U.today

Ripple CTO David Schwartz broke his silence about his long-running XRPL Hub by posting its operational data, network details and performance graphs, turning a low-profile internal node into a public reference point for anyone running anXRPL setup.

Schwartz disclosed that his hub has been running version 2.6.2 for more than a month without a single issue, offered its hostname and port for operators who want to connect, and shared charts showing peer counts, latency profiles, traffic load, and disconnection metrics.

The hub is under capacity, which explains why peer reservations have not been needed, yet Schwartz said he can enable them if demand surges.

My hub has been running 2.6.2 for more than a week now and there have been no issues. If you run an XRPL node, feel free to connect:Hostname: hub . distributedagreement . comDomain: distributedagreement . comPort: 51235PubKey:… pic.twitter.com/bcE3Dt4GPQ

— David 'JoelKatz' Schwartz (@JoelKatz) December 4, 2025

The post came out when there was a lot of talk about XRPL programmability again. In the replies, Schwartz disagreed with the idea of adding features only to allow validators to make money from validation. In his opinion, that rationale is weak and does not align with the chain's design. It is more compelling to let XRP holders stake for revenue, but that alone is not enough to warrant major changes.

What does it all mean for XRP?

The bottom line is that he thinksXRP Ledger's financial primitives should be used in more situations, not just for quick payouts to a small group.

card

Schwartz also acknowledged the risk side. Making radical smart-contract additions requires a lot of engineering, creates unpredictable outcomes and changes parts of XRPL that he thinks are essential. Even successful experiments like AMM cannot guarantee usage levels, so new functionality needs proof that it can drive real demand before the ecosystem commits.

With the hub disclosure, it looks likeRipple's CTO is ready to prioritize transparency in operations while keeping protocol changes on a strict, evidence-driven track.

Ripple has officiallyclosed its$1 billion acquisition of GTreasury. The move marks one of the most important expansions in the history of the San Francisco-headquartered company, pushing it into the heart of global corporate finance.

We're officially part of Ripple! 🎉 For over 40 years, we've helped treasury teams manage complexity and optimize liquidity. Now, we're bringing that same approach to the digital asset era by giving our customers the option to access real-time settlement and institutional-grade… https://t.co/dlTJ8HOBwV

— GTreasury (@GTreasury) December 4, 2025

GTreasury is amajor treasury-management platform used by some of the world’s largest companies for managing liquidity, moving money, monitoring cash positions, and so on.

Ripple now controls a core piece of the infrastructure that big corporations use to run their financial operations on a daily basis.

GTreasury’s clients can now directly access Ripple’s digital asset infrastructure from the platform they already use. This enables real-time settlements and on-demand liquidity.Corporations won’t have to learn crypto, hold wallets, or manage blockchain complexity, which could potentially be a boon for cryptocurrency adoption.

Other Major 2025 Ripple Acquisitions

Ripple first announced the acquisition of GTreasury on Oct. 16

The company's acquisitions all support the same vision: end-to-end, institutional-grade digital finance.

Apart from GTreasury, Ripple also acquired companies that strengthen other layers of the corporate financial stack. Its acquisition of Rail added virtual accounts and a stablecoin payments network. Palisade enhanced Ripple’s custody capabilities with the "wallet-as-a-service" technology. Finally, Ripple Prime (formerly Hidden Road) brought institutional-grade liquidity, prime brokerage, and execution services.

With its acquisitions, Ripple is building a full end-to-end financial stack. The company aims to become a one-stop shop for digital assets.

Shiba Inu is trading very similarly to an asset caught in a classic dead cat bounce. There was no significant volume expansion to support the short-lived increase from recent lows, and there was no structural shift on the chart. The market is already beginning to reject it; it was a reactionary bounce within an established downtrend. The evidence is clear-cut.

SHIB in clear downtrend

The 50-day, 100-day and 200-day major moving averages are all sloping downward, creating a multilayer resistance stack above the price. SHIB has not been able to convincingly break above even the 20-day EMA, and every time it tries to move higher, selling pressure is applied right away.

When buyers become weary, liquidity pools empty and rallies turn into chances for exits rather than entries. In addition, the price structure shows no indication of a trend reversal, lower highs and lower lows. The recent bounce simply tapped the underside of descending resistance and rolled over again, failing to disrupt the pattern. A dead cat bounce is precisely that — a brief relief rally that crumbles under its own weight because there is not a legitimate bid below it.

SHIB's zero removal chances

In this market structure, it is not possible for SHIB to remove a zero from its price in the near future. SHIB would require consistent upward momentum, a breakout above the 100-day and 200-day MAs and a noticeable change in both volume and sentiment in order to even start challenging those levels. That does not exist. Volume is still thin and distribution is leaning, but momentum indicators like RSI are stuck in neutral and unable to produce bullish divergence.

card

Most likely a retest of support close to recent lows or a prolonged grind at the bottom will occur next. Meme assets suffer disproportionately when liquidity declines, so SHIB's decline will only quicken if Bitcoin starts to weaken again. For now, investors should be cautious about their expectations.

