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Bitcoin continues to trade below the $90,000 level after multiple failed attempts to break higher since December 14, reinforcing a growing sense of caution across the market. Each rejection near this psychological threshold has added weight to the bearish narrative, with an increasing number of analysts now warning that Bitcoin may be entering a prolonged corrective phase in the year ahead.

Despite this muted price action, on-chain data suggests a more nuanced picture beneath the surface. Top analyst Axel Adler recently shared a chart tracking Bitcoin realized losses using a seven-day moving average and a z-score framework, highlighting a clear transition from November’s extreme capitulation to a period of normalization in December.

This metric measures the volume of losses realized when coins move, with the z-score used to identify stress extremes within the market.

November marked the peak of selling pressure. On November 21–22, the realized loss z-score surged to between 8.7 and 10.9, with daily losses exceeding $5 billion. In comparison, the late-December spike on December 26, which reached a z-score near 1.6, appears relatively minor. More importantly, weekly realized losses have collapsed from roughly $2.4 billion at the peak to around $0.5 billion, returning to levels last seen in September and October.

According to Adler, this sharp decline points to structural seller exhaustion rather than a temporary lull. Historically, markets often stabilize after such conditions, suggesting that while the price remains weak, downside pressure may be fading.

Bitcoin Indicator Signals Fading Downside Pressure

Adler’s report also highlights Bitcoin’s Net Realized Profit/Loss (P/L) metric, smoothed using a seven-day moving average, offering further insight into the market’s internal dynamics. This indicator tracks the balance between realized profits and realized losses over time. When the value is negative, losses dominate and capital is being destroyed; when positive, profit-taking outweighs loss realization.

Currently, Bitcoin’s net realized P/L remains in negative territory, confirming that the market has not fully exited a risk-off regime. However, the direction of travel is notable. Over the final week of December, the depth of negative net P/L shrank by nearly half, signaling a meaningful reduction in loss intensity.

Importantly, this improvement has unfolded without a strong price recovery, suggesting that the change is driven by seller exhaustion rather than an artificial price squeeze or short-term speculation.

According to Adler, this behavior is structurally significant. When net realized P/L trends upward toward the zero line, it reflects a transition phase in which forced selling subsides, and marginal supply weakens. Historically, a sustained move back into positive territory has coincided with the early stages of local market recoveries.

Taken together, the realized loss and net P/L charts present a consistent narrative. November appears to have absorbed the majority of weak hands, December functioned as an absorption and stabilization phase, and January could represent a potential inflection point—provided new demand begins to enter the market.

Price Remains Range-Bounded

Bitcoin remains locked in a tight consolidation below the $90,000 level, as shown on the 4-hour chart, reflecting persistent indecision after repeated failed breakout attempts. Price is currently trading near $87,600, holding within a narrow range that has defined market behavior throughout the second half of December. This structure highlights a balance between buyers defending local support and sellers consistently fading rallies.

From a technical standpoint, Bitcoin is trading below the declining 200-period moving average, which continues to act as a key dynamic resistance near the $89,000–$90,000 zone. The 100-period moving average has flattened and is closely aligned with price, signaling a lack of momentum in either direction.

Meanwhile, the shorter-term moving average has rolled over, reinforcing the short-term bearish bias and confirming that upside attempts are being absorbed.

The price action since mid-December shows a clear compression pattern, with lower highs forming beneath resistance and higher lows developing above the $86,000–$87,000 support region. This tightening range suggests that volatility is being suppressed, often preceding a decisive move.

Structurally, the $86,000 level remains critical. A clean breakdown below this support could open the door to a deeper retracement toward the low $80,000s. Conversely, reclaiming and holding above $90,000 would invalidate the current bearish structure and signal renewed upside momentum.

Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com 

Shiba Inu holders have been placed on alert following a major security breach tied to TrustWallet’s crypto wallet extension. The incident has led to concerns across the crypto industry around browser-based wallets and the growing risks faced by retail-heavy communities. 

As one of the largest and most active ecosystems in crypto, members of the Shiba Inu community have found themselves at the center of discussions on the failure that exposed many crypto holders.

