Bitcoin is maintaining key technical support around $86,500 while monthly exchange flows have climbed to roughly $10.9 billion, the strongest reading since May 2021. Analysts note that this combination of defended support and elevated on-chain activity may signal a turning point, with growing discussion around a potential move toward the $100,000 area as BTC attempts to clear resistance near $90,000.

Loopring's LRC trades near $0.056 after a brief push met selling around $0.057, keeping the structure bearish. Momentum remains weak, and traders are watching $0.052 and $0.050 on the downside while a move back above $0.062 would challenge the prevailing pressure.

Bitcoin hovered near $88,000 on Wednesday after a turbulent stretch, as roughly $628 million in 24-hour liquidations swept the crypto market, according to derivatives heatmap data. Shorts lost more than $230 million, with nearly $200 million cleared in ETH and about $180 million in BTC, while rotation into gold and long‑term holder selling kept sentiment cautious.

On 18 December 2025, recent Solana ecosystem data indicated that developers have redirected their efforts toward core infrastructure rather than experimental front-end applications. Activity is clustering around oracles, cross-chain connections, validator tooling, and staking-related protocols, suggesting a maturing phase focused on scalability and reliability. Projects such as Chainlink, Wormhole, Jito, Drift, Meteora, and Pyth are seeing sustained work as builders prioritize data accuracy, interoperability, and capital efficiency.

Published on 17 December 2025 at 08:48, Bloomberg Intelligence strategist Mike McGlone cautioned that Bitcoin may be facing a demand shortfall as higher prices depend on replacement buyers. He noted crypto capital is more dispersed, weakening BTC’s momentum, and in a 16 December 2025 tweet referenced a potential path toward $10,000 as a supply–demand repricing.

On 16 December 2025, Ethereum was still described as the main hub for DeFi, regulated stablecoins and high‑value onchain settlement, supported by the largest developer community and the deepest capital base. At the same time, more frequent transactions and consumer‑focused usage are shifting toward faster networks like Solana and TRON, while Ethereum’s revenue and value capture are pressured by lower rollup fees, liquidity fragmentation across layer-2s and the need for higher throughput upgrades.

On 16 December 2025, Ripple outlined a shift in how it develops RLUSD, treating it as regulated settlement infrastructure that can operate across multiple blockchains rather than a single-chain stablecoin. Following its conditional approval to act as a U.S. trust bank, the company is focusing RLUSD on layer-2 environments, emphasizing regulatory compliance, issuer control, and interoperability with XRP, while rolling out deployments slowly and permissionedly.

On 15 December 2025, digital asset manager Hashdex released a market outlook arguing that crypto's next expansion phase will be led by stablecoins, tokenized securities, and AI-related projects. The firm expects stablecoin circulation to roughly double by 2026 and sees tokenized stocks, bonds, and government securities growing multiple times from current levels, while also projecting AI-crypto networks could reach about $10 billion in value by that year.

South Korea will activate its AI Framework Act on January 22, 2026, creating a nationwide governance system with safety, transparency and disclosure rules. According to a Startup Alliance survey, 98% of local AI firms lack a compliance response system, and founders warn mandatory content labeling and tight timelines could force product changes or offshore launches.