Из жизни альткоинов

Violent “wrench attacks” against crypto holders, physical robberies and kidnappings meant to force victims to hand over coins, appear to be rising in absolute terms and trending more severe, according to a new visualization built from a long-running incident database maintained by security researcher Jameson Lopp.

Dragonfly partner Haseeb Qureshi said he analyzed Lopp’s dataset and built an interactive dashboard to stress-test a question many traders and builders have been asking quietly for years: is simply holding crypto becoming physically more dangerous? “You’re not imagining it: the number of attacks has been increasing over time,” Qureshi wrote on X. “Not only that, the attacks are getting more violent.”

The dashboard breaks reported incidents into five severity bands — Minor, Moderate, Serious, Severe, and Fatal and the distribution skews heavily toward the sharp end of the spectrum. Of 269 categorized incidents shown, 137 (51%) were labeled “Serious,” 57 (21%) “Severe,” and 13 (5%) “Fatal,” with the remainder split between 39 (14%) “Moderate” and 23 (9%) “Minor.”

The year-by-year bars show the later years carrying a larger share of “Severe” and “Fatal” outcomes than the early history of the dataset, with 2025 appearing as the highest-incident year on the chart.

Qureshi’s analysis also puts a number on the most intuitive driver: price. Charting incidents against total crypto market capitalization, he reported a simple regression with an R² of 0.45 — implying roughly 45% of the variation in reported violence is explained by market cap alone. In plain terms, higher prices coincide with more attacks.

But the more consequential question for everyday holders is not raw counts; it’s risk per person. Because comprehensive “number of crypto users” data is hard to pin down, Qureshi used Coinbase monthly active users as a proxy, and separately normalized incidents by market cap to approximate attacks per dollar of wealth.

The resulting “normalized attack rates” chart tells a less linear story: per-user attack rates spiked in earlier market eras (notably around 2015 and again in 2018), then fell sharply after 2019, before ticking higher in the most recent observations. “So is that it?” Qureshi asked. “Proof crypto is becoming more physically dangerous?”

On his telling, not quite. Coinbase MAUs, he noted, expanded dramatically over the decade, while normalized attack rates did not rise proportionally, suggesting a meaningful “population effect” behind the higher headline totals. Still, the per-user line has moved up from its post-2019 lows, roughly back toward the levels seen during the 2021 cycle, even as the “attacks per $ of market cap” line remains comparatively flat in recent years.

Geography adds another uncomfortable layer. A regional table in the dashboard shows Western Europe (73 attacks) and North America (64) as the two largest buckets by incident count, with Asia-Pacific also substantial (53). But the most lethal outcomes cluster elsewhere: Latin America shows a 21% fatality rate and Africa 17%, versus 0% in North America. Qureshi underscored that point directly: “Notably, there have been 0 fatalities in North America ever,” he wrote, adding that the “lion’s share” of fatalities are in Latin America and Africa.

Lopp, who has maintained the underlying “Bitcoin Wrench Attack” archive for years, has warned the workload and frequency are becoming harder to treat as isolated incidents. “When an event goes from being rare to happening every few days, it’s no longer newsworthy — it’s just a fact of life,” he wrote in a Dec. 21 post cited in the thread, while inviting others to help maintain the database.

At press time, the total crypto market cap stood at $3.12 trillion.

Big Four accounting firm PwC has reversed its cautious stance on crypto after regulatory developments related to the space in the United States.

PwC Has Softened Its Stance On Crypto

According to a report from the Financial Times, PwC has changed its strategy around digital assets following the new laws passed by Donald Trump’s administration. PricewaterhouseCoopers, PwC in short, is a multinational professional services network headquartered in London. It provides services such as audits, tax planning, and business consulting to companies worldwide.

PwC is the second-largest firm of its kind and part of the Big Four accounting firms. Previously, the British company steered clear of crypto-related work in the US like other Big Four firms, but it seems that stance has now changed. The shift has come as the US has made advancements in its crypto regulatory framework. Among the new laws is the Genius Act, which regulates stablecoins, digital assets pegged to a fiat currency like the US Dollar (USD).

“The Genius Act and the regulatory rulemaking around stablecoin, I expect, will create more conviction around leaning into that product and that asset class,” said Paul Griggs, senior partner at PwC US, in an interview with FT.

Griggs added that PwC has been pitching companies on how they can use digital asset technology, with stablecoins as a means of improving payment systems’ efficiency, cited as one example.

PwC and other Big Four firms budging on crypto showcases the legislative momentum that the industry has had recently, with traditional finance increasingly unable to ignore the sector. Stablecoins, in particular, have been witnessing growing adoption. Beyond the American Genius Act, this class of digital assets also attracted regulatory attention in other parts of the world.

Hong Kong introduced a stablecoin issuer licensing framework last year, while Japan observed the launch of its first yen-based token. In Europe, major banks have come together to work on a euro-pegged coin, aiming to challenge the sector’s USD dominance. The positive regulation in 2025 meant that the space witnessed some sharp growth, with the market cap exploring new records, as data from DefiLlama shows.

The sector hasn’t been unaffected by the wider slowdown in crypto since October, however. From the above chart, it’s visible that the stablecoin market cap has seen consolidation in the last few months.

