CryptoQuant analysts report that Bitcoin demand growth has weakened since October 2025, as ETF holdings fell by about 24,000 BTC and the price dropped under its 365-day moving average near $98,172. They argue these shifts, alongside the lowest funding rates since December 2023, point to a developing bear market, even as some market observers still anticipate higher BTC prices in 2026 amid potential interest rate cuts.

Bitcoin advocate and market analyst Matthew Kratter argues that BTC’s monetary traits make it a superior long‑term store of value to gold. He cautions holders against selling Bitcoin to buy gold even if the metal rises above $4,000 per ounce, and, according to TradingView, 2025 charts show a sharp divergence between BTC and gold.

In 2025, Dfinity Foundation vice president Lomesh Dutta told Cointelegraph that AI-powered no-code apps on decentralized blockchains could weaken AWS cloud dominance and cut dependence on centralized servers. AWS outages in April and on Oct. 20 disrupted Binance, KuCoin, MEXC and Coinbase for about 15 hours, highlighting the gap between crypto’s decentralization narrative and its underlying infrastructure.

Intercontinental Exchange, the parent of the NYSE, is in talks to invest in crypto payments firm MoonPay as part of its latest funding round. MoonPay is seeking to raise at a $5 billion valuation, and in October ICE put $2 billion into prediction platform Polymarket in a round valuing it at $9 billion.

A dispute has emerged between the Aave DAO and Aave Labs over how fees from the new CoW Swap integration are being handled. A DAO member claimed that at least $200,000 in Ether is directed weekly to an Aave Labs-controlled address instead of the DAO treasury, arguing the revenue belongs to token holders. Aave Labs countered that front-end infrastructure and related integrations fall under its remit, while some governance participants insist the DAO originally funded the adapter technology and should receive the income.

Market analyst Jeff Park says long-term Bitcoin holders are selling covered calls, adding sell-side pressure that weighs on spot BTC despite firm ETF demand. In the latter half of 2025, Bitcoin hovered near $90,000 as it diverged from stocks; 24.4% of traders expect a January FOMC rate cut, while some see risk of a drop to $76,000.

On Friday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission released an investor bulletin on crypto wallets and custody, outlining basic practices and key risks. The guide contrasts self-custody with third-party arrangements, flags issues like rehypothecation and asset commingling, and explains hot-versus-cold wallet trade-offs.

Solana (SOL) exchange-traded funds have logged seven straight days of net inflows, bringing total ETF inflows to $674 million, even as SOL's price extends its decline. The first U.S. SOL ETF launched in July, followed by Bitwise's BSOL product in October, while SOL now trades nearly 55% under its roughly $295 all-time high and below its 365-day moving average.

At Bloomberg's ETFs in Depth conference in New York City, Vanguard's quantitative equity chief John Ameriks compared Bitcoin to a digital plush collectible, calling it a purely speculative asset. His remarks came after Vanguard's December policy shift that let its more than 50 million clients trade crypto exchange-traded funds, even as Bitcoin trades above $90,000 with 16 years of network uptime. Ameriks noted Bitcoin could gain non-speculative utility in environments of high fiat inflation or political instability, but said Vanguard will not give clients advice on specific crypto tokens.