The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a crypto wallet and custody guide investor bulletin on Friday, outlining best practices and common risks of different forms of crypto storage for the investing public.
The SEC’s bulletin lists the benefits and risks of different methods of crypto custody, including self-custody versus allowing a third-party to hold digital assets on behalf of the investor.
If investors choose third-party custody, they should understand the custodian’s policies, including whether it “rehypothecates” the assets held in custody by lending them out or if the service provider is commingling client assets in a single pool instead of holding the crypto in segregated customer accounts.
The Bitcoin supply broken down by the type of custodial arrangement. Source: River
Crypto wallet types were also outlined in the SEC guide, which broke down the pros and cons of hot wallets, which are connected to the internet, and offline storage in cold wallets.
Hot wallets carry the risk of hacking and other cybersecurity threats, according to the SEC, while cold wallets carry the risk of permanent loss if the offline storage fails, a storage device is stolen, or the private keys are compromised.
The SEC’s crypto custody guide highlights the sweeping regulatory change at the agency, which was hostile to digital assets and the crypto industry under former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s leadership.
The crypto community celebrates the SEC guide as a transformational change in the agency
“The same agency that spent years trying to kill the industry is now teaching people how to use it,” Truth For the Commoner (TFTC) said in response to the SEC’s crypto custody guide.
The SEC is providing “huge value” to crypto investors by educating prospective crypto holders about custody and best practices, according to Jake Claver, the CEO of Digital Ascension Group, a company that provides services to family offices.
SEC regulators published the guide one day after SEC Chair Paul Atkins said that the legacy financial system is moving onchain.
On Thursday, the SEC gave the green light to the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), a clearing and settlement company, to begin tokenizing financial assets, including equities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and government debt securities.
Strategy held on to its place in the Nasdaq 100 during this year’s rebalancing, securing its first successful test in the benchmark since joining the index in December last year.
The company, previously known as MicroStrategy, has become the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin (BTC). With its latest purchase of 10,624 Bitcoin for around $962.7 million last week, Strategy’s total holdings stand at 660,624 BTC, worth nearly $60 billion.
The latest Nasdaq 100 adjustment saw Biogen, CDW, GlobalFoundries, Lululemon, On Semiconductor and Trade Desk removed from the tech-heavy gauge, while Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Ferrovial, Insmed, Monolithic Power Systems, Seagate and Western Digital entered the lineup, according to Reuters.
Despite remaining in the index, Strategy shares ended the day down by 3.74%. The company’s shares has been in a downtrend as of late, losing over 15% in the past month alone.
Strategy shares down 15% over the past month. Source: Google Finance
Strategy’s inclusion in the Nasdaq 100 stands out not only because its business model is unusual, but because of the mounting debate over whether such companies resemble operating firms or de facto investment vehicles.
Those questions intensified this year as MSCI began reviewing how to classify companies that raise capital primarily to acquire digital assets. The index provider has considered excluding firms whose crypto holdings exceed 50% of total assets, a move that could hit Strategy as early as January. JPMorgan warned that as much as $2.8 billion worth of Strategy shares held by passive funds could be forced to sell if MSCI follows through.
Strategy’s leadership has pushed back. In a letter to MSCI dated Dec. 10, Executive Chairman Michael Saylor and CEO Phong Le argued that the company is not a passive Bitcoin accumulator but an operating enterprise that issues preferred stock and other instruments to finance new purchases.
Strategy recently raised $1.44 billion to counter market concerns over its ability to meet dividend and debt obligations if the share price fell further. “There was FUD that was put out there that we wouldn’t be able to meet our dividend obligations, which causes people to pile into a short Bitcoin bet,” Le said.
At the Bitcoin MENA event in Abu Dhabi, Saylor also said he has been meeting with sovereign wealth funds, bankers and family offices to position Bitcoin as “digital capital” and “digital gold.” He argued that a new category of “digital credit” built on top of Bitcoin can deliver yield without the volatility typically associated with the asset, underscoring his push to bring institutional capital into the space.