Nonetheless, while other parts of the market have shrunken, these fiat-tied tokens still have their combined market cap sitting at $307 billion today, which is very close to the all-time high (ATH).

Bitcoin Price

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $92,900, up nearly 6% over the last week.

Solana (SOL) has entered 2026 with renewed attention from traders as its price stabilizes above the $130 technical area. After weeks of sideways movement, SOL has pushed higher, reclaiming levels that had previously capped upside attempts.

Related Reading: 600,000 Bitcoin Allegedly Held In Venezuelan Shadow Reserve: Report

The move comes amid broader strength across major cryptos and follows a period where Solana’s on-chain activity and network upgrades have reshaped how the market views the asset. With price holding above a critical support zone, market participants are now watching whether momentum can sustain a deeper recovery.

Solana Price Holds Above Key Levels as Momentum Builds

Solana (SOL) is currently trading above the $135 mark, extending gains of just over 1% in the past 24 hours. The price has successfully defended the $130–$135 zone, an area that previously acted as resistance during consolidation.

A break above $132 and the 100-hour simple moving average signaled a short-term trend shift, allowing buyers to push the price as high as $138 before a modest pullback.

Technical indicators point to improving momentum. The Relative Strength Index remains above 50, suggesting buying pressure outweighs selling interest, while the hourly MACD continues to strengthen in bullish territory.

A rising trend line around $135 now serves as near-term support, with additional downside protection near $130. Failure to hold this level could expose SOL to a deeper retracement toward $128 or $120, but for now, the structure favors stability.

On the upside, resistance remains clustered between $138 and $145. A sustained close above $145 would likely open the door to a move toward the $150–$155 range, a zone last tested during previous rally attempts.

On-Chain Activity Signals a Structural Shift

Beyond price action, Solana’s on-chain metrics continue to draw attention. In 2025, the network processed roughly $1.6 trillion in on-chain spot trading volume, accounting for about 12% of total spot activity across crypto markets.

This represents a sharp increase from just a few years ago, when Solana played a minor role in trading flows.

The shift highlights a broader trend toward high-throughput blockchains as traders and applications prioritize speed and lower transaction costs. Growing stablecoin usage and decentralized exchange activity on Solana have helped anchor liquidity on-chain, reducing reliance on centralized platforms.

Network Upgrades Support the Broader Outlook

Solana’s technical progress also underpins the recent price resilience. The rollout of the Firedancer validator client aims to improve transaction processing and network stability, addressing concerns linked to past congestion and outages.

Alongside increased block space and compute capacity, these upgrades are designed to support higher activity without significant fee pressure.

As Solana expands across payments, NFTs, gaming, and prediction markets, its usage base has become more diversified.

Related Reading: Crypto Payments Hit A Turning Point With Visa Card Use Up Over 500%

While short-term volatility remains part of the landscape, the combination of defended support, improving technical signals, and strengthening fundamentals suggests momentum has shifted modestly in Solana’s favor.

Cover image from ChatGPT, SOLUSD chart from Tradingview

The Bitcoin price has already crashed by more than 32.5% from last year’s all-time high above $126,000, toward the $85,000 region. Although the cryptocurrency has recovered slightly and is now trading above $90,000, a crypto analyst has forecast another major price crash in 2026. According to the forecast, Bitcoin could decline by 50%, following trends observed in previous cycles, potentially hitting a bottom near $40,000. 

Bitcoin Price Set For 50% Crash

Bitcoin could face another price correction as technical indicators continue to signal a strong bear market. Market expert CryptoBullet warns that Bitcoin’s bear market behavior is not over, with a deeper pullback aligning with long-term on-chain trends. 

CryptoBullet bases his outlook on Bitcoin’s Realized Price, a metric that reflects the average price at which all circulating coins last moved. He explained that this level acts as a key reference during bear markets and has historically marked zones where price eventually breaks down before forming a bottom. 

Looking at past cycles, he noted that Bitcoin has consistently fallen below its Realized Price during bear markets. The drawdowns reached 66% in 2011, 48% in 2015, 35% in 2018, and 33% in 2022, indicating a consistent tendency for prices to fall below this level. Due to this repeated decline, the analyst believes the next bear-market crash will follow the same pattern, triggering a 50% drop to $40,000 for Bitcoin this year.

 Another major factor supporting CryptoBullet’s analysis is Bitcoin’s declining volatility over time. He noted that the gap between market price and Realized Price has steadily narrowed, shrinking from a 66% deviation in 2011 to roughly 33% in 2022. 

Because of this trend, the analyst does not expect the bear market this year to be as severe as the downside observed in past cycles. Instead, he estimates Bitcoin could fall by 24% to 31% below Realized Price, placing its likely bottom in the $40,000 to $43,000 range.  

Extreme Bear Market Scenario

With the Realized Price currently near $56,000, CryptoBullet has also cautioned that Bitcoin could decline even further to below $40,000 this year. The analyst noted that if the market repeats the 2022 bear market, a 33% drop below Realized Price would place Bitcoin near $37,400. 

He added that by the third quarter or fourth quarter of 2026, Realized Price could fall deeper to $53,000 or $54,000, which could result in a similar 33% crash, pushing Bitcoin closer to $35,000. The analyst has stated that $35,000 represents the most extreme downside he can reasonably see this year based on historical behavior. The accompanying chart also reflects this view by highlighting previous bear-market crashes that occurred after the price slipped well below the Realized Price line.