Trust Wallet Extension Exploit Raises Alarm Across SHIB Community

The breach in question refers to a compromised version of the Trust Wallet Chrome browser extension, specifically version 2.68. Code embedded in the update allowed attackers to access wallets and drain funds without users realizing what was happening. 

Several cryptocurrencies were affected, and the precise breakdown of losses by asset is currently unclear. Even so, the incident has drawn particular attention inside the Shiba Inu community due to the sheer size of its holder base and the widespread use of browser wallets among SHIB investors.

Warnings quickly circulated within the SHIB ecosystem. For instance, the Susbarium | Shibarium Trustwatch account issued a public alert on the social media platform X, encouraging users to immediately disable extension version 2.68 and update to version 2.69 from the official Chrome Web Store. The notice also clarified that mobile users and other extension versions were unaffected, helping to narrow the scope of concern and reduce panic.

These warnings aligned with official updates from the Trust Wallet team, which acknowledged the breach and moved quickly to contain it. 

What Comes Next After The Trust Wallet Breach?

As the immediate fallout from the Trust Wallet browser extension breach settles, the next thing is resolution and accountability. In terms of the scale of damage, Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao stated that the breach resulted in about $7 million in losses across affected Trust Wallet accounts. 

Trust Wallet subsequently announced that it would reimburse all victims of the security incident. Further insight came from Eowyn Chen, CEO of Trust Wallet, who shared a December 28 update addressing the ongoing investigation. 

Chen acknowledged the disruption caused by the incident and noted that the team was prioritizing accuracy over speed in the compensation process. According to Chen, Trust Wallet has so far identified 2,596 affected wallet addresses. However, the company has received around 5,000 reimbursement claims, revealing a large number of false or duplicate submissions.

The episode is another reminder that infrastructure risks can impact even the most established projects in the crypto space. Particularly, the situation revived memories of earlier security incidents tied to the Shiba Inu ecosystem. 

The most recent example was in September 2025, when the Shibarium bridge was exploited through a flash loan attack that resulted in losses estimated at about $4.1 million worth of assets, including ETH, SHIB, and KNINE.

XRP ETF activity is pushing the asset into a phase where market structure increasingly outweighs market sentiment, as exchange-held supply continues to contract while institutional access expands. Analysts are now examining whether sustained ETF absorption could function as a long-term demand sink, tightening liquid supply and reshaping the mechanics of price discovery.

Shrinking Supply? Institutional Absorption Of XRP ETFs Accelerates

A market commentator on X has drawn attention to a sharp and sustained decline in XRP balances held across centralized exchanges, pointing to a structural change in how the asset is being absorbed and held. According to the figures cited, XRP ETFs have removed approximately 750 million XRP from exchanges within a matter of weeks, leaving an estimated 1.5 billion XRP remaining in liquid exchange reserves. This pace of absorption places exchange-held supply on a visibly contracting trajectory.

The same X account shared an on-chain chart that visually substantiates the decline in exchange-held XRP. The data shows total balances across centralized exchanges trending steadily lower throughout 2025. Notably, this contraction occurs while price action remains relatively contained, indicating that supply is being withdrawn from exchanges without provoking sharp directional moves. This separation between declining liquidity and stable pricing points to deliberate, conviction-driven absorption, consistent with long-term institutional positioning.

ETF-held XRP, by design, functions as locked capital rather than short-term liquidity. Once absorbed into exchange-traded products and institutional custody structures, tokens are effectively sidelined from day-to-day trading activity. This creates a largely one-directional supply dynamic, reducing the amount of XRP available to respond to new demand. On-chain data visualized in the chart supports this interpretation, showing consistent outflows that persist through both local price peaks and pullbacks.

Regulatory developments further contextualize this trend. The market commentator explicitly links the tightening supply to the Clarity Act, which provides a framework for compliant institutional participation. With clearer legal treatment, XRP becomes suitable for long-term balance sheet exposure and operational use. 

Why 2026 Is Emerging As A Structural Inflection Point

The supply narrative gains additional weight when viewed through a forward-looking lens. Projections pointing to early 2026 as a potential supply shock window are based not on aggressive acceleration, but on simple continuation. At the current rate of ETF-driven absorption, exchange balances could approach critically thin levels, creating a low-float market structure where marginal demand exerts disproportionate influence on price.