SHIB is having difficulty staying afloat inside a declining channel rather than preparing for a zero-removal breakout. The path of least resistance remains sideways or downward rather than upward until trend volume and overall risk appetite shift.

Changpeng Zhao (CZ) recently took to the X social media network to share a photo of himself with Michael Saylor on X shortly after their first in-person meeting at Binance Blockchain Week in Dubai.

First in person meeting with @saylor too. pic.twitter.com/NZDQ7ZPipx

— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) December 4, 2025

The face-to-face meeting between the two crypto titans took place shortly after Saylor's presentation.

Saylor attended Binance Blockchain Week in Dubai as a keynote speaker. This is his first-ever speaking appearance at a crypto event in the UAE.

He delivered a major presentation titled "The Undeniable Case for Bitcoin. During the presentation, urging the audience not to fear market volatility, he pointed to Bitcoin's growing institutional and global adoption, and compared its trading power and energy consumption to giants like Google, Microsoft, and even the US Navy. Saylor also discussed MicroStrategy's ongoing Bitcoin strategy.

Following his keynote, he participated in a live community AMA session. The event also gave him the opportunity to finally meet CZ in person after years of online alignment.

Oh, I might get to meet @saylor in person for the first time then. Imagine putting him in the same room as @PeterSchiff 😆 https://t.co/mooTij7ios

— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) October 27, 2025

Meanwhile, CZ and longtime gold advocate Peter Schiff had a fiery debate about Bitcoin, which has attracted plenty of attention on social media.

Two crypto giants

Both Saylor and CZ have been towering figures within the cryptocurrency community for years.

Their connection traces back to the early 2020s, when both emerged as leading voices during Bitcoin's volatile cycles. CZ repeatedly voiced strong support for Saylor's aggressive accumulation strategy at Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy). When many questioned the wisdom of buying more amid plunging prices, CZ publicly defended Saylor.

DCA wins. 👍👏

— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) April 5, 2023

Think what @saylor is doing.

— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) August 18, 2023

Their messaging often overlapped on Bitcoin's scarcity, its superiority as a store of value over traditional assets like gold or fiat currencies, and its role in building a more trustworthy financial future.

On social media, they would also amplify each other's posts.

This online camaraderie extended into real-world collaboration in 2025, when both were appointed as advisors to Pakistan's Crypto Council, working alongside each other to guide the nation's ambitious plans for a strategic Bitcoin reserve.

Now, the two crypto titans have finally shared their first photo.

According to analytics platform Santiment, XRP is behaving differently compared to Bitcoin in terms of fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD).

😨 XRP (-31% in the past 2 months), unlike Bitcoin, is seeing the most fear, uncertainty, & doubt (FUD) since October, according to our social data.🔴 Circles indicate days where there are abnormally higher BULLISH comments compared to BEARISH comments, about XRP (Greed Zone)… https://t.co/lJNW8zlRwK pic.twitter.com/ZoFmwrtw3h

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) December 4, 2025

Over the past two months, XRP has lost about 31% of its value, and social data shows that the current level of negative sentiment is the highest since October.

The silver lining

On the chart Santiment provides, they use colored circles to show extreme sentiment days. Red circles appear when there are significantly more bullish comments than bearish ones, which they call the "greed zone."

Green circles appear when bearish comments far outnumber bullish ones, called the "fear zone."

The last time XRP experienced similar levels of fear on November 21st, its price quickly surged by 22% over the next three days before optimism returned and the rally stopped.

card

Santiment implies that the current conditions are somewhat similar to that previous scenario. This could potentially bode well for

ETF hype has fizzled

XRP has underperformed relative to expectations built on ETF hype.

Despite multiple spot XRP ETFs launching since mid-November from issuers of the likes of Canary Capital, Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, and 21Shares, the price has not managed to pull off a major breakout. Their launches were not even sell-the-news events because there were no preceding rallies.

However, as reported by U.Today, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently rejected the idea that the ETF market is overhyped. He pointed to robust inflows that have already surpassed $700 million. This, according to Garlinghouse, shows that there is pent-up demand from institutional investors and those investors who want access to the token without having to deal with custody.

Despite the questionable performance on the market of all three assets in our review, there is a great possibility of a recovery continuation. The main culprit here is local resistance, which can be broken if at least a fraction of yesterday's buying volume reappears on the market.

Shiba Inu's agressive bullishness

On the surface, this looks like the kind of ignition event traders wait for in downtrending markets. Shiba Inu just printed one of its most aggressive single-day volume surges in months, roughly a 150% spike. The problem is that SHIB remains structurally pinned below every significant moving average (50, 100, 200) on the chart.