The first week of the year has not been unkind to the market, with Ethereum (ETH) entering 2026 with a mixed narrative that reflects both progress and restraint. On one hand, the network is pushing through long-standing technical limits and seeing broader real-world usage.

On the other hand, market data indicate continued selling pressure, which has kept price action subdued. Together, these trends suggest Ethereum is less in decline than in transition, balancing structural growth against a cautious market environment.

Technical Progress and Network Upgrades

Recent comments from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin have drawn renewed attention to the progress on the blockchain trilemma, which is the challenge of balancing decentralization, security, and scalability.

According to Buterin, upgrades such as Peer Data Availability Sampling (PeerDAS) and zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machines (zkEVMs) have moved this goal from theory into live conditions on the mainnet.

PeerDAS, introduced with the Fusaka upgrade in December, reduces the burden on validators by allowing them to verify data availability through sampling rather than processing full datasets. This improves scalability while maintaining accessibility to participation.

At the same time, zkEVMs have reached an early operational stage, with proof generation times falling sharply and verification costs dropping significantly. While still in alpha, these systems are expected to assume a larger validation role between 2027 and 2030, following further security enhancements.

Alongside performance gains, Ethereum’s roadmap is shifting toward protocol safety. The Ethereum Foundation has set a target of achieving 128-bit provable security by late 2026, indicating that recent speed and cost improvements are now being matched with increasingly stringent security goals.

Ethereum (ETH) Adoption Shifts Toward Utility

Beyond core protocol work, Ethereum’s usage metrics point to expanding adoption. Stablecoin transfer volume on the network exceeded $8 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2025, nearly doubling from earlier in the year.

Active addresses and daily transactions also reached record levels, reinforcing Ethereum’s role as a primary settlement layer for payments and tokenized assets.

Industry figures increasingly point to crypto-native neobanks as a key growth driver for 2026. These platforms combine self-custody, stablecoins, and yield products with familiar banking interfaces, lowering barriers for mainstream users.

Institutional participation in 2025, particularly through digital asset treasuries and staking-related structures, has helped lay the groundwork for this shift toward everyday financial use rather than short-term trading.

Market Pressure and Developer Momentum

Despite these developments, market flow data indicate that Ethereum remains under dominant selling pressure, reflecting a broader de-risking trend across cryptocurrency assets. This has limited upside and led to choppy price action, despite the emergence of positive narratives.

Similarly, developer activity tells a different story. An estimated 8.7 million smart contracts were deployed in the fourth quarter of 2025, the highest quarterly figure on record.

Taken together, Ethereum’s current signals point to consolidation rather than contraction. While market conditions continue to weigh on price, technical progress and rising adoption indicate the network is positioning itself for the next phase of growth once broader pressure eases.

Cover image from ChatGPT, ETHUSD chart from Tradingview

In a recent report by Bitcoin Magazine, it has come to light that the US Marshals Service (USMS), operating under the direction of the US Department of Justice (DOJ), has allegedly sold Bitcoin (BTC) forfeited by defendants Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, creators of Samourai Wallet.

Controversial Bitcoin Sale 

According to documents titled “Asset Liquidation Agreement,” which Bitcoin Magazine has obtained, the BTC forfeited by Rodriguez and Hill is either in the process of being sold or has already been sold. 

The document indicates an agreement where the defendants consented to relinquish Bitcoin valued at approximately $6.3 million, which amounted to little over 57 BTC at the time the agreement was finalized on November 3, 2025.

Interestingly, it appears that the Bitcoin transferred on November 3, 2025, did not enter the USMS’s custody directly. Instead, the cryptocurrency seems to have been sent straight to Coinbase Prime, likely for the purpose of sale.

Potential Implications For Crypto Regulation

This decision raises significant legal and ethical questions, particularly regarding compliance with Executive Order 14233. This Order stipulates that BTC acquired through criminal forfeiture—termed “Government BTC”—must not be sold and should instead be allocated to the established Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. 

If the USMS has indeed sold the forfeited Bitcoin, it indicates that they proceeded at their own discretion, potentially ignoring the legal mandate outlined in the Executive Order.

The Executive Order also specifies that “Government BTC” falls under the category of “Government Digital Assets,” and it mandates that agency heads cannot sell or otherwise dispose of these assets except under certain conditions, none of which apply to the cases of Rodriguez or Hill. 

With this controversy surrounding the sale of seized Bitcoin, the actions of the USMS could spark further debate about how the government manages seized digital assets. 

BTC has risen closer to $94,300 at the time of writing, representing a significant 3% increase in the last 24 hours and 8% increase in the last seven days. 

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com 

Discussions around Ripple’s place in the global financial system have resurfaced after a market expert outlined what deeper access to the Federal Reserve’s (FED) master account could mean for the crypto company and XRP. The report outlines how direct integration with the FED could help Ripple frontrun institutional finance and position XRP as the supporting anchor to this framework. 

