KaiZXBT

$HYPE has entered a critical phase after a well-tracked whale reshaped sentiment with decisive leverage and precise timing. After securing roughly $249k in realized profits, the trader in question immediately re-entered with a fresh 10× long worth about $7.9M. 
This rapid re-engagement matters because it occurred just below the key technical resistance level, not after confirmation. 
Instead of waiting for a breakout, the whale positioned early, signaling confidence in an upside resolution. 
However, broader traders did not follow with equal conviction. That divergence between capital commitment and crowd hesitation now defines the setup. 
As a result, HYPE at press time seemed to be trading under conditions where informed conviction clashes with cautious participation. 
Such conditions rarely persist quietly. Therefore, the whale’s action might be in anticipation of structural resolution, rather than just a reaction to momentum.
Are shorts crowding the wrong side?
At the time of writing, derivatives positioning continued to lean defensively, despite price stability and rising leverage participation. 
Taker data also revealed shorts controlling roughly 62% of the volume, while longs remained near 38%. This imbalance suggested that traders have continued to lean bearish, even as the price held firm. 
However, heavy short dominance near resistance often weakens downside follow-through. Each failed push lower increases exposure risk. 
Moreover, the whale’s leveraged long stood directly against this crowd bias. That contrast creates asymmetry. If the price pushes higher, shorts may need to react quickly rather than strategically. 
Consequently, the positioning now carries more risk than conviction. The market, therefore, might be increasingly sensitive to even modest upside expansion.

Source: CoinGlass
Leverage builds as Open Interest climbs
Open Interest has risen too, confirming that traders added exposure rather than exiting positions during consolidation. OI increased by roughly 3.38%, pushing total exposure to near $1.42 billion. 
This growth occurred while price remained range-bound, not during a breakout. That detail matters. 
Rising Open Interest without price expansion usually reflects anticipation rather than reaction. However, it also increases liquidation sensitivity around key levels. 
With leverage building on both sides, the price might no longer have any room to drift. 
Therefore, the next directional move will likely force positioning adjustments quickly, rather than gradually.

Source: CoinGlass
Funding stays calm despite leverage growth
OI-weighted ,fun,ding has remained positive but restrained – A sign that leverage entered the market without excessive optimism. 
Funding hovered near +0.0057%, indicating longs hold exposure without paying extreme premiums. Importantly, funding did not spike alongside the Open Interest. That combination means traders maintain controlled risk, rather than aggressive speculation. 
Meanwhile, shorts have continued to dominate positioning without receiving outsized funding compensation.
This balance limits immediate downside acceleration. Consequently, the funding structure seemed to support stability, rather than stress.
While funding does not dictate direction, it does shape risk distribution. Press time conditions seemed to favor a clean technical decision, rather than forced liquidations.

Source: CoinGlass
What is the price up to?
Finally, on the price charts, HYPE seemed to be trading just below the upper boundary of its descending wedge, with the price repeatedly testing the $25.50–$26 resistance zone. 
This level seemed to align with the descending trendline that has capped every recovery since early November. Each attempt higher stalls near this zone, confirming its technical importance. 
However, pullbacks continue to find demand above $22.50–$23, preserving the broader structure. Therefore, the price no longer trends lower but compresses under resistance. 
A daily close above $26 would confirm wedge resolution, opening upside towards $28, then $34.90, and potentially $42.60 if momentum sustains itself.
Rejection, however, would likely force another rotation back towards $22 before any renewed attempt.

Source: TradingView
To sum up, HYPE might be ready to push higher rather than turn lower again. The altcoin’s price has spent enough time just under $26, and sellers no longer have strong control. 
If buyers clear this level, the move should carry quickly towards $28 as shorts rush to exit. The setup now favors follow-through instead of another rejection, making a breakout the more likely outcome from here.

$HYPE

In 2025, Binance faced relentless scrutiny, from court cases to regulatory challenges.
Yet, on‑chain data reveals a different picture. According to new metrics from CryptoRank and TokenTerminal, BNB Chain has emerged as the most widely used blockchain this year, boasting the highest average daily active wallets across the industry.

