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.

Bitcoin whipsawed from $89k to $87k and then to $91k within a single four-hour candle, putting the $90k threshold in focus. Analysts said $171 million in long positions and $71 million in shorts were liquidated in that window, with nearly $500 million erased over 24 hours. Open interest has fallen $30 billion from a $94 billion October peak, signaling deliberate de-risking.

BitMine (BMNR) accumulated 2.44 million Ethereum tokens during Q3 2025, expanding its treasury by 1,495% as ETH climbed to $4,900. The company added another 900,000 ETH in Q4, yet Ethereum declined 26% despite continued institutional purchases.