Ripple To Access FED Master Account With XRP

An XRP advocate, @UnknownDLT, has released a new post on X explaining how access to the United States Federal Reserve’s master account could expand Ripple’s role in global financial infrastructure. Rather than focusing on price action, the report explores how XRP could play a more infrastructural role in these systems, emphasizing the benefits of the FED’s transaction volume and institutional connectivity. 

According to the advocate, a FED master account would allow Ripple to connect directly to the central bank’s transaction flows. This would give the crypto company direct access to the core of US payment operations, reducing reliance on intermediary banks and third-party processors. 

The report also points to Ripple Prime, an institutional prime brokerage service, formed by the rebranding and acquisition of Hidden Road. @UnknownDLT has suggested that Ripple Prime could be a key driver of Ripple’s institutional access. He stated that Hidden Road could give the crypto company direct exposure to the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), which underpins an estimated $4 quadrillion in transaction volume across equities, fixed income, and derivatives markets. 

Beyond traditional finance, the XRP advocate highlights Ripple’s rail as an entry point into the stablecoin sector. Ripple’s rail is said to provide access to roughly 10% of global stablecoin transaction volume, further embedding the crypto company within large-scale digital asset settlement activity. 

Within this broader framework, the altcoin is described as the base layer enabling these connections. @UnknownDLT frames XRP as infrastructure rather than a typical speculative digital asset, highlighting its role in Ripple’s growing institutional reach and as a bridge for cross-border and intersystem payments. 

Long-Term Vision In The Payments Sector

In a previous post, @UnknownDLT also shared a strong projection about the future role of XRP and Ripple in global payments. He stated that XRP is positioned to dominate the cross-border payments market while Ripple could emerge as the largest financial conglomerate globally. 

The expert also predicted that the XRP Ledger will handle the world’s highest volume of money transfers. He explained that the blockchain network was designed to support massive financial flows. As a result, widespread adoption is seemingly inevitable. Notably, the ledger can reportedly handle up to 1,500 transactions per second, settling transfers in just 3-5 seconds with minimal fees. 

@UnknownDLT has emphasized that his projections are not market hype or fear-driven speculation, but a plan that has been developing for more than ten years.

London, United Kingdom – As the global cryptocurrency market continues to mature, XRP has re-emerged as one of the most actively traded digital assets worldwide. Beyond traditional “buy and hold” strategies, investors are increasingly seeking stable, predictable yield opportunities that allow them to grow their assets without being exposed to excessive market volatility.

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XRP is quietly going through one of its most dramatic supply changes in years, and it is happening away from price charts and headlines. The real change is happening in crypto exchanges, as on-chain data shows a steady and persistent drawdown of XRP balances on these platforms. 

The latest data from CryptoQuant highlights just how pronounced this trend has become, with exchange reserves now sitting at their lowest level in several years.

Exchange Reserves Breakdown After Year-End

The pattern of XRP exodus on crypto exchanges is visible on major trading venues, particularly Binance, which accounts for a large share of XRP liquidity. The CryptoQuant chart tracking the amount of XRP held on crypto exchange Binance shows a clear back-and-forth movement through 2024 and 2025, which eventually culminated in a sharp drop into early 2026. 

Between 2024 and early 2025, centralized crypto exchanges collectively held well above 3 billion XRP in their reserves. That figure has since fallen to the 2 billion XRP range in late 2025, with some brief spikes that were quickly reversed. Interestingly, the most recent data shows that exchange balances have fallen further at the beginning of 2026.

However, XRP balances on Binance were still elevated as 2025 came to a close, holding steady above 2 billion XRP tokens through the final trading days of the year. At the time of writing, on-chain data from CryptoQuant shows that the total XRP has dropped to about 1.85 billion tokens, down from roughly 2.65 billion XRP on December 31, 2025. That represents an exit of nearly 800 million XRP from the exchange within the first five days of 2026.

Glassnode Data Shows Even Fewer Tokens On Exchanges

An even tighter picture of XRP’s exchange supply can be seen through Glassnode data highlighted on X by an account known as BULLRUNNERS. A chart shared on X by BULLRUNNERS shows that XRP balances across all exchanges may be far lower than many traders realize. 

Reacting to the data, the account noted that only 1.44 billion XRP is left on crypto exchanges. The chart shows a steep drop in XRP reserves from above 1.53 billion XRP to 1.44 billion XRP within the most recent trading sessions.

Reduced supply on exchanges can affect price reactions and is bullish for cryptocurrencies, at least in theory. Interestingly, XRP price’s action is starting to react to the outflows, amongst other factors, in the past 48 hours. 

At the time of writing, XRP is now back above $2 and is trading at $2.15. The significance of the ongoing exchange outflows becomes clearer when they are considered alongside the steady inflows into Spot XRP ETFs, which, so far, have not recorded a single day of net outflows since launch.

2025 was a remarkable year for XRP, as the altcoin experienced multiple milestones, including the launch of Spot ETFs and the conclusion of the Ripple vs. the US SEC lawsuit, which led to one of its significant rallies in the year. Although XRP has seen massive growth, analysts still believe that investing in the token in 2026 could still be considered early.

XRP Positioning In A Maturing Market

While XRP has been a topic of discussion in the cryptocurrency space for many years, mounting data indicate that an investment made in 2026 might still be in the early phases of its wider adoption cycle. 