Relatively speaking, yesterday’s volume was explosive, but today’s weaker follow-through turns that signal into something far more ambiguous. Was it a classic exit pump in a weary market, or was it genuine accumulation? Based on the price action, the second interpretation is less convincing.

SHIB’s bounce was rejected almost immediately, leaving a long upper wick after stalling at the 50-day EMA — a level it has not touched since early October. That is not what strong reversals look like. When a real trend shift occurs, shorts are typically forced to cover, producing a decisive close above resistance. Instead, the momentum evaporated, and buyers retreated as quickly as they appeared.

The skepticism deepens when looking at RSI levels hovering in the low-40s. SHIB is not strong enough to show bullish momentum, nor is it oversold enough to suggest a classic reversal setup. It is stuck in a middle zone, where conviction usually fades rather than strengthens.

The chance of recovery is not zero, though. A second high-volume day would signal that yesterday was not just noise — but this time the candle would need to close green and reclaim at least the $0.00000930-$0.00001000 range. Break that range, and a relief rally toward the 100-day EMA becomes possible. Fail, and the market will likely interpret the 150% volume spike as distribution by more astute traders taking advantage of fleeting sentiment.

Ethereum's grim signal was not that scary

Ethereum is progressing to a point where the much-discussed death cross may end up being irrelevant. For weeks, the 50-day moving average has been closing in on the 200-day, and the pair recently completed a bearish cross — typically a strong signal that further downside is coming. Yet price action has refused to follow the script.

Death-cross fakeouts usually begin this way: momentum shifts before the averages react, leaving bears positioned for a continuation that never materializes. Because the crowd tends to overreact to the cross, ETH has historically printed some of its stronger rallies in these conditions — not because the death cross has mystical predictive power but because positioning becomes lopsided.

card

The death cross and golden cross simply do not command the same forecasting reliability in today’s market, where algorithmic strategies compress volatility and liquidity remains thin across majors. Still, they influence sentiment, position flows and liquidation cascades, and that alone can amplify price swings.

ETH is currently testing the underside of the 50-day EMA, with RSI already back in the mid-50s and volume ticking higher. That setup signals that buyers are willing to reengage early. If ETH pushes into and holds the $3,350-$3,500 zone, the 50-day average will begin to curl upward, effectively negating the death cross. From there, bears face forced covering, short liquidations and momentum traders flipping long.

Bitcoin pushes back

Bitcoin’s latest surge pushed the price back toward the $93,000 range, but the chart suggests this is less a clean recovery and more a potential inflection point. The sharp bounce off $86,000 was driven by short covering and oversold conditions, yet the broader structure has not changed. Bitcoin is still trading below the 50-, 100- and 200-day moving averages, all of which continue to slope downward. That is not the posture of a market preparing for a trend reversal; it is a market under sustained macro pressure.

The first meaningful test sits in the $93,000 area. BTC is running directly into the underside of the declining 20-day EMA, a zone that often becomes dynamic resistance once momentum breaks. The rally starts to lose credibility if Bitcoin fails to secure a daily close above this band, which would shove the market back into the lower range.

That lower boundary is the already-swept $86,000 level. A second visit is not far-fetched. If buyers fail to defend it again, the structure deteriorates further and the low-$80,000s become the next logical magnet. The issue is not just price levels; the broader trend is still deteriorating, and months of distribution have created heavy overhead supply that caps upside attempts.

Sentiment could pivot quickly if Bitcoin manages to hold $93,000 and extend into the $95,000-$97,000 range. Reclaiming that zone, which sits just below the 50-day moving average, would force short sellers to unwind and trigger fresh positioning shifts. But bulls still carry the burden of proof. Nothing on the chart confirms sustained strength: the moving averages remain stacked against continuation, volume is inconsistent and the RSI is improving but nowhere near breaking its broader downtrend.

So where is Bitcoin likely to land?

The ceiling is roughly $93,000 unless buyers show real conviction.

$86,000 remains the weakest point in the structure.

Lose $86,000 again, and lower levels become the high-probability outcome.

After the rapid price resurgence witnessed in the last few days, Bitcoin has slowed down on its daily price surge but has retained its position on the upside.

While these positive movements have seen the Bitcoin ecosystem witness soaring optimism, whales have continued to scoop up the token amid rising demand from retail and institutional investors.

On Thursday, December 5, on-chain tracking platform Whale Alert identified massive Bitcoin withdrawals involving over 2,000 BTC, in suspected large buying activities from the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance.

According to data provided by the tracker, the Bitcoin transfers, which happened in two separate transactions in batches of 1,000 BTC each, were worth a combined total of $185,165,469.

