Ekosistem Toncoin (TON), yang punya potensi menjangkau lebih dari satu miliar pengguna melalui Telegram, melewati tahun 2025 yang cukup suram. Harga TON turun 65% dari puncaknya di awal tahun.

Meski begitu, ada beberapa sinyal positif yang muncul di akhir Desember. Sinyal-sinyal ini bisa jadi dasar harapan untuk pemulihan TON di kuartal pertama 2026.

Volume Trading dan Aktivitas Jaringan Menunjukkan Peningkatan

Pertama, volume perdagangan harian TON naik pesat.

Berdasarkan data dari Tonscan, pada pekan ketiga Desember 2025, volume perdagangan harian TON sudah melebihi US$154 juta. Angka ini meningkat lebih dari 41,7%.

Ini adalah level volume perdagangan tertinggi di bulan Desember. Lonjakan ini menandakan aktivitas perdagangan mulai aktif lagi setelah sebelumnya sempat lesu akibat sentimen negatif di pasar altcoin.

TON bertahan di atas level US$1,4 dalam beberapa hari terakhir. Volume yang meningkat, ditambah penurunan harga yang mulai melambat, memberikan sinyal tekanan beli baru.

Tanda penting lain adalah kembalinya TON ke daftar “trending” di CoinGecko. Tren ini mencerminkan minat pencarian dan permintaan trading terhadap TON yang kembali muncul di bulan Desember. Hal ini juga bisa menjelaskan lonjakan volume perdagangan baru-baru ini.

Data on-chain juga menambah rasa optimistis.

Walaupun jumlah pengguna harian aktif (DAU) TON turun tajam dibanding 2024, kini penurunan itu mulai stabil. Aktivitas pengguna sebelumnya sempat melonjak akibat kampanye airdrop dan GameFi.

Data menunjukkan, dalam tiga bulan terakhir, jumlah pengguna aktif harian naik dari 70.000 jadi hampir 100.000. Pada periode yang sama, harga TON sempat turun dari US$3 menjadi US$1,4. Penyimpangan tren ini menunjukkan kepercayaan kembali muncul. Ini juga bisa menandakan investor mulai melihat TON sebagai aset yang undervalued.

Apa yang Menanti TON di 2026?

Pada acara Blockchain Life 2025 bulan Oktober lalu, Pavel Durov – founder Telegram – menegaskan niat Telegram untuk ambil peran lebih aktif dalam pengembangan teknologi inti TON di tahun 2026.

Pada Desember, Durov mengumumkan peluncuran resmi Cocoon, sebuah jaringan komputasi terdesentralisasi dan aman.
Pemilik GPU sudah mulai mendapatkan TON dengan cara menyumbangkan kekuatan komputasi mereka ke jaringan ini.

Investor yakin Pavel Durov dan Telegram akan terus memperluas upayanya untuk membawa TON ke potensi satu miliar pengguna setiap bulannya.

“Pada 2026, Telegram akan mempercepat pengembangan TON, seperti yang disampaikan Pavel Durov, dengan menambahkan bahwa kita seharusnya menantikan beberapa pengumuman besar. Semoga saja 2026 jadi tahun bullish untuk ekosistem TON.” — prediksi investor Mr. Satoshik .

Pencapaian penting lain juga baru-baru ini hadir. Kraken mengumumkan dukungan untuk platform xStocks.

Integrasi ini memungkinkan pengguna Telegram untuk membeli, menyimpan, dan mentransfer saham AS serta ETF yang sudah ditokenisasi langsung lewat TON Wallet.

“Setelah menjadi pionir tokenisasi saham di Solana dan ekspansi ke EVM lewat Ethereum, sekarang kami melangkah ke TON. Dengan langkah strategis ini, kami membawa solusi unggulan yang sudah dipilih 50.000 pengguna dan menggerakkan lebih dari US$13 miliar gabungan volume CEX + DEX, ke blockchain asli Telegram.” terang xStocks .

Berbagai perkembangan ini menjadi sinyal positif bagi investor yang berharap pada pemulihan TON. Tapi, menentukan titik terendah harga TON masih sulit. Sinyal ekonomi makro yang saling bertentangan masih memberi tekanan pada pasar altcoin secara umum.

Harga XRP sedang mendekati titik keputusan penting menjelang akhir tahun 2025. Harga masih lemah di timeframe yang lebih besar, turun hampir 16% secara bulanan. Tapi mulai terlihat celah pada tekanan jual. Indikator momentum dan data on-chain kini menunjukkan penjual mulai kehilangan kendali, meskipun harga belum mengonfirmasi pembalikan tren.

Sekarang, situasinya bukan lagi soal menebak reli. Ini tentang apakah berkurangnya tekanan jual cukup kuat untuk mendorong harga XRP menembus dinding suplai yang sudah dikenal. Dan dinding itu masih menjadi faktor penting.

Penjual Mulai Kehilangan Kontrol?

Tanda-tanda awal rebound terlihat di chart 12 jam, di mana pergeseran tren sering kali muncul lebih dulu.

Antara 21 November dan 18 Desember, harga XRP mencetak lower low. Pada periode yang sama, RSI justru membuat higher low. RSI (Relative Strength Index) mengukur momentum. Ketika harga turun tetapi RSI naik, ini memberi sinyal bullish divergence.

Mau dapat wawasan token terbaru seperti ini? Daftar ke Newsletter Harian Crypto Editor Harsh Notariya di sini.

Pola ini menunjukkan, walaupun harga XRP terus turun, kekuatan penjualan mulai melemah. Para penjual masih aktif, tetapi mereka sudah tidak mampu mendorong momentum lebih rendah dengan kekuatan yang sama.

Data on-chain pun mendukung pergeseran ini.

Data XRP HODLer Net Position Change melacak apakah holder jangka panjang menambah atau menjual koin. Pada 11 Desember, penjualan bersih sempat mencapai sekitar 216,9 juta XRP. Lalu pada 18 Desember, angka ini turun menjadi sekitar 132,2 juta XRP.

Artinya, tekanan jual harian berkurang sekitar 39%.

Sederhananya, penjual masih ada, namun jauh lebih sedikit koin yang masuk ke pasar. Ini sejalan dengan bullish divergence di RSI dan memperkuat argumen bahwa tekanan jual mulai memudar.

Hal ini tidak menjamin akan terjadi reli. Tetapi, kondisi pasar tidak lagi sepenuhnya dikuasai penjual.

Mengapa Satu Level Harga XRP Masih Menentukan Hasilnya

Meskipun tekanan jual semakin berkurang, XRP masih menghadapi ujian struktur besar di atasnya.

Data cost basis on-chain menunjukkan adanya klaster suplai besar antara US$1,96 hingga US$1,97. Sekitar 1,82 miliar XRP telah terakumulasi di zona ini. Data cost basis merekam di mana holder membeli koin mereka. Saat harga kembali ke level tersebut, banyak holder mencapai titik impas dan cenderung menjual.

Ini membuat rentang US$1,96–US$1,97 sebagai zona resistance yang kuat.

Chart harga pun menegaskan hal ini. Harga XRP berulang kali gagal bertahan di atas US$1,96, dan rebound juga selalu tertahan di area yang sama. Jika terbentuk pantulan dari level saat ini, di sinilah kemungkinan besar penjual akan muncul lagi.

Agar rebound benar-benar berubah menjadi pergeseran tren yang nyata, harga XRP harus mampu mencetak penutupan harian yang jelas di atas US$1,96. Tanpa konfirmasi tersebut, setiap pergerakan naik berisiko menjadi reli gagal berikutnya.

Pada sisi bawah, US$1,76 tetap menjadi level konfirmasi pembatalan utama. Jika harga menembus di bawah level ini, kemungkinan besar kendali penjual akan kembali, dan potensi penurunan bisa semakin dalam.

Intinya sudah jelas. Tekanan jual turun tajam, dan momentum bergerak membaik. Tapi, sampai XRP menembus US$1,96 dengan yakin, pasar masih terjebak di antara penjual yang melemah dan dinding suplai yang tangguh.

Administrator yang mengawasi likuidasi Terraform Labs telah mengajukan gugatan senilai US$4 miliar terhadap perusahaan high-frequency trading Jump Trading. Mereka menuduh market maker itu diam-diam memanipulasi harga dan berkontribusi pada runtuhnya ekosistem kripto Do Kwon yang dulunya sangat dominan.

Gugatan ini muncul kurang dari satu minggu setelah hakim menjatuhkan hukuman kepada Do Kwon berupa 15 tahun penjara federal karena melakukan penipuan kripto senilai US$40 miliar.

Terraform Labs Estate Minta US$4 Miliar dari Jump Trading

Dalam gugatan itu, Jump Trading, co-founder William DiSomma, dan mantan kepala divisi kripto Jump, Kanav Kariya, turut disebutkan. Mereka diduga memperoleh keuntungan secara tidak sah yang terkait dengan gagalnya TerraUSD (UST).

Mengutip dokumen pengadilan, The Wall Street Journal melaporkan bahwa pihak estate Terraform Labs mengklaim Jump melakukan intervensi trading secara besar-besaran dan tidak diungkapkan demi menjaga harga UST tetap stabil saat beberapa kali mengalami depegging pada 2021 dan 2022.

Alih-alih menstabilkan sistem, administrator berpendapat bahwa aksi tersebut justru menciptakan ilusi kepercayaan pasar. Pada akhirnya, hal itu menyembunyikan kelemahan struktural yang membuat kehancuran Terra menjadi semakin parah.

Poin utama dalam gugatan ini adalah tuduhan bahwa Jump secara agresif membeli UST setiap kali stablecoin algoritmik tersebut turun di bawah patokan US$1. Pembelian ini diduga menciptakan permintaan secara artificial dan menyesatkan pelaku pasar agar percaya bahwa mekanisme peg bekerja sebagaimana mestinya.

Pihak estate menegaskan bahwa Jump tidak bertindak sebagai penyedia likuiditas yang netral. Sebaliknya, Jump memanfaatkan posisi pasar serta pengetahuan internalnya untuk meraup keuntungan dari volatilitas yang mereka kelola.

Dalam dokumen pengajuan, Jump disebut meraup sekitar US$1 miliar lewat strategi ini, dengan memanfaatkan pengaturan token khusus dan keuntungan trading. Sementara itu, investor ritel tetap tidak mengetahui adanya dukungan di belakang layar ini.

Saat Terra akhirnya kolaps pada Mei 2022 dan mengakibatkan kerugian hingga sekitar US$40 miliar di UST dan LUNA, gugatan tersebut menyatakan bahwa ilusi stabilitas di awal justru memperparah kerusakan.