TIX, a settlement layer for the live-events industry, has emerged from stealth to apply decentralized finance (DeFi) lending and onchain settlement to a sector that has long functioned like a private credit market.
To date, the TIX network has facilitated over $8 million in ticket sales and generated approximately $2 million in venue financing. The activity has been conducted through KYD Labs, with TIX expected to launch on the Solana mainnet by mid-2026, the company told Cointelegraph.
TIX, led by Ticketmaster and Buildspace veterans, serves as the underlying settlement and financing layer for KYD Labs, a consumer-facing ticketing platform that raised $7 million in a funding round led by venture firm a16z.
While KYD Labs provides the interface used by venues and artists to sell tickets and manage events, TIX handles the onchain infrastructure, tokenizing tickets and enabling financing, settlement and repayment flows.
TIX aims to address what it describes as the live events industry’s credit-and-debt model, in which venues and promoters rely on upfront financing before any tickets are sold. The company does so by turning tickets into onchain real-world assets (RWAs).
In practice, the model is designed to allow venues to access upfront capital from multiple sources, enable artists to sell tickets directly and offer fans lower fees alongside more transparent resale policies.
While blockchain-based settlement layers are seeking to disrupt Ticketmaster’s dominance in the ticketing industry, the company itself has been experimenting with the technology for several years.
Since then, Ticketmaster has issued nearly 100 million NFT tickets, according to a report from TheStreet, which cited the continued integration of NFT technology across several apps as evidence of sustained adoption despite the waning hype since 2022.
Meanwhile, proponents of RWA technology argue it offers clear benefits for ticketing, including the ability to mint tickets as unique digital assets that reduce fraud and counterfeiting. Tokenization can also introduce greater transparency and control into secondary resale markets.
While NFTs and RWAs can overlap, they describe distinct concepts. NFTs refer to a token’s technical format, while RWAs describe the underlying asset or rights being represented. In ticketing, an RWA can be implemented using NFTs to tokenize access.
The failure of the bulls to maintain Bitcoin above $94,050 has renewed selling, opening the doors for a fall to $87,700 and then to $84,000.
Most major altcoins remain under pressure and are threatening to challenge their recent lows.
Bitcoin (BTC) is stuck inside a narrow range between $94,588 and $89,260, indicating indecision between the bulls and the bears. The prediction markets do not expect the bulls to take charge in the near term, giving only a 30% chance of BTC hitting $100,000 before Jan. 1.
According to crypto analyst Darkfost, BTC is struggling to recover due to a lack of incoming liquidity, specifically from stablecoins. The crypto markets will have to attract new liquidity for BTC to start a “genuine bullish trend.”
Crypto market data daily view. Source: TradingView
Some analysts expect BTC to fall below the recent low of $80,600. Trader Roman said in a post on X that BTC is likely to drop to $76,000, and that falling interest rates will not be able to prevent it.
What are the crucial support and resistance levels to watch out for in BTC and major altcoins? Let’s analyze the charts of the top 10 cryptocurrencies to find out.
Bitcoin price prediction
BTC’s recovery is facing resistance at the 50% Fibonacci retracement level of $94,050, indicating that the bears are active at higher levels.
There is support at $87,700 and then at $84,000. A break below the $84,000 level opens the gates for a retest of the Nov. 21 low of $80,600.
Buyers will need to push the Bitcoin price above the $94,050 resistance level to signal strength. The BTC/USDT pair may then climb to the 50-day simple moving average (SMA)($97,411).
The up move is expected to face significant selling in the zone between the 50-day SMA and the psychological level of $100,000. A close above $100,000 indicates that the bulls are back in the game.
Ether price prediction
Ether (ETH) turned down from the $3,350 level on Thursday, and the bears are attempting to sustain the price below the 20-day exponential moving average (EMA) ($3,125).
If they succeed, it indicates that the bears remain sellers on rallies. The Ether price may drop to $2,907 and later to $2,716. The ETH/USDT pair could resume its downtrend on a close below $2,623.