The move, which has come at a time when Bitcoin has continued to see strong daily gains, has sparked interest across the market, signaling renewed optimism and shifting stances on Bitcoin’s long-term price outlook.

Are Bitcoin whales returning?

With the large Bitcoin withdrawals from Binance coinciding with the crypto market’s positive momentum, it appears that whale activities are growing, and it has contributed significantly to the asset’s price resurgence.

The transfers have caught the attention of the crypto community, as large Bitcoin withdrawals like this have been rarely spotted over the past weeks. With Bitcoin facing a prolonged price correction during the period, the tracker had only reported more transactions that appeared to be major sell attempts.

card

Although the mysterious nature of both transfers makes it difficult to confirm whether they were buy attempts or mere institutional redistribution, large amounts of cryptocurrencies being moved out of crypto exchanges like Binance are often traced to major purchases from high-profile holders or institutions.

Bitcoin slows down after reclaiming $94,000

Following the massive price declines witnessed throughout the last month, Bitcoin had plunged so hard, retesting its multi-month low of $80,659.

However, the leading cryptocurrency has seen a rapid shift in market sentiments, with its price showing massive daily gains of over 10% in the past days.

While the massive price resurgence has restored momentum to the Bitcoin ecosystem, the asset has slowed down on its uptrend, showing only a brief decline of 0.8% in the last 24 hours, trading at $91,978 as of press time, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Ripple has officiallyclosed its$1 billion acquisition of GTreasury. The move marks one of the most important expansions in the history of the San Francisco-headquartered company, pushing it into the heart of global corporate finance.

We're officially part of Ripple! 🎉 For over 40 years, we've helped treasury teams manage complexity and optimize liquidity. Now, we're bringing that same approach to the digital asset era by giving our customers the option to access real-time settlement and institutional-grade… https://t.co/dlTJ8HOBwV

— GTreasury (@GTreasury) December 4, 2025

GTreasury is amajor treasury-management platform used by some of the world’s largest companies for managing liquidity, moving money, monitoring cash positions, and so on.

Ripple now controls a core piece of the infrastructure that big corporations use to run their financial operations on a daily basis.

GTreasury’s clients can now directly access Ripple’s digital asset infrastructure from the platform they already use. This enables real-time settlements and on-demand liquidity.Corporations won’t have to learn crypto, hold wallets, or manage blockchain complexity, which could potentially be a boon for cryptocurrency adoption.

Other Major 2025 Ripple Acquisitions

Ripple first announced the acquisition of GTreasury on Oct. 16

The company's acquisitions all support the same vision: end-to-end, institutional-grade digital finance.

Apart from GTreasury, Ripple also acquired companies that strengthen other layers of the corporate financial stack. Its acquisition of Rail added virtual accounts and a stablecoin payments network. Palisade enhanced Ripple’s custody capabilities with the "wallet-as-a-service" technology. Finally, Ripple Prime (formerly Hidden Road) brought institutional-grade liquidity, prime brokerage, and execution services.

With its acquisitions, Ripple is building a full end-to-end financial stack. The company aims to become a one-stop shop for digital assets.

On Thursday, December 5, Caroline D. Pham, the acting chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the U.S., confirmed rumors about the organization’s new crypto scheme.

In a recent X post that has sparked discussions across the crypto community, Caroline acknowledged a public post about the CFTC’s initiative to help the United States reclaim its position as the world leader in crypto.

CFTC moves to reclaim U.S. leading foothold in crypto

According to the post, the CFTC has developed a comprehensive plan targeted at helping the U.S. reclaim its place as the world leader in crypto.

With federal authorities greenlighting crypto-friendly policies that could boost the adoption of cryptocurrencies in the U.S., the crypto community has expressed excitement about the new update.

According to the agency, the plan includes necessary regulatory updates that would foster easy accessibility to cryptocurrencies.

As part of its plans, the agency also revealed that spot Bitcoin and other spot crypto assets, including Bitcoin and XRP, will be allowed to trade on CFTC-registered exchanges.

While the agency had previously focused on derivatives such as futures and options, it is now expanding to the spot crypto markets.

While the CFTC is now hellbent on making America the crypto capital of the world, it has confirmed that its latest adjustments are aimed at creating a safer, more regulated environment for crypto trading while enabling large-scale institutional participation.

Shiba Inu breaks from exhaustion pattern with 11% December rally

SHIBbreaks out with an 11% run in a market frozen by extreme fear.

SHIB rally. SHIB has kicked off December with an unexpected 11% gain over the past 10 days.

The biggest meme coin on Ethereum, Shiba Inu (SHIB), is starting December with a price pattern that refuses to match the exhausted narrative many attached to the meme coin over the past few months because, after shedding liquidity and sentiment for weeks, it suddenly posted an 11% gain across 10 days.