The chart underscores this risk. As exchange-held XRP compresses toward historically low territory, the remaining liquid supply increasingly defines price discovery. In such conditions, price formation shifts away from speculative churn and toward liquidity mechanics, where availability, custody constraints, and institutional flows dominate outcomes.

Taken together, falling exchange balances, sustained ETF absorption, and the regulatory clarity introduced by the Clarity Act all point to a market steadily tightening. Should these conditions persist into early 2026, XRP’s next major phase is likely to be shaped by scarcity and institutional liquidity dynamics, establishing a structural inflection point for the asset.

On-chain data shows Bitcoin investors have only ramped up their loss realization even as the cryptocurrency’s price has found some stability.

90-Day SMA Bitcoin Realized Loss Has Continued To Climb

In a new post on X, Glassnode lead research analyst CryptoVizArt has talked about the latest trend in the 90-day simple moving average (SMA) of the Bitcoin Realized Loss. This indicator measures, as its name suggests, the total amount of loss (in USD) that the investors are “realizing” through their transactions.

Below is the chart shared by CryptoVizArt that shows how the 90-day SMA of this metric has changed over the last few years.

As is visible in the graph, the 90-day SMA Bitcoin Realized Loss was at relatively low levels between July and November, but since then, the indicator’s value has shot up, suggesting investors have increasingly been moving coins at a loss.

Something to note here is that the Bitcoin Realized Loss used in the chart isn’t the usual one, but rather the entity-adjusted version. Glassnode defines an “entity” to be a cluster of addresses that are owned by the same investor. Entity-adjusted on-chain indicators only account for transactions that are occurring between the wallets of two different entities.

From the chart, it’s apparent that even after excluding in-house transactions, the 90-day SMA of the Bitcoin Realized Loss is currently sitting at the $300 million mark, the highest value since early 2023. There were two other capitulation events in this cycle, but they were of a notably smaller scale. The loss-taking spree in mid-2024 couldn’t even hit $100 million, while the one in the first few months of 2025 topped out just beyond the mark.

The current Bitcoin capitulation is still significantly behind the highs of the 2022 bear market, however, as the 90-day SMA entity-adjusted Realized Loss exceeded a whopping $600 million back then.

Nonetheless, the latest investor loss selloff hasn’t shown signs of slowing down yet, suggesting the capitulation could end up with an even higher peak. The fact that the event hasn’t slowed down is interesting, though, given the context that Bitcoin has reached a relatively stable phase since the crash in November.

This trend could potentially imply the top buyers are getting increasingly frustrated by the lack of a bullish return, so they are exiting to avoid going into even deeper losses.

BTC Surges To $90,000 Before Pulling Back

Bitcoin has seen a volatile swing in the past day, with its price first rallying above $90,000 and then declining back to the $87,500 level, essentially erasing the recovery.

This volatility has resulted in liquidations of over $69 million in the Bitcoin derivatives market, according to data from CoinGlass.

Crypto pundit Apex Crypto has shared an urgent update with the XRP community as he looked to debunk a theory outlined by another pundit, Lewis Jackson. Jackson suggested that the altcoin is unlikely to reach ambitious targets, such as $1,000, regardless of its utility. 

Pundit Shares Urgent Update With XRP Community 

In an X post, Apex Crypto stated that Lewis Jackson’s video, which covered XRP flow, utility, and private/shared ledgers, was “packed with profound misunderstandings.” He further remarked that they are filled with “blatant inaccuracies” and “outright nonsense” about how the XRP Ledger and Ripple’s solutions actually function. 

Related Reading: What Does XRP Really Do? Expert Explains What It Is Built For

Apex Crypto declared that Lewis Jackson’s statements aren’t a difference in opinion but a complete disconnect from technical reality and verifiable facts. He further described the level of misinformation as “genuinely upsetting” and noted that the content is “dangerous junk” that could mislead people, especially new community members. 

Lewis Jackson released a YouTube video claiming that banks do not need to hold millions of XRP to access Ripple’s cross-border payment service and perform transactions. He noted that these institutions will end up recycling the altcoin in circulation for their transactions, and so there is no impact on the price or any potential supply shock. Based on this, Jackson declared that its utility doesn’t equate to a high price for the altcoin. 

