U.today

Jurrien Timmer, the Director of Global Macro at Fidelity Investments, haspredicted that 2026 will be an off-year for Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market cap.

The leading cryptocurrency is currently changing hands at $86,207, struggling to reclaim the $90,000.

"Gold mooned while Bitcoin swooned"

As reported by U.Today, Timmer previously predicted that Bitcoin would be able to outperform gold in the second part of the year.

However, this never happened: the yellow metal mooned while its digital rival swooned during the aforementioned time period.

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Timmer believes that a mean reversion is not in the cards just yet, which essentially means that he expects this trend to continue in the near future.

Has Bitcoin peaked?

Timme believes the $125,000 price point, which Bitcoin hit two months ago in October 2025, was likely the absolute peak of this current cycle.

He argues that hitting $125k after "145 months of rallying" aligns perfectly with historical data. To him, the math shows the bull run is officially over.

He believes Bitcoin will drop from its highs to potentially find "support" between $65,000 and $75,000.

Timmer still likes Bitcoin and is bullish long-term, just not for 2026.

Other crypto predictions

Unlike Fidelity's Timmer, Bitwise is explicitly betting against a 2026 Crypto Winter. In their "Year Ahead" report released this week, they argue that ETFs and institutional adoption have broken the old boom-and-bust patterns. The firm is confident that BTC will be able to reach a new record high next year.

Standard Chartered and Bernstein remained bullish but have significantly lowered their expectations following the October 2025 market peak

In the meantime, as reported by U.Today, investment firm VanEck has refrained from making predictions for 2026.

The market has almost changed to red today, according to CoinStats.

DOGE/USD

The price of DOGE has declined by 4.43% over the last 24 hours.

On the hourly chart, the rate of DOGE is about to break the local resistance of $0.1297. If it happens and the daily bar closes far from that mark, the upward move is likely to continue to the $0.1350 range.

On the bigger time frame, the price of DOGE has made a false breakout of the yesterday's bar low at $0.1248.

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Even if the candle closes far from it, buyers might need more time to accumulate energy for a further move. In this case, the sideways trading in the zone of $0.1250-$0.1350 is the more likely scenario.

From the mid-term point of view, there are no reversal signals so far. The volume is low which means traders are not ready yet to seize the initiative.

DOGE is trading at $0.1305 at press time.

Lookonchain hasspotted an unusual transfer in the Ethereum ecosystem that has sparked widespread speculation on the market. The on-chain analytics platform highlighted that an Ethereum (ETH) wallet, which has been dormant for nine years, was suddenly reactivated and has made some major transactions.

Unusual capital rotation to Bitcoin Cash

Notably, the wallet, which is possibly linked to Erik Voorhees, CEO of ShapeShift exchange, has been busy over the last 14 days.

Since it became active, the wallet has sold a total of 4,619 ETH, valued at about $13.42 million. This large volume has caught the attention of the Ethereum community, given the asset’s price performance lately.

More concerning, however, is that Voorhees has used the proceeds from the sales to buy Bitcoin Cash (BCH). So far, 24,950 BCH has been purchased within the period. The capital rotation from a dormant wallet that suddenly became active has triggered speculation among users online.

Wallet(0x03b5), possibly linked to Erik Voorhees(@ErikVoorhees), has recently swapped $ETH for $BCH after being dormant for 9 years.Over the past 2 weeks, the wallet has exchanged 4,619 $ETH($13.42M) for 24,950 $BCH.https://t.co/8lywWeQdUWhttps://t.co/ZL9LgFPXwv pic.twitter.com/eJPrCm6e5A

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) December 18, 2025

Undoubtedly,Voorhees is an early adopter of Ethereum, and many wondered what could have caused him to dump ETH for BCH. If the wallet actually belongs to Voorhees, likely, he is no longer convinced of Ethereum’s long-term growth trajectory.

It is worth mentioning that when these 4,619 ETH were acquired in 2016, the asset’s highest price peak was around $20. This places the total value of the asset below $100,000 and leaves Voorhees with a profit of over $13.3 million.

Some traders consider the move as bullish for Bitcoin Cash but cautionary for Ethereum. In the last 30 days,Ethereum’s volatility has prevented it from gaining stability above the $3,000 level. The coin has faced rejection at $3,400 and $3,200 within this time frame.

As of press time, Ethereum ischanging hands at $2,947.82, which represents a 2.34% decline in 24 hours. It had briefly flipped the $3,000 resistance to hit $3,025.82 before suffering a correction in the course of the day’s trading.

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Is Ethereum witnessing systemic dump?

Meanwhile, some community members have dismissed the capital rotation by this wallet from Ethereum to Bitcoin Cash as an isolated case. They maintain that this alone should not spark a volatility narrative for the leading altcoin.