What makes this move more noticeable is the market backdrop, where the Fear and Greed Index still sits deep in fear territory at 22 after printing extreme fear at 16 yesterday and 15 last week. So, it is fair to say that SHIB pushing higher inside that environment tells you the asset is moving on chart mechanics rather than collective mood.

Key price level. The daily chart shows SHIB reclaiming $0.00000899, breaking minor intraday resistance.

The daily chart shows SHIB climbing back to $0.00000899, punching through minor intraday resistance and closing with enough conviction to make even the most skeptical stare again at levels they dismissed as irrelevant just two weeks ago.

The setup forming on the chart is not textbook, but it is the kind of structure that often appears on assets that spent too long drifting under their own moving averages. This pattern sits right under the 23-day SMA at $0.00000863 and the 50-day SMA at $0.00000934, which are starting to converge into a zone that can either reject or propel SHIB depending on how strong the next impulse comes in.

XRP unlock clears path toward $2.33

Ripplepushed 1 billion XRP into circulation.

XRP to $2.33. Ripple released 1,000,000,000 XRP from escrow in its standard monthly unlock.

Ripple pushed 1,000,000,000 XRP into circulation, a $2.19 billion unlock that looked like trouble on paper, yet the XPP price chart opened a direct path to the $2.33 zone.

As always happens in the first week of a new month, Ripple, the San Francisco-based crypto solutions company known primarily for its association with XRP, released a large portion of the coins from its escrow accounts — 1,000,000,000 XRP to be exact, according to Whale Alert.

More XRP releases. Ripple still holds 34.47 billion XRP in reserves.

Valued at just over $2.19 billion at press time, such a large volume of cryptocurrency flooding the market, of course, attracted all the attention to the price chart of XRP.

For those not familiar, Ripple conducts such escrow unlockings each month to gradually release XRP vaults, keeping the pressure off the price. First, the company releases one billion XRP, then some of it gets locked back in.The numbers vary, but recent trends indicate that around 600 million XRP make it back to Ripple’s escrows. With 34.47 billion XRP still in the company’s reserves, this monthly routine process is far from over.

Cardano reclaims $0.45 with 14% rally

ADA pricejumps to a new high around $0.44 as key metrics signal more uptrend.

Market recovery. Cardano (ADA) jumped 14%, reclaiming the $0.45 level.

Cardano (ADA) stunned bears, soaring by 14% to reclaim the $0.45 price level as the broader cryptocurrency market posted a slight recovery. Cardano is, however, outperforming the broader crypto market, and there are indications that the current price is not the top for the coin.

Cardano has flashed several bullish indicators that suggest it could be up for more uptrend. Primarily, its trading volume has increased by 48.11% to $969.06 million. This renewed interest from market participants might support further rallies.

Key price level. ADA regained the $0.44 resistance level.

Additionally, the asset’s technical chart reveals that ADA has reclaimed the critical resistance of $0.44. With Cardano changing hands above this resistance and trading volume high, a sustained momentum could help stabilize ADA’s price above this level.

Cardano’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 41, which signals that the coin has exited oversold territory. Traders are treating this as a positive signal of a price reversal for higher levels and could influence their investment pattern and engagement with the coin.

Matt Hougan believes that Michael Saylor and MicroStrategy (MSTR) will not be selling their Bitcoin holdings.

Some worry that if MSTR is removed from MSCI indexes, its stock might plunge below net asset value (NAV). This would force a Bitcoin sale. Hougan explains that there is no mechanism that would compel MSTR to sell Bitcoin just because the stock price falls.

MSCI is conducting a consultation on whether to exclude "digital asset treasury companies" (firms where cryptocurrencies (like Bitcoin) make up more than 50% of total assets) from its Global Investable Market Indexes. Strategy, with Bitcoin comprising a whopping 99% of its enterprise value, fits this profile exactly.

The consultation period ends this year, and MSCI plans to announce a final decision by January 15. Any changes would likely take effect in February.

Strategy's executive chairman Michael Saylor confirmed earlier this year that the company is actively engaging with MSCI to argue for continued inclusion

It is worth noting that MSTR has $1.4 billion in cash, enough to cover about 18 months of $800 million annual interest payments.

The first debt conversion is not due until February 2027, and it’s only around $1 billion, while MSTR holds $60 billion in Bitcoin. There’s no immediate financial pressure to liquidate crypto, according to Hougan.

Saylor controls 42% of voting shares and has historically shown strong conviction in holding Bitcoin long-term.

Even during past stock price dips, he did not sell, showing that internal pressure to liquidate is unlikely.

"Last resort"

MicroStrategy (now doing business as Strategy) is the world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder, with approximately 650,000 BTC as of early December 2025. The company, led by Bitcoin advocate Michael Saylor, has long promoted a "never sell" strategy, but recent market events have sparked concerns about potential sales.