He also proposed a ‘Jackson Liquidity’ framework, which Apex Crypto described alongside the conclusions in the video as being “fundamentally worthless.” The pundit stated that the statements should be “shredded, discarded, and ignored.” Apex Crypto explained that for these claims to be even 15% correct, it would mean that Ripple’s CTO, David Schwartz, who created the XRP Ledger, would have to be 100% wrong. 

Apex Crypto asserted that Schwartz being wrong about how the Ledger, Interledger, AMM, and Ripple’s CBDC platform actually work is “obviously impossible” and not the case. He further remarked that Jackson’s statement was particularly frustrating because of how he positioned himself as the only one who had truly figured out how the altcoin works. 

At the same time, the pundit claimed that Jackson was pushing deeply flawed misinformation and attempting to funnel the entire community toward this erroneous framework. 

No Need For XRP Holders To Be Afraid 

Apex Crypto assured XRP holders that there was no need to be afraid, stating that they did not need to wait for his response videos to feel confident again. He remarked that his post alone should be more than enough to reassure them that Jackson’s statements are “pure junk.” The pundit added that the fundamentals and potential of the token remain solid and that none of the noise changes a thing. 

Related Reading: Why This Pundit Believes That XRP Holders Will Become Millionaires And Billionaires

Meanwhile, Apex Crypto stated that his post wasn’t a personal attack on Lewis Jackson, as he has respect for the effort that he has put in over the years. However, the pundit declared that the recent statements from Jackson are a genuine concern for the XRP community and deep frustration with the inaccuracies and the way Jackson has presented the misinformation as factual analysis. 

At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading at around $1.91, up 2% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Это был сложный год... А если серьезно, в 2025-м многие крупные криптовалюты обновили исторический максимум цены. Однако инвесторы ощущали напряжение практически все двенадцать месяцев, виной чему в первую очередь проблемы крупнейшей экономики мира: импортные пошлины Дональда Трампа и не только. Напомним самые заметные для цен на крипторынке события.

Ethereum’s network activity seems to be moving in an opposite direction to its current price performance. While the price of ETH has been experiencing waning action in recent days, the leading network has continued to attract notable participation and usage within the broader cryptocurrency landscape.

User Base On Ethereum Keeps Expanding

Even in a volatile crypto and macro environment, the Ethereum network has managed to maintain an upside trajectory. Once again, the network is showing quiet but significant expansion while the price of ETH persistently struggles to post another notable upward movement.

A report from Coin Bureau reveals that behind the day-to-day price fluctuations, there is a steady rise in network activity. The rise in network activity is driven by an expanding user base, signaling that participation across the ETH ecosystem is deepening rather than fading.

According to the expert, Ethereum‘s user base is still expanding as the number of active addresses on the network is continuously increasing. Data shows that the overall number of active addresses has surpassed the 275 million landmark. This steady rise in active addresses coincides with ongoing market volatility, making it a crucial development to watch in the upcoming days due to its potential to influence the market trajectory.

From Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and staking to Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs )and Layer 2 activities, the expanding user base indicates that the foundations of ETH are still solid. Such resilience strengthens the network’s role as the foundation for the development of smart contract adoption.

ETH Network Activity Growth Reaches Untouched Levels

In 2025, the Ethereum network witnessed one of its sharpest growths in the past few years. As the year comes to an end, Leon Waidmann, a market expert and head of research at On-Chain Foundation, revealed that the ETH mainnet recently hit a new all-time high in network activity, underlining the blockchain’s relevance.

After months of steady growth, the leading network is now processing more transactions and computations than it has ever done since its existence. This level of processing power reflects a notable demand for application creation on the blockchain and a real user base.

Waidmann highlighted that layer 2s did not drain activity from Ethereum; instead, the projects expanded it, strengthening the network’s scalability. In addition, more economic activity is being settled on the blockchain than at any other time in its history, which paints a bullish 2026 for ETH and its expanding ecosystem.

As transaction counts rise and user engagement increases, the milestone indicates more than just short-term momentum. Meanwhile, this growth is shaping how the market views ETH’s current phase, which highlights a blockchain that is thriving despite evolving market conditions.

Despite recent waning price action, Milk Road still believes that ETH could close December in green even after one of its toughest quarters in recent years. Milk Road prediction is supported by the fact that some of ETH’s strongest months and rebound quarters have occurred following periods of heavy quarterly selling.

