BlackRock expects only measured Federal Reserve rate reductions in 2026 as policy moves toward neutral. The December 2025 dot plot shows a median path from about 3.6 percent in 2025 to roughly 3.4 percent in 2026, implying one to two 25 bp cuts. The firm's baseline centers on 25–50 bp of easing, conditional on incoming data.

This week, regional Bitcoin flows split as US trading hours showed persistent net selling while Asian sessions captured most of the buying. At the same time, cycle charts indicated the current market phase still mirrors prior bull and consolidation patterns, and a Glassnode capitulation gauge shared by Gordon Gekko jumped to its highest level on record as price slid from above $110,000 toward $100,000 in late 2025.

Vitalik Buterin backed EIP 7864, aiming to lift Ethereum's smart contract size cap. In 2025, Layer 2 activity concentrated around leading rollups such as Base, while ETH stalled below $3,000 with a noted support area near $2,800. A recent chart snapshot showed price around $2,931 amid defined resistance bands.

Bitcoin is approaching a record $23.6 billion options expiry on Dec. 26, with positions clustered near key strikes that could reshape dealer hedging and short term volatility. At the same time, spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US are seeing sustained net outflows and price is consolidating around $87,106 within a tight range marked by resistance near $90,647 and support around $83,986. How flows and liquidity evolve after the holiday period may determine whether the market extends its weakness or sets up for a sharper reversal.

VanEck's mid-December on-chain study indicates long-term Bitcoin holders are transferring coins to newer participants. On Dec. 23, Daan Crypto Trades noted BTC traded near $87,545 while its 4H 200 EMA was around $91,102 and the 4H 200 MA near $89,201, keeping price below both gauges.

On Dec. 18, the Ethereum Foundation published 2026 security milestones for zkEVMs, introducing the soundcalc tool and targeting 128-bit provable security with strict proof size limits. Over the same period, ETH traded near $3,030 on an 8-hour Binance chart as traders watched a long-running descending trendline that has limited rebounds since October and a potential upside target at $4,220.

Coin Bureau highlighted Bitcoin's realized price near $56,000 as a bear-case threshold. Benjamin Cowen noted cycle durations of 1,067, 1,059, and 1,062 days, while a Binance liquidation heatmap showed heavy liquidity in the low $100,000s and near $110,000, plus a lower cluster in the low to mid $70,000s. A TradingView weekly BTCUSDT chart indicated $88,122 on OKX on Dec. 21, 2025, implying roughly a 55% drop toward $56,240.

Ethereum is trading around $2,977 while on-chain data highlights large transfers between Binance's Eth2 staking wallets and repeated tests of a key support zone. A separate liquidation heatmap points to dense leverage clusters above $3,000, leaving traders watching whether ETH can hold support and push into that area.

Swift said in late September 2025 it began designing a shared blockchain ledger with a group of 30+ banks and will prototype it with Consensys. At the same time, Ethereum’s exchange supply ratio is about 0.137, marking its lowest reading since 2016, while charts show ETH near $2.9K.