Perlu dicatat bahwa ini bukan pertama kalinya Jump Trading dikaitkan dengan tuduhan manipulasi. Pada Oktober 2024, pengembang game FractureLabs juga menggugat Jump Trading atas dugaan manipulasi kripto.

“Jump then systematically liquidated its DIO holdings, generating millions of dollars in revenue for itself,” Bloomberg reported, citing an excerpt in the lawsuit.

Vonis Do Kwon Sorot Lagi Kekuatan Pasar Jump Trading

Tindakan hukum ini muncul di tengah maraknya pemberitaan baru soal runtuhnya Terra. Ini mengikuti vonis terbaru untuk Do Kwon, 15 tahun penjara atas kasus penipuan terkait proyek tersebut.

Beberapa hari setelah keputusan itu, sejumlah pengamat pasar secara terbuka berspekulasi bahwa ada pemain institusional lain yang mungkin juga akan menghadapi tuntutan hukum, dengan Whale Calls menyinggung nama Jump Trading.

When jump trading ? https://t.co/yowAZA1DAw

— WhaleCalls (@whalecalls) December 11, 2025

Selain tuduhan utama, kasus ini juga menyoroti kemampuan teknologi Jump Trading yang luar biasa canggih.

Keunggulan Teknologi Jump Trading dan Perannya dalam Gugatan Hukum

Jump secara luas dikenal sebagai salah satu perusahaan high-frequency trading paling canggih di dunia. Sejumlah laporan industri menunjukkan bahwa Jump rela mengeluarkan biaya sangat besar demi mendapatkan keunggulan selisih waktu, termasuk membeli menara microwave eks milik NATO agar transmisi perdagangan lintas Atlantik bisa lebih cepat beberapa milidetik.

Pada 2018, Jump juga bekerja sama dengan perusahaan seperti Citadel untuk membangun kabel fiber-optik bawah laut “Go West”, menghubungkan Chicago dan Tokyo agar akses ke pasar Futures global menjadi lebih cepat.

Menurut ulasan dari Colin Wu, kemampuan Jump dalam mengolah data quote berada di level yang jauh berbeda dibanding para pesaing lain. Hal ini menunjukkan kekuatan asimetris yang bisa dimiliki perusahaan trading besar di pasar konvensional maupun kripto.

Keunggulan teknologi itu kini ikut menjadi bagian dari konteks luas gugatan ini. Meski tidak ada tuduhan penggunaan infrastruktur ilegal, dalam gugatan disebutkan bahwa skala dan kecanggihan Jump sukses memperbesar dampak transaksinya pada UST. Kondisi ini menimbulkan pertanyaan soal keadilan, transparansi, dan integritas pasar.

Jika gugatan ini berhasil, dampaknya bisa sangat luas. Putusan yang memenangkan estate Terraform Labs bisa memperjelas batas legal antara aktivitas market making yang sah dan manipulasi di pasar kripto, sehingga dapat mengubah cara perusahaan trading besar beroperasi.

Kasus ini juga bisa berujung pada hukuman finansial besar, di mana dana yang dipulihkan kemungkinan akan dipakai untuk mengganti kerugian kreditur dan korban kolapsnya Terra.

Jump Trading belum memberikan komentar publik terkait gugatan ini pada waktu publikasi, tapi mereka diperkirakan akan memberikan pembelaan keras.

Seiring proses pengumpulan bukti berjalan, kasus ini mungkin bisa memberikan gambaran langka soal mekanisme pasar maker di industri kripto yang selama ini tertutup. Lebih jauh dari itu, kasus ini juga berpotensi menjadi tonggak bagi industri dalam menegakkan akuntabilitas.

Bank of Japan (BOJ) menaikkan suku bunga acuan sebesar 25 basis poin menjadi 0,75% pada 19 Desember. Ini adalah level tertinggi dalam hampir 30 tahun dan menegaskan langkah bertahap Jepang keluar dari kebijakan moneter ultra-longgar.

Meski terjadi perubahan bersejarah dan adanya peringatan soal potensi pengetatan likuiditas global, Bitcoin tetap tenang dan hanya naik kurang dari 1%, lalu bertahan di kisaran US$87.000.

BOJ Naikkan Suku Bunga Lagi Sebesar 25 Basis Poin – Kenapa Bitcoin Masih Stabil?

Reaksi yang datar ini bertolak belakang dengan sejarah. Siklus kenaikan suku bunga BOJ sebelumnya seringkali bertepatan dengan aksi jual tajam di pasar kripto, terutama saat yen carry trade terurai dan likuiditas global menyusut.

THE BANK OF JAPAN MIGHT BE BITCOIN’S BIGGEST ENEMY

Japan holds the most US debt.
Every time they hike, Bitcoin bleeds:

March 2024: -23%
July 2024: -30%
Jan 2025: -31%

Next hike: Dec 19
Next move: loading…

If the pattern repeats, $70K is in play. pic.twitter.com/R5916R702I

— Merlijn The Trader (@MerlijnTrader) December 14, 2025

Kali ini, para trader nampaknya tidak khawatir, menandakan bahwa pasar sudah sepenuhnya mengantisipasi langkah ini jauh sebelum pengumuman. Sebagian besar pelaku pasar memang memperkirakan keputusan ini.

Kenaikan suku bunga di Jepang ini menjadi tanda simbolis berakhirnya puluhan tahun suku bunga mendekati nol yang menjadikan yen sebagai dasar di pasar pendanaan global. Biaya pinjaman yen yang murah selama ini mendukung penggunaan leverage di saham, obligasi, dan aset kripto.

Seiring yield Jepang naik dan gap dengan suku bunga global jadi makin kecil, carry trade tersebut jadi kurang menarik sehingga berpotensi memaksa investor melepas posisi berisiko. Tapi, respons tenang Bitcoin menunjukkan pasar memang sudah siap menghadapi situasi ini.

Menurut analis, fokus utama sebenarnya bukan pada kenaikan suku bunganya saja, tapi justru pada langkah-langkah berikutnya.

“Markets are pricing in a near-certain 25 basis point hike, marking the highest Japanese policy rate in about 30 years. While the hike itself is largely anticipated, the real focus is on Governor Ueda’s forward guidance during the press conference—signals of future hikes could amplify effects,” tulis analis Marty Party.

Panduan ke depan dari BOJ ini bisa sangat penting. BOJ mengisyaratkan bahwa mereka siap kembali menaikkan suku bunga, bahkan bisa ke 1% atau lebih pada akhir 2026 jika ada pertumbuhan upah dan inflasi yang terus berlanjut.

Perkembangan ini tetap memberi tekanan pada aset berisiko, walaupun langkah awal dari BOJ tidak memicu volatilitas besar.

Bitcoin Tetap Kuat, sementara Altcoin Menghadapi Tekanan Likuiditas yang Berkepanjangan

Para analis berpendapat bahwa ketahanan Bitcoin bisa jadi sinyal bullish. Blueblock menunjukkan pola historis dan menyoroti perbedaan reaksi kali ini.

“The BOJ just hiked rates to 0.75%, ending decades of ultra-loose policy and narrowing the gap with global yields. History shows that every prior tightening has triggered 20–30% Bitcoin drops as yen carry trades unwind and liquidity tightens. Yet with the hike fully priced in and BTC holding around $85k–$87k, this could be the dip buyers have been waiting for,” tulis analis tersebut.

Nampaknya, tidak semua segmen pasar kripto akan seberuntung Bitcoin. Altcoin, yang biasanya lebih sensitif terhadap perubahan likuiditas, tetap rentan jika BOJ mempercepat pengetatan kebijakan.

Prospek suku bunga tinggi hingga 2026 menandakan tantangan berat yang berlangsung lama, bukan sekadar tekanan sementara.

“BOJ signals it is ready to hike further, potentially 1% or higher by late 2026, depending on wage growth and sustained inflation. NO MERCY FOR ALTCOINS,” komentar Money Ape.

Stabilitas Bitcoin mencerminkan pasar yang sudah punya banyak waktu untuk bersiap atas keputusan BOJ. Apakah ketahanan itu bisa bertahan, lebih bergantung pada seberapa agresif Jepang akan melanjutkan kebijakan pengetatan setelah kenaikan Desember itu, bukan hanya pada kenaikannya saja. Selain itu, adaptasi likuiditas global terhadap berakhirnya salah satu kebijakan penyangga moneter terlama juga akan sangat menentukan.

Lebih dari US$3,16 miliar (sekitar Rp52,92 triliun) opsi Bitcoin dan Ethereum akan kedaluwarsa pada Jumat pukul 08.00 UTC (15.00 WIB) di Deribit. Peristiwa ini menjadi penyelesaian derivatif besar terakhir sebelum libur Natal.

Dengan likuiditas pasar yang cenderung menipis menjelang musim liburan dan posisi trader yang terkonsentrasi di sekitar level harga krusial, pelaku pasar terlihat memilih bersikap defensif sambil menunggu katalis yang lebih jelas sebelum mengambil posisi arah tertentu.

Apa yang Bisa Trader Antisipasi saat Opsi Bitcoin US$3 Miliar Kedaluwarsa?

Bitcoin menyumbang porsi terbesar dari total kedaluwarsa hari ini, dengan nilai nosional sekitar US$2,69 miliar (sekitar Rp45 triliun). Pada waktu publikasi, BTC diperdagangkan di US$87.194, naik 0,54% dalam 24 jam terakhir.

Level maximum pain untuk opsi Bitcoin berada di US$88.000, menempatkan harga spot tipis di bawah harga strike tersebut. Maximum pain merupakan titik di mana jumlah kontrak opsi yang berakhir tanpa nilai berada pada level tertinggi.

Sementara itu, data open interest menunjukkan sikap pasar yang relatif seimbang namun condong defensif. Open interest call Bitcoin tercatat 17.506 kontrak, sementara put mencapai 13.309 kontrak, menghasilkan total 30.815 kontrak dengan rasio put-to-call 0,76.

• Baca Juga: Putar Haluan, Peter Brandt Kini Mengaku Bearish pada Harga XRP

Meskipun opsi call masih unggul secara jumlah, konsentrasi posisi di sekitar US$88.000 membatasi ruang naik kecuali harga spot mampu menembus level tersebut secara meyakinkan. Analis Deribit menyoroti kondisi ini dalam pembaruan pasar mereka:

“Open interest BTC terkonsentrasi di sekitar 88K, dengan posisi put sedikit lebih berat, mengarah pada kedaluwarsa yang relatif terkendali kecuali harga spot keluar dari kisaran,” tulis Deribit.