Thus, December ending on a positive note is possible. However, the more noteworthy question is what comes after. In the past, periods like these have often served as the reset period prior to strong recovery efforts.

Dogecoin (DOGE) is struggling amid increased market volatility and choppy price action. With the final days of the Fourth Quarter (Q4) approaching fast, technical analysts point to weakness in DOGE’s price structure, noting that the meme coin has already fallen 50% and may be gearing up for further correction. If this happens, Dogecoin could end the year in the red, failing to reclaim former highs. 

Dogecoin Set To End Q4 In The Red After 50% Crash

Crypto analyst KrissPax has shared a new Dogecoin price analysis on X, warning that the meme coin may end the Fourth Quarter of 2025 in deep recession. According to the analyst, the Dogecoin price has already crashed roughly 50% in Q4, reflecting sustained weakness after a brief period of stability in October.

KrissPax explained in his post that Dogecoin initially showed resilience at the start of October, as price action respected an upward-sloping support trendline. That structure broke decisively during the October 10 flash crash and liquidation event, which the analyst noted was a leverage sweep that marked a significant shift in market behavior.

Since the devastating event, the analyst has stated that Dogecoin has steadily moved lower with no meaningful recovery. Although the meme coin has attempted to break out of its downtrend over the past few months, its weak price action and negative market sentiment have contained any strong bullish rally. 

KrissPax has also highlighted the meme coin’s repeated loss of critical support levels, suggesting deeper structural weakness rather than a temporary price pullback. This weakness is clearly reflected in Dogecoin’s price action. According to CoinMarketCap data, DOGE is currently trading at $0.126, down 15% over the past month, and more than 60% year-to-date. 

What The Chart Says

In his analysis, KrissPax shared a detailed price chart that reflects Dogecoin’s bearishness throughout the year. The market analyst disclosed that he had tracked the meme coin’s price movements through multiple support zones, including the purple, red, and brown ranges—all of which have failed to hold. 

After the October 10 crash, Dogecoin struggled to reclaim the broken support trendline, confirming it as resistance rather than a base for an uptrend continuation. One of the most significant signals highlighted on the chart by the analyst is the Death Cross formation. This technical pattern is often associated with extended downward trends and bearish market sentiment. 

After Dogecoin formed a Death Cross, its price continued to trend lower for months. The chart also showed multiple consolidation ranges that ultimately broke to the downside. Each period of sideways movement was followed by another price decline, suggesting heavy distribution rather than accumulation during these pauses. The repeated failure of key support zones further indicates that DOGE buyers were unable to prevent further declines even as selling pressure persisted. 

Robinhood, an American financial services company, has kicked off a holiday gifting event that lets users earn free Bitcoin (BTC), Dogecoin (DOGE), and other rewards through daily giveaways. The promotion is expected to run for six days and reward all users who participate in the countdown on the official app.

Robinhood Gifts Free Bitcoin And Dogecoin To Users

In the spirit of giving, Robinhood has launched a special holiday promotion offering users free cryptocurrency and other rewards through a countdown event called Hood Holidays. Running from December 26 to 31, the program delivers daily prizes to lucky participants who are on the App’s countdown screen when each Sweepstakes ends.

The Hood Holiday event is part of Robinhood’s effort to engage all of its users during the holiday season. The promotion spans six days and includes prizes totalling $7 million. Robinhood announced that, excluding Bitcoin and Dogecoin distributions, they will deliver grand prizes such as a trip to Hawaii and smaller awards like AirPods, providing a mix of traditional and digital rewards. 

Notably, users can claim their rewards by participating in the daily countdown on the App. They must be present on the countdown screen at the specified end time, 8:30 PM ET, to secure their prizes. Eligible participants receive a direct allocation of BTC or DOGE, which is automatically distributed to their Robinhood wallet account after winners are confirmed. 

Robinhood has revealed that on the first day of the event, eligible users were awarded five grand prizes valued at $17,500, 1,000 first prizes of $129, and $500,000 in Dogecoin. From day two, Gold members gained access to higher-value prizes. They were offered five grand prizes of $17,150, 1,000 first prizes of $275, and $750,000 in BTC shared among the remaining participants. Day three will see $850,000 in Ethereum (ETH) distributed to winners and other gifts.  