This prediction made by Moon Lambo on the X platform is majorly focused on the demand for the altcoin and the substantial growth of the Spot XRP Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs). With institutional use cases growing, regulatory clarity improving, and on-chain activity continuing to evolve, the XRP architecture is just now starting to take shape. 

Moon Lambo stated that the total net assets of all XRP ETFs have reached a whopping $1.37 billion. Interesting, the massive figure was achieved in less than 2 months after its launch, with only 5 spot ETFs live in the market. 

According to the expert, this indicates that ETFs have consumed roughly 0.7% supply in circulation in about 34 days, which also represents a 1.14% of the market cap of the leading altcoin. However, Moon Lambo expects the XRP Spot ETFs to continue in the next 3 to 10 years, and the 0.7% of supply held by the funds would become extremely larger.

The notable growth in the funds comes at a time when the cryptocurrency market is facing steady suppression due to the massive liquidation event that occurred on October 10. Since the event, Moon Lambo stated that the market sentiment continues to remain in extreme fear.

During the period, capital persistently flowed into XRP Spot ETFs despite the market volatility. At the same time, there have been several weeks of sharp withdrawals for Bitcoin and Ethereum counterparts.

2026 Might Mark The Beginning For Investors

The analyst also expects this type of demand to occur on the crypto native side of things, especially exchanges like Binance and Coinbase. All of this is taking place at a time when the altcoin’s fundamentals are stronger than ever. In such a scenario, Moon Lambo is confident that the price of the token will continue to rise.

Related Reading: Ripple Dev Says Get Ready For 2026, All The New Things Coming For XRP

Given its 14 years of existence, XRP is considered a clear winner in the ever-evolving crypto space. In spite of its remarkable growth over the years, the expert declares that those interested in the altcoin in 2026 are still early. “Even if it doesn’t feel like it right now, you’re early,” Moon Lambo added.

Another instance to support the claim is that the great majority of the adoption that will take place has not yet happened. As a result, Moon Lambo predicted that the best is yet to come, suggesting that the token will undergo massive growth in the upcoming years.

Crypto pundit SMQKE has drawn the community’s attention to the possibility that the proposed digital euro is using XRP. This comes as the XRP Ledger continues to gain more utility, which is a positive for the altcoin. 

How The Digital Euro Has Ties To XRP

In an X post, SMQKE highlighted the ties between the proposed digital euro, which is expected to launch by 2029, and XRP. The DLT pilot program will allegedly be used to issue this Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Meanwhile, Axiology is the XRPL-based technological layer for the DLT Transactional Settlement System (DLT TSS), which indicates a potential connection between the digital euro and the token. 

Furthermore, SMQKE noted that the DLT is working on a secondary market for tokenized securities, which is also a positive for the crypto and the Ledger. Despite the ties between the digital euro and XRP, the European Central Bank (ECB) has yet to say whether it will launch the CBDC on any public blockchain, including the Ledger. 

The Ledger is already home to several stablecoins, including Ripple’s RLUSD and Circle’s USDC, which are natively issued on the network. Meanwhile, Schuman’s EURØP, a MiCA-compliant and euro-backed stablecoin, is also issued on the Ledger. The issuance of these stablecoins on the network is bullish for the token because it could boost the altcoin’s adoption as the native token of the Ledger. 

Notably, the Ledger developers are also working on several updates to help onboard institutions onto the network. This includes privacy tools to ensure that these institutions can move their funds on-chain without being monitored. These developers are also working to eliminate the risk posed by quantum computing by introducing quantum-resistant code on the Ledger. 

“The Global Financial System Is Running On XRP”

In an X post, crypto pundit Jake Claver declared that the global financial system runs on XRP and that big banks are quietly accumulating the altcoin because they know what is coming. He further noted that one the altcoin can power multiple cross-border transactions daily and that several companies will soon need it to survive in global trade. “The writing is on the wall. Get ready or get left behind,” Claver added.

However, popular community member Crypto Eri countered Claver’s statement, suggesting that banks do not need to hold the token for these transactions. She stated that Ripple facilitates ODL for payment providers using XRP in liquidity corridors. Crypto Eri further remarked that this includes an optional Ripple-managed wallet that the user dips into on demand without exposure to the altcoin. In line with this, she said that banks don’t quietly accumulate for payments but instead use the Ripple payments solution.

At the time of writing, the altcoin’s price is trading at around $2.13, up over 3% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

The broader cryptocurrency market seems to be slowly turning bullish, with the price of Bitcoin reclaiming the $92,000 mark after weeks of trading beneath the level. Despite a rebound, a key metric shows that massive BTC inflows to the Binance exchange have not yet slowed down as whale activity heats up.

Whale-Sized Bitcoin Inflows Hit Binance

While the market is regaining upside traction, Bitcoin is experiencing a persistent and notable shift in exchange activity. In a CryptoQuant quicktake, Maartunn, a market expert and investor, has outlined a steady uptick in flows to Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and there are increasingly whale-sized transfers.

Typically, such movement of BTC raises questions about a potential sell-off, strategic positioning, or preparing for volatility. However, considering the current market state, these major players may be gearing up for the market’s next phase rather than sitting on the sidelines. 