However, as U.Today reported, Samson Mow, CEO of JAN3, within the last 24 hours, has alsoliquidated all Bitmine Ethereum holdings and pivoted to Bitcoin. Mow had previously diversified his portfolio and bet on Ethereum as a treasury asset.

Market analysts are keenly watching to see how this impacts Ethereum and if it might trigger panic selling on an already volatile market.

According to CoinGlass data, Cardano has seen spot outflows of $49.95 million, which translates to 132,406,417 ADA.

Notably, in the last 24 hours, Cardano's spot outflows have exceeded inflows (which came in at $47.32 million), a positive signal even as the crypto market sell-off deepens.

Spot outflows from exchanges might suggest buying or a move to cold wallets, with the intention not of selling immediately but rather to hold it for a longer period.

At press time, ADA was down 2.21% in the last 24 hours to $0.376, following a drop in the broader crypto market as investors weighed newly released inflation data.

Cardano stands out in ETP inclusion

According to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, Cardano currently stands out as a prominent asset included in most ETPs.

Seyffart made this deduction as he reviewed six crypto index ETPs: the CoinShares Altcoins ETF (DIME), Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (BITW), Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund (GDLC), Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF (NCIQ), 21Shares FTSE Crypto 10 ETF (TTOP) and the 21Shares FTSE Crypto 10 Ex-BTC ETF (TXBC).

The Bloomberg ETF analyst reviewed these crypto ETPs as he made his projection for the year 2026. He highlighted something that came as a surprise to him: Cardano made its way into the six crypto index funds.

"Notable and surprising to me: the only asset that made its way into all 6 of the products i looked at was Cardano (ADA)," Seyffart wrote.

Cardano ETF coming in 2026?

While Cardano has found its way into most crypto index funds, it is yet to have its own spot ETF in the U.S.

This is expected to change in 2026 if a prediction by asset manager Bitwise is fulfilled. Bitwise, in a recent tweet, predicted more than 100 crypto-linked ETFs to launch in the U.S. in the coming year.

Bitwise cited the SEC's generic listing standards published in October, which allow ETF issuers to launch crypto ETFs under a general set of rules, adding that a clearer regulatory roadmap in 2026 might set the stage for "ETF-palooza."

Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart predicts crypto index ETPs as one category to garner a lot of assets, which is expected to come in a lot of shapes and sizes.

The market is slightly coming back to the red zone, even though some coins keep trading in the green area, according to CoinMarketCap.

BTC/USD

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) has risen by 0.65% over the last 24 hours.

On the hourly chart, the rate of BTC is going down after setting a local resistance of $89,150. If the daily bar closes far from that mark, the correction is likely to continue to the $86,000 area soon.

On the longer time frame, none of the sides is dominating, as the price of the main coin is far from support and resistance levels.

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As none of the sides is dominating, there are low chances of seeing sharp moves this week.

From the midterm point of view, the situation is similar. The volume is low, which means neither buyers nor sellers have enough energy. All in all, consolidation in the range of $84,000-$94,000 is the most likely scenario until the end of the month.

Bitcoin is trading at $88,147 at press time.

Shiba Inu's burn rate has crashed to 0% in the last 24 hours, with just over 500 SHIB tokens burned.

According to Shibburn, 552 SHIB tokens were burned in the last 24 hours as the crypto market enters a slowdown phase. The sudden drop has caused the Shiba Inu burn rate to collapse, reaching 0%. This contrasts with a 3,620% surge in burn rate the day before, when over seven million tokens were burned.

HOURLY SHIB UPDATE$SHIB Price: $0.0000075 (1hr 0.60% ▲ | 24hr -3.59% ▼ )Market Cap: $4,415,380,605 (-3.64% ▼)Total Supply: 589,246,091,967,191TOKENS BURNTPast 24Hrs: 552 (0% ▲)Past 7 Days: 2,150,328 (-96.96% ▼)

— Shibburn (@shibburn) December 18, 2025

In the last seven days, the Shiba Inu burn rate also significantly declined. According to the Shibburn rate, 2,150,328 SHIB tokens were burned, marking a 96.96% drop.

Traders seem to be taking a wait-and-see approach as the year 2025 wraps up, with various market metrics declining.

Historically, this often coincides with moments when panic-sellers become exhausted and markets approach a reversal.

SHIB price action

Shiba Inu extended its slide from a high of $0.00000845 on Dec. 13 into the fifth day, reaching a low of $0.00000731 in Thursday's session.

Shiba Inu's U.S. perpetual style futures' launch on Coinbase on Dec. 15 had failed to lift the SHIB price, as it fell alongside the rest of the crypto market.

