Crypto markets were quiet on the surface yet electric underneath. Bitcoin tread water near $84–89K (closing ~$87,358 on Dec 27investing.com), hugging support around $84.3K and resisting much above $90Kcoindcx.combinance.com. Ethereum likewise bobbed near $2.9K, stalling under its $3,000 hurdlebabypips.com while finding new footing around $2,800–$2,850 supportbabypips.com. Altcoins mostly mirrored this range‐bound action, with Solana (~$123) and BNB (~$840) inching up ~0.7% on Dec 27investing.cominvesting.com, XRP steady at ~$1.84investing.com, and newer L1s like SUI (~$1.40) showing small gainsinvesting.com.
Notably, Ethereum whale transfers highlighted a huge shift: on Dec 26, about 89,312 ETH (worth ~$264M) left Korean exchange Bithumb for a private walletcryptorank.io, a classic bullish sign that suggests major holders plan to HODL rather than sell. Meanwhile, technical charts point to a neutral–bullish bias: Binance analysts note a golden‑cross of short-term MAs giving Bitcoin support around $90.5K–$91.3Kbinance.com, whereas Ethereum’s key barrier remains $3K (50 SMA) with floor at ~$2.9Kbabypips.combabypips.com.
Top Market Movers
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Bitcoin (BTC) – Closed ~87.36K on Dec 27investing.com (roughly flat). Ranged between ~$87.2K–89.5K this week, carving a base above ~$84.3K supportcoindcx.com. Investors note BTC has yet to retake resistance near $90K–$91Kbinance.com. Chart-wise, Bitcoin’s golden‐cross on MAs hints at underlying support in the low $90K’sbinance.com.
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Ethereum (ETH) – Traded near $2,900 by week’s endinvesting.com (down slightly). Key $2,800–$2,850 support held, but ETH struggled to clear ~$3,000 resistance (50-day MA)babypips.combabypips.com. On-chain, large investors quietly accumulated, pulling enormous amounts off exchangescryptorank.io. If bulls can push above $3K, next targets are ~$3,100–3,200 per TAbabypips.combabypips.com.
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Solana (SOL) – Hovered around $122–124. SOL bounced ~+0.7% on Dec 27investing.com after a tough week. Analysts highlight SOL’s strong on-chain structure and rising institutional filings, calling it a “key beneficiary” if money rotates into high-throughput Layer-1scoindcx.com. In short, Solana was range-bound but remains in bullish narratives.
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Binance Coin (BNB) – Around $840. A modest rally late in the week (Dec 27 close 840.37, +0.68%investing.com) helped BNB hold above its mid-$800s floor. Price is coiling between ~$835 support and $847 resistance.investing.com
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XRP & Others – Ripple’s token sat ~$1.84, barely changedinvesting.com. Lesser alts like SUI saw modest gains (+2.5% on Dec 26investing.com as excitement built over a pending SUI ETF). No major breakdowns occurred: overall the market “built energy rather than panic”coindcx.com, with whales quietly moving coins and traders treading water.
Biggest News Events
U.S. institutional/regulatory moves: The CFTC tapped Michael Selig as its new chairdefi-planet.com, signaling a shift toward innovation-friendly oversight (he’s a former SEC crypto counsel). Several U.S. crypto ETFs saw notable outflows into Christmas: ~$175M left spot Bitcoin funds and ~$57M left Ether funds on Dec 24blog.mexc.com amid thin holiday liquidity. BlackRock’s IBIT ETF still boasts ~$25B inflows YTD (the largest), but overall “institutional demand” looks mixed. Canada’s Bitwise filed for a SUI ETF (juicing SUI’s profile), and Matador (Toronto miner) raised ~$58m to grow its Bitcoin treasury. Meanwhile, the SEC’s “ETF summer” has given way to profit-taking: U.S. spot BTC/ETH ETFs posted consecutive weeks of net outflowsdefi-planet.comblog.mexc.com, dampening near-term price catalysts.
Major hacks & scams: Crypto security stayed in focus. On Dec 25, Trust Wallet’s Chrome extension was compromised, siphoning ~$7M in crypto from ~100 victimsthehackernews.com. CZ (Binance CEO) speculated it was “most likely” an insider leakthehackernews.com. The exploiter embedded malicious code in version 2.68, triggering mnemonic thefts. Trust Wallet urged all users to update immediatelythehackernews.com. This breach highlights that smart-contract and wallet hacks remain a threat: blockchain security firm CertiK’s latest Hack3D report likewise warned of rising attacks on DeFi, NFT marketplaces, bridges and walletsdefi-planet.com. (By contrast, traditional exchanges saw few issues this week.)
Regulatory headlines: Around the globe, lawmakers kept crypto in the spotlight. Russia’s central bank proposed letting “non-qualified” retail investors trade limited cryptocurrencies after passing a risk testdefi-planet.com. In Europe, Spain will enforce MiCA licensing and tighter tax rules from mid‑2026defi-planet.com. Japan regulators pushed Bybit to cease yen trading by Jan 2026defi-planet.com. Ghana’s parliament approved a landmark VASP licensing bill to tighten AML and consumer protectionsdefi-planet.com. Even the IMF had crypto on its agenda: the Fund “praised El Salvador’s economic progress” while discussing President Bukele’s Bitcoin plans, as El Salvador made its largest BTC purchase since 2021defi-planet.com. On the DeFi/NFT side, institutional interest kept rising: for example, the new Amplify ETFs launched “Stablecoin Technology” and “Tokenization” funds (STBQ and TKNQ) to let investors bet on blockchain infrastructuredefi-planet.com. Also, simplified DeFi yield products gained traction – aligning with Vitalik’s vision of low‑risk Eth adoptiondefi-planet.com.