Maartunn determined the shift in exchange activity after examining the Bitcoin Inflow Mean metric on the monthly time frame. The key metric shows the average BTC per inflow transaction, which is signaling that larger holders are now more active on the Binance crypto exchange. As seen in the chart, the Monthly Inflow Mean to Binance increased to 21.7 BTC in December 2025. 

It is worth noting that the metric has been rising in the last 2 years, moving from 0.86 BTC in early January 2024 to 21.7 BTC in 2026. To put into context, this growth represents a 34x increase in the average size of each deposit. Maartunn highlighted that this trend started accelerating in early 2024, just around the period the Spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) were approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC). 

The timing suggests that larger organizations may have begun using Binance as an exchange alongside institutional adoption. However, this could just be a coincidence. As a result of the persistent inflow to Binance from large holders, the expert declares that the crypto exchange is poisoning itself as a key venue for whale flows.

BTC Purchase Firing Up Among Large Holders

Bitcoin accumulation among large holders or whales has also increased sharply lately. NoLimit, the analyst who predicted the Bitcoin bottom at $16,000 and its top at $126,000 in October 2025, reported that the cohort scooped up around 270,000 BTC, valued at roughly $23 billion over the past 30 days. This represents 1.3% of BTC’s total supply, and it is the largest net purchase from the investors in the last 13 years.

A key development in this buying activity is the period during which it is being conducted. Historically, this kind of whale concentration has occurred during uncertain times rather than at clear tops. While most individuals are preoccupied with other things and aren’t paying attention to inflows, this type of placement takes place quietly.

NoLimit stated that this does not mean that BTC gets to move upward tomorrow, but it does imply that investors with the longest time horizons are aggressively increasing their exposure. Meanwhile, investors in shitcoins are complaining about the coins not moving upward.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the network has effectively “solved” the blockchain trilemma: decentralization, consensus, and high bandwidth, arguing that the missing ingredients are now live on mainnet or within reach as zero-knowledge Ethereum virtual machines (ZK-EVMs) move toward production use.

In a Jan. 3 post on X, Buterin framed the moment around two technical developments: PeerDAS, which he said is now live on Ethereum mainnet, and ZK-EVMs, which he described as being at an “alpha stage” with “production-quality performance” while “remaining work is safety.”

“These are not minor improvements; they are shifting Ethereum into being a fundamentally new and more powerful kind of decentralized network,” Buterin wrote. “To see why, let’s look at the two major types of p2p network so far.”

Buterin drew a contrast between early peer-to-peer systems that could scale throughput but lacked agreement on shared state, and blockchains that achieved robust consensus but paid for it with constrained bandwidth. He pointed to BitTorrent as a model of decentralized distribution without consensus, and to Bitcoin as a model of decentralization and consensus that keeps bandwidth low because “it’s not ‘distributed’ in the sense of work being split up, it’s replicated.”

Ethereum Will Solve The Blockchain Trilemma

The claim, in Buterin’s telling, is that Ethereum is entering a third category. “Now, Ethereum with PeerDAS (2025) and ZK-EVMs (expect small portions of the network using it in 2026), we get: decentralized, consensus and high bandwidth,” he said. “The trilemma has been solved — not on paper, but with live running code, of which one half (data availability sampling) is on mainnet today, and the other half (ZK-EVMs) is production-quality on performance today — safety is what remains.”

Buterin cast this as the culmination of a multi-year roadmap rather than a sudden breakthrough. He described it as a “10-year journey,” pointing back to early data availability sampling research and noting that ZK-EVM efforts began around 2020. The arc of his argument is that data availability sampling changes what a decentralized network can safely publish and verify at scale, while ZK-EVMs change how nodes can validate execution, shifting validation toward proof-based verification as the technology matures.

Looking ahead, Buterin laid out an approximate timeline for how he expects the vision to roll out over the next four years. In 2026, he expects “large non-ZKEVM-dependent gas limit increases” tied to BALs and ePBS, alongside what he described as the first opportunities to run a ZK-EVM node.

From 2026 through 2028, he anticipates a sequence of changes, gas repricings, adjustments to state structure, moving execution payloads into blobs, and other steps, aimed at making higher gas limits safe. Between 2027 and 2030, he expects “large further gas limit increases,” with ZK-EVMs becoming “the primary way to validate blocks on the network.”

He also flagged what he called a “third piece” of the puzzle: distributed block building. The long-term goal, he wrote, is a world where “the full block is never constituted in one single place,” though he stressed it “will not be necessary for a long time.” The nearer-term focus is distributing “meaningful authority in block building,” either through in-protocol mechanisms—he floated expanding FOCIL as a primary transaction channel—or through out-of-protocol systems such as distributed builder marketplaces.

For Buterin, distributing block building is not just an engineering preference but a risk and fairness question: he argued it would reduce the chance of “centralized interference with real-time transaction inclusion,” while creating “a better environment for geographical fairness.”

At press time, ETH traded at $3,164.

Bitcoin has pushed back above the $92,000 level after several days of steady buying pressure, offering investors a sense of short-term relief following weeks of choppy and directionless price action. The rebound suggests that demand has not fully disappeared, yet the broader technical picture remains unresolved.

Despite the recent strength, BTC is still trading below key structural levels that would normally confirm a sustained continuation of the broader uptrend, keeping market participants cautious about calling a definitive trend shift.