Source: CryptoRank.io/X
This is a surprising twist, as even as critics pointed to the chain’s centralized structure and ongoing legal issues, real users continued to flock to it.
BNB Chain leads in Daily Active Users
While Ethereum [ETH] remains favored by institutions, Solana [SOL] is known for its high speed.
However, Binance [BNB] Chain has quietly captured the most retail activity, demonstrating that for everyday users, low fees and easy onboarding matter more than regulatory headlines.
The numbers make the picture even clearer.
Solana posted a strong 3.23 million daily wallets, and NEAR wasn’t far behind with 3.15 million, but both were still well below BNB Chain’s massive 4.32 million daily average.
This isn’t a small lead; it shows that BNB Chain is pulling ahead with a user base that stays active even when the market is shaky.
CZ praised this milestone
Needless to say, the crypto community quickly took note, with Changpeng Zhao (CZ) also celebrating the milestone on X, echoing his long-standing message, 
“Keep building. 2026 will awesome!”
However, while BNB Chain continues to capture the attention of regular crypto users, the larger financial side of the industry reached a major turning point in 2025.
CME Group overtakes Binance
The CoinGlass 2025 Crypto Derivatives Market Annual Report reveals that crypto derivatives have evolved significantly beyond their previous reputation as a venue for high-risk, high-leverage bets.
The market has expanded into an $85.70 trillion ecosystem, with $264.5 billion traded daily.
A major shift is unfolding in Chicago, where traditional finance and crypto are converging. The CME Group, renowned for its regulated Futures markets, has extended its lead over Binance in Bitcoin Futures and is rapidly closing the gap in Ethereum futures.
This trend signals that institutional investors are no longer testing the waters; they are actively shaping the market.
Meanwhile, crypto‑native exchanges like OKX, Bybit, and Bitget remain strong thanks to deep liquidity and regional dominance.
BNB’s dual leadership
All this comes at a time when BNB rose to $843.27, at press time, gaining 0.55% during a period when many other assets were struggling to move.
But the biggest signal for BNB’s future didn’t come from price action; it came from corporate leadership. Recently, in a major decision, Binance appointed co-founder Yi He as Co-CEO, joining Richard Teng at the top.
This marks a shift away from Binance’s old “grow at any cost” strategy and toward a more stable, compliance-focused approach.
Yi He, known for her strong focus on users, is now helping lead the company into a more mature phase.
All these combined efforts show that Binance is preparing for a regulated and professional future, not just trying to stay ahead in the race.

$BNB $CAKE

The bear market phase is typically a period during which capital flight dominates and asset prices trend lower. That pattern played out clearly across the altcoin market this year.
While the average decline across the altcoin sector stands at roughly 28% by market capitalization, data revealed that tokens launched in 2025 faced much steeper losses. Existing altcoins were not spared either, as selling pressure extended across the board.
As the year winds down, the key question remains – Will 2026 be a better year for altcoins?
New altcoins suffer more than most…
Market conditions proved unfavorable for newly launched altcoins, as many slid well below their launch prices. More specifically, their token generation event (TGE) levels.
Altcoins refer to all cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin and stablecoins. According to TradingView data, these assets accounted for a combined market capitalization of approximately $1.77 trillion, at the time of writing.

Source: Memento
A report from Memento Research revealed that 84.73% of altcoins that met this criterion traded below their TGE prices. On the contrary, only 15.30% remained above their TGE levels, maintaining some degree of profitability for traders who entered at launch.
More broadly, the data suggested that investing in newly launched altcoins was largely unprofitable throughout 2025. Given the persistence of the ongoing bear market phase, this trend could extend into 2026.
Was the wider altcoin market spared?
Newly launched altcoins took the hardest hit, but the broader asset market also suffered significant losses, leaving most investors in the red.
In fact, a majority of tokens have now entered what is described as the “graveyard zone.” Technically, this means that around 60% of tokens are down between 70% and 99% on the price charts.