On-Chain Trends
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Whale & Treasury Moves: Major holders accumulated behind the scenes. As noted, a single whale shift of ~89K ETH ($264M) from Bithumb to private storage was flaggedcryptorank.io – a sign institutional players may be holding for the long run. Public miners also made headlines: Bitmine LLC bought a new 200MW Ohio facility for miningdefi-planet.com, and HashKey raised $250M to build blockchain infrastructuredefi-planet.com. Even a small company Hyperscale Data now boasts ~$76M in Bitcoin reserves – more than its own market capdefi-planet.com, reinforcing the accumulation narrative.
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Exchange flows: Crypto ETFs and exchanges saw money moving out. In addition to the $175M/$57M ETF outflowsblog.mexc.com, on-chain charts show more crypto exiting exchanges than entering – a sign of reduced selling pressure. For example, this week US spot BTC ETFs netted a collective drawdowndefi-planet.com. Altcoins saw muted exchange flows (most big coins had stable on-exchange balances). The takeaway: investors are holding coins off exchange (bolstering prices) rather than dumping.
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NFT volumes & collections: Despite headlines of a “dead” NFT market, volumes actually held steady. CryptoSlam data shows NFT sales ~flat at $65.6M last week (just –0.5% vs prior)mexc.com. Buyers and sellers even jumped ~25%, indicating renewed activitymexc.com. Leading collections shifted: Bitcoin-chain BRC-20 NFTs surged (~+300% in sales, spearheaded by DMarket and others)mexc.com, while top Ethereum NFTs saw mixed results (CryptoPunks up ~69% in sales last week, Milady Maker down ~42%)mexc.com. Overall, NFT trends are modest, but some long-dormant blue chips like CryptoPunks and Milady bounced back into the top five sales chartsmexc.com.
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Stablecoin supply: Users continued minting stablecoins en masse. Decrypt reports that the USD-denominated stablecoin supply jumped ~$100B this year to $314B (as of Dec 2025)decrypt.co. USDT and USDC still dominate circulation, but velocity (usage rate) is shifting, highlighting increased trading activity. In the past week, Tether and USDC saw large net issuances (reflecting on-chain inflows), supporting the funding of larger positions.
Narrative Insights
This week’s story was all about rotation and positioning. The data suggests “smart money” was quietly rotating between sectors: some whales moved Ethereum to cold walletscryptorank.io, while others hinted at shifting from crowded assets (like ETH) into next-gen chains. Indeed, analysts note that if liquidity does rotate back into high-throughput chains, Solana is a clear beneficiarycoindcx.com. Meanwhile, SUI – fresh from its leveraged ETF approval – is on institutional watchlists. The broader picture: 2025 has been a transition year, with lofty $200–250K BTC targets proving elusivedefi-planet.com, but new infrastructure (ETFs, stablecoins, tokenization) becoming the norm. As one Binance strategist quipped, these weeks of low volatility are like “calm seas before a possible storm,” meaning the next big move could come from macro factors (inflation data, Fed announcements) or renewed institutional flows.
On social media, crypto influencers reflected this mixed mood. Binance’s CZ noted the Trust Wallet breach was “most likely” an insider attackthehackernews.com, underscoring security risks. Others highlighted on-chain clues: one widely-shared tweet pointed out that 89K ETH moving off exchanges usually precedes price stability. (Though no single voice dominates sentiment now, the underlying theme is caution mixed with opportunism.) For retail, it’s a reminder to focus on fundamentals like secure cold storage (see our hardware wallet reviews for best practices) and proven trading strategies.
Technical Analysis (Sidebar)
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BTC/USD: The weekly candlestick shows Bitcoin coiling around its 100-week SMA (~$88K)binance.com. The MA5/10/30 golden cross suggests solid support ~$90.5K–91.3Kbinance.com. Immediate resistance is ~$94K (last week’s high), with major targets at $98K, $103K, $112K if bulls seize controlbinance.com. A daily RSI around neutral levels implies neither side is overextended.
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ETH/USD: Ethereum is capped by the $2,950–3,000 zone (50-day MA and psychological level)babypips.com. Critical support holds at ~$2,900; a drop below ~$2,850 (Dec lows) could trigger weaknessbabypips.com. Indicators (Williams %R) show neutral momentumbabypips.com, so a clean break over $3K (and the 200-day MA at ~3,012babypips.com) is needed for bulls. A failure would likely see a revisit of $2,800 or lower.
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SOL/USD (altcoin TA): Solana has been finding support near $120 and resistance ~$125. A daily RSI rebound hints at mild bullish potential, especially as crypto narratives favor fast L1scoindcx.com. Key levels: $127 (ema resistance) and $113 (fib support).
What to Watch Next Week
Looking ahead, traders will eye macro data and liquidity. Key “watch” points: Fed officials’ comments (holiday data is thin), crypto ETF flows (will outflows continue in year-end doldrums?), and any regulatory moves (SEC could greenlight more Ether ETFs post-holiday). Keep an eye on Ethereum staking and secure ETH wallets as Ethereum rewards remain strong in a slow market. Also watch automated crypto trading trends – if a rally kicks in, traders may turn to bots for 24/7 execution. On the DeFi side, new protocol launches or governance votes (e.g. on Ethereum Layer-2 upgrades) could steal the headlines.
Finally, our past DeFi Planet Weekly Roundups offer deeper dives on some of these topics. Bookmark terms like crypto news, Bitcoin price, DeFi update, Ethereum news, NFT market, and crypto weekly roundup to stay informed. Have a restful weekend and get ready – Q1 2026 could bring a whole new game!