Adding complexity to the outlook, a recent CryptoQuant report by CryptoOnchain highlights a notable divergence in Binance flow data that deserves attention. The analysis compares the average size of Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals on the exchange since October and points to a growing imbalance beneath the surface. On one side, the average inflow size has increased sharply, implying that larger holders are moving more BTC onto exchanges. On the other, average outflows remain subdued, signaling weaker accumulation behavior and limited movement into long-term storage.

This divergence introduces a potential headwind for price, as it suggests that selling capacity is building faster than conviction to hold. While price action has improved in the short term, on-chain flows indicate that the market may still be vulnerable if demand fails to strengthen further.

Bitcoin Whale Flows Signal Rising Supply Risk

The report points to a meaningful shift in how large Bitcoin holders are interacting with exchanges, and the change is not neutral. Data tracking the average size of deposits into Binance shows a sharp jump over recent months. Transactions flowing into the exchange are no longer clustered around smaller sizes; instead, they increasingly reflect much larger transfers.

This pattern is typically associated with whales positioning liquidity, a behavior that often precedes distribution rather than long-term holding. When large amounts of BTC are moved onto exchanges, it raises the probability that supply will soon be available to the market.

At the same time, the opposite side of the equation looks notably weak. Average withdrawal sizes have failed to recover meaningfully since their decline in October. While there has been a modest rebound, outflows remain far below previous levels, suggesting that large investors are not aggressively moving coins into cold storage. This lack of follow-through on withdrawals implies muted conviction in longer-term accumulation.

Taken together, these two trends form an uncomfortable divergence. Selling capacity appears to be growing, while evidence of strategic accumulation remains limited. This does not guarantee immediate downside, but it does tilt the risk profile against sustained upside momentum. As long as large inflows dominate and outflows stay suppressed, Bitcoin may struggle to build a durable rally without a clear improvement in underlying demand.

Price Stabilizes, But Structural Resistance Persists

Bitcoin’s weekly chart shows a market attempting to stabilize after a sharp correction, but still facing important structural hurdles. Price has reclaimed the $92,000 area, which places BTC back above a key horizontal level that previously acted as support during mid-2025. This recovery has eased immediate downside pressure and suggests buyers are defending the range rather than capitulating.

However, the broader trend remains mixed. Bitcoin is still trading below the declining short-term moving average, which has capped upside attempts since the November breakdown. This indicates that, despite the bounce, momentum has not fully shifted back in favor of bulls. The recovery so far resembles consolidation after a drawdown rather than a confirmed trend reversal.

From a structural perspective, the rising longer-term moving averages remain intact and well below the price. This signals that the macro uptrend from 2023 has not been invalidated. As long as BTC holds above the green moving average, the larger bullish structure remains technically preserved. That said, the distance between price and these longer-term supports has narrowed, reflecting reduced trend strength.

Volume has remained relatively muted during the rebound, suggesting that buying interest is cautious rather than aggressive. For Bitcoin to reassert bullish control, it would need to reclaim and hold above the short-term moving average with expanding volume. Until then, price action points to a fragile recovery within a broader consolidation phase.

Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com 

Visa-backed crypto cards recorded a sharp rise in consumer spending last year, with total net spend jumping 525% from January to December. According to data compiled from on-chain trackers, spending moved from $14.6 million in January to $91.3 million by the end of December.

Major Cards Driving The Growth

Most of the rise was concentrated in a small group of cards. Data shows that EtherFi’s Visa card accounted for $55.4 million of the total, more than double second-place Cypher’s $20.5 million. The six cards tracked include offerings from GnosisPay, Cypher, EtherFi, Avici Money, Exa App, and Moonwell.

Spending Patterns And Data Source

Data from Dune Analytics shows the figures measure net spend on Visa-issued crypto cards run by blockchain projects partnering with Visa. The growth appears to be steady across the year rather than a single spike, with month-by-month net spend rising through 2025.

According to Polygon researcher @obchakevich_ on X Sunday, these numbers show that crypto cards are gaining traction with users and highlight how important crypto and stablecoins have become for Visa’s worldwide payment network.

. @Visa continues its expansion into crypto, steadily increasing spend volume through crypto cards such as @gnosispay, @ether_fi cash, @Cypher_HQ_, @AviciMoney, @Exa_App, @MoonwellDeFi card, and others.

Looking at the analytics for 6 crypto cards on Visa, we can see rapid… pic.twitter.com/Z5JzpBggI9

— Alex (@obchakevich_) January 4, 2026

What This Means For Payments

Analysts and researchers say this jump suggests some crypto cards are moving into regular everyday use for certain groups of customers. Based on reports, cardholders are using crypto balances to pay for routine purchases instead of always converting to fiat first. That shift could make stablecoins and crypto rails more relevant for payments firms and banks.

Visa Moves On Stablecoins And Advisory Work

Visa has been active on the stablecoin front and has signaled plans to support broader stablecoin infrastructure for payments. Reports show Visa launched initiatives to help banks and partners build out stablecoin solutions and set up advisory work around tokenized money late in 2025. Those moves line up with the card-use data, which some observers see as a practical test of crypto payment flows at scale.