Source: Memento
This weakness extends even to the top 100 cryptocurrencies. Among them, 88 altcoins failed to see any profitability over the past three months. Only 11 altcoins managed to stay above their three-month lows during this period.
At press time, the average performance of these 11 profitable assets stood at approximately 324%. Pippin [PIPPIN] led the group with gains of 2,354%, while Sky [SKY] ranked as the weakest performer with gains of just over 2%.
Narrative remains primary driver
Despite the ongoing capital flight from altcoins, investors continue to allocate selectively based on prevailing narratives.
In this context, a narrative refers to market segments that attract capital because investors expect them to outperform the broader market.

Source: Artemis
Over the last seven days, the most dominant narratives included privacy, social tokens, and staking services. These categories saw weighted average gains of 11.1%, 10.2%, and 7.1%, respectively.
This pattern is likely to persist into 2026. Especially as investors remain cautious and continue to favor narrative-driven assets that offer relatively stronger return potential in uncertain market conditions.

Since facing rejection at $0.146 nearly a month ago, Conflux has traded inside a descending channel, sliding to a local low near $0.06.
After weeks of sustained weakness, the token attempted a rebound, briefly rallying to $0.078 before pulling back.
At press time, Conflux [CFX] traded at $0.072, up 8.7% on the daily chart. Trading activity also picked up sharply, with volume rising 358% to $58 million, while market capitalization climbed toward $400 million.
The spike pointed to renewed short-term participation, though price structure remained fragile.
Conflux’s partnership with PlaysOut lifts sentiment
In a significant boost to a struggling CFX, PlaysOut and Conflux announced a partnership to explore AI-driven gaming and cross-chain interoperability. 
According to the announcement, both teams plan to collaborate on scalable blockchain infrastructure, AI-supported engagement tools, and next-generation gaming use cases.
The partnership also outlined potential deployment of mini-game experiences within Conflux’s Layer 1 environment, alongside initiatives focused on Web2-to-Web3 onboarding and regional market expansion.
The announcement acted as a short-term sentiment catalyst, triggering a rush of speculative buying across spot markets.
Binance buyers dominate spot activity
After Conflux and Playsout announced their partnership, demand for CFX accelerated. On Binance, for example, buyers rushed into the market, fearing they would miss out on potential gains arising from the relationship. 
Coinalyze data showed that Buy Volume surged to 74.83 million, compared to 67 million in Sell Volume, between the 24th and the 25th of December. 

Source: Coinalyze
For that reason, the market recorded a positive Buy Sell Delta of 7.8 million, a clear sign of aggressive spot accumulation. 
Even more importantly, Spot demand was not limited to Binance, as more buy orders were executed across the spot market. 
In fact, Spot Taker CVD data from CryptoQuant showed Buyer Dominance jumped to a weekly high on the 24th, reflecting fresh demand. 

Source: CryptoQuant
Profit-taking resurfaces as price stalls
Despite the rebound, signs of distribution quickly followed. Data from CoinGlass showed Spot Netflow turning positive for the first time in nearly three weeks.
At press time, net inflows stood at $1.73 million, levels last seen in August.
Positive netflows typically reflect increased exchange deposits, often associated with profit realization after sharp rallies.

Source: CoinGlass
Historically, such spikes in profit-taking have coincided with renewed downside pressure for CFX, especially when broader trend momentum remains weak.
Just a short-term bubble?
Technical indicators echoed the mixed setup.
Conflux’s Relative Strength Index briefly pushed into bullish territory, touching 54, before sliding back to 47 at press time. The pullback suggested that sellers absorbed recent buying interest.

Source: TradingView
In fact, the Trend Strength Index (TSI) remained negative, at -11 at press time, indicating intense bearish pressure.
These market conditions pointed towards a fierce battle between sellers and buyers seeking market control. Thus, the next move depends on who overwhelms the other.
If buyers hold onto the momentum they recently showed, Conflux could target $0.093. Conversely, if sellers manage to overpower them, CFX could drop to $0.068.

$CFX