XRP climbed from $1.77 to an intraday high of $1.957, approaching the $2 level while forming a double bottom near the recent low. Trading volume dropped 42% to $2.8 billion, raising doubts about the strength of the move even as optimism around XRP ETFs and Ripple's new partnerships supports sentiment.

Bitcoin Hyper (HYPER) positions itself as a Bitcoin Layer 2 integrating Solana's SVM to deliver faster, lower-fee transactions and smart-contract support. According to CryptoDnes, its presale has raised more than $29.6 million, with the token priced at $0.013445 for two more days before the next stage, and the protocol is expected to launch in 2026.

Shiba Inu's netflow across exchanges hit -125,937,300,000 SHIB on Dec. 11, signaling heavier withdrawals than deposits. Over the last day, the exchange flow metric fell by more than 11%, while SHIB traded at $0.000007485, up 1.98% from a recent low of $0.000007011.

According to CoinGecko data, XRP holds a market capitalization of $115.62 billion out of $380.42 billion for made-in-USA cryptocurrencies, giving it a 30.39% share. XRP is trading around $1.91 with a 24-hour volume of approximately $2.73 billion, far ahead of U.S.-linked rivals such as Solana, USDC, Cardano, Chainlink, Stellar, and Zcash. Its position is linked to regulatory clarity following the 2025 resolution of Ripple's case with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, although XRP's price remains below $2 amid wider market volatility.

On December 20, 2025, BitMex co-founder Arthur Hayes argued that altcoin season is continuous and that many traders overlook the true winners. He cited Hyperliquid's move from $2–$3 to $60 and Solana's rebound from about $7 in 2022 to nearly $300 early this year. The Altcoin Season Index stood at 35, indicating conditions not yet consistent with an altcoin season.

On 18 December, Solana slipped below $120 as network revenue and weekly active addresses retreated to yearly lows. Despite fading retail participation, large holders bought tens of thousands of SOL and spot ETFs registered $11 million in net inflows, helping price rebound into the $122–$145 range with improving momentum signals.

Ethereum developers have set the name "Hegota" for the network's second planned 2026 hard fork, which will follow the Glamsterdam upgrade. The lead feature for Hegota has not been chosen, and the chain operates on a twice‑yearly release cadence. Glamsterdam is expected in the first half of 2026, with Hegota slated for later that year.

On 19 December, Bitcoin Cash rose by about 10% in 24 hours, with derivatives activity and growing leverage driving most of the move. Open Interest in BCH perpetual futures increased to roughly $786 million, while funding rates turned positive as shorts lost around $2.54 million. At the same time, spot investors sent nearly $3.93 million in BCH to exchanges to sell, leaving the rally to confront key resistance zones near $598–$606 and around $651.