Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan anticipates Bitcoin will set new all-time highs in 2026, even as the current market appears bearish. He argues that the traditional four-year cycle is weakening, while institutional adoption, lower volatility, and reduced correlation with equities are reshaping BTC's market profile.

On Tuesday, Aave founder and CEO Stani Kulechov presented a 2026 roadmap built around Aave V4, Horizon, and a new Aave App. The plan aims to redesign the lending protocol, grow Horizon's real-world asset markets beyond its current $550 million in net deposits, and onboard the first million users via the consumer app. This long-term vision follows the conclusion of a four-year SEC investigation into Aave.

World Liberty Financial has put forward a proposal to allocate about 5% of its WLFI treasury, valued at roughly $120 million, to support the USD1 stablecoin. The plan targets expanded USD1 adoption via select CeFi and DeFi partnerships after the token's total value locked climbed to around $2.7 billion within six months of its March launch.

On Thursday, Ethereum fell below $2,850 amid a broader market pullback, while on-chain activity slid to a one-year low with active sending addresses near 170,000, according to CryptoQuant. Analyst Ali Martinez warned that a December close under $2,930 could precede drops toward $2,000 or even $1,100, and SoSoValue tracked nearly $225 million in spot ETF outflows Monday and $22.3 million on Wednesday.

Digital asset investment products saw $864 million of inflows last week, marking a third consecutive week of gains dominated by $796 million from US investors. Bitcoin products attracted $522 million but remain behind prior yearly levels, while an analyst warned the asset could face a deeper correction after falling from about $126,000 to $90,000, with potential downside targets as low as the $54,000–$60,000 range by late 2026.

Bitcoin adviser and author Terence Michael cautioned the community after a client who had saved for years lost 1 BTC to a romance-style pig-butchering scam. In a post on X, he described how social engineering prevailed despite multi-signature safeguards and advisory interventions. The case underscores limits of custody tools when victims authorize transfers.

Bitcoin has retreated from around $126,000 to about $90,000 since early October, and analyst Mr. Wall Street believes a larger downturn may follow after a rebound toward $100,000. He cites weakening US economic data, delayed Federal Reserve easing, and multiple bearish technical signals as reasons for expecting BTC to slide first toward the $68,000–$74,000 zone and potentially down to $54,000–$60,000 by the fourth quarter of 2026. Another analyst, Doctor Profit, also maintains that Bitcoin is still in a bear market and has not yet found a bottom.

XRP swung in a tight range, starting near $2.06, briefly topping $2.15 around December 10, then easing to $2.04. According to CryptoQuant, whales have been accumulating as Spot Taker CVD turns buyer-dominant, while Upbit shows its first meaningful XRP withdrawal uptick since 2023. Analyst CasiTrades flags $2.03–$1.97 as key support and $2.41 with $2.75–$2.90 as potential upside levels.

In 2025, Glassnode data shows that large entities, including public companies, governments, ETFs, and exchanges, collectively hold about 5.94 million BTC, close to 30% of Bitcoin's circulating supply. While the price recently dipped below $90,000 amid broader market weakness, continued ETF purchases and the inclusion of Strategy in the Nasdaq 100 suggest sustained institutional interest.