Conversely, if the price turns up from the current level and breaks above the $3,350 resistance, it signals the start of a new upward move. The pair may rise to $3,918 and then to $4,250.
BNB price prediction
BNB (BNB) has been trading near the 20-day EMA ($892) for the past few days, indicating equilibrium between buyers and sellers.
The flattish 20-day EMA and the RSI just below the midFpoint suggest a range-bound action between $791 and $1,020 for the next few days.
Sellers will have to sink the BNB price below the $791 level to start the next leg of the downtrend. The BNB/USDT pair may then collapse to $730. On the upside, a close above $1,020 indicates that the correction may be over. The pair could then rally to $1,182, which may act as a resistance.
XRP price prediction
XRP (XRP) remains stuck inside the descending channel pattern, indicating that the bears are in control.
The bulls will have to propel the XRP price above the 50-day SMA ($2.25) to indicate strength. The XRP/USDT pair may then rally to the downtrend line, which is a vital level to watch out for. A close above the downtrend line signals that the bulls are back in the driver’s seat.
The bears will have to sink the price below the $1.98 level to clear the path for a drop to the support line and then to the critical level at $1.61.
Solana price prediction
The long tail on Solana’s (SOL) Thursday candlestick shows that the bulls are aggressively defending the $126 level.
The bulls will have to propel the Solana price above the 50-day SMA ($152) to signal a potential trend change in the near term. The SOL/USDT pair could then ascend to $172 and subsequently to $190.
On the other hand, a break and close below the $126 level signals the resumption of the downward move. The pair may plummet to $100 and, after that, to the strong support at $95.
Dogecoin price prediction
Dogecoin (DOGE) turned down from the 20-day EMA ($0.14) on Wednesday, indicating that the bears are selling on every minor rally.
If the price continues lower and closes below the $0.13 support, it signals the start of a new downward move. The DOGE/USDT pair could then plunge to the Oct. 10 low of $0.10, which is likely to attract buyers.
The first sign of strength will be a break and close above the 20-day EMA. That shows the bulls are fiercely defending the $0.14 level. The Dogecoin price may climb to the 50-day SMA ($0.16) and later to $0.19.
Cardano price prediction
Cardano (ADA) turned down from the breakdown level of $0.50 on Wednesday, indicating that the bears are trying to flip the level into resistance.
The flattish 20-day EMA ($0.44) and the relative strength index (RSI) in the negative territory indicate a slight edge to the bears. There is support at $0.40 and then at $0.37. If sellers pull the Cardano price below $0.37, the ADA/USDT pair could tumble to $0.31 and potentially to the Oct. 10 intraday low of $0.27.
Buyers will have to push and maintain the price above the $0.50 level to signal a comeback. The pair could then rally to $0.60 and later to $0.70.
The bulls will strive to drive the Bitcoin Cash price above the $607 level and challenge the overhead resistance at $651. Sellers are expected to defend the $651 level with all their might, as a break above it opens the doors for a rally to $720.
The bears will have to sink the price below the moving averages to gain the upper hand. If they manage to do that, it suggests that the BCH/USDT pair could range between $607 and $443 for some time.
Hyperliquid price prediction
Sellers attempted to pull Hyperliquid (HYPE) lower on Thursday, but the long tail on the candlestick shows buying by the bulls.
The HYPE/USDT pair could reach the 20-day EMA ($31.91), which is a critical level to watch out for. If the price turns down sharply from the 20-day EMA, the bears will again attempt to resume the downtrend.
On the contrary, a break above the 20-day EMA signals that the selling pressure is reducing. The Hyperliquid price could then rise to the 50-day SMA ($37.23). A close above the 50-day SMA suggests the corrective phase may be over.
Chainlink price prediction
Chainlink (LINK) has been trading between the moving averages for the past few days, indicating a balance between supply and demand.
The tight range trading is likely to be followed by a range expansion. If the price breaks and closes above the 50-day SMA ($14.71), it signals that the bulls have overpowered the bears. The LINK/USDT pair could then climb to $19.06.