Pernyataan tersebut memperkuat pandangan bahwa Bitcoin berpotensi tetap bergerak sideways hingga proses penyelesaian kontrak selesai, terutama di tengah kehati-hatian pra-liburan.

Lebih dari US$470 Juta Opsi Ethereum Kedaluwarsa Hari Ini

Ethereum menghadirkan dinamika yang berbeda. Sekitar US$473 juta (sekitar Rp7,9 triliun) opsi ETH akan kedaluwarsa hari ini. Pada waktu publikasi, ETH diperdagangkan di US$2.928, naik 3,37% dalam 24 jam terakhir.

Level maximum pain Ethereum berada di US$3.100, membuat harga spot saat ini berada cukup jauh di bawah strike utama tersebut.

Struktur open interest ETH juga terlihat lebih seimbang, dengan 78.524 kontrak call berhadapan dengan 83.547 kontrak put, menghasilkan rasio put-to-call 1,06 dan total 162.071 kontrak.

Tidak seperti Bitcoin, posisi opsi Ethereum tersebar di rentang strike yang lebih luas. Ini mencerminkan ketidakpastian arah jangka pendek yang lebih besar.

“Positioning ETH lebih terdistribusi di berbagai strike, dengan minat bullish yang terlihat di atas 3,4K. Ini menjaga kemungkinan pergerakan harga yang lebih besar jika volatilitas kembali meningkat,” terang analis Deribit.

Para analis menambahkan bahwa struktur posisi ini mendorong sikap menunggu hingga penyelesaian kontrak pada 08.00 UTC (15.00 WIB), alih-alih memaksakan arah pasar tanpa katalis yang jelas.

Fokus Mulai Bergeser ke Akhir Desember dan Awal 2026

Di luar kedaluwarsa hari ini, perhatian pasar mulai tertuju ke kontrak 26 Desember dan awal 2026.

“Open interest put 85K untuk 26 Desember kini sekitar 15.000 kontrak (nosional US$1,25 miliar) di Deribit. Bear dan FUD saat ini menguasai posisi ATM di 86K,” catat Deribit Insights.

Pada saat yang sama, taruhan kenaikan jangka pendek nampak lebih terbatas. Analis mencatat, “Condor call di atas 100K untuk 26 Desember senilai US$1,75 miliar kini terasa sebagai taruhan yang cukup jauh.”

Meski demikian, perspektif jangka panjang masih menunjukkan bias konstruktif. Arus posisi terbaru tetap mengindikasikan ekspektasi bullish menuju 2026, menandakan bahwa kehati-hatian jangka pendek tidak sepenuhnya menghapus optimisme struktural.

• Baca Juga: Mengapa Level US$81.500 Kini Jadi Penentu Nasib Harga Bitcoin?

Menjelang kedaluwarsa opsi terakhir sebelum Natal, Bitcoin dan Ethereum tampak terjebak di antara kehati-hatian jangka pendek dan ekspektasi bullish jangka panjang. Arah berikutnya masih belum terkonfirmasi.

Trader dan investor berpotensi menghadapi volatilitas tambahan, yang dapat diperparah oleh keputusan suku bunga Bank of Japan (BOJ). Namun, pasar biasanya kembali menemukan keseimbangan setelah pelaku menyesuaikan posisi dengan kondisi makro dan likuiditas terbaru.

Bagaimana pendapat Anda tentang opsi BTC dan ETH yang kedaluwarsa ini dan efeknya ke pasar? Yuk, sampaikan pendapat Anda di grup Telegram kami. Jangan lupa follow akun Instagram dan Twitter BeInCrypto Indonesia, agar Anda tetap update dengan informasi terkini seputar dunia kripto!

Koreksi terbaru Bitcoin di bawah US$85.000 sempat mengisyaratkan terjadinya akumulasi baru oleh investor besar. Tapi, data on-chain menunjukkan situasi berbeda yang terjadi di bawah permukaan.

Walau harga telah stabil di atas support utama, perilaku dasar justru memperlihatkan adanya restrukturisasi saldo alih-alih masuknya modal baru ke pasar.

Holder Bitcoin Nampaknya Tidak Terlalu Bullish

Wallet yang memegang antara 100 hingga 1.000 BTC baru-baru ini menunjukkan peningkatan, yang awalnya menandakan akumulasi whale. namun, peneliti senior Glassnode menjelaskan bahwa kenaikan tersebut lebih menggambarkan aktivitas reshuffling wallet daripada pembelian baru. Pergerakan ini tidak mencerminkan permintaan tambahan yang masuk ke pasar Bitcoin.

Reshuffling wallet terjadi ketika entitas besar membagi atau menggabungkan saldo di beberapa alamat. Proses ini membantu pengelolaan kustodian, risiko internal, ataupun kebutuhan akuntansi. Kepemilikan tetap tidak berubah. Coinbase baru-baru ini melakukan reshuffling internal sekitar 640.000 BTC, memberi contoh nyata bagaimana pola ini dapat memengaruhi data kelompok pemilik besar.

Karena reshuffling tidak membawa modal baru, pengaruhnya ke harga adalah nol. Aktivitas ini justru bisa mendistorsi metrik akumulasi sehingga muncul sinyal bullish palsu.

Ingin insight token lain seperti ini? Daftar Newsletter Crypto Harian Editor Harsh Notariya di sini.

Indikator makro menambah kehatihatian. MVRV Long/Short Difference saat ini menunjukkan profit terkonsentrasi pada holder Bitcoin jangka pendek dibandingkan holder jangka panjang. Ketidakseimbangan ini meningkatkan risiko penurunan, karena secara historis holder jangka pendek cenderung cepat bereaksi terhadap fluktuasi harga.

Jika keuntungan menumpuk di pihak peserta jangka pendek, tekanan jual biasanya naik selama periode ketidakpastian. Holder tipe ini cenderung mengamankan cuan begitu ada tanda-tanda pelemahan. Pola ini bisa menahan momentum kenaikan dan memperpanjang fase konsolidasi dalam rentang harga utama.

Harga BTC Mungkin Akan Mengalami Beberapa Kesulitan

Pada waktu publikasi, Bitcoin diperdagangkan di kisaran US$87.108 dan bertahan di level support US$86.361. Meski area ini memberi stabilitas jangka pendek, pemulihan masih rapuh. BTC perlu merebut level yang lebih tinggi sebelum mengisyaratkan pembalikan tren yang berarti.

Holder jangka pendek tetap menjadi faktor risiko bagi tren naik. Jika mereka mulai ambil untung, Bitcoin bisa bertahan di bawah US$88.210. Bila gagal menjaga struktur ini, BTC bisa kembali menguji US$84.698, level yang sudah disentuh saat volatilitas terakhir.

Pemulihan yang lebih kuat butuh Bitcoin untuk menembus US$88.210 secara meyakinkan. Jika harga naik ke US$90.401, itu menandakan momentum mulai membaik. Terwujudnya skenario ini sangat bergantung pada dukungan investor baru yang mungkin hadir saat pemburu harga murah mulai masuk ke pasar.

Venture capital adalah darah kehidupan di dunia startup Web3 dan aset kripto. Para pengusaha perlu mengumpulkan dana untuk proyek agar bisa merekrut orang-orang berbakat, membayar biaya operasional, dan melakukan pemasaran demi menumbuhkan bisnis. 

VC tentu saja senang melakukan investasi ini, sebab mereka juga mendapatkan bagian dari keuntungan jangka panjang—jika memang keuntungan itu benar-benar ada. Sebagian besar startup gagal, dan bisnis ini sangat bergantung pada lahirnya unicorn untuk mendorong pertumbuhan dana ventura. 

Pasar aset kripto memiliki keunikan tersendiri, karena banyak startup juga meluncurkan token sebagai bagian utama. Namun, performa pasar aset digital sendiri akhir-akhir ini kurang begitu baik. 

Sejak Oktober, saat harga per 1 BTC mencatat rekor US$126.000, aset oranye ini telah turun 25%. 

Harga kripto sangat mempengaruhi pasar VC, dan dinamika pengumpulan dana untuk startup pun jelas sudah berubah. Lalu, bagaimana gambaran keadaan saat ini? 

“Siklus pasar bisa memengaruhi sentimen investasi dan dapat memperlambat atau mempercepat proses penutupan kesepakatan,” terang Stefan Deiss, CEO Hashgraph Group, yang fokus pada investasi VC di ekosistem Hedera.

Ekspektasi Lebih Rendah dari Venture Capital

Salah satu hal pertama yang terjadi ketika tren kripto bergerak menurun adalah valuasi startup ikut turun. 

Mungkin kesannya tidak berhubungan langsung, tapi konsep “hot rounds” atau ronde pendanaan untuk startup yang sedang populer jadi menurun, dan VC tidak terlalu tertarik lagi dengan valuasi selangit, tutur Artem Gordadze, investor malaikat di NEAR Foundation serta penasihat di akselerator startup Techstars.

“Saat Bitcoin diperdagangkan pada level tinggi, misalnya saat dianggap di posisi US$100.000, valuasi startup juga ikut tinggi,” ucap Gordadze. “Ini memunculkan dinamika yang menantang: VC mesti membenarkan valuasi awal berdasarkan potensi harga masa depan yang harus benar-benar tercapai dalam jangka waktu investasinya demi menghasilkan imbal hasil yang layak.”

Teori bahwa harga Bitcoin selalu naik sepertinya bukan sesuatu yang dipercaya para investor VC. Karena investasi VC memang cenderung jangka panjang, mereka sudah mengalami banyak siklus, terutama bersama Bitcoin. 

Selain itu, banyak VC biasanya menyebut bulan November dan Desember sebagai “bulan write-off”. Maksudnya, mereka tidak terlalu berharap banyak kerjaan di kuartal keempat dan musim liburan, sehingga lebih memilih mulai berinvestasi lagi setelah tahun baru. 

Pandangan Pragmatis

Dilihat dari sudut pandang “helikopter”, khususnya di sektor kripto, trennya adalah pengeluaran tetap ada namun volumenya lebih kecil. 

Sebagai contoh: Polymarket, platform prediksi, berhasil mengumpulkan US$1 miliar, sedangkan Kraken meraih pendanaan sebesar US$800 juta pada kuartal ini. 

Pada kuartal ketiga, total pendanaan mencapai US$4,59 miliar, tapi setengahnya hanya terkonsentrasi pada tujuh kesepakatan, papar Alex Thorne, kepala riset di Galaxy. 

“Saat pasar turun, yang paling diperhatikan bukan lagi pergerakan harga tapi lebih pada ketahanan dalam pelaksanaan dan produk sebagai indikator utama,” ujar Deiss dari Hashgraph Group. “Kondisi downtrend justru mendorong investor untuk lebih fokus pada fundamental daripada momentum jangka pendek.”