At press time, Shiba Inu was trading down 4.55% in the last 24 hours to $0.000007344 amid a general decline on the broader crypto market as investors weighed newly released inflation data.

The delayed November consumer price index report, which is the first one issued to the public since the U.S. government shutdown ended last month, showed that the headline annual inflation rate was 2.7%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Ripple USD (RLUSD) has soared in the last 24 hours as users actively engage the asset in transactions. Ripple USD is pushing for dominance as it registered a higher 24-hour growth outlook than its rival, PayPal USD (PYUSD), on the stablecoin market.

Trading volume surge signals growing adoption for RLUSD

According toCoinMarketCap data, Ripple’s USD stablecoin volume surged by 94.27% in the last 24 hours to hit $84.66 million.

This indicates active engagement from users within the time frame. It also suggests that demand for RLUSD is gaining traction among traders in the crypto space.

Given the surge in volume, it also suggests that investors are transacting and taking positions despite the general crypto market stagnation.

Notably, there is increased demand for Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC), with both up in volume by 22% and 24%, respectively.

Meanwhile, Ripple USD stablecoin’s core rival, PayPal USD, as of press time, is underperforming as its volume is up by only 18.53%. This shows that Ripple USD stablecoin is leading in terms of demand from users in the space.

This development might be closely related to Ripple’s recent acquisition of Toronto-based stablecoin payment infrastructure company,Rail.

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The acquisition move, which started in August, was finalized on Dec. 12, and this means that Rail’s 10% B2B stablecoin global market share shifts to RLUSD.

RLUSD’s growth within one year stuns rivals

In order to gain dominance in the crypto space, Ripple’s Reece Merrick recently stated that the goal is to moveRLUSD beyond being a Ripple-only asset. It aims to capture the banking sector and become the preferred blockchain in the space as relates to cross-border payments.

Ripple USD stablecoin’s growth has continued to stun rivals. Launched in December 2024, RLUSD has steadily recorded increased growth and climbed into the top five with a market cap of $1.02 billion within one year.

Interestingly, Ripple CEOBrad Garlinghouse⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, in March 2025, predicted that the asset would hit the top five before the end of the year.

Ripple executive Reece Merrick believes crypto's days of pain are over. The senior executive officer and managing director of Ripple in Middle East and Africa was speaking in the context of the current favorable regulatory climate.

In the most recent positive development shared by crypto reporter Eleanor Terrett on X, the Federal Reserve has withdrawn its 2023 guidance that effectively blocked uninsured banks from becoming Fed members and engaging in crypto. This guidance underpinned the Fed’s denial of Custodia Bank’s master account.

Merrick applauded this move, adding in response to an observation by an XRP community member regarding the current positive regulatory outlook that the pain is in the rearview now.

Absolutely. The pain is behind us now and the future is looking good

— Reece Merrick (@reece_merrick) December 18, 2025

"The pain is behind us now and the future is looking good," Merrick added.

Ripple welcomes major advancements

SBI Ripple Asia and Doppler Finance have revealed a decision to explore collaboration in XRP-based yield infrastructure and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization on the XRP Ledger, advancing institutional-grade finance on XRPL.

Nasdaq-listed VivoPower is expanding its XRP-linked strategy through a new joint venture that aims to buy hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Ripple Labs shares, giving investors indirect exposure to nearly $1 billion worth of underlying XRP.

Vivo Power's digital asset unit, Vivo Federation, has been engaged by South Korea–based asset manager Lean Ventures to source an initial $300 million of Ripple Labs equity.

RLUSD stablecoin turns one

Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin is celebrating one year of its launch. According to Jack McDonald, Ripple's SVP of stablecoins, RLUSD, has gone from virtually zero to a top five USD stablecoin in about a year, highlighting some of the key milestones reached.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse recalled a prediction he made that RLUSD would be a top five USD stablecoin by the end of the year, pointing to the massive growth recorded by the Ripple stablecoin.

According toPeckShieldAlert, an Ethereum whale’s multisig was drained for about $27.3 million after a private key compromise, and the attacker has already funneled about $12.6 million, around 4,100 ETH, through Tornado Cash, while keeping about $2 million in liquid assets on hand.

Etherscan-linked traces shown in the screenshots point to address "0x1fCf1" repeatedly sending out 100 ETH chunks to Tornado Cash, the kind of pattern that looks less like one "panic move" and more like a planned laundering schedule, and the same set of screens also ties the drainer to control over the victim’s multisig.