Alternatively, a sharp dip below the 20-day EMA ($13.84) indicates that the bears remain in control. The Chainlink price could then plummet to the solid support at $10.94, where the buyers are expected to step in.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. While we strive to provide accurate and timely information, Cointelegraph does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information in this article. This article may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Cointelegraph will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your reliance on this information.
Pakistan’s authorities are moving to regulate major global cryptocurrency exchanges, issuing preliminary clearances to platforms including Binance to set up shop in the country.
The Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) has granted no objection certificates (NOCs) to Binance and HTX, paving the way for the exchanges to register locally and pursue full licensing, the regulator announced on X on Friday.
The NOCs aim to ensure Pakistan’s phased approach to regulating crypto asset service providers aligns with the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) policies of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), PVARA said.
“Strong governance, AML and CFT compliance remain central as Pakistan builds a trusted digital asset ecosystem,” the announcement noted.
CZ, Justin Sun meet with Pakistan’s finance minister
After receiving the NOCs, Binance and HTX are officially authorized to engage with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), set up local subsidiaries and prepare their full license applications once regulations are finalized.
“The introduction of this structured NOC framework demonstrates Pakistan’s commitment to responsible innovation and financial discipline,” Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said in a local report by ProPakistani.
As part of the initial engagement, Aurangzeb met with Binance CEO Richard Teng, Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, and Tron founder Justin Sun, who currently serves as a global adviser to HTX.
PVARA chairman Bilal bin Saqib, Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and HTX adviser Justin Sun (from left to right). Source: PVARA
“A meaningful milestone for Binance in Pakistan,” Binance CEO Teng said in a post on X, adding that the exchange has obtained an AML registration from PVARA, moving it closer to full licensing and deeper local collaboration.
“Looking forward to building a safe, transparent and future-ready digital-asset ecosystem together,” he added.
PVARA’s announcement came months after the authority held its first board meeting in August, proposing an initial licensing framework as well as taxation policies and international engagement.
PVARA Chairman Saqib, who serves as the minister of state for digital assets, has urged the country’s authorities to take Bitcoin (BTC) and blockchain seriously as potential foundations for Pakistan’s future financial infrastructure.
“We see Bitcoin, digital assets, and blockchain not just as speculation but as infrastructure. Not as noise, but as a foundation of a new financial rail for the global south,” Saqib stated at the Bitcoin MENA Conference on Tuesday.
“Only four times in the last five years has ETH traded very close to the realized price of whales holding at least 100k ETH,” said CryptoQuant analyst Onchain in its latest Quicktake analysis, adding:
“Two occurred during the 2022 bear market, while the remaining two took place this year.”
Ether’s price technicals are painting a V-shaped recovery chart pattern on the weekly chart, as shown below.
ETH is retesting the 50-week simple moving average (SMA) at $3,300. Bulls need to push the price above this level to increase the chances of the price rising to the neckline at $4,955 and completing the V-shaped pattern.
Such a move would represent a 53% increase from the current price.
Several analysts said that ETH has the potential to rally to $5,000 in 2026, with Satoshi Flipper saying a falling wedge pattern projects a massive breakout for the altcoin.
“$4800 $ETH is closer than most think.”
ETH/USD daily chart. Source: Satoshi Flipper
As Cointelegraph reported, Ether’s inverse head-and-shoulders (IH&S) formation against Bitcoin (BTC) points to a potential 80% rally in 2026, translating to an ETH price above $5,800.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. While we strive to provide accurate and timely information, Cointelegraph does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information in this article. This article may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Cointelegraph will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your reliance on this information.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. While we strive to provide accurate and timely information, Cointelegraph does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information in this article. This article may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Cointelegraph will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your reliance on this information.
Institutional investment and clear-cut regulations are laying the foundation for a strong start to 2026 for the wider cryptocurrency industry.
Industry players including Anthony Scaramucci, Kristin Smith, Eli Ben-Sasson, Ian Rodgers, Reeve Collins and Joseph Chalom delivered optimistic outlooks for the new year after a year of positive change, particularly in the United States.