Btion to briefly fall below the value of its Bitcoin holdings, pushing a key metric called the mNAV below 1x (reported as low as 0.95x in some cases).

Strategy CEO Phong Le stated that selling Bitcoin could be a "last resort" if the mNAV drops below 1x , and the company cannot raise new capital through equity or debt markets.

An interestingSHIB story emerged overnight as one wallet spent the day consistently withdrawingShiba Inu from Coinbase. The wallet ended up with 169.13 billion SHIB in a clean address, which is now worth $1.49 million.

What makes this noteworthy is how straightforward the pattern is, without the typical noise of routing, splitting or exchange-to-exchange maneuvering that large holders often use.

Arkham shows six incoming transfers from the same Coinbase hot wallet, landing one after another across a tight 17-hour window. The sizes jumped from 11 billion SHIB to 81 billion SHIB, signaling that this was not a casual pickup but rather a controlled sweep.

The address has not sent anything out, so it is not an exchange wallet or an internal shuffle. This is someone building a position with purpose.

What's with Shiba Inu coin price?

The timing is interesting becauseSHIB has been stuck near $0.0000088 — a level the market keeps returning to — and the chart has not shown anything that would naturally attract this kind of demand. Yet whales often prefer conditions like these, when the price is flat and the sentiment is weak, since that is when they can absorb size without creating an obvious trail.

card

What comes next depends on whether this wallet continues to absorb liquidity from Coinbase. If new inflows persist, traders will likely interpret this as positioning for a potential move toward the upper range, around $0.0000117.

However, if the activity ceases, the market will view it as a one-time accumulation event. While intriguing, it does not signal a major trend.

An unknown whale has just made a significant move on the Ethereum (ETH) chain. On-chain analytics platform Lookonchain spotted the transaction andreported that the whale, simply identified by the wallet address "0x97BD," moved 10,000 ETH.

Ethereum whale’s long-term confidence

The whale withdrew this large volume of Ethereum valued at $31.91 million from the Bitget exchange. The whale action is significant as it implies strategic accumulation despite ETH shedding over 10% in the last 30 days due to price fluctuations.

Notably, after the whale’s withdrawal, its total wallet holdings soared to 34,188 ETH, valued at about $108.8 million. The whale likely decided to withdraw from Bitget exchange into a private wallet because he intends to keep the asset long term.

Whale 0x97BD withdrew another 10,000 $ETH($31.91M) from #Bitget 2 hours ago, and currently holds 34,188 $ETH($108.8M).https://t.co/44wNrGrIeH pic.twitter.com/KQaPsaaDvf

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) December 4, 2025

Generally, when a holder is unwilling to sell their asset, they store it in a private wallet. The whale could have decided to store his assets in a self-custody wallet and build up the portfolio. The large volume of Ethereum in the wallet suggests that he has been building it over time.

Lookonchain data shows that the whale has staked the Ethereum through Lido staking. This further emphasizes that the whale has confidence in the future price outlook of Ethereum despite price volatility across major crypto assets on the market.

Ethereum has risen in the last 24 hours from a low of $3,059.98 to hit a high of $3,238.56 during the course of trading.

As of press time, Ethereumexchanged hands at $3,164.88, which represented a 2.02% increase within the time frame.

card

However, trading volume remains down by 8.44% to $28.03 billion. This suggests that market participants are still cautious and possibly monitoring developments on the chain. It was likely triggered by the $135 million worth of ETHoffloaded by BlackRock despite the resurgence of the asset in the previous trading session.

Network disruptions and Buterin’s update roadmap

In the early hours of Thursday, some community members experienced network disruptions.

According to theEthereum Foundation update, there was a challenge with Prysm consensus clients on the mainnet. The bug caused about 23% of the network nodes to go offline.

Meanwhile, Ethereum Founder Vitalik Buterin has hinted atthree crucial updates that the blockchain will need to perform.

Buterin highlighted these to include a cap on the number of contract code bytes that are accessed per transaction and changes to memory pieces. The other is ZK-EVM prover cycle bounds.

The rates of most of the coins are going up, according to CoinStats.

BTC/USD

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) has increased by 0.55% since yesterday.

On the hourly chart, the rate of BTC has set local support at $91,827. However, if a bounce back does not happen, one can expect a level breakout, followed by a further correction to the $91,000 range.

On the longer time frame, the price of the main crypto has once again bounced off the resistance of $93,753. If the daily candle closes far from that mark, traders may expect a correction to the $90,000-$91,000 range.

card

This scenario is relevant until the end of the week.

From the midterm point of view, the rate of BTC is far from the main levels. Thus, the volume has dropped, which means ongoing sideways trading around current prices is the most likely scenario.

Bitcoin is trading at $92,524 at press time.