Day four is expected to feature Solana (SOL) rewards and other prizes, while Day five opens again to all users and awards $1 million in XRP to entrants. The final day is reserved for Gold members and includes a grand prize of $164,900, $1.5 million in Bitcoin distributed to participants, and other rewards. Robinhood has stated that prizes will be fulfilled 8-10 weeks after winners are confirmed, and each user is limited to one prize a day. 

Participants Face Glitches During Hood Holidays Giveaway

On the first day of Robinhood’s Hood Holidays event, many users reported being unable to access the activity on the application or reveal their gifts. Some participants disclosed experiencing frozen screens, failed loading, app errors, and glitches.  

Due to the severity of the technical problems, Robinhood had taken to X to assure users that the issue would be resolved and that participants from day one would receive their gifts. They revealed that the errors were due to high traffic and that regular updates will be delivered directly to users in the app.

Bitcoin’s price may be showcasing slight upward movement, but the overall outlook is still quite bearish considering the volatile state of the broader cryptocurrency market. Even with the flagship asset trading below the $90,000 price mark for the past few weeks, expectations for another huge rally remain solid in the hearts of major investors as they lean toward an upside position.

Big Money Bets On Bitcoin Are Sharply Returning

A recent view into the action of investors shows that the Bitcoin market is entering a decisive phase where sentiment could trigger the next potential move. After months of range-bound trading and recurrent responses to macro news, a deeper structural shift is now taking place among BTC investors.

Currently, large investors regarded as whales are demonstrating robust bullish sentiment toward the flagship asset. CW, a data analyst and crypto investor, shared that the cohort is massively opening long positions once again after examining the key BTC Whale vs. Retail Delta metric.

With the massive long positions coinciding with changes in liquidity, investors’ action, and on-chain activity, this suggests that the shift could be more than just short-term noise. This is because such a strong desire for bullish moves has the potential to redefine momentum across the market in the upcoming weeks.

According to the expert, these deep-pocket investors are largely building long positions in anticipation of a possible renewed upward trend in the price of Bitcoin. It is worth noting that long positions opened by the cohort reached their peak when BTC’s price dropped to around the $80,000 level. 

CW stated that this robust newfound buying trend has continued ever since. To address market fears and confusion, the expert highlighted that whale holders leaning toward long positions are a bullish signal for the crypto king generally. 

In a broader view, the chart shared by CW shows that large BTC investors have been concentrating more on upside bets than downside bets since July 2024. This trend points to sustained conviction among the cohort in BTC’s long-term prospects.

Whales And Retail Holders Are Now Buying More BTC

Bullish sentiment appears to have returned across the overall Bitcoin market, as big and small investors move in a similar bullish trajectory once again. CW revealed in another post that large and smart retail investors are now buying BTC at the same time, suggesting growing confidence beneath the surface.

Interestingly, this dynamic historically preceded phases of increased volatility and directional certainty. Furthermore, the synchronized accumulation indicates that investors on various scales might be preparing for a potential significant upswing in BTC’s price.

Amid the development, the resumption of retail investors’ buying activity is particularly noteworthy. Meanwhile, CW noted that only seasoned investors are still participating, which implies that the market is getting close to the beginning of a rally.

Flow Foundation отказался от вызвавшего споры плана отката блокчейна Flow, пострадавшего от взлома и потери $3,9 млн. Предложение вернуть сеть в состояние, предшествовавшее атаке, вызвало резкую негативную реакцию со стороны партнеров Flow Network.

According to reports, Mirae Asset Group is in advanced talks to buy Korbit, South Korea’s long-running crypto exchange, in a deal valued at about 100 billion to 140 billion won — roughly $70 million to $100 million.

The memorandum of understanding was reportedly signed through Mirae Asset Consulting, an affiliate outside the group’s regulated financial arm, as part of the preliminary purchase talks.

Mirae Asset Signs MOU With Major Shareholders

Sources say the agreement covers most of the stakes held by NXC and SK Planet, which together control the firm. Korbit’s ownership is reported at about 60.5% for NXC (the Nexon holding company) and 31.5% for SK Planet, with Mirae Asset negotiating to buy those shares.

