On December 16, 2025, economist Steve Hanke reiterated on X that Bitcoin has no fundamental value, describing it as a highly speculative asset. His remarks coincided with BTC falling to $85,000 during a four-day slide, later trading at $87,083 and down less than 1% over 24 hours. The coin remains more than 30% below its October 2025 peak of $126,000.

CoinGecko's 2025 ranking by mindshare shows Solana leading at 26.79%, with Base at 13.94% and Ethereum at 13.43%. Sui holds 11.77% and BNB Chain 9.05%, while XRP Ledger registers 4.68%. The list emphasizes attention and engagement across ecosystems rather than price performance.

On January 1, 2026, Ripple plans to release up to 1 billion XRP from its long-running escrow program, marking the company's first scheduled token unlock of the year. The mechanism, launched in 2017, frees 1 billion XRP at the start of each month, with Ripple historically returning 60% to 80% to new escrows and retaining the rest for operational purposes. Traders are watching the January unlock for any impact on XRP's market dynamics, as the token recently traded around $1.98 after losing the $2 support level.

As Ethereum trades above $3,000, the Rainbow Chart projects that by January 1, 2026, ETH will likely remain below its most euphoric valuation zones, with indicative ranges spanning from under $1,000 to over $22,000. At press time, Ethereum was around $3,155, up about 1.7% over the last 24 hours and less than 1% higher on the week. Based on the asset's current position in the "Still Cheap" band, the model highlights a plausible medium scenario of roughly $2,500 to $5,200 by that date.

JPMorgan Asset Management launched its first tokenized money market fund on the Ethereum blockchain, according to The Wall Street Journal on December 15. The private My OnChain Net Yield Fund will be seeded with $100 million of JPMorgan capital and opens to external investors on December 16, with a $1 million minimum and eligibility thresholds for qualified individuals and institutions.

On December 15, Bitcoin's hash rate was recorded at 876.4 EH/s, down from about 930.06 EH/s on December 14 and from roughly 1.27 ZH/s a week earlier, reflecting a sharp pullback in network computing power. The decline has been linked to enforcement actions against mining operations in China's Xinjiang region, where an estimated 400,000 ASIC machines producing around 80‑100 EH/s were reportedly switched off. During the same period, Bitcoin traded near $89,930 after losing the $90,000 support level, with the price slipping about 0.1% in 24 hours and more than 2% over the week.

According to the Bitcoin Rainbow Chart, BTC's valuation bands for January 1, 2026 map a broad range, with levels from $39,700 up to $439,404 across the model's color zones. At press time Bitcoin traded at $89,257, down more than 1% in 24 hours and up less than 1% week over week, near the 'Accumulate' to 'Still Cheap' thresholds.

XRP exchange-traded funds have attracted nearly $1 billion in cumulative inflows within three to four weeks of launch, outpacing the early uptake of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs and keeping net flows positive. Based on this growth path, AI modeling from ChatGPT outlines XRP price scenarios if ETF inflows eventually reach $10 billion, with estimates ranging from conservative targets above previous cycle highs to more aggressive projections driven by tighter liquid supply and favorable market conditions.

On December 13, an outlook warned that XRP's $2 support is weakening, opening room for a slide toward $1.20. The token traded at $2.04, up about 0.5% in 24 hours, while price remains below the 50-day SMA at $2.27 and the 200-day SMA at $2.60.