#PeckShieldAlert A whale's Multisig was drained of ~$27.3M due to a private key compromise.The drainer has laundered $12.6M (4,100 $ETH) via #TornadoCash and retains ~$2M in liquid assets.The drainer also controls the victim's multisig, which maintains a leveraged long… pic.twitter.com/1Ulk4X7bkl

— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) December 18, 2025

That control matters because, per the Aave interface capture, the victim's multisig still sits on a leveragedETH long: about $25 million inEthereum supplied against about $12.3M DAI borrowed, with a health factor displayed around 1.68, meaning the wallet is alive, but not "sleep easy" alive, if ETH slides.

So, which tokens were involved?

The Etherscan wallet overview in the images shows100.3184 ETH worth about $284,640 plus holdings around $1.37 million across 201 tokens, with the most visible major lines being 303.44 WETH, equal to around $860,973; 2,216.36 OKB for another $234,802); 4,928.74 LEO at $36,374) and 151,990.97 FET, which made $30,870 more.

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The near-term risk is not just what was taken but what gets forced: if ETH drops hard enough to pressure that Aave health factor, liquidations can turn collateral into automatic selling, and the attacker does not need to "dump everything" to create this ugly selling wave.

One of the most closely watched, high-stakes wallets on the market has just strengthened a massive Ethereum long. The trader BitcoinOG (1011short) increased his already enormous long exposure by 12,406 ETH, bringing his total ETH holdings to approximately 203,341 ETH, or roughly $577.5 million. Additionally, he continues to own 250,000 SOL ($30 million) and 1,000 BTC ($87 million), both of which are leveraged.

Massive long opened

This wallet has dropped more than $70 million as of now. A few weeks prior, it had over $120 million in unrealized profit. The aggressiveness of the positioning is evident just from that swing. There is no hedge, one-sided exposure and heavy margin usage. This trader is fully committed to a market that has been losing ground and finding it difficult to recover structure.

What impact does this have on Ethereum?

First of all, this does not instantly make ETH more optimistic. Large positions influence markets when they are compelled to respond, not by simply existing. This position can serve as a temporary stabilizer as long as it remains solvent. Liquidation zones are known to market makers, and prices frequently move toward regions where big players either survive or are squeezed. That, in and of itself, may cause short-term bounces or slow the decline.

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Secondly, this makes the liquidation gravity higher. Volatility will rise quickly if ETH keeps declining and gets close to this wallet's liquidation threshold. A forced unwinding of even a portion of an ETH position worth more than $500 million would not be subtle. In just a few minutes, it would spread throughout funding, order books and sentiment. That is the risk side, and it is quite real.

Third, a wider perception that ETH is nearer a local bottom than a breakdown point is reflected in this trade. This thesis is about stabilization rather than a moonshot. The timing is crucial: RSI is not yelling about overextension, momentum is weak but not collapsing, and Ethereum is already hovering close to possible demand zones. Survival is traders' top priority, followed by recovery.

Ethereum is currently in a situation where big money is either going to look extremely wise or face severe consequences. In any case, ETH will not remain silent for very long.

Hyperliquid (HYPE) has dipped by over 9.3% in the last 24 hours. Bullish traders who were betting on a quick recovery have been stunned as HYPE suffered a 19,420% liquidation on its hourly chart. This development is not restricted to Hyperliquid, as most assets are also in the red.

Long-position traders lose massively

CoinGlass data indicate that long-position traders lost $1,300,000 in the last hour following a decline in price.

The sharp drop caused a staggering liquidation for Hyperliquid as traders were betting on a recovery.

However, the broader market appears to have weighed heavily on HYPE’s performance.

Notably, Bitcoin’s repeated failure to stabilize above the $90,000 level has impacted the crypto market. The total crypto market dropped by 0.48%, with altcoins underperforming Bitcoin.

As of press time, Hyperliquidchanged hands at $24.43, which represents a 9.89% decline in the last 24 hours.

HYPE fell from an intraday high of $27.79 to a low of $23.79 before climbing slightly to the current level.

Despite the decline, trading volume is still in the green and up by 46.49% at $534.33 million.

Meanwhile, Hyperliquid’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) is approaching the oversold zone as it stands at 28.93. Market watchers are now monitoring the $24 price, which is a crucial support for the asset.

It is worth mentioning that short-position traders were not spared from the liquidation. Bears experienced a loss of $6,660 within the same one-hour period. This might have been triggered by HYPE breaching the $24 support temporarily before it recovered.

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Bitwise files for Hyperliquid ETF

In the broader Hyperliquid space,Bitwise Asset Management is going ahead with its push for an exchange-traded fund (ETF) application.

It has already submitted an amendment filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with plans to list on the NYSE and the Nasdaq.

The Bitwise filing will allow investors access to HYPE without directly holding the asset. If the SEC approves the application, this might increase the adoption of Hyperliquid and positively impact the price.

The Hyperliquid ecosystem had experienced challenges in November that made itpause withdrawals.