Cointelegraph’s latest LONGITUDE event featured panels focused on Solana’s growth, surging interest in privacy protocols and lessons learned from security incidents in 2025.
From left, Solana Policy Institute president Kristin Smith, Cointelegraph journalist Ciaran Lyons and SkyBridge founder Anthony Scaramucci.
“There’s been a tremendous amount of progress in 2025, an unprecedented amount,” Smith said. The president of the Solana Policy Institute has been intimately involved in crypto-focused discussions in Washington over the past 18 months.
“I think now that the US is catching up, you’re seeing policymakers around the globe figuring out what they need to do to stay competitive and keep crypto within their borders, which is different than trying to keep crypto outside of their borders.”
Scaramucci said educating policymakers remains a key hurdle to helping the traditional financial system adopt innovative protocols running on blockchain rails.
“Kristin has got to go into those rooms, and she’s got to explain to these people why this regulation needs to get passed so that we can retool the financial system and make the system less expensive and more seamless,” Scaramucci said.
The founder of SkyBridge Capital added that existing TradFi systems currently spend over $4 trillion on transaction verification globally. Shifting to protocols like Ethereum and Solana, which currently rank highest for RWA tokenization and onchain activity, could offer unrivalled efficiency and cost savings.
“That’s credit card fees, wire fees, a whole host of different things. If we were able to adopt Solana and use it in the process of tokenizing assets, you could save probably 75% of that, and that could be transformative for the global economy.”
Again, the major hurdle in recent years has been lagging regulations that have scuppered innovation and the ability for institutions to actively explore using blockchain protocols.
“We can do that today. It’s actually fairly easy to issue a share or a bond on a blockchain. The problem is the regulations don’t make sense when it comes to trading those assets. And so that’s a piece that we’re working on,” Smith said.
Scaramucci delivered a bullish parting message, highlighting the intent of America’s biggest financial institutions, BlackRock, Blackstone and JPMorgan, moving to tokenize assets on blockchain protocols.
“Don’t sit here myopically in 2025 and see this short-sighted opportunity. See the exponential technological opportunity that’s coming.”
Privacy in vogue
StarkWare founder Eli Ben-Sasson, who also co-founded the Zcash protocol, engaged in a thought-provoking fireside chat unpacking why privacy protocols have been in vogue in the latter half of 2025.
“I spent several decades of my life thinking about privacy, both the math and then the productization. Privacy is a spectrum.”
Ben-Sasson weighed in on the massive interest in Zcash (ZEC) in 2025. The privacy-focused cryptocurrency has been around since 2016, but saw a massive surge in value and interest off the back of support from various big names in the industry.
“At one extreme, you have the stuff we did at Zcash, which is resistance money level of privacy. If you need to jump on a plane and the government is pursuing you and you need to be fully, you know, off the radar, then you have that,” Ben-Sasson said.
StarkWare co-founder Eli Ben-Sasson.
However, Ben-Sasson said the cost of that luxury is in the user experience. Wallets, programmability and user experience are harder to provide with that level of privacy. The less technical end of the spectrum affords a use case that is in high demand.
“Enterprises come in, and they are going to want a different kind of privacy and also a different kind of privacy from the kind that we did on Zcash. They’re going to want privacy where they, as enterprises, and their customers are shielded away from other customers and from their competitors,” he said.
Security wake-up call
Security was another major talking point at LONGITUDE VII, given the spate of high-profile hacks and security incidents in 2025.
Phemex CEO Federico Variola. Source: Cointelegraph
The theft of $1.6 billion of Ether (ETH) from Bybit in March was a wake-up call for the industry. As Phemex CEO Federico Variola explained, social engineering and unverified access continue to be a major threat to everyday crypto users.
“I think combining the social layer of being a crypto participant with the financial layer, those kind of devices should be never interacting with each other.”
“It’s difficult in crypto because sometimes you need to participate in an airdrop, or like you want your Twitter account to be linked to the MegaETH ICO, for example. Nevertheless, you should be aware that you’re always exposing yourself to significant risk,” Variola said.