Momentum jangka pendek itu memang seringkali hanya sekadar hype. Dan banyak proyek besar yang mendapat dukungan VC dan melakukan TGE ternyata performanya kurang baik tahun ini. Beberapa di antaranya adalah PUMP (turun lebih dari 50% selama 2025) dan Berachain (turun 91% semenjak diluncurkan Februari lalu). 

“Volatilitas tinggi dan valuasi di tahap awal yang masih tidak pasti menyebabkan pergeseran strategi distribusi modal yang cukup besar. Para investor kini lebih memilih strategi dengan siklus likuiditas lebih cepat dan kontrol harga lebih baik,” papar Gordadze. 

Lock-up dan Likuiditas

Salah satu aspek paling unik dari industri aset kripto adalah token generation event, atau TGE.

Pengganti ICO di masa lalu, Coinbase sekarang memfasilitasi TGE setelah mengakuisisi platform investor Echo seharga US$375 juta.

Monad menjadi proyek pertama yang meluncur di sana dan mengumpulkan dana US$296 juta, serta pasti akan ada proyek lain menyusul. 

Namun, setelah sebuah token meluncur, ada beberapa metrik yang khas di dunia kripto dan wajib investor ventura pantau dengan cermat. 

Salah satunya adalah lock-up, di mana saat TGE, tidak semua token langsung beredar di pasar; ada periode di mana aset-aset ini disimpan terlebih dahulu. Tujuannya agar mendorong partisipasi jaringan, mulai dari anggota tim, airdrop komunitas, hingga upaya foundation. 

Lalu, ada juga fully diluted value, atau FDV – yaitu jumlah total token dikali harga token – pada dasarnya seperti market cap semua token, meskipun belum semuanya unlocked. 

Dan ketika pasar bergerak liar, sungguh sulit memprediksi potensi exit token bagi VC sehingga ini bisa menjadi dilema.

Belakangan ini, Arthur Hayes dari Maelstrom Capital mengungkapkan kekecewaannya soal lock-up, terutama yang berkaitan dengan Monad. Sebagai seorang trader, Hayes jelas tidak suka jenis token yang likuiditasnya rendah ini. 

“Given the average token or equity vesting/lock-up period of 12 to 48 months, VCs must model the market’s likely condition when these lock-ups end,” ujar Gordadze, mentor Techstars. “The entry price must be strategically set to ensure a profitable exit, making long-term market forecasts crucial for deal finalization.

Masa Depan Investasi VC Aset Kripto di 2026 dan Seterusnya

Mengenai prediksi pasar, para VC memang suka membahas masa depan. Untuk dunia kripto, bila melihat kebijakan regulator AS yang lebih ramah di 2025, sepertinya tahun depan bisa jauh lebih positif. Apa itu cuma investor yang sedang berharap? 

Mungkin. Tapi para VC biasanya memang selalu optimistis. Optimisme, pada akhirnya, memang selalu jadi pemenang. 

“Tahun 2026 nampaknya akan menjadi fase utilitas nyata – DeFi bakal bangkit dengan momentum dan kedewasaan lebih baik, sementara stablecoin akan jadi background,” terang Deiss. Stablecoin memang mendapat sorotan tahun ini, walaupun pada dasarnya menjadi infrastruktur membosankan yang akan menopang, misalnya, Polymarket berikutnya yang memakai USDC di Polygon sebagai koin serta chain utama. 

“Kini setelah stablecoin benar-benar masuk arus utama dan bank mulai berlomba masuk, level selanjutnya adalah layanan untuk pengguna yang dipacu oleh aset-aset ini di balik layar,” papar Gordadze.

Area pertumbuhan paling signifikan kemungkinan besar ada di persimpangan AI/Blockchain dan RWA/Blockchain, karena di situlah peluang dampak dunia nyata serta pendapatan institusi paling besar tercipta.”

The Web3 Year-End Gala: Seoul 2025, hosted by GRID, co-hosted by Coinness, and strategically sponsored by global digital asset trading platform Zoomex Lab, concluded successfully in Seoul.

The flagship year-end event brought together leading industry players including Tencent Cloud, SuperNet, and other Web3 innovators, with a shared mission to advance the industry narrative from asset speculation toward real-world applications and user-centric experiences.

From Vision to Reality: Cross-Industry Dialogue and Key Announcements

The gala opened with a high-energy K-Dance performance, instantly setting an engaging tone for an evening designed to foster deep collaboration and meaningful dialogue.

🔹 Strategic Platform Announcement

As the strategic sponsor, Zoomex Lab officially unveiled its 2026 core strategy, highlighting the upcoming launch of Zoomex Card – a payment solution designed to enable instant and seamless conversion of Web3 assets into everyday spending, introducing a new era of frictionless, “invisible” crypto payments.

🔹 High-Level Roundtable Discussion

A central highlight of the evening was the panel discussion titled:

“Bridging Finance: When Web3 Meets Real-World Payments.”

Industry leaders explored how Web3 can break into mainstream consumer use cases, eliminate UX barriers, and establish transparent, compliant payment infrastructures, reaching strategic consensus on the path forward.

🔹 Special Guest Appearance

Renowned South Korean football star and former national team player Park Joo-Ho attended as a special guest speaker. His presence significantly amplified the event’s cross-industry impact, while his remarks underscored the social value of Web3 technologies in driving digital transformation.

Where Sportsmanship Meets Web3: Speed, Professionalism, and Trust

The success of the event highlighted the growing synergy between Web3 innovation, mainstream culture, and sportsmanship.

Zoomex Lab continues to expand its global sports presence as a partner of the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team and through collaborations with elite athletes such as Emiliano Martínez, goalkeeper of the Argentina national team.

These partnerships go beyond brand exposure – embedding the values of precision, speed, discipline, and rule-based execution into Zoomex Lab’s platform philosophy, reinforcing its commitment to reliability, efficiency, and regulatory compliance in financial services.

Such cross-industry influence is accelerating Web3’s transition into the mainstream.

Looking Ahead to 2026: Simplifying Web3 Payments for Mass Adoption

The success of Web3 Year-End Gala: Seoul 2025 not only delivered valuable industry insights but also underscored the leadership role of Zoomex Lab in advancing real-world Web3 adoption.

In his closing remarks, Jerry, CEO of Zoomex, outlined a clear vision for the year ahead:

“In 2026, our strategic focus is to make Zoomex a daily, intuitive tool for everyday users. With the upcoming Zoomex Card, we aim to compress the Web3 payment experience to match the simplicity of traditional card swipes or one-click payments. Our goal is to turn ‘experience-first’ from a slogan into reality.”

— Jerry, CEO of Zoomex

Looking forward, Zoomex Lab will continue to champion simplicity, transparency, and user-first design, working alongside industry partners to drive Web3 payments from pilot use cases to true mass adoption—opening a new chapter in real-world Web3 applications.

About ZOOMEX

Founded in 2021, Zoomex is a global cryptocurrency trading platform with over 3 million users across 35+ countries and regions, offering 600+ trading pairs. With the core values of “Simple × User-Friendly × Fast,” the platform is committed to delivering high-performance, low-barrier trading experiences. By optimizing the matching engine and user interaction processes, Zoomex supports millisecond-level order execution and enhances usability through a minimalist interface.

As the official partner of the Haas F1 team, Zoomex demonstrates speed, precision, and cutting-edge technology both on the track and in trading. Zoomex is also proud to announce a global exclusive brand ambassador partnership with world-class goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, further strengthening brand image and user trust through his professional spirit and global influence.

The platform also prioritizes security and compliance, holding regulatory licenses including Canada MSB, US MSB, US NFA, and Australia AUSTRAC, and has undergone audits by blockchain security firm Hacken. With flexible identity verification and a free trading system, Zoomex is building a faster, safer, and more accessible trading environment for users worldwide.

For more info: Website | X | Telegram | Discord

The post Zoomex Lab Strategically Sponsors Web3 Year-End Gala Seoul 2025, Highlighting Real-World Web3 Adoption with Park Joo-Ho appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Amid heightened volatility and continued structural growth in the crypto market throughout 2025, users’ real trading behaviors have increasingly become a key lens through which market evolution can be understood. Recently, Gate officially launched its 2025 Year-End Summary, offering a comprehensive review of users’ crypto journeys through a timeline-based analysis and key behavioral data of trading activity and product participation over the past year.

Based on the content of the summary, rather than focusing solely on profit figures or trading volume, Gate’s Year-End Summary centers on users’ key moments and depth of engagement on the platform. It captures a wide range of dimensions, including trading behavior, campaign participation, and milestone events. By connecting fragmented activity records into a continuous timeline, the approach aims to reflect how users made decisions in a highly volatile market environment, ensuring that the year-in-review goes beyond a purely outcome-driven perspective.

Beyond data presentation, the summary also introduces personalized tags and titles based on users’ trading styles and activity levels. These lightweight elements reduce overreliance on single performance metrics and instead highlight participation preferences and behavioral patterns, reflecting Gate’s product-driven approach to user experience and content design.

From a platform perspective, the ability to generate such multidimensional user insights is supported by Gate’s comprehensive trading and product ecosystem. In 2025, as overall crypto market activity accelerated, Gate’s global registered user base approached 50 million, with spot trading volume ranking among the global top two and derivatives volume placing within the global top three. Continued improvements in market depth and liquidity provided users with stable access across different market cycles.

More broadly, the Year-End Summary not only documents individual user activity but also offers a snapshot of evolving user structures and participation patterns on the platform. By aggregating data on trading scale, product usage depth, and phase-specific performance, Gate provides users with a retrospective and comparable annual dataset, while also offering external observers a reference point for shifts in user behavior across the crypto market.

As the crypto industry continues to mature, data-driven reviews grounded in real user behavior are becoming an increasingly important bridge between platforms, users, and the market itself. The release of Gate’s 2025 Year-End Summary further underscores the platform’s strengths across user scale, product architecture, and infrastructure capacity.

About Gate

Gate, founded in 2013 by Dr. Han, is one of the world’s earliest cryptocurrency exchanges. The platform serves over 47 million users with 4,100+ digital assets and pioneered the industry’s first 100% proof-of-reserves. Beyond core trading services, Gate’s ecosystem includes Gate Wallet, Gate Ventures, and other innovative solutions.

For more information, please visit: Website | X | Telegram | LinkedIn| Instagram | YouTube

Disclaimer:

This content does not constitute an offer, solicitation, or recommendation. You should always seek independent professional advice before making investment decisions. Note that Gate may restrict or prohibit certain services in specific jurisdictions. For more information, please read the User Agreement via link.

