According to Bull Theory analysts, MSCI's October 10 proposal to remove Digital Asset Treasury Companies from its global indexes and the later ETF filings by Morgan Stanley may be linked to Bitcoin's sharp downturn and recovery. They argue the 31% Bitcoin drop, nearly $18,000 in losses and over $900 billion erased from the crypto market set the stage for institutional accumulation before the January 1, 2026 price rebound and subsequent ETF announcements. Bitcoin is now trading around $91,550 after pulling back 2% from a recent $95,000 local high.

On Monday, Bitcoin climbed back above $93,000 as major altcoins including Ethereum, XRP, and Solana staged their strongest rebound in nearly a month. CoinGecko data shows Bitcoin up 7% over the week, while Ethereum and Solana gained nearly 9% and XRP advanced about 15%. On-chain figures cited by analysts indicate whales bought around 270,000 BTC, worth roughly $23 billion, in the last 30 days, while the $93,500 zone is now highlighted as an important resistance level that could cap prices for an extended period.

As 2026 gets underway, XRP trades near $1.90 while fear gauges sit at 24. Santiment reports bearish mentions running 20–30% above November's baseline. Despite the gloom, analysts cite December ETF inflows of about $424 million and roughly $1.3 billion accumulated over 50 days as signals that a 70–75% reversal probability may be building within two to eight weeks.

On December 8, Bitcoin's 10- and 50-week simple moving averages crossed, a signal highlighted by Ali Martinez that has historically preceded large drawdowns. As 2025 ended, BTC traded over 30% below its all-time high and hovered just above $89,200. Martinez cautions this setup could imply a 50%–60% retreat toward $50,000–$38,000, while analyst Mags outlines scenarios tied to USDT dominance.

Bitcoin is trading back above $89,000 and testing the $90,000 resistance area, while some traders worry that a slide to $74,000 could put Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) at risk. Bull Theory analysts argue that with 672,497 BTC worth tens of billions of dollars against roughly $8.24 billion of debt and over $2.18 billion in cash, the firm would remain solvent even at that lower price. They instead point to external market rules, higher margin requirements and ongoing share issuance as the main pressures on Strategy’s stock.

In 2025, XRP has traded with mixed results but remains one of the stronger altcoin performers, currently priced just under $1.90 and about 50% below its July peak. Standard Chartered projects that spot XRP ETFs could attract $4–$8 billion of inflows during 2026 and, together with the August 2025 settlement of the SEC lawsuit against Ripple, help drive the token toward $8. The bank's analyst also outlines a scenario where XRP might reach $12.50 by 2028, assuming supportive macro conditions and sustained investor risk appetite.

Between 22 and 28 December, Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, acquired 1,129 Bitcoin for about $108.8 million, lifting its total BTC stash to 672,497 coins valued at roughly $50.44 billion. Over the same week, Bitmine Immersion increased its Ethereum holdings by 44,463 ETH to 4,110,525 ETH, while BTC and ETH prices remained under pressure and both firms' stocks continued to trade far below their all-time highs.

As US spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs approach their second anniversary, Galaxy Digital's 2026 outlook projects net inflows into US spot crypto ETFs will climb above $50 billion after recording $23 billion in 2025. The firm also expects more than 100 new crypto ETF products, over 15 US IPOs or uplistings by crypto firms, and notes Bitcoin trading around $87,480 and Ethereum near $2,930 with both still below prior all-time highs.

CoinGecko's 2025 report identifies Real-World Assets as the year's leading crypto narrative, with an average 185.8% YTD return across tokens including Figure Heloc, LINK, XLM, XAUT, and BlackRock's BUIDL. Keeta Network climbed 1,794.9% YTD, while L1s averaged 80.3%. Memecoins and AI lagged, with -31.6% and -50.2% average returns.