Growth on a small set of cards does not mean mass adoption yet. Observers caution that regulation, consumer protection, and merchant acceptance remain key constraints. At the same time, the numbers do show that crypto-linked payments are no longer just a niche experiment; they are being used for real transactions by measurable groups of users.

Featured image from Cebuana Lhuillier, chart from TradingView

Криптосервисы 48 стран мира с этого года обязаны начать сбор информации о криптовалютных транзакциях. Государства-участницы Организации экономического сотрудничества и развития (OECD) намерены обмениваться этими данными ради увеличения налоговых сборов и соблюдения Международного налогового стандарта (CARF). Стандарт разработан OECD.

Гендиректор Galaxy Digital Майк Новограц (Mike Novogratz) назвал две криптовалюты, которые, по его мнению, «стоят на краю пропасти», то есть их курс может обрушиться до минимума: XRP и ADA.

За последнюю неделю инвесторы перевели на крупнейшую в мире по объемам торгов криптобиржу Binance почти $2,4 млрд в биткоинах и эфире. Приток монет может быть связан с желанием крупных держателей продать свои активы, предположили аналитики компании CryptoOnchain.

В 2025 году мошенники похитили у жителей США свыше $333 млн с помощью криптоматов. Такую статистику привело Федеральное бюро расследований (ФБР). Показатель значительно вырос по сравнению с предыдущими годами.

XRP enters the new year attempting to stabilize after one of its most difficult periods in recent memory. Throughout 2025, the asset faced persistent selling pressure, with repeated rallies failing as uncertainty and risk aversion dominated the broader crypto market. That backdrop makes the recent move notable: XRP has gained more than 15% over the past four days, suggesting that buyers are cautiously stepping back in after months of defensive positioning.

While price action alone is not enough to confirm a trend reversal, on-chain and derivatives data point to a meaningful shift in short-term dynamics. Insights shared by CryptoOnchain explain that Binance data shows a sharp improvement in XRP’s Taker Buy/Sell Ratio, with its 7-day moving average rising to 0.991—its highest reading since late November. This metric tracks the balance between aggressive buyers and sellers, offering insight into who is willing to cross the spread and dictate market direction.

The move toward the neutral 1.0 level suggests that sell-side aggression has eased materially. Instead of sellers dominating market orders, buyers are increasingly willing to execute at market prices, a behavior typically associated with improving confidence. Importantly, this shift is emerging after a prolonged bearish phase, rather than at local price highs.

The analysis suggests that XRP appears to be transitioning out of a purely defensive regime. Whether this develops into a sustained recovery will depend on follow-through in price, volume expansion, and the ability of buyers to maintain control as broader market conditions evolve.

XRP Derivatives Data Signals Early Shift in Market Control

The latest CryptoOnchain analysis points to a notable shift in XRP’s short-term market structure, with multiple signals suggesting that selling pressure is beginning to ease. Recent derivatives data points to a meaningful change in XRP’s short-term market structure, with several signals aligning for the first time in weeks.

After spending much of mid-December under clear bearish pressure, trader behavior now suggests a gradual sentiment reset. The improvement in aggressive order flow implies that pessimism has eased, allowing buyers to re-enter without immediately facing heavy sell-side resistance.

According to the analysis, the recent rise in the taker buy/sell ratio marks a clear change from the bearish conditions observed in mid-December. During that period, aggressive sellers dominated order flow, keeping XRP under constant pressure.

The current improvement indicates that traders are becoming more confident, with buyers increasingly willing to step in at market prices rather than waiting for deeper pullbacks. This behavior typically reflects a transition from fear-driven selling to more balanced positioning.

The report also notes that this shift aligns closely with XRP’s recent price recovery. Importantly, the rebound has been supported by active demand rather than thin liquidity, suggesting that buyers are absorbing supply more effectively. This dynamic reduces the probability of sharp sell-offs in the short term, as available sell-side liquidity is being met with real buying interest.

A key level highlighted in the analysis is the near-1.0 threshold in the ratio. Sustained strength beyond this zone would signal that buyers have gained clearer control over market flow, potentially setting the foundation for a more durable recovery phase rather than a temporary bounce.

Price Faces Key Resistance as Relief Rally Develops

XRP has staged a notable short-term recovery after months of persistent downside pressure, gaining momentum from the $1.85–$1.90 region and pushing back above $2.10. On the chart, this move stands out as the strongest bullish sequence since late October, signaling that sellers are losing control after an extended distribution phase. However, the broader structure remains fragile, and the rebound is best described as a relief rally rather than a confirmed trend reversal.

Price is still trading below the declining 100-day and 200-day moving averages, which now act as dynamic resistance near the $2.45–$2.60 zone. Historically, XRP has struggled to sustain upside moves while capped below these levels, suggesting that bulls must reclaim this area to shift the medium-term bias. The 50-day moving average is flattening, indicating that downside momentum is slowing, but it has not yet turned upward.

Volume behavior adds important context. While recent green candles show improved participation compared to December, volume remains well below the levels seen during prior impulse rallies. This implies cautious buying rather than aggressive accumulation. Structurally, the $1.85 level stands out as key support, closely aligned with the rising long-term moving average, which has so far prevented deeper breakdowns.

The current bounce improves sentiment, but confirmation will depend on whether the price can reclaim higher moving averages and sustain follow-through beyond short-term resistance.

Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com