Ledger’s chief experience officer Ian Rodgers said that the onus is on service providers and infrastructure builders to think critically about the risks their platforms and users face.
“There is no way to make a risk go to zero. But it is the responsibility to minimize the risk as much as possible, to think about what is the worst thing that could possibly happen, what could go wrong here,” Rodgers said.
Cointelegraph’s exclusive LONGITUDE events will be back on the calendar in 2026, with editions planned for New York, Paris, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Abu Dhabi.
The US Federal Reserve announced its third interest rate cut of the year on Wednesday, lifting US equities while Bitcoin (BTC) slipped before bouncing back.
That dynamic has defined the second half of 2025. Even as capital flows into Bitcoin are increasingly tied to traditional equity investors, the cryptocurrency has continued to diverge from the stock market.
Over the past six months, Bitcoin has fallen almost 18%. Meanwhile, the three major US stock indexes posted strong and consistent gains, with the Nasdaq Composite up 21%, the S&P 500 rising 14.35% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing 12.11%.
Bitcoin has still recorded notable milestones this year, including setting new all-time highs and avoiding the typical “red September” for the third year in a row.
Here’s how Bitcoin’s divergence from stocks has widened through the second half of the year.
Bitcoin moved alongside the three major equity indexes in the third quarter but started to decouple in Q4.
July: GENIUS Act lifts crypto
July 2025 was defined by strong equity performance and a resilient risk appetite that persisted despite significant tariff announcements.
Early-July trade rhetoric caused brief turbulence, but markets quickly shifted their focus back to corporate earnings and underlying growth fundamentals.
On July 9, AI chip giant Nvidia became the first company to reach a $4-trillion valuation. On the same day, equities shrugged off trade-related shocks as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted fresh record highs even after the US announced 50% tariffs on copper.
Bitcoin ended July up 8.13%, marking its strongest monthly performance in the second half of the year to date, including December. Crypto markets strengthened after US President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law, injecting fresh optimism into the sector, particularly for stablecoin-related businesses.
Equities crab walk, while Treasurys and stablecoins lift crypto. Source: TradingView
Corporate adoption also remained a key theme, with companies continuing to add Bitcoin to their balance sheets as part of digital asset treasury strategies. By July, interest in other major cryptocurrencies, including Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL), also began to pick up.
August: Powell’s speech powers Ether’s ATH
August was driven by rising expectations that the Federal Reserve would soon cut interest rates. Those hopes fueled a broad rally across traditional markets, while crypto moved even faster. Bitcoin surged to a new all-time high of around $124,000 on Aug. 14 as the US dollar weakened amid rising trade tensions.
The Jackson Hole Economic Symposium then brought markets’ attention back to monetary policy. On Aug. 22, Fed Chair Jerome Powell delivered a dovish signal, suggesting that rate cuts were still possible later in the year, pushing Ether to a new all-time high.
The Fed’s dovish signal sends Ether to new highs. Source: CoinGecko
Equities responded positively, but Bitcoin failed to sustain its momentum. The asset saw a sharp but brief uptick immediately after Powell’s speech before resuming its decline. By month’s end, Bitcoin’s post-ATH correction had clearly diverged from traditional markets. Bitcoin closed August down 6.49%.
September: First rate cut of 2025
September has historically been Bitcoin’s weakest month. Along with June, it is one of only two months that posts a negative average monthly return, earning it the nickname “red September.”
In 2025, however, Bitcoin defied that trend, recording its third consecutive positive September. The gain came as the Fed delivered its first rate cut of the year, a 25-basis-point reduction justified by signs of a cooling labor market. Bitcoin ended the month up 5.16%.
Equities also responded positively, extending their third-quarter rally as markets priced in the likelihood of additional monetary easing in October.
Bitcoin, however, faced a new internal challenge. The community became divided over a major network upgrade that would remove limits on how much arbitrary data can be embedded on the blockchain.
Bitcoin Core, the software implementation most widely used by miners and node operators, supported lifting the limit. Those who view non-financial data on Bitcoin as spam pushed back against the change, contributing to increased adoption of Bitcoin Knots as an alternative implementation.