The post Gate Year-End Summary Goes Live: Data-Driven Overview of Users’ Crypto Season appeared first on BeInCrypto.

The Toncoin (TON) ecosystem, with potential access to more than one billion users through Telegram, experienced a relatively gloomy year in 2025. TON’s price dropped 65% from its early-year peak.

However, several positive signals appeared in late December. These signals could form the basis for expectations of a TON recovery in Q1/2026.

Trading Volume and Network Activity Show Improvement

First, TON’s daily trading volume increased sharply.

According to data from Tonscan, as of the third week of December 2025, TON’s daily trading volume had exceeded $154 million. This figure represented an increase of more than 41.7%.

This marked the highest trading volume level for December. The surge indicated a return of active trading after a slowdown caused by negative sentiment across the altcoin market.

TON has held above the $1.4 level in recent days. Rising volume, combined with a slowing pace of price decline, signals renewed buying pressure.

Another notable sign is TON’s return to “trending” status on CoinGecko. This trend reflects renewed search interest and trading demand for TON in December. It also helps explain the recent increase in trading volume.

On-chain data adds further optimism.

Although TON’s daily active users (DAU) fell sharply compared with 2024, the decline now appears to be stabilizing. User activity previously reached record levels due to airdrop and GameFi campaigns.

Data show that over the past three months, the number of daily active users increased from 70,000 to nearly 100,000. During the same period, TON’s price fell from $3 to $1.4. This divergence suggests returning confidence. It may also indicate that investors view TON as undervalued.

What Awaits TON in 2026?

At the Blockchain Life 2025 event in October, Pavel Durov – Telegram’s founder – emphasized Telegram’s intention to take a more active role in developing TON’s core technology in 2026.

In December, Durov announced the official launch of Cocoon, a decentralized and secure computing network.
GPU owners have begun earning TON by contributing computing power to the network.

Investors believe Pavel Durov and Telegram will continue to expand their efforts to bring TON to a potential one billion users each month.

“In 2026, Telegram is gonna ramp up work on developing TON, as Pavel Durov said, adding that we should expect some major announcements. Hoping 2026 will be a bullish year for the TON ecosystem.” – Investor Mr. Satoshik predicted.

Another major milestone recently emerged. Kraken announced support for the xStocks platform.

This integration allows Telegram users to buy, hold, and transfer tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs directly within the TON Wallet.

“After pioneering tokenized equities on Solana and expanding to EVM through Ethereum, we set foot on TON. With this strategic step, we take the same winning solution chosen by 50,000 users, moving over $13B in combined CEX + DEX volume, to the blockchain native to Telegram.” xStocks stated.

These developments represent positive signals for investors anticipating a TON recovery. However, identifying TON’s price bottom remains difficult. Conflicting macroeconomic signals continue to pressure the broader altcoin market.

The post Is Toncoin Undervalued? December Data Signals Potential Rebound appeared first on BeInCrypto.

XRP price is nearing a critical decision point as 2025 approaches its final stretch. Price remains weak on higher timeframes, almost 16% down month-on-month. But cracks are starting to appear in selling pressure. Momentum indicators and on-chain data now suggest that sellers are losing control, even though price has not yet confirmed a reversal.

The setup is no longer about guessing a rally. It is about whether fading sell pressure is enough to push the XRP price through a known supply wall. And that wall still matters.

Sellers Are Losing Control?

Early signs of a rebound are showing up on the 12-hour chart, where trend shifts often appear first.

Between November 21 and December 18, the XRP price made a lower low. During the same period, the RSI made a higher low. RSI (Relative Strength Index) measures momentum. When price falls, but RSI improves, it signals bullish divergence.

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This pattern suggests that, although the XRP price continued to decline, the selling momentum weakened. Sellers were still active, but they were no longer able to push momentum lower with the same force.

On-chain data supports this shift.

The XRP HODLer Net Position Change tracks whether long-term holders are adding or selling coins. On December 11, net selling peaked at roughly 216.9 million XRP. By December 18, that figure dropped to about 132.2 million XRP.

That is a decline of roughly 39% in daily selling pressure.

In simple terms, sellers are still present, but far fewer coins are being pushed onto the market. This aligns with the RSI divergence and strengthens the case that downside pressure is fading.

This does not guarantee a rally. But it does mean the market is no longer in full control of sellers.

Why One XRP Price Level Still Decides the Outcome

Even if selling pressure continues to ease, XRP still faces a major structural test overhead.

On-chain cost basis data shows a heavy supply cluster between $1.96 and $1.97. Around 1.82 billion XRP were accumulated in this zone. Cost basis data tracks where holders bought their coins. When price returns to those levels, many holders reach break-even and tend to sell.

This makes the $1.96–$1.97 range a powerful resistance zone.

The price chart confirms this. The XRP price has repeatedly failed to hold above $1.96, and rebounds have stalled near the same area. If a bounce develops from current levels, this is where sellers are most likely to reappear.

For the rebound to become a genuine trend shift, the XRP price must post a clean daily close above $1.96. Without that confirmation, any upside move risks becoming another failed rally.

On the downside, $1.76 remains the key invalidation level. A break below it would suggest that seller control is returning, opening the door to deeper losses.

The takeaway is clear. Selling pressure has dropped sharply, and momentum is improving. But until XRP clears $1.96 with conviction, the market remains trapped between weakening sellers and a stubborn supply wall.

The post XRP Selling Pressure Collapses 39%, But This Price Level Still Controls the Outcome appeared first on BeInCrypto.

For much of Bitcoin’s history, mining pools served a single, narrow purpose: aggregating hashpower and distributing block rewards. Miners were expected to manage everything else on their own—wallets, exchanges, liquidity, risk management, and operational financing—often across fragmented platforms with inconsistent security standards.

That model is rapidly becoming obsolete.

As mining margins tighten, competition intensifies, and institutional-grade professionalism becomes the norm, miners increasingly demand integrated ecosystems rather than isolated services. In response, forward-thinking mining pools are evolving into comprehensive financial hubs—one-stop shops that streamline operations while expanding growth opportunities.

At the forefront of this evolution is ViaBTC, whose diversified business model demonstrates how mining pools can become strategic partners rather than simple service providers.

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Beyond Hashrate: The Rise of Integrated Mining Ecosystems

Modern miners face a complex operational landscape. Profitability is no longer determined solely by hardware efficiency and electricity costs. Instead, success depends on liquidity management, capital access, asset security, and the ability to respond quickly to market conditions.

This reality has driven a shift toward vertically integrated mining platforms—ecosystems that allow miners to operate, manage, and grow their holdings without constantly juggling assets between third-party services.

ViaBTC has embraced this shift by building a tightly integrated suite of tools that addresses the full lifecycle of a miner’s activity—from block rewards to balance sheet management.

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Built-In Wallets: Security and Simplicity by Design

At the foundation of ViaBTC’s ecosystem is its secure, built-in wallet infrastructure, allowing miners to receive, store, and manage mining rewards directly within the platform.

This integration offers several critical advantages:

• Reduced counterparty risk by minimizing external transfers
• Faster access to funds, without reliance on third-party wallets
• Unified account management, simplifying bookkeeping and oversight

For both individual miners and large-scale operations, consolidating assets under a single, security-focused platform reduces operational friction while improving transparency.

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Automatic Coin Conversion: Flexibility Without Complexity

Mining rewards do not always align with a miner’s preferred asset exposure. Whether managing volatility, covering operating expenses, or reallocating into long-term holdings, conversion flexibility is essential.

ViaBTC’s automatic coin conversion functionality enables miners to seamlessly convert rewards into alternative cryptocurrencies without manual intervention. This allows miners to:

• Hedge against short-term volatility
• Align payouts with operational or treasury needs
• Reduce time spent managing trades across multiple platforms

By embedding this capability directly into the mining workflow, ViaBTC removes unnecessary steps while empowering miners with greater financial control.

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Collateral-Pledged Loans: Unlocking Capital Without Selling Coins

One of the most powerful features of ViaBTC’s diversified model is its collateral-pledged loan program—a solution that directly addresses a long-standing miner dilemma: accessing liquidity without sacrificing long-term upside.

Instead of selling mined assets during unfavorable market conditions, miners can use their cryptocurrency holdings as collateral to secure loans. This enables them to:

• Fund hardware upgrades or facility expansion
• Cover electricity and operational expenses
• Navigate temporary market downturns without forced liquidation

By preserving asset exposure while unlocking capital, collateral-backed lending transforms mining rewards into productive financial instruments rather than static balances.

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Exchange Access via CoinEx: From Mining to Markets

Through its partnership with CoinEx, ViaBTC extends its ecosystem beyond mining into full market participation. This integration gives miners direct access to a robust cryptocurrency exchange, enabling:

• Efficient trading and liquidity access
• Portfolio diversification from a familiar interface
• Reduced reliance on external exchanges and asset transfers

The result is a seamless transition from block rewards to broader market strategies—without leaving the ViaBTC ecosystem.

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Convenience, Security, & Growth—Unified

What distinguishes ViaBTC’s approach is not merely the presence of individual features, but the cohesive integration of those features into a single platform. Each component—wallets, conversions, loans, and exchange access—reinforces the others.

This unified design delivers three core benefits:

1. Convenience – Fewer platforms, fewer logins, fewer points of failure
   
2. Security – Reduced asset movement and consolidated safeguards
   
3. Growth – Tools that enable strategic expansion, not just daily payouts
   

In an industry where operational efficiency can determine survival, these advantages are increasingly decisive.

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The Future of Mining Pools Is Financial Infrastructure

As cryptocurrency mining continues to mature, the role of mining pools will continue to expand. The most successful platforms will not be those offering the lowest fees alone, but those providing holistic financial infrastructure tailored to miners’ real-world needs.

ViaBTC’s evolution into a one-stop mining ecosystem reflects this future—one where miners are empowered not only to earn, but to manage, leverage, and grow their digital assets with confidence.

For miners navigating an increasingly complex landscape, that transformation may be the most valuable reward of all.

The post Mining Pools as One-Stop Shops: How ViaBTC Is Redefining the Miner Experience appeared first on BeInCrypto.

The administrator overseeing the wind-down of Terraform Labs has filed a $4 billion lawsuit against high-frequency trading firm Jump Trading. They accuse the market maker of secretly manipulating prices and contributing to the collapse of Do Kwon’s once-dominant crypto ecosystem.

It comes barely a week after the judge issued Do Kwon his sentence, a 15-year term in federal prison for orchestrating a $40 billion crypto fraud.

