose and downside opens.XRP stuns Times Square with $589 twist

A random broadcast mention about light bulbs turned into the biggest symbolic win XRP fans could hope for. The official 2026 numbers unveiled in Times Square were said to contain 589 bulbs — tall steel frames, seven feet high, counted on live television and instantly reposted across crypto X with captions that wrote themselves.

For the XRP crowd, 589 is not just a number, it is folklore — the mythical price prediction that has been echoing through forums and YouTube thumbnails for half a decade, the shorthand for "one day XRP will go where logic stops."

589 lights for 2026 in NYC. What are the chances 🎉 https://t.co/vOM4OBIFte

— 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗸XRP (@BankXRP) December 28, 2025

When the city’s own countdown display lands on that exact figure, it does not matter if it is coincidence or cosmic marketing. Within minutes, “589” was trending again under every post with “Times Square” in it.

XRP itself trades near $1.86 with volume thinning out into year-end, holding its support range after December’s mid-month flush. The number on the screen may be accidental, but it droppedright when XRP needed a morale jolt.

For a token that lives on symbolism as much as on charts, 589 shining lights at the world’s most televised intersection just handed the community a story to run with into 2026. Coincidence or not, you cannot buy that kind of narrative alignment.

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Can Shiba Inu (SHIB) delete zero in January?

If there is one thing theShiba Inu coin has done better than most meme cryptocurrencies, it is staying predictable in its chaos. The final 2025 returns chart paints a painful picture: -10.9% in January, -26.1% in February and an ugly -12.5% for December, turning what started as a speculative revival year into another red calendar.

January is not some automatic SHIB wake-up month, it is a coin flip that has mostly landed red lately:-10.9% in 2025, -13.4% in 2024 and -36% in 2022, withmedian -12.1%, as per CryptoRank. The bull case is that when it hits, it hits hard, and2023’s +46.2% is proof that one green January can erase a lot of damage fast.

On the TradingView chart, SHIB/USDT holds around $0.00000734 with a narrow spread, stuck between the floor at $0.00000699 and resistance at $0.000009. Above that sits $0.00001102 and then $0.00001203, which is the level that would literally delete one zero from the quote and trigger every Shiba Inu fan account to start tweeting rockets again.

This time, the question is less about sentiment and more about math. SHIB’s market cap at this level leaves enough headroom for a 20-30% move without breaking structure, and its burn tracker, which slowed during December’s cold week, could spike again once gas costs normalize.

Add the token’s pattern of bouncing right after a multi-month bleed, and you get the perfect January speculation narrative: SHIB deleting a zero is not just hopium, but a statistical déjà vu waiting for the first green candle of the year to light up.

Bitcoin has three days to prove 40% run

Every monthly close tells a story, but this one comes with a deadline.Bitcoin’s December candle is balancing right on the mid Bollinger band near $88,929 — the exact technical line that splits euphoria from panic.

A close above it this December confirms the channel expansion that targets $125,571 on the upper band, a straight +40% rally potential heading into Q1 of 2026. Slip below it, and the conversation flips instantly toward $52,286, the lower band support that would mean a full correction and the death of the “ETF supercycle” narrative before it even finished printing.

The candle structure is brutal in its simplicity: open $90,352, high $94,603, low $83,821, current $87,826. Nothing dramatic, just indecision stretched across four weeks of declining ETF inflows and vanishing volume. The holiday slowdown hit Bitcoin hardest because the macro picture refuses to add momentum — rates are stable, the dollar index flatlined, and miner reserves have stopped dropping. With three days left in December, Bitcoin has exactly one task: defend that midline.

If it does, January could start with renewed buying as funds rebalance positions around ETF renewals. If not, the same Bollinger structure that delivered last year’s rally becomes the reason for a retrace that takes months to repair.

Either way, these final candles trade like coin flips with billion-dollar consequences. The irony is that after all the noise about institutions and liquidity, Bitcoin’s next 40% move may come down to nothing more than where this candle closes on Tuesday.

Crypto market outlook

Holiday symbolism and technical thresholds collide into year-end. Times Square hands XRP a numerical gift, SHIB leans on its seasonal pattern for a fresh run, and Bitcoin stands at the last checkpoint before a potential Q1 expansion.

Three trading days remain for the market to decide whether the story of 2026 starts with $125,000 BTC headlines or another round of fears, uncertainty and doubts.

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XRP is trading up early Sunday, extending its weekend recovery alongside the rest of the markets. Altcoins posted broader gains in quiet Sunday trading as the markets considered a surge in precious metals.

XRP reached an intraday high of $1.877 after rising for two straight days since Dec. 26. XRP has reversed a five-day drop in the past week, spanning from Dec. 21 to 25, as traders turned risk-off in quiet pre-holiday trading.

At the time of writing, XRP was trading up 1.7% in the last 24 hours to $1.86. Despite XRP's price recovery, volume seems to be lagging behind, suggesting traders' conviction remains lacking.

In the last 24 hours, XRP's trading volume has dropped. According to CoinMarketCap data, XRP volume has dropped 37% in the last 24 hours to $1.06 billion.

The drop in volume may not be concerning, given that liquidity remains thin across the crypto market during the holidays. The pattern fits what tends to happen around major holidays, where trading volumes drop and positioning becomes more defensive.

Amid thin holiday liquidity, broader risk appetite has largely faded, with price action for major cryptocurrencies remaining choppy into year-end. Bitcoin rebound attempts have not shown consistent follow-through, and that lack of momentum has kept speculative corners of the market under pressure.

New phase arrives for crypto market

According to Coinbase Institutional, crypto markets are entering a phase where activity concentration might matter more than narrative momentum. A new outlook from the major crypto exchange says 2026 might be a test of whether crypto’s core markets can scale under more disciplined conditions.

Coinbase highlights a pillar of growth for the market in 2026 to center on stablecoins and payments, which it describes as crypto’s most persistent source of real-world usage.

Coinbase states that payment activity is becoming increasingly intertwined with other parts of the crypto ecosystem, including automated trading strategies and emerging AI-driven applications.