Ripple Senior Executive Officer/Managing Director, Middle East & Africa, Reece Merrick took the stage at the recently concluded Binance Blockchain Week to discuss financial payment rails. The Ripple executive shared his views on where Ripple is heading, discussing the benefits of XRP and RLUSD on the XRP Ledger in moving value.

Merrick joined Christian Rau, SVP Digital Assets and Blockchain at Mastercard, and Nikola Plecas, VP of Payments at TON, in a thoughtful discussion on financial payment rails at the Binance event.

Reece Merrick from @Ripple joins Christian Rau of @Mastercard and Nikola Plecas from @ton_blockchain for a thoughtful discussion on financial payment rails. The session is moderated by Ian Allison from @CoinDesk . pic.twitter.com/IHHMGiB81r

— Binance (@binance) December 4, 2025

According to Mastercard's Christian Rau, mobile payments were new 10 years ago, but now they are the standard. Comparing this to cryptocurrencies, Rau stated that digital assets are becoming relevant for the next generation, allowing them to borrow against and spend. Rau, alluding to digital assets, says it is world-changing, with the need for a shift across board.

Merrick highlighted growing crypto and stablecoin acceptance, in line with Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse's insights shared at the event.

Stablecoins: Next big thing in payments?

Ripple exec Reece Merrick recalled his early conversations years ago, especially in Europe, when mentioning crypto or stablecoins made people uncomfortable, but the narrative has changed. Merrick added: "It is table stakes for banks and institutions to have a digital-asset strategy."

As reported, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse highlighted growing acceptance for stablecoins, saying that more people are recognizing stablecoins and their value.

According to Nikola Plecas, VP of Payments, TON and stablecoins offer a lot of utility for users. The discussion follows as financial institutions globally are increasingly recognizing the value of blockchain and stablecoins in modernizing how money moves.

At the Swell event held in November, Ripple announced a collaboration with Mastercard, WebBank and Gemini to explore the use of Ripple USD (RLUSD) on the XRPL. The initiative is designed to enable RLUSD stablecoin on the XRPL to facilitate blockchain-based settlement processes between Mastercard and WebBank, the issuer of the Gemini Credit Card.

Many may not know, but two important cryptocurrencies —XRP and Stellar (XLM) — actually share the same roots in the person of Jed McCaleb. Apart from founding Mt. Gox and Ripple, McCaleb is indeed one of the best-known unknowns in the crypto industry, but that is a subject for another article.

Why both XRP andXLM are in today's headlines is because, following all the autumn turbulence on the market, the latter found itself in a spot where a 33% rise in the price is very likely.

XLM on the verge of 33% upside

According to arecent outlook, the Stellar token has a real chance to soar from $0.254 to as high as $0.34, if the current market environment maintains. The chart behind this outlook highlights how XLM has repeatedly reacted to the same support and resistance zones across the year, with the $0.23 area acting as a firm base and the region around $0.34 forming a clean upper boundary that has been tested before.

The projected dotted path on the chart simply mirrors that historical behavior, assuming the market repeats the previous structure rather than forming a new trend. This makes the scenario grounded in past price responses, not speculative assumptions.

card

XLM is usually seen as a"beta" play to XRP, the thesis which is based on the fact that both share the same segment and narrative and, as many noticed, market structure. What differs them, though, is that the Stellar token is 16 times lighter in market cap than XRP — $8.14 billion versus $128 billion.

This makes XLM a more volatile asset, but it offers a greater return if the bull setup validates.

The market is mainly green today, according to CoinStats.

ETH/USD

Ethereum (ETH) is one of the biggest gainers today, rising by 3.77%.

On the hourly chart, the rate of ETH might have set a local support of $3.158. If the daily bar closes near that mark, the decline is likely to continue to the $3,100 range.

On the longer time frame, the price of the main altcoin has once again failed to fix above the $3,230 level.

card

If the candle closes far from that mark, bears may seize the initiative, which may lead to a test of the $3,100 zone by the end of the week.

From the midterm point of view, one should focus on the weekly bar's closure in terms of the $3,233 level. If bulls can hold the gained initiative and the candle closes around that mark, or above, the accumulated energy might be enough for a continued upward move to the $3,300-$3,400 range.

Ethereum is trading at $3,155 at press time.

RenownedCardano (ADA) advocate Armor Tesar, also known as YODA on X, hasissued an important caution on Hydra. The warning is important to help users and operators understand the security setup of the layer-2 scaling solution for Cardano.

Hydra operators hold authority over locked ADA funds

According to YODA, whileHydra allows for faster and cheaper transactions, there are critical details that users need to be aware of. Notably, only Hydra operators are fully in charge of their ADA. It implies, therefore, that any user not running their own node is at the mercy of the Hydra operator.

This is because any user who locks their ADA into a Hydra head automatically gives up control. For clarity, once locked, the user’s private key can no longer directly access the funds, as they are controlled by the Hydra head smart contract, not the user’s wallet.