Bitcoin’s upgrade divides the community as Knots nodes rise as alternatives. Source: Coin Dance
Several factors were identified as contributors to the liquidation cascade that sent Bitcoin plunging below $110,000. These included a price glitch on Binance and the industry’s heavy reliance on futures-based trading, which amplified forced liquidations as prices fell.
The immediate catalyst, however, was a social media post by President Trump threatening 100% tariffs on Chinese imports. The comment triggered a sharp sell-off across both crypto and equity markets.
Although October is often referred to as Uptober in the crypto community due to its historically strong performance, 2025 proved to be an exception. Bitcoin snapped a five-year streak of positive Octobers and ended the month down 3.69% even as major stock indexes recovered from the trade-related shock.
Trump’s social post sparks a crypto liquidation frenzy. Source: Donald Trump
By the end of the month, the Fed delivered its second consecutive rate cut, lowering the federal funds rate by another 25 basis points. Meanwhile, the US government remained shut throughout October, extending what became the longest government shutdown in history.
November: End of the US government shutdown
October may carry the nickname Uptober, but November has historically been Bitcoin’s strongest month, posting an average gain of 41.12% — more than double October’s average return of about 20%.
In 2025, November proved to be Bitcoin’s worst-performing month of the year, with the asset falling 17.67%. Selling pressure intensified throughout the month, pushing Bitcoin below the $100,000 mark by mid-November.
November is historically Bitcoin’s best month, but it was the worst month of 2025. Source: CoinGlass
The divergence from equities was pronounced. Stock markets traded largely sideways as the US government shutdown came to an end. Investors remained cautious amid concerns over a potential AI-driven bubble. Some of those fears were eased later in the month after Nvidia reported record earnings for the third quarter, helping stabilize sentiment across technology stocks.
Bitcoin’s year-end target slashed
So far, Bitcoin is up about 2% in December, with major equity indexes also posting moderate gains. Bitcoin’s average December return currently stands at 4.54% at the time of writing.
While the holiday season has been relatively quiet for Bitcoin in recent years, history suggests the crypto market does not necessarily slow down during the festivities.
In December 2020, for example, Bitcoin surged nearly 47%, even as market-shaking news emerged from the US Securities and Exchange Commission: the launch of a years-long lawsuit against Ripple Labs and its executives.
This year, much of the optimism surrounding Bitcoin’s potential year-end rally has faded. Several market watchers have lowered their price targets for the cryptocurrency, including Standard Chartered.
The bank had previously forecast a year-end price of $200,000 for Bitcoin, but on Monday, it revised that target down to $100,000. Standard Chartered has also delayed its longer-term forecast for Bitcoin reaching $500,000, pushing the target from 2028 to 2030.
XRP derivatives are dominated by bears as the funding rate turns deeply negative and open interest remains stagnant.
XRP ETF volumes and declining XRP Ledger TVL show fading interest in the XRP ecosystem, reducing the chances of a near-term price rebound.
XRP (XRP) fell 9% over two days after being rejected at $2.18 on Tuesday. The slide below $2 created brief turmoil in derivatives markets as the cost of holding leveraged bearish positions jumped to a two-month high. Traders worry that XRP could weaken further given the slowdown in exchange-traded fund (ETF) activity and the decline in XRP Ledger deposits.
The funding rate on XRP perpetual futures fell to -20% on Thursday, the lowest since the Oct. 10 crash. Negative readings indicate that sellers (shorts) pay buyers (longs) to maintain open positions, signaling a near-total lack of demand from bullish traders. In more balanced conditions, the rate typically ranges from 6% to 12% to account for the cost of capital, with longs covering that fee.
Such deeply negative funding rates are rare and usually short-lived. Some analysts even view them as potential reversal signals, though most historical examples emerged during flash crashes rather than extended corrective phases. In addition, falling appetite for leverage has led some to question whether traders have simply stepped back from XRP.
XRP futures aggregate open interest, USD. Source: CoinGlass
Aggregate open interest in XRP futures stood at $2.8 billion on Thursday, unchanged from the prior week. Still, leveraged positions have not recovered the $3.2 billion level seen in late November. The data suggests XRP bears are reluctant to increase exposure, especially after the token has already dropped 45% since reaching $3.66 in July.
Declining XRP ETF activity and fading TVL on XRP Ledger
Part of the muted appetite for bullish XRP positions can be tied to declining activity in the US-listed XRP ETFs. Traders entered November with strong expectations, but inflows and trading activity dropped sharply after just three weeks, leaving assets under management stuck near $3.1 billion, according to CoinShares data. For comparison, Solana ETFs hold $3.3 billion in assets.
US-listed XRP ETF daily volumes on Thursday, USD. Source: CoinGlass
Daily volume on US-listed XRP ETFs rarely exceeds $30 million, which significantly dampens interest from institutional desks. Fading demand for the XRP Ledger is another source of frustration for holders. Even the Ripple-backed stablecoin Ripple USD (RLUSD) relies primarily on the Ethereum network rather than XRP’s infrastructure.
Ripple USD (RUSD) in circulation per blockchain. Source: DefiLlama
More than $1 billion worth of RLUSD has been issued on Ethereum, compared with just $235 million on the XRP Ledger. More concerning, TVL on the XRP Ledger has dropped to its lowest level of 2025 at $68 million, signaling declining engagement with the chain’s decentralized applications (DApps). In contrast, the Stellar blockchain holds $176 million in TVL, despite XLM’s market capitalization being 93% smaller than XRP’s $121.8 billion.
XRP remains under pressure as competing blockchains such as BNB Chain and Solana continue to strengthen their positions in the DApps ecosystem. The limited activity on XRP Ledger creates a reinforcing cycle in which investors have fewer incentives to hold XRP, especially when compared with the native staking yields available on BNB and SOL.
So far, there is no clear evidence that any pickup in XRP Ledger activity would translate into direct benefits for XRP holders.
XRP derivatives point to increased confidence among bears, while onchain metrics and ETF flows show fading interest, particularly from institutional investors. As a result, the odds of sustained bullish momentum for XRP appear low in the near term.
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GitHub has announced significant upgrades to its Actions platform, enhancing performance and flexibility for developers. New features include YAML anchors and expanded caching.
GitHub has unveiled a comprehensive overhaul of its Actions platform, focusing on enhancing performance, workflow flexibility, and reliability, according to a recent announcement by Ben De St Paer-Gotch, Director of Product at GitHub. The improvements are a response to the platform’s massive growth and user demand for faster builds and better security.
Core Architecture Rebuild
In 2025 alone, developers utilized 11.5 billion GitHub Actions minutes, marking a 35% increase from 2024. To accommodate this growth, GitHub has re-architected the core backend services powering its Actions platform. This effort, which began in early 2024, has significantly improved the platform’s scalability and feature delivery, now supporting 71 million jobs daily. This transformation enhances uptime, resilience, and performance while reducing internal throttles.
New Features and Improvements
Among the notable upgrades is the introduction of YAML anchors, a highly requested feature that reduces duplication by allowing developers to define settings once and reference them elsewhere in their workflows. Additionally, GitHub has released non-public workflow templates and increased the depth of reusable workflows, allowing for more modular and scalable CI/CD pipelines.
The platform also now supports larger caches exceeding the previous 10GB limit, addressing a major pain point for projects with extensive dependencies. Furthermore, the number of workflow dispatch inputs has been increased from 10 to 25, providing developers with greater flexibility in building automation workflows.
Future Roadmap and Community Involvement
Looking ahead to 2026, GitHub plans to introduce support for timezones in scheduled jobs and improvements to schedule reliability, alongside other enhancements based on community feedback. The company is actively seeking input from users to shape the future of GitHub Actions, encouraging participation in community discussions to prioritize quality-of-life improvements.
These developments underscore GitHub’s commitment to refining its Actions platform, ensuring it meets the evolving needs of the developer community. For more details, visit the official announcement on the GitHub blog.