Korbit’s Position In South Korea’s Market

Korbit is described as the fourth-largest exchange in South Korea, but its trading volume is small compared with the market leaders. Reports put its market share under 1%, while Upbit and Bithumb continue to handle the bulk of local trading.

According to The Chosun Daily, Mirae Asset Group is in talks to acquire Korbit, South Korea’s fourth-largest crypto exchange. Mirae Asset Consulting has signed an MOU with major shareholders. Korbit is currently ~60.5% owned by NXC and subsidiaries, with SK Square holding ~31.5%.…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) December 28, 2025

Why A Big Financial Group Is Interested

Based on reports, Mirae Asset sees two practical advantages: first, buying an existing, licensed operator gives faster access to regulated crypto business lines.

Second, using a non-financial affiliate helps the group navigate rules that restrict direct involvement by banks and insurers in virtual asset trading.

Industry observers have flagged that a licensed exchange — even a small one — can be valuable to a large financial house aiming to offer custody or trading services under local rules.

Regulatory Hurdles And Next Steps

Regulators are expected to review any final deal, and no confirmation has been issued by either Mirae Asset or Korbit as of reporting.

MIRAE ASSET IN TALKS TO ACQUIRE KOREA’S CRYPTO EXCHANGE KORBIT FOR $100 MILLION

Mirae Asset is reportedly negotiating a $100 million acquisition of South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Korbit, signaling continued interest from major financial institutions in expanding their… pic.twitter.com/RlZbeLIS05

— Crypto Town Hall (@Crypto_TownHall) December 29, 2025

Antitrust checks, banking relationship transfers, and compliance reviews would be part of the close if negotiations move forward. Market participants say that until formal filings are made, talks should be treated as preliminary.

If the purchase completes, a major financial player would own a licensed exchange — a move that might encourage other traditional firms to consider similar deals.

For Korbit, new ownership could mean an influx of capital and a push to rebuild competitive footing. For users, the change could bring stronger compliance and perhaps new product offerings, but it would be unlikely to shift the overall market share picture quickly given the dominance of the top two exchanges.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Биткоин может упасть в новом году до $50 000, но эта цена не окажется для первой криптовалюты дном, заявил аналитик Bloomberg Майк Макглоун (Mike McGlone). По мнению эксперта, криптовалюты пережили свой пик в 2025 году и дальше их ждет только падение.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong argued that Bitcoin ultimately strengthens the US dollar by acting as a market-based constraint on fiscal and monetary excess, framing the asset as a “check and balance” that could help the US retain reserve-currency credibility.

In a Dec. 28 post on X accompanied by a short voice recording, Armstrong pushed back on the idea that Bitcoin is inherently a threat to the dollar. “Bitcoin is good for USD,” he wrote, saying it “It creates competition in a way that’s healthy for the dollar, which helps to provide a check and balance against high inflation and deficit spending.”

Bitcoin is good for USD.

It creates competition in a way that’s healthy for the dollar, which helps to provide a check and balance against high inflation and deficit spending. pic.twitter.com/iHjQCJVqCb

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) December 28, 2025

Bitcoin Acts As A Check On Dollar Inflation

Armstrong’s core claim is that the existence of a credible alternative store of value increases the political and economic cost of letting inflation or debt dynamics deteriorate. In the recording, he said that if the US veers into “too much deficit spending or inflation,” capital can “flee to Bitcoin in times of uncertainty,” creating external pressure on policymakers and, by extension, a stronger incentive to maintain currency stability.

He situated the argument inside a broader critique of budgeting incentives in democratic systems. “Democracies around the world, including the United States… are trying to figure out how to fix deficit spending,” he said, adding that “the incentives are just not aligned to actually balance the budget.” The implication, as Armstrong laid it out, is not that Bitcoin repairs those incentives directly, but that it makes ignoring them more costly by offering an exit valve when credibility erodes.

Armstrong also tied reserve-currency status to the relationship between inflation and real growth. “It might be okay to have 2% to 3% inflation if the economy is growing 2% to 3%,” he said. But if “inflation outstrips the growth of the economy,” Armstrong warned the US could “eventually lose the reserve currency status,” which he described as “a massive blow” to the country.