However, it allowed users to make deposits as they monitored a suspected hack on the network. The Bitwise application could serve to rekindle interest from investors.

XRP just colored a liquidation heatmap onCoinGlass in a way that looks almost fake at first glance, as $2.38 million were liquidated, and it was basically all longs, with shorts at only $1,940. That split is where the headline number comes from.

Long liquidations were about 1,226.8 times larger than shorts, which converts to a 122,680% liquidation imbalance, all inside a four-hour window full of a roller coaster ofprice action for XRP.

The bigger heatmap reveals this was targeted — not a full-market wipeout. Others led the purge at $7.23 million, and WLFI showed $3.29 million, while XRP’s $2.38 million sat above FARTCOIN at $1.91 million, ASTER at $1.79 million, ETH at $1.62 million and SOL near $908,000.

Size matters, but the story here is the positioning: bull traders piled into upside bets, and the crypto market only needed a mild push lower to wipe them out.

What happened to XRP price today?

On Binance, XRP/USDT traded through a sell-off-and-stabilize sequence.

The price dropped from the high $1.86 area into the low $1.83s, spent time chopping in that band and then lifted back toward the mid-$1.83s. That lines up with the liquidation profile: late longs chased small bounces, stops stacked under the range, forced selling hit and once it ended, the price could rebound on regular bids.

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If XRP fails to reclaim $1.85-$1.86 soon, the same long-heavy behavior can reload and set up another flush. If XRP does reclaim it, today’s long washout can leave a lighter derivatives book and give the next move more room.

Thursday opens with the market stuck in an awkward spot as Bitcoin’s monthly candle is red and sitting under its mid-Bollinger Band, which keeps the bigger picture tilted bearish and makes the lower band at $52,256 look like a real target instead of a scary headline.

That sets up what matters next in this report, with a serious XRPL infrastructure milestone that got a rare “Wow!” from Ripple’s CTO, SHIB drifting toward its most important floor on the chart and Bitcoin’s bands flashing the kind of downside math traders cannot ignore.

TL;DR

Ripple CTO David Schwartz answered “Wow!” after Common Prefix published what it calls the first full specification of XRPL’s Payment Engine.SHIB is sliding toward $0.00000678, the level tied to the “Black Friday” bottom.BTC is around $87,283 on the monthly chart, under the midband near $88,903, while the lower band sits at $52,256.Ripple CTO reacts "Wow!" to new XRP milestone, and it is not about price

Common Prefix revealed its recent achievement within Ripple’s ecosystem, specifically RippleX, to document XRPL’s Payment Engine and produce the first comprehensive specification of the system.

Interestingly, the announcement calls out the core parts of the engine — path finding, payment execution and multi-currency support — and argues that the complexity was never fully captured in formal documents, which made it harder for developers to understand the system and extend the codebase safely.

The forward-looking piece is even bigger than the documentation drop. Common Prefix says this spec lays the groundwork for formal verification of the Payment Engine, then consensus, and eventually other critical parts of "xrpld."

Wow!

— David 'JoelKatz' Schwartz (@JoelKatz) December 17, 2025

That is why Schwartz’s “Wow!” reads as more than drive-by-like: it is a public signal that the “boring” layer is getting upgraded, and boring is what you want when real money is moving.

To put it in one sentence: long-term reliability starts with thesystems that move XRP, and the first formal specification of the XRPL Payment Engine is now published with Common Prefix.

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SHIB coin teases "Black Friday" revisit

The Shiba Inu coin keeps grinding lower. On a daily chart byTradingView, SHIB/USDT is printing around $0.0000075, with the latest candle showing about -0.13% on the day. If one would try to describe the structure of the SHIB price chart since the Oct. 10 dump, it would be fair to name it as a string of lower highs and lower closes, with brief bounces that fail quickly.

The next level is clearly marked: $0.00000678. That is the zone that ties to "Black Friday," the kind of market flush that once wiped about $40 billion from crypto, and the chart is now close enough that holders do not have to imagine the test — they can just count the candles until it hits.

If $0.00000678 holds forSHIB, the rebound ladder is straightforward on this chart: first reclaim $0.000008, then aim at the higher reference line around $0.00001178. If it does not hold, SHIB is back in the area where buyers previously had to prove they exist — not just post about it on X.

Bitcoin to $52,000 not crazy, Bollinger Bands signal

All this is happening as the leading cryptocurrency,Bitcoin, is doing the quiet part out loud on the biggest chart byTradingView. The current monthly candle shows that at $87,283, BTC is down about 3.4% for the month so far.

More important than the percent is location: the price is below the mid-Bollinger Band, around $88,903, right now, which keeps the bias pointed down until BTC can reclaim that line.