If you want to use Hydra, you trust the operators of Hydra Head. You are only in control of your funds if you are one of the Hydra Head operators.When you lock ADA into a Hydra Head, you sign a transaction with your private key. The transaction sends ADA into an on-chain… pic.twitter.com/hbh78guPLY

— Cardano YOD₳ (@JaromirTesar) December 4, 2025

It means that even without having a user’s private keys, the operators can still control what happens to the funds. The operators have this power because, inside the Hydra system, every update requires signatures from all operators, not users. Thus, operators can agree on any state, even a malicious one.

Based on the design of the Hydra system, once the on-chain Hydra smart contract accepts the operator's signatures, that becomes the "truth" when the Hydra head closes.

YODA is warning that this poses a major security risk, as operators could collude to sign a fake snapshot and direct the funds to themselves. He is emphasizing that the only way to have full control of one’s fund is to be a Hydra operator.

If, however, a user delegates their funds and uses Hydra through an operator, they have to "rely" on the operator not to cheat. This requires a high level of trust in the Hydra operators.

card

Cardano community urged to prioritize trust

YODA’s message to Cardano users is that Hydra is only truly trustless for people who run a node themselves.

Every other user is effectively using it the same way as a custodial service. In essence, before one decides to use a Hydra-based DeFi app, they must do their own research.

It is important to know who the operators are and whether they are trustworthy enough not to team up with malicious actors to redirect users’ funds.

Hydra has been so dogged with speculation that even Cardano founderCharles Hoskinson had to wade in in 2024 to address concerns about it.

Once more, Shiba Inu is perched on a cliff. The Exchange Reserve has been slightly increasing over the past 24 hours, currently at 81.49 trillion SHIB. Even though it is not a significant increase, it is still cause for concern because every increase in reserve results in more tokens being held on exchanges, which has historically been linked to more sell-side pressure.

Shiba Inu's momentum is gone

The asset's continued structural weakness is further supported by SHIB’s inability to maintain any momentum above its short-term moving averages. Tokens are slowly moving into exchanges rather than out, according to the Exchange Netflow metric, which recorded about 47.9 billion SHIB in positive flow. Generally speaking, positive netflows show that holders are preparing liquidity rather than purchases.

This trend, along with the poor state of SHIB’s price structure, increases the likelihood that the 81 trillion threshold will be lost if bearish flows continue. Price action concurs. SHIB is still significantly below its 50-day, 100-day and 200-day moving averages, according to the daily chart. The three are all sloping downward, which is a typical indicator of a long-term decline. None of these resistances were even slightly touched by the recent tiny bounce. Sellers intervened almost right away.

card

Going down even more?

There is potential for decline without even creating oversold conditions because the RSI is neutral and currently in the low 40s. The problem is the outflow stability. Over the past few days, outflows have been remarkably stable, and Exchange Outflow (Total) is slightly increasing (+2.9%). This stability is crucial because it indicates that long-term investors are not giving up.

Typically, when the structure of a meme coin collapses, inflows soar and outflows cease entirely. Here, that does not occur. Rather than panic-dumping, SHIB is displaying a pattern of controlled rotation. There is potential for a reversal window, given the combination of steadily increasing reserves and steady outflows. SHIB’s long-term foundation will not be lost if the general mood of the market shifts.

For many reasons, the current environment of the crypto market remains uncertain, full of fear and doubt. It is no surprise, given how quickly and suddenly cryptocurrency prices fluctuate nowadays.

However, even amid such a conjecture, some straightforward investment decisions are being made. Thus, for the Dogecoin millionaires — wallets holding from one million to100 million DOGE — the recent market structure is reasonable enough to accumulate, not sell.

As reported by analyst Martinez, citing on-chain data from Santiment, over the last 48 hours, this particular group of meme coin holders absorbed as much as 480,000,000 DOGE, equivalent to about $71.8 million.

Even though daily trading volume forDogecoin totaled to $1.26 billion, according to CoinMarketCap, the amount accumulated still totals 5.69% of the 24-hour turnover, and that alone is enough to influence the price. More importantly, this is spot accumulation, which makes it more meaningful in terms of price impact than simply opening leveraged longs.

Is now the time to accumulate Dogecoin?

Speaking about theDogecoin price, over the period under review, the last 48 hours, it has gained about 2.5%, reaching a local high at $0.1534, before stalling. Interestingly, that is where the 23-day moving average is currently positioned for the meme coin, and the fact that the price curve met resistance there is a normal reaction.

card

What matters is what happens next and whether DOGE millionaires can push the price further with their recent buying activity. A total of 480 million coins acquired is a fair job, but the market remains resistant, and as this week’s price action shows, buyers currently hold the future in their hands.