Terraform Labs Estate Seeks $4 Billion From Jump Trading

The complaint names Jump Trading, co-founder William DiSomma, and former head of its crypto division, Kanav Kariya. It alleges unlawful profiteering tied to the failure of TerraUSD (UST).

Citing court filings, The Wall Street Journal reports that the Terraform Labs estate claims Jump conducted undisclosed, large-scale trading interventions to prop up UST during multiple de-pegging episodes in 2021 and 2022.

Rather than stabilizing the system, the administrator argues these actions created a false sense of market confidence. In turn, this masked structural weaknesses that ultimately made Terra’s collapse more severe.

At the center of the lawsuit is the claim that Jump aggressively purchased UST whenever the algorithmic stablecoin fell below its $1 peg. These purchases allegedly inflated demand artificially, misleading market participants into believing the peg mechanism was functioning as designed.

The estate argues that Jump was not acting as a neutral liquidity provider. Instead, it exploited its market position and inside knowledge to extract profits from the volatility it helped manage.

The filing alleges that Jump earned roughly $1 billion through these strategies, benefiting from preferential token arrangements and trading advantages. Meanwhile, retail investors remained unaware of the behind-the-scenes support.

When Terra ultimately unraveled in May 2022, triggering an estimated $40 billion wipeout across UST and LUNA, the lawsuit claims the earlier illusion of stability magnified the damage.

It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time Jump Trading is linked to manipulation allegations. In October 2024, game developer FractureLabs filed a lawsuit against Jump Trading over crypto manipulation claims

“Jump then systematically liquidated its DIO holdings, generating millions of dollars in revenue for itself,” Bloomberg reported, citing an excerpt in the lawsuit.

Do Kwon’s Sentencing Puts Fresh Spotlight on Jump Trading’s Market Power

The legal action arrives amid renewed headlines of Terra’s collapse. It follows Do Kwon’s recent sentencing to 15 years in prison over fraud charges related to the project.

In the days following that ruling, some market observers publicly speculated that additional institutional players could face legal exposure, with Whale Calls citing Jump Trading.

When jump trading ? https://t.co/yowAZA1DAw

— WhaleCalls (@whalecalls) December 11, 2025

Beyond the immediate allegations, the case highlights Jump Trading’s formidable technological capabilities.

Jump Trading’s Technological Edge and Its Role in the Lawsuit

Jump is widely regarded as one of the most sophisticated high-frequency trading firms globally. Industry reporting has highlighted its willingness to spend vast sums to gain marginal speed advantages, including the acquisition of a microwave tower previously used by NATO to shave milliseconds off transatlantic trade transmission times.

In 2018, Jump also partnered with firms such as Citadel to build the “Go West” undersea fiber-optic cable, connecting Chicago and Tokyo and enabling faster access to global futures markets.

According to commentary from Colin Wu, Jump’s quote data processing capabilities are considered to be on a vastly different scale from those of many competitors. This reflects the asymmetric power that large trading firms can wield in both traditional and crypto markets.

That technological edge now forms part of the broader context of the lawsuit. While the complaint does not allege the use of illegal infrastructure, it argues that Jump’s scale and sophistication amplified the market impact of its UST trades. This raises questions about fairness, disclosure, and market integrity.

If successful, the case could have far-reaching implications. A ruling in favor of the Terraform Labs estate may establish a clearer legal boundary between legitimate market making and manipulation in crypto markets, potentially reshaping how large trading firms operate.

It could also lead to substantial financial penalties, with any recovered funds likely directed toward compensating creditors and victims of the Terra collapse.

Jump Trading has not publicly commented on the lawsuit as of the time of publication, but is expected to mount a vigorous defense.

As discovery continues, the case may offer rare insight into the opaque mechanics of crypto market making. Beyond that, it could mark a watershed moment in the industry’s ongoing reckoning with accountability.

The post $4 Billion Lawsuit Claims Jump Trading Helped Engineer Terraform’s Collapse appeared first on BeInCrypto.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) raised its policy interest rate by 25 basis points to 0.75% on December 19. It marks its highest level in nearly 30 years, reinforcing the country’s gradual exit from ultra-easy monetary policy.

Yet despite the historic shift and warnings of a global liquidity squeeze, Bitcoin showed little reaction, rising just under 1% and holding in the $87,000 range.

BOJ Just Raised Interest Rates Another 25 Basis Points – Why Did Bitcoin Hold Steady?

The muted response stands in contrast to history. Previous BOJ tightening cycles have often coincided with sharp sell-offs in crypto markets, particularly as yen carry trades unwind and global liquidity tightens.

THE BANK OF JAPAN MIGHT BE BITCOIN’S BIGGEST ENEMY

Japan holds the most US debt.
Every time they hike, Bitcoin bleeds:

March 2024: -23%
July 2024: -30%
Jan 2025: -31%

Next hike: Dec 19
Next move: loading…

If the pattern repeats, $70K is in play. pic.twitter.com/R5916R702I

— Merlijn The Trader (@MerlijnTrader) December 14, 2025

This time, however, traders appeared unfazed, suggesting the move had been fully priced in well ahead of the announcement. Market participants had largely anticipated the decision.

Japan’s rate increase represents a symbolic break from decades of near-zero interest rates that made the yen a cornerstone of global funding markets. Cheap yen borrowing fueled leverage across equities, bonds, and cryptocurrencies.

As Japanese yieds rise and narrow the gap with global rates, those trades become less attractive, potentially forcing investors to unwind risk positions. Still, Bitcoin’s calm reaction suggests markets were prepared.

According to analysts, however, the focus was never the hike itself, but what comes next.

“Markets are pricing in a near-certain 25 basis point hike, marking the highest Japanese policy rate in about 30 years. While the hike itself is largely anticipated, the real focus is on Governor Ueda’s forward guidance during the press conference—signals of future hikes could amplify effects,” wrote analyst Marty Party.

That forward guidance may prove crucial. The BOJ has signaled it remains prepared to raise rates further, potentially to 1% or higher by late 2026, depending on wage growth and sustained inflation.

That outlook keeps pressure on risk assets, even if the initial move failed to trigger volatility.

Bitcoin Holds Firm as Altcoins Face a Prolonged Liquidity Squeeze

Analysts argue that Bitcoin’s resilience could be a bullish sign. Blueblock pointed to historical patterns, noting the divergence from past reactions.

“The BOJ just hiked rates to 0.75%, ending decades of ultra-loose policy and narrowing the gap with global yields. History shows that every prior tightening has triggered 20–30% Bitcoin drops as yen carry trades unwind and liquidity tightens. Yet with the hike fully priced in and BTC holding around $85k–$87k, this could be the dip buyers have been waiting for,” the analyst wrote.

However, not all corners of the crypto market are expected to fare as well. Altcoins, which are typically more sensitive to shifts in liquidity, remain vulnerable if Japanese tightening accelerates.

The prospect of higher rates through 2026 suggests a prolonged headwind rather than a one-off shock.

“BOJ signals it is ready to hike further, potentially 1% or higher by late 2026, depending on wage growth and sustained inflation. NO MERCY FOR ALTCOINS,” commented Money Ape.

Bitcoin’s stability reflects a market that had ample time to prepare for the BOJ’s decision. Whether that resilience holds will depend less on the December hike itself and more on how aggressively Japan continues its path of tightening. It will also hinge on how global liquidity adapts to the end of one of its longest-running monetary backstops.

The post BOJ Raises Interest Rates to 0.75%, But Bitcoin Stands Unshaken—Is the Crypto Calm a Warning or Opportunity? appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Bitcoin’s recent pullback below $85,000 briefly suggested renewed accumulation among large investors. Instead, on-chain data shows a different picture forming beneath the surface. 

While price has stabilized above key support, the underlying behavior points to balance restructuring rather than fresh capital entering the market.

Bitcoin Holders Are Not Too Bullish

Wallets holding between 100 and 1,000 BTC recently showed an increase, initially signaling potential whale accumulation. However, Glassnode’s senior researcher clarified that this rise reflects wallet reshuffling rather than new buying. These movements do not represent additional demand entering the Bitcoin market.

Wallet reshuffling occurs when large entities split or consolidate balances across addresses. The process helps manage custody, internal risk, or accounting needs. Ownership does not change. Coinbase recently reshuffled about 640,000 BTC internally, offering a clear example of this behavior influencing cohort data.

Because reshuffling does not introduce new capital, its impact on price is zero. The activity can distort accumulation metrics, leading to false bullish signals. 

Want more token insights like this? Sign up for Editor Harsh Notariya’s Daily Crypto Newsletter here.

Macro indicators add further caution. The MVRV Long/Short Difference currently shows profits concentrated among short-term Bitcoin holders rather than long-term holders. This imbalance raises downside risk, as short-term holders historically react quickly to price fluctuations.

When profits sit with short-term participants, selling pressure often increases during periods of uncertainty. These holders are more likely to secure gains at the first sign of weakness. This dynamic can suppress upside momentum and prolong consolidation across key price ranges.

BTC Price May See Some Struggle

Bitcoin is trading near $87,108 at the time of writing, holding above the $86,361 support level. While this zone provides near-term stability, recovery remains fragile. BTC must reclaim higher levels before signaling a meaningful trend reversal.

Short-term holders continue to pose a risk to upside progress. If they begin taking profits, Bitcoin could remain range-bound below $88,210. A failure to maintain this structure could result in another test of $84,698, a level already visited during recent volatility.

A stronger recovery requires Bitcoin to convincingly breach $88,210. A push toward $90,401 would signal improving momentum. Achieving this move depends on renewed investor support, which may emerge as value-oriented buyers respond to current price discounts.

The post Bitcoin Whales Moved — But Not in the Way Markets Assumed appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Over $3.16 billion worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum options are set to expire on Friday at 08:00 UTC on Deribit, marking the final major derivatives settlement before Christmas.

With liquidity thinning out as the holiday period approaches and positioning tightly clustered around key price levels, traders appear cautious, waiting for a clearer catalyst before committing to a direction.

What to Expect as Nearly $3 Billion Bitcoin Options Expire

Bitcoin accounts for the bulk of the expiry, with roughly $2.69 billion in notional value rolling off. At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $87,194, representing a 0.54% increase over the past 24 hours.

The max pain level for today’s expiring Bitcoin options sits at $88,000, placing the spot price just below the strike. This is where the greatest number of options expire worthless.

Meanwhile, open interest data suggests a relatively balanced but slightly defensive stance. Bitcoin call open interest stands at 17,506 contracts, compared with 13,309 puts, resulting in a total open interest of 30,815 contracts and a put-to-call ratio of 0.76.