The lower Bollinger Band is sitting at $52,256. That is the "$52,000 isn't crazy" argument in one number: on the monthly time frame, under the midband, often means the lower band becomes the most obvious magnet if the market cannot flip back above the middle line and stay there.

The chart also gives checkpoints on the way down. The amount of $80,600 is a major reference level, with another mark around $74,110 — a breakeven point for Michael Saylor and Strategy. Lose those, and the conversation becomes a lot less about a pullback and a lot more about where the real bottom is.

Crypto market outlook

What matters on the weekend is whether the market can defend its nearest hard levels at the same time because right now the majors are close to spots that can trigger cascading moves.

Bitcoin (BTC): $88,903 is the midband line BTC needs to get back, but below it, $80,600 and $74,110 are the obvious supports traders will keep watching, and the ultimate lower target sits at $52,256.XRP: XRP/USDT is near $1.876, with the day’s range at $1.826-$1.881, but the chart still shows lower highs since the summer peak, so bulls need to keep the price above the latest daily lows to avoid another leg down.Shiba Inu (SHIB): SHIB/USDT is near $0.0000075, with $0.00000678 as the level everyone sees.

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In a remarkable milestone, the first formal specification of the XRPL Payment Engine has now been published. This marks an important step toward bringing formal verification, which is a standard used in banking and aerospace, to core XRP Ledger components.

According to RippleX developer Vito Tumas, Ripple is working with Common Prefix, a blockchain research and development company, to specify and formally verify key components of the XRP Ledger: the Payment Engine and the Consensus Protocol.

Much safer amendments possible, edge cases can be mathematically proven to exist or not. LOVE IT!New additions that become formally verified will have highest security -> much safer XRPL updates.Nothing better than mathematical certainty.the true archaeology is happening pic.twitter.com/2uB24oZDEp

— Vet (@Vet_X0) December 17, 2025

In line with this, Common Prefix has documented XRPL's Payment Engine by publishing the first comprehensive specification of the system. This lays the foundation toward formal verification of the Payment Engine, followed by the Consensus protocol and then all crucial components of "xrpld."

The Payment Engine is the system responsible for all value transfer, including complex operations like crossing the decentralized exchange and rippling. The Consensus Protocol is the heart of the ledger, enabling nodes to reach consensus on a common state.

This initiative marks a crucial step in maturing the XRPL into a platform ready for the next decade of institutional finance and decentralized innovation.

What to expect

In 2012, when the XRP Ledger first went live, its creators had one major goal: to make a new, more efficient blockchain, with the limited resources available.

However, for the foundational components, the single C++ implementation, xrpld — which served as the only definitive source of truth — posed fundamental challenges.

XRP Ledger is advancing with new, highly complex features being continuously proposed and added. However, intricate amendments such as The Lending Protocol, Multi-Purpose Token (MPT) DEX, Batch Transactions and Permissioned DEXes must be integrated into the decades-old logic of the XRP Ledger, which raises questions.

In this light, establishing a formal specification builds a stronger foundation expected to deliver compounding benefits across the entire XRP Ledger ecosystem.

For instance, instead of relying solely on traditional testing, which can only prove the presence of bugs, formal methods might prove the absence of certain classes of bugs.

Currently, the Payment Engine specification is being built upon with formal verification beginning, and that of the Consensus Protocol in 2026.

"Quad witching," one of the most structurally risky days on the calendar, is approaching for Bitcoin. Neither superstition nor X numerology apply here. The price movement of Bitcoin has already been significantly impacted by this recurrent, derivatives-driven event this year.

Bitcoin's time coming

Four times a year, in March, June, September and December, stock index futures, stock index options, single-stock options and index options all expire simultaneously. This phenomenon is known as quad witching. This corresponds with large BTC options and futures expiries in the cryptocurrency space.

Take a look at the figures. Bitcoin saw a 16.6% decline in March. It dropped an additional 8.5% in June. September's percentage was 7.9%. The same timing, but different market conditions. Every sell-off was in close alignment with quad witching expiries. That is a forced resolution of positioning, not a coincidence.

Bitcoin not great here

As of right now, Bitcoin is already losing ground before the event. Momentum is broken, the price is below important moving averages and recent bounces have ended abruptly. This is significant because quad switching speeds up the direction that already exists rather than creating a new one. The market can push higher when it is robust. It shatters when its weak.

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Options gamma and dealer hedging are the true problems. Market makers aggressively unwind hedges when contracts expire. Even tiny changes can result in strong directional pushes if the price is close to big option clusters. Volatility rises, liquidity decreases and stops are quickly pursued. Quad witching days frequently appear chaotic, even in the absence of any news, because of this.

