Solana’s validator set has reportedly shrunk by 68% over the past two years, leaving about 800 active nodes and stirring concerns over network security. At the same time, the SOL stake needed for a validator to break even has tripled to roughly $17 million per block, intensifying pressure on operators amid one of the asset’s weakest quarters since 2022.

Over the past week, MemeCore, Merlin Chain, and Zcash logged double-digit gains while major caps slipped below key technical levels. In contrast, Story, Jupiter, and The Graph led the market's notable decliners as several tokens failed to hold support. Other smaller-cap assets also saw extreme moves in both directions, underscoring elevated volatility across the crypto market.

Heading into 2026, BNB has held firm through a weak Q4 2025, rising 27% year over year and trading about 30% above its Q3 open. After crossing $120 billion in market value, BNB overtook XRP to become the third-largest crypto asset. The XRP/BNB ratio dropped roughly 8.5% in the past month, while BSC’s TVL fell 9% versus XRP’s 30% decline.

Heading into 2026, data from Alphactral shows Global M2 money supply has reached a new all-time high near $130 trillion, with China contributing about 37% at $47.7 trillion. While major economies cut rates and the U.S. pursues a $40 billion Treasury plan to ease funding conditions, the total crypto market cap has fallen 21% in Q4 2025, leaving risk assets below their late-Q3 highs and investors wary despite improving liquidity.

Hex Trust is introducing wrapped XRP (wXRP) on Solana to extend XRP's DeFi reach. According to DeFiLlama, Solana's 24‑hour DEX volume stands at $3.9 billion versus XRPL's $6.78 million, highlighting deeper on‑chain liquidity. The move shifts XRP activity from its native L1 toward Solana's ecosystem.

On 12 December, Ethereum fell 4.7%, putting a reported $537 million ETH long at $3,175 into an unrealized loss of $20.5 million and intensifying liquidations above $120 million. Large holders with 100k+ ETH are nearing their realized price, a level that has historically coincided with major accumulation phases but now leaves the fragile $3,000 support vulnerable to a deeper breakdown if greed-driven leverage unwinds.

Bitcoin miner earnings fell from 562 BTC in mid-October to 502 BTC now, an 11% decline, according to Glassnode. With difficulty reaching a record 159 trillion in early November and miners’ net position changes turning negative (-3,555 BTC in late November and -487 BTC recently), profitability and wallet balances face mounting pressure amid volatile ETF flows.

XRP is under pressure at the $2 level after twice losing that support since the October sell-off. $1.3 billion in tokens moved off exchanges over the past month. Institutional ETF holdings have reached $945.49 million. Daily on-chain fees have dropped 89% and XRPL TVL has fallen to $70 million, pointing to weak network usage and a speculative tilt to recent accumulation.

On December 10, the Federal Reserve cut rates by 25 bps to 3.50–3.75% and outlined $40 billion of U.S. T‑bill purchases over the next thirty days. Bitcoin fell 2.14%, slipping under $90k as traders balanced added short‑term liquidity against longer‑term risks, including a potential pause in 2026 cuts.