While calls still dominate numerically, the concentration of positioning near $88,000 points to limited upside momentum unless the spot decisively breaks higher. Deribit analysts highlighted this dynamic in a market update.

“BTC open interest is concentrated around 88K, with slightly heavier put positioning, pointing to a relatively contained expiry unless spot breaks range,” they wrote.  

The commentary reinforces the view that Bitcoin could remain range-bound through settlement, especially amid pre-holiday caution.

Over $470 Million Ethereum Options Expire Today: What Investors Should Know

Ethereum presents a different setup. Approximately $473 million in ETH options are expiring, with the asset trading at $2,928, representing a 3.37% increase in the last 24 hours. ETH’s max pain level is higher, at $3,100, leaving spot price meaningfully below the key strike.

Ethereum’s open interest profile is more evenly split, with 78,524 call contracts versus 83,547 puts. This results in a put-to-call ratio of 1.06 and a total open interest of 162,071 contracts.

Unlike Bitcoin, ETH positioning is spread across a wider range of strikes, indicating greater uncertainty about the near-term direction.

“ETH positioning is more distributed across strikes, with notable upside interest above 3.4K, keeping larger moves in play if volatility reaccelerates,” Deribit analysts indicated.

The analysts added that positioning suggests patience into settlement, which happens at 08:00 UTC today, with traders waiting for a clearer catalyst rather than forcing direction.

Beyond today’s options expiry, attention is already shifting to December 26 and early 2026 positioning.

“December 26 85k Put OI now ~15k ($1.25bn notional) on Deribit, and bears+FUD currently in control with ATM 86k,” Deribit Insights noted.

At the same time, upside bets appear less aggressive in the near term, with analysts observing that “the Dec26 100k+ $1.75bn Call condor feels a distant punt now.”

However, longer-dated flows tell a more constructive story, with recent flows continuing to show upside bias into 2026. According to the analysts, this suggests that while short-term sentiment remains cautious, longer-horizon traders are still positioning for a renewed bullish phase.

As the final options expiry before Christmas approaches, both Bitcoin and Ethereum appear caught between near-term restraint and longer-term optimism, leaving their next decisive move unresolved.

Traders and investors may experience some volatility, which the BOJ’s interest rate decision could exacerbate. However, markets tend to stabilize as traders adjust to new market conditions.

The post $3.16 Billion Crypto Options Expiry Puts Bitcoin and Ethereum’s Next Move in Question appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Venture capital is the lifeblood of the startup world in Web3 and crypto. Entrepreneurs need to raise money for projects in order to hire talented people, pay operating costs, and perform marketing for scaling a business. 

VCs, of course, are more than happy to do this, as they get a chunk of the long-term payoff – if there ever is one, of course. Most startups fail, and the business is highly predicated on unicorns to drive venture funds. 

The crypto market is unique, to be sure, with cryptocurrencies also playing a role as many startups launch tokens. However, the digital asset market hasn’t been performing as well. 

Since October, when the price per 1 BTC hit an eye-watering $126,000 record level, the orange asset is in the red by 25%. 

Crypto prices impact the VC market, and dynamics have certainly changed for startups to raise money. What’s the outlook looking like overall right now? 

“Market cycles may influence investment sentiment and can slow or accelerate the pace of closing deals,” noted Stefan Deiss, CEO of Hashgraph Group, focused on VC in the Hedera ecosystem.

Lowered Expectations From Venture Capital

One of the first things that happens when crypto trends to a downward cycle is that startup valuations go lower. 

It may not seem directly related, but the concept of the “hot rounds” for fashionable startups cool off, and VCs don’t really go for sky-high valuations so much, noted Artem Gordadze, an angel investor in NEAR Foundation and advisor at startup accelerator Techstars.

“When Bitcoin is trading at high levels, like the perceived $100k level, startup valuations are commensurately high,” Gordadze said. “This creates a challenging dynamic: VCs must justify the entry valuation based on a potential future price that must materialize within the investment horizon to generate acceptable returns.”

It seems the theory that Bitcoin always goes up is not one venture capitalists are attuned to. Because of long time horizons for VC investments, they have seen many cycles, especially with Bitcoin. 

In addition, many VCs often call November and December “write-off” months. This means they don’t expect to do too much work during the fourth quarter and the holiday season, preferring to start investing anew after the calendar turns to another year. 

The Pragmatic View

The view of venture from 10,000 feet up, as it pertains to the crypto sector specifically, is one of spending, but less volume. 

Case in point: Prediction market Polymarket closed $1 billion, while Kraken took in $800m in funding this quarter. 

In the third quarter, the total amount of funding was $4.59 billion, but half of that was concentrated on just seven deals, according to Alex Thorne, head of research for Galaxy. 

“Market downturns sharpen the focus because you stop seeing price action as a signal but rather resilience in execution and product as the main indicators that count,” said Hashgraph Group’s Deiss. “Downturns push investors to focus more on fundamentals rather than short-term momentum.”

That short-term momentum may often be more hype than anything else. And many big venture-backed projects doing a TGE have not performed very well this year. This includes PUMP (down over 50% in 2025) and Berachain (a 91% drop since its February launch). 

“High volatility and uncertain early-stage valuations are driving a significant shift in capital deployment, favoring strategies with shorter liquidity cycles and better pricing control,” added Gordadze. 

The Lock-Up and the Liquidity

One of the most distinctive aspects of the cryptocurrency industry is the token generation event, or TGE.

The successor to ICOs of days past, Coinbase is now facilitating TGEs after its $375 million purchase of investor platform Echo.

Monad was the first project to launch there, raising $296m, and there’s surely more to come. 

However, once a token launches, there are a few metrics that are unique to crypto that venture investors must closely monitor. 

One is the lock-up, whereby, at TGE, not all tokens are circulating in the market yet; there is a period of holding these assets back. This is designed to better incentivize a network’s participants, from team members to community airdrops and foundation efforts. 

Then there’s fully diluted value, or FDV – this is the total number of tokens times the price – basically a market cap for all tokens, even if they haven’t been unlocked yet. 

And when markets gyrate, it’s really hard to forecast any potential exits of tokens for VCs, which can be a conundrum.

Recently, Arthur Hayes of Maelstrom Capital went on a rant about lock-ups, specifically related to Monad. As a trader, Hayes clearly doesn’t like the illiquidity of these types of tokens. 

“Given the average token or equity vesting/lock-up period of 12 to 48 months, VCs must model the market’s likely condition when these lock-ups end,” said Gordadze, the Techstars mentor. “The entry price must be strategically set to ensure a profitable exit, making long-term market forecasts crucial for deal finalization.

The Future of Crypto VC Investment in 2026 and Beyond

On the subject of market forecasts, VCs surely love to talk about the future. And for crypto, it seems, given favorable US regulatory actions in 2025, that next year could be much better. Is that just investor hopium? 

Maybe. But rose colored (or green) glasses are always the default mode for VCs. Optimism, of course, always wins. 

“2026 is shaping up as a year defined by real utility – DeFi will make a strong comeback with enhanced momentum and maturity and the stablecoin moment becomes background,” noted  Deiss. Stablecoins certainly had a moment this year, although they are the boring infrastructure that’s going to power, say, the next Polymarket, which uses USDC on Polygon as its main coin and chain. 

“Now that stablecoins are finally going mainstream and banks are rushing to get in, the next level will be services for users that are powered by these assets behind the scenes,” noted Gordadze.

The most significant growth areas will likely reside in the intersection of AI/Blockchain and RWA/Blockchain, as these represent the greatest opportunities for real-world impact and institutional revenue generation.”

The post How is Crypto VC Investment Trending in a Bearish Market? appeared first on BeInCrypto.

David Sacks, the White House’s AI and crypto czar, said the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act) will enter the US Senate markup stage in January, marking a critical step toward final passage.

Sacks said Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott and Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman have confirmed the timeline, setting the stage for formal review and amendments before a full Senate vote.

We had a great call today with Chairmen @SenatorTimScott and @JohnBoozman who confirmed that a markup for Clarity is coming in January. Thanks to their leadership, as well as @RepFrenchHill and @CongressmanGT in the House, we are closer than ever to passing the landmark crypto…

— David Sacks (@davidsacks47) December 18, 2025

What Happens in January

The update signals growing momentum behind the bill after the House advanced it earlier in 2025. 

If the Senate process stays on schedule, lawmakers could finalize a reconciled version later in the year. This will position the CLARITY Act as the central market-structure law for US crypto markets.

During markup, Senate committees will review the House-passed text line by line. Lawmakers will propose amendments, debate policy trade-offs, and vote on changes before sending a revised bill to the Senate floor. 

The process will involve both the Banking Committee, which oversees securities regulation, and the Agriculture Committee, which supervises the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

🚨 The $CLARITY Act — the U.S. $crypto market structure bill — has been delayed until 2026 as Senate action stalls. This means federal regulatory clarity for digital #assets won’t happen this year, keeping the industry in limbo 📉

No law = more uncertainty
More delay = more… pic.twitter.com/gpuUTMQGUU

— COACHTY (@TheRealTRTalks) December 18, 2025

The goal is to resolve long-standing jurisdictional disputes between the SEC and the CFTC and to strengthen guardrails for spot crypto markets. 

Committee leaders have indicated they want a bill that can attract bipartisan support and avoid reopening enforcement-heavy approaches.

Likely Amendment Focus for the CLARITY Act

Amendments are expected to concentrate on three areas. 

First, asset classification, including tighter criteria for determining when a token qualifies as a digital commodity versus a security. 

Also, investor and consumer protections, such as disclosures, custody standards, and conflict-of-interest rules for exchanges and brokers. 

Lastly, implementation timelines, including how quickly platforms must register and how agencies coordinate supervision during the transition.

Senators may also refine preemption language to limit overlapping state rules without weakening state enforcement authority.

After years of talk, the CLARITY Act now has a real path forward.

The White House and key Senators have finally agreed to move the bill, and they’ve put an actual date on it.

January 2026 is when the Senate plans to formally debate it, amend it, and try to push it toward… https://t.co/Uq9BIOQGLx pic.twitter.com/251ij1zE5i

— Milk Road (@MilkRoad) December 18, 2025

How will the CLARITY Act Change US Crypto Markets in 2026?

If enacted, the CLARITY Act would reshape the US crypto market in 2026. It would place spot digital commodity markets under CFTC oversight, end years of regulatory ambiguity, and create a federal registration regime for exchanges, brokers, and dealers. 

For the industry, this would reduce legal uncertainty, support institutional participation, and shift compliance from courtroom battles to rule-based supervision.

For regulators, the law would replace fragmented enforcement with clearer mandates. 

Most importantly, for the market, it would mark the United States’ first comprehensive framework for crypto trading. This would potentially restore competitiveness with jurisdictions that already offer regulatory clarity.

The post US Crypto CLARITY Act Set for Senate Markup in January appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Crypto markets are approaching 2026 after a year defined by sharp volatility, fresh all-time highs, profit-taking, and a visible phase of maturation. 

Bitcoin strengthened its role as an institutional reserve asset, while Ethereum and XRP entered corrective phases following strong prior trends marked by uncertainty and rapid price swings.

On the macro side, the US Federal Reserve began its first rate cuts, labor market data showed early signs of cooling, and capital flows into digital assets became increasingly selective. 

As a result, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP now sit near technically significant levels. The central question for 2026 is whether global liquidity expands or pauses—and whether that liquidity flows decisively into cryptoassets.

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Analysis and 2026 Outlook

Bitcoin reached a new all-time high above $126,000 in 2025, driven largely by sustained institutional adoption. Corporations and sovereign entities continued to add BTC to their reserves. 

MicroStrategy accumulated roughly 660,645 BTC, while El Salvador increased its holdings to 7,502 BTC. 

Meanwhile, spot Bitcoin ETFs kept absorbing supply, reinforcing Bitcoin’s role as a long-term macro asset.

From a technical perspective, Bitcoin’s broader bullish structure remains intact despite losing the ascending channel that guided price action from March 2024 to November 2025.

Bank of Japan is about to hike rates with 0.25% on December 19

Bitcoin dumped the last 3 times the BoJ hiked interest rates:

March 2024 → -27%
July 2024 → -30%
January 2025 → -30% pic.twitter.com/GNjHyUIV3d

— Quinten | 048.eth (@QuintenFrancois) December 15, 2025

After setting its latest ATH, BTC corrected into a key demand zone near $80,000.

Resistance around $110,000 continues to cap upside attempts. Trading volume has slowed, a pattern typically associated with corrective phases rather than trend reversals.

Bullish Scenario

A strong reaction from the accumulated demand zone near $75,000 could set the stage for a renewed long-term advance toward $150,000–$170,000. 

A sustained breakout above the $100,000–$115,000 resistance cluster would confirm trend continuation, supported by renewed retail and institutional participation.

Range-Bound Scenario

If upside momentum remains limited, Bitcoin may spend much of 2026 trading between $70,000 and $110,000. 

This would represent a prolonged accumulation phase within the broader cycle, marked by choppy price action and false breakouts while the market waits for clearer monetary catalysts.

Bearish Scenario

A decisive loss of the $75,000–$80,000 demand zone would open the door to a deeper correction. 

In that case, $60,000–$40,000 could act as a rebalancing zone without invalidating Bitcoin’s long-term macro structure.

Ethereum (ETH) Price Analysis and 2026 Outlook

Ethereum experienced a pivotal year in 2025, reaching a new all-time high near $4,955. 

Network upgrades such as Pectra and Fusaka improved scalability and efficiency, while spot Ethereum ETFs began gaining traction. Staking activity and DeFi usage continued to underpin Ethereum’s fundamental value.

On the weekly chart, ETH remains within a broad long-term ascending channel. After printing new highs in August 2025, price corrected toward a relatively weak demand zone around $2,900.

While the long-term structure remains constructive, momentum has slowed compared to previous expansion phases. Short- and medium-term structures still lean bearish.

Ethereum whales on Binance are bidding the dip hard 🐋

57K ETH (~$159M) in buy orders are stacked just below the current price. pic.twitter.com/8GeVUmsskU

— Maartunn (@JA_Maartun) December 18, 2025

Bullish Scenario

A sustained recovery could allow Ethereum to target $5,700 and potentially $6,100, based on historical cycle extensions. 

A clean breakout above the channel resistance near $5,200 would reinforce Ethereum’s position as a leading asset in 2026.

Consolidation Scenario

If demand remains moderate, ETH could consolidate between $4,300 and $2,200. This range would signal equilibrium between buyers and sellers, framing 2026 as a transitional year rather than a breakout phase.

Bearish Scenario

A breakdown below the channel support would expose Ethereum to a deeper move toward $2,250–$1,600, an area that aligns with historical demand levels critical to preserving the long-term structure.

XRP Price Analysis and 2026 Outlook

Ripple ends 2025 with significantly improved regulatory clarity following a favorable resolution to its legal dispute with the SEC. 

This outcome revived institutional interest and reopened discussions around XRP ETF products, improving its standing within traditional financial markets. 

Large-scale institutional adoption could trigger a demand shock capable of pushing XRP to new highs.

Technically, XRP is in a corrective phase after a strong rally that peaked near $3.60 mid-year. Price has since pulled back into key demand zones, while multiple supply areas continue to limit short-term rebounds. 

This behavior aligns with a broader trend-regression phase.

Bullish Scenario

If 2026 proves favorable for Ripple’s institutional adoption, XRP could advance toward $3.83–$4.53. To achieve this, price must reclaim the $2.40 level and sustain buying volume, supported by positive regulatory developments.

Range-Bound Scenario

Should uncertainty persist, XRP may trade sideways between $3.00 and $1.60. While this reflects hesitation around banking adoption, it would also represent a healthy consolidation phase ahead of a future cycle.

Bearish Scenario

A breakdown below key supports could send XRP toward $1.20–$0.90. Such a move would imply the loss of critical levels, including the psychological $1.60 mark, alongside a cooling of speculative interest.

Final Take: Will 2026 Be a Lost Year or a Launchpad?

Price projections for 2026 point to a market balancing on a narrow edge. Bitcoin continues to display the strongest structural resilience, while Ethereum and XRP remain more dependent on specific catalysts. 

Upside potential exists, but it requires clear technical confirmation and fundamental follow-through.

One trend is undeniable: crypto markets are transitioning into a more mature phase. Both gains and drawdowns have become more controlled, with volatility compressing compared to earlier cycles.

A renewed bull run will depend on a more accommodative macro environment, deeper institutional adoption, and consistent regulatory clarity. 

If those forces align, 2026 may ultimately be remembered not as a stagnant year, but as the foundation for the next wave of all-time highs.

The post Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP: Which Crypto Will Shine the Most in 2026? appeared first on BeInCrypto.

US inflation delivered its biggest downside surprise in months. Yet instead of a sustained rally, both Bitcoin and US equities sold off sharply during US trading hours. 

The price action puzzled many traders, but the charts point to a familiar explanation rooted in market structure, positioning, and liquidity rather than macro fundamentals.

What Happened After the US CPI Release

Headline CPI slowed to 2.7% year over year in November, well below the 3.1% forecast. Core CPI also undershot expectations at 2.6%. 

On paper, this was one of the most risk-positive inflation prints of 2025. Markets initially reacted as expected. Bitcoin jumped toward the $89,000 area, while the S&P 500 spiked higher shortly after the data hit.

That rally did not last.

Within roughly 30 minutes of the CPI print, Bitcoin reversed sharply. After tagging intraday highs near $89,200, BTC sold off aggressively, sliding toward the $85,000 area. 

The S&P 500 followed a similar path, with sharp intraday swings that erased much of the initial CPI-driven gains before stabilizing.

This synchronized reversal across crypto and equities matters. It signals that the move was not asset-specific or sentiment-driven. It was structural.

Bitcoin Taker Sell Volume Tells the Story

The clearest clue comes from Bitcoin’s taker sell volume data.

On the intraday chart, large spikes in taker sell volume appeared precisely as Bitcoin broke lower. Taker sells reflect market orders hitting the bid — aggressive selling, not passive profit-taking. 

These spikes clustered during US market hours and coincided with the fastest part of the decline.

The weekly view reinforces this pattern. Similar sell-side bursts appeared multiple times over the past week, often during high-liquidity windows, suggesting repeated episodes of forced or systematic selling rather than isolated retail exits.

This behavior is consistent with liquidation cascades, volatility-targeting strategies, and algorithmic de-risking — all of which accelerate once price starts moving against leveraged positions.

Why ‘Good News’ Became the Trigger

The CPI report did not cause the selloff because it was bad. It caused volatility because it was good.

Softer inflation briefly increased liquidity and tightened spreads. That environment allows large players to execute size efficiently. 

Bitcoin’s initial spike likely ran into a dense zone of resting orders, stop losses, and short-term leverage. Once upside momentum stalled, price reversed, triggering long liquidations and stop-outs.

As liquidations hit, forced market selling amplified the move. This is why the decline accelerated rather than unfolded gradually.

The S&P 500’s intraday whipsaw shows a similar dynamic. Rapid downside and recovery patterns during macro releases often reflect dealer hedging, options gamma effects, and systematic flows adjusting risk in real time.

🚨 This is insane level of manipulation.

8:30 a.m.

CPI came in lower than expected.

– On the bullish CPI news, Bitcoin pumped $2217, from $87,260 to $89,477 in just 60 minutes.
– $70B added to the crypto market.
– $94 million worth of shorts liquidated.

10:00 a.m.

The… pic.twitter.com/FmJqLDKbBw

— Bull Theory (@BullTheoryio) December 18, 2025

Does This Look Like Manipulation?

The charts do not prove manipulation. But they show patterns commonly associated with stop-runs and liquidity extraction:

• Fast moves into obvious technical levels
  
• Reversals immediately after liquidity improves
  
• Large bursts of aggressive selling during breakdowns
  
• Tight alignment with US trading hours

These behaviors are typical in highly leveraged markets. The most likely drivers are not individuals, but large funds, market makers, and systematic strategies operating across futures, options, and spot markets. Their goal is not narrative control, but execution efficiency and risk management.

In crypto, where leverage remains high and liquidity thins quickly outside key windows, these flows can look extreme.

🚨 THEY ARE MANIPULATING BITCOIN AGAIN AND I HAVE EVIDENCE!!!

Bitcoin dumped $4000 in minutes…

and almost no one actually understands what just took place.

It’s the same group of players manipulating the price… AGAIN.

Stop looking at charts, YOU NEED TO CHECK THE OUTFLOWS.… pic.twitter.com/ymU4kXdWvb

— NoLimit (@NoLimitGains) December 18, 2025

What This Means Going Forward

The selloff does not invalidate the CPI signal. Inflation genuinely cooled, and that remains supportive for risk assets over time. What the market experienced was a short-term positioning reset, not a macro reversal.

In the near term, traders will watch whether Bitcoin can stabilize above recent support and whether sell-side pressure fades as liquidations clear. 

If taker sell volume subsides and price holds, the CPI data may still assert itself over the coming sessions.

The post US Inflation Cooled, So Why Did Bitcoin and Stocks Sell Off? appeared first on BeInCrypto.