Does that imply a crash of Bitcoin tomorrow? No. However, the danger is not equal. If sellers push, there is very little technical support because Bitcoin is already on a precarious foundation. It would not be shocking if there were a strong flush, particularly if it helped reduce excess leverage before the end of the year.

Ironically, this is also why it is important today and tomorrow. These occasions frequently signify turning points. The flush may function as a reset rather than a breakdown if Bitcoin absorbs it and dumps heavily. However, people are caught off guard when you act as if quad witching is unimportant.

The world’s leading cryptocurrency,Bitcoin (BTC), may be experiencing price fluctuations, but investors are making firm decisions about the coin. Samson Mow, CEO of Bitcoin-focused JAN3, is one such individual who has decided to bet heavily on Bitcoin.

Has Samson Mow lost confidence in Ethereum?

As per hisposton X, Mow stated, "I've decided to liquidate all Bitmine Ethereum holdings and pivot to a Bitcoin-only treasury strategy."

This marks a significant shift in investment approach as he moves from a diversified portfolio to Bitcoin only.

I’ve decided to liquidate all Bitmine Ethereum holdings and pivot to a Bitcoin only treasury strategy.

— Samson Mow (@Excellion) December 18, 2025

The decision suggests that Mow has lost confidence in the future price trajectory of Ethereum as a long-term treasury asset or believes that Bitcoin holds better rewards. Interestingly, the JAN3 CEO had previously warned that Ethereum treasury firms like Bitmine could face a major sell-off.

The current development could put pressure on Ethereum and slow down the asset’s treasury expansion move. Notably, investors might second-guess betting on Ethereum and want to monitor developments to understand the capital rotation to Bitcoin.

It is worth mentioning that Bitmine holds about 3.2% of Ethereum’s total supply.

Thus, liquidating that volume could have a huge impact on the price outlook of the leading altcoin. As of press time, Ethereum has lost 2.91% of its value in the last 24 hours and is trading at $2,839.56.

Mow’s switch to hold Bitcoin exclusively as its treasury reserve is similar to how Michael Saylor’s Strategy has operated since 2020. It is likely that Strategy’s approach is becoming more appealing — not only to Japanese firm Metaplanet, but to others as well.

Some predict thatStrategy could outrank major tech companies soon.

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This also indicates that Samson Mow believes Bitcoin is a superior store-of-value asset in the cryptocurrency space. Hence, he has decided to treat BTC as digital gold and not diversify into other cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin’s date for possible bullish reversal

Interestingly, Samson Mow recently urged investors discouraged by Bitcoin’s stagnation to watch out for Dec. 26, 2025.

He believes that the coin’s price setup could flip bullish on this date as a huge batch of December options will expire on that day. If history repeats itself, Bitcoin could soar toward the $110,000 price zone.

Meanwhile, Mow has made abold prediction for 2026 as concerns Bitcoin’s price outlook. He maintains that the flagship crypto coin has the potential to hit $1,000,000 in 2026.

Bitcoin currentlychanges hands at $86,831.85, down 31.11% from its all-time high (ATH) of $126,198.07, which it attained in October 2025.

Thepopular meme coin Shiba Inu just burned about $600 million in market value in nine hours, dropping its cap from $5 billion to $4.39 billion, as perCoinMarketCap. The price slid straight to $0.0000074 USDT — and at this level, traders better not consider it a discount.

It is important to note that this is not a dead-chart drift. Over $120 million in volume was traded during the drop, so sellers did not struggle to execute trades; buyers just did not bring in enough size to slow the slide. The market cap followed the price almost tick for tick, with coins changing hands nonstop as the value bled out.

The sell-off had a runway too. Earlier in the week,SHIB tried to bounce back several times. Each attempt was capped by the same bands that used to act as support.

When the pressure increased, the price was already near the floor of its recent range. There was not much standing between it and lower prices.

$0.0000067 for SHIB not nightmare figure anymore

Looking at the bigger picture, it is still the same post-hype box from last year's blow-off period, except now the price is approaching the lower boundary at $0.0000067 more aggressively than in months past. When volume increases at these levels, the downside can accelerate.

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Nothing has changed on the supply side. The circulating supply remains near 589 trillion SHIB, and burn activity has not affected the price in a way that the chart reflects.

With stable supply and failing demand, the price keeps getting pushed back to the few spots where buyers have already shown they will act. That is why the $0.0000067-$0.000007 zone is so important for theShiba Inu coin.

The price has been declining for months, and as of right now, SHIB is below all significant daily moving averages. There are no trend breaks, lower highs, lower lows or relief rallies lasting longer than a few sessions. The structure is straightforward and brutal. Momentum has just deteriorated rather than changed.

Shiba Inu gives up

At the moment, SHIB is acting as though speculative interest has completely given up on it. Compared to previous distribution phases, volume has drastically decreased, which indicates that sellers are simply absent rather than in a panic. Neither are buyers intervening. Apathy has replaced fear-driven selling in this situation. That is typically the appearance of late-stage downtrends.

The most crucial thing to recognize is that there are virtually no more significant levels of support. SHIB has already cut through demand zones that served as floors in the past. These levels underwent testing, retesting and eventual invalidation. The majority of what’s left is empty price history or thin liquidity zones, where prices can move around with little opposition. This does not imply a straight collapse, but it does indicate that there is no technical barrier to a further decline.

Nothing stops SHIB

This perspective is supported by the RSI hovering in the low-to-mid range. It is not significantly oversold, which is important. SHIB is simply declining because there is no reason why it should not. It is not bouncing because it is inexpensive. Reflex rallies are typically triggered by oversold conditions. That is not even a courtesy offered by this market.

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What can we anticipate in the near future? The base case is slow grinding and ongoing compression. Unless general market conditions worsen, sharp dumps are less likely than a controlled bleed. Until SHIB regains at least one major moving average with volume, which is currently unlikely, any upward movements should be viewed as corrective rather than trend-changing.

SHIB is in a nothing-to-lose stage from the standpoint of market behavior. Emotions have already been destroyed. Weak hands have mostly disappeared. This indicates that risk is now skewed by neglect rather than optimism, but it does not imply an impending reversal. Long accumulation phases, not explosive rallies, have traditionally started there.

Midnight's NIGHT token launched just last week, but it has already produced numbers that are difficult to ignore. The nativetoken of the Cardano-based privacy network pushed past $1 billion in market capitalization and maintained more than $1 billion in 24-hour trading volume, placing it among the top 10 cryptocurrencies with the highest trading volume, according toCoinMarketCap.

Charles Hoskinson called the launch an "incredible success," likely because of how well the network is developing and holding up, not because of the price.

According to Midnight Explorer, the network has already produced nearly three million blocks and processed over 405,000 transactions on the network, while maintaining an average block time of about six seconds.

The launch of Night has been an incredible success. It's amazing how well the ecosystem is developing and holding up. It's on it's way to be the first true 4th generation cryptocurrency and bring in a new era to our industry. I'm so proud of everyone!

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) December 18, 2025

On the price side, though, at the time of trading, NIGHT changed hands at nearly $0.063, up almost 26% for the week, with a fully diluted valuation of nearly $1.51 billion. The circulating supply is 16.6 billion tokens out of a fixed 24 billion.

With a volume-to-cap ratio above 100% and volume exceeding market cap, Midnight is experiencing a continuous two-way flow instead of the one-directional launch-chasing pattern that is more typical of established networks than fresh listings.

Is Cardano season upon us?

All things considered, the"new ADA" managed to sustain engagement beyond launch-hour attention. Midnight is positioned as a privacy-focused execution network with selective disclosure and an enterprise-facing design. With the revival of the privacy narrative, thanks partly to the Zcash (ZEC) renaissance, the timing of NIGHT's launch could not be better.

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ForCardano, this "incredible success" transforms the ecosystem into a multinetwork structure in which new layers can simultaneously attract liquidity, usage and infrastructure validation, turning the "new ADA" from a label into one of the hottest tokens right now.

The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Trading and Markets hasreleased comprehensive guidance, which addresses how existing federal securities laws apply to cryptocurrency activities.

The newly published document offers a detailed roadmap for broker-dealers, transfer agents, and trading platforms dealing with crypto.

Clarifying custody of digital assets

In 2020, the SEC issued a statement offering a "safe harbor" (protection from enforcement) for brokers who followed specific, strict steps to custody digital assets. That statement is not mandatory. Brokers can still custody crypto securities by following the standard existing rules.

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Brokers are allowed to facilitate "in-kind" transactions (swapping the crypto asset for the ETF share). However, if the broker holds the crypto asset itself (like Bitcoin or Ether) on its own books, it must account for the risk.

A warning for investors

SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation) insurance protects customers if a broker goes bankrupt. However, it only covers "securities" that are registered with the SEC. If a crypto asset is an "investment contract" (a type of security) but is unregistered, SIPC will not protect it.

Brokers and customers can agree to treat non-security crypto as "financial assets" under commercial law. This legal distinction can help ensure that if the broker goes bankrupt, these assets are treated as belonging to the customer, rather than becoming part of the broker's general assets to be sold off to pay debts.

Green light for crypto "pairs" trading

The document also addresses the mechanics of trading on Alternative Trading Systems (ATS) and National Securities Exchanges. The Staff confirmed that federal laws do not prohibit "pairs trading (the practice of swapping a crypto security directly for a non-security crypto asset).