Bitcoin’s rejection near the $94,000 zone and a potential retest of the $80,000 area are heightening concerns over Strategy’s highly leveraged BTC balance sheet. The company now holds 671,268 BTC worth just over $50 billion, with its mNAV and convertible note structure creating added risk if the BTC price stays low into upcoming maturities. Investors are watching how falling mNAV and rising dilution pressure may force tough choices between new debt issuance and possible Bitcoin sales.

Matrixport reports that while overall stablecoin supply remains close to record levels and exceeds $260 billion, the 12‑month growth in new issuance began to slow after late October. The firm links this cooling liquidity impulse to cautious Federal Reserve policy and notes that Bitcoin, trading near $85,860 on Tuesday with a roughly 3% decline, is struggling to maintain key bullish trend indicators.