He added a geopolitical layer, arguing that reserve-currency privilege is not static. “China, these other superpowers are coming in trying to compete for that over time,” Armstrong said, positioning monetary credibility as an axis of long-run strategic competition.

The conclusion he offered was a reframing of Bitcoin’s role: less an adversary to the dollar than a disciplining force that could lengthen the runway for US financial leadership. “So I actually think in a strange way, Bitcoin is helping extend the American experiment,” he said.

Armstrong’s comments land in the middle of a growing debate inside crypto about whether Bitcoin’s maturation makes it a parallel system or a pressure mechanism within existing ones. If his framing resonates, it could reinforce an emerging narrative among institutional allocators and policy-adjacent crypto advocates: that Bitcoin’s competitive presence may be compatible with, rather than corrosive to, dollar dominance, so long as it keeps signaling costs when confidence starts to slip.

At press time, BTC traded at $87,604.

В новом году интеграция с глобальными платежными системами и одобрение спотовых ETF на XRP могут подтолкнуть цену альткоина вверх, предположил аналитик ончейн-платформы Nansen Джейк Кеннис (Jake Kennis).

В 2026 году ожидается как минимум два крупных обновления сети Эфириума, сообщили разработчики. Одно запланировано на первую половину года, второе — на конец. Это значит, что блокчейн будет обновляться быстрее, чем Эфириум это делал ранее.

Bitcoin’s network has become slightly harder to mine, with the latest difficulty rising to a little over 148 trillion. Block times are currently averaging about 9.95 minutes, a little below the network’s 10-minute goal, prompting the adjustment to slow mining slightly.

Projected Difficulty Rise

Bitcoin adjusts its mining difficulty every 2016 blocks, roughly every two weeks, to keep the average block time near 10 minutes. When blocks are added too quickly, the network raises difficulty; when they fall behind, it lowers it.

Right now, miners are adding blocks a bit faster than the target, which means the network will increase the challenge to keep production steady.

Based on CoinWarz estimates, the next adjustment on January 8, 2026, at block 931,392, is expected to push the difficulty to past 148 trillion.

Historical Context And Market Moves

Mining difficulty has climbed to new highs during 2025, with two sharp jumps in September coinciding with Bitcoin’s price surge earlier in the year.

Bitcoin hit $125,100 in October before experiencing a significant drop. As prices rise, more mining rigs enter the network, which increases total computing power and prompts difficulty to adjust upward.

Miners’ Costs And Network Security

Higher difficulty means miners need more computing power and energy to solve blocks. This raises costs and can squeeze profit margins, especially for smaller operations.

At the same time, the system protects the network from centralization. If one miner or a group controlled too much computing power, they could dominate block production or even attempt a 51% attack. By adjusting difficulty, the network keeps mining distributed and secure.

Outlook From The Investment Side

According to Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan, Bitcoin may deliver steady growth over the next 10 years rather than massive yearly gains.

He told CNBC that he expects “strong returns” with moderate ups and downs. Hougan also maintains that 2026 is likely to be a positive year for Bitcoin, reflecting the network’s resilience after recent highs and volatility.

The rise to above 148 trillion is not dramatic but will slightly tighten miners’ margins. Tracking block times, hash rate, and difficulty can give insight into short-term mining profitability.

For investors, difficulty trends also indicate the real-world effort securing Bitcoin, which influences supply and potential selling pressure.

The network’s difficulty adjustments are routine but vital. They ensure coins are released steadily, miners remain challenged, and Bitcoin’s decentralized design is preserved.

Featured image from Pixabay, chart from TradingView

В январе нисходящий тренд на крипторынке может сломаться — у главных монет появился шанс «уйти в бычий прорыв», заявили эксперты сервиса блокчейн-аналитики 10x Research.

Количество смарт-контрактов, развернутых в сети Эфириума за три последних месяца 2025 года, достигло исторического максимума в 8,7 млн, говорят данные платформы Token Terminal.

Похищенные хакерами криптоаккаунты в даркненте стоят в среднем по $105 каждый, подсчитали аналитики «Лаборатории Касперского». Чаще всего ценовой диапазон для криптоадресов составляет $60–400. Для сравнения: данные банковской карты или счета стоят дороже, в среднем $350.