Ethereum

Crypto analyst Ben Cowen said on Dec. 23 that Ethereum is unlikely to post new record prices in 2026 under current Bitcoin market conditions. He argued that even a roughly 40% rally for Ether back to its $4,878 peak could form a bull trap followed by a drop toward $2,000, with limited spillover to other altcoins this cycle.

On Thursday, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said Grok, X's AI chatbot, makes the platform more truth-seeking by challenging users' assumptions. He argued it is a net improvement despite concerns about fine-tuning and recent hallucinations, while Elon Musk blamed adversarial prompting for errors.

Uniswap governance passed the UNIfication proposal on 25 December, with 125,342,017 UNI votes in favor and 742 against, exceeding the 40 million UNI quorum. The plan includes a one-time burn of 100 million UNI from treasury and, after a two-day timelock, activation of protocol fee switches and the removal of frontend fees.

Ethereum is drawing liquidity as traders reduce Bitcoin exposure. Between 24 November and 8 December, ETH/BTC rose about 14%, per TradingView, and over the past 24 hours liquidations were nearly balanced at $67.42 million longs versus $64.53 million shorts. Derivatives data from Alphractal also show BTC perpetual activity dropping while ETH contracts hold near 17 million.

On 25 December 2025, LD Capital's Trend Research expanded its Ethereum position, buying over 46,000 ETH worth about $137 million during a market dip. Despite unrealized losses above $140 million, founder Jack Yi said the firm plans to deploy up to $1 billion over time and is orienting its strategy toward a potential 2026 cycle.

Ethereum’s price is still capped below the $3,000 level and the 200-day exponential moving average, even as exchange balances continue to decline and whale accumulation grows. Futures market data shows that over 70% of open ETH perpetual positions are long, creating a crowded leverage setup with elevated liquidation risk. Momentum indicators remain subdued, pointing to a coiled market structure that could precede a sharp volatility spike.

As 2025 winds down, four sub-$0.10 tokens are in focus for early 2026: Midnight (NIGHT), VeChain (VET), Shiba Inu (SHIB), and Pepe (PEPE). At publication, prices were $0.076, $0.015, $0.000007, and $0.000003 respectively, alongside notes on Ethereum–Cardano interoperability progress, technical rebounds, and rising derivatives activity.

On 25 December 2025, data showed Bitcoin's perpetual futures activity falling sharply from peak levels, following a major liquidation event on 10 October that produced the largest open interest drawdown in BTC history. At the same time, Ethereum maintains around 17.5 million perpetual trades on a seven-day average, well above Bitcoin's roughly 13 million, indicating leveraged traders have shifted focus from BTC to ETH rather than exiting the market.

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 set a new high at 6,920, adding $18 trillion in value since the April 2025 bottom. Gold and Silver also reached records, while Bitcoin trades around $88,000 amid calls it could reach $150,000 in 2026. Some analysts discuss potential rotation from stocks and metals into major crypto assets.

On 25 December 2025, commentary from Rob Hadick argued that growing tokenization will likely support a shared digital economy instead of a single dominant blockchain. He sees Ethereum evolving as a core settlement and capital layer while Solana focuses on speed and high-volume activity, with fragmentation across multiple networks expected as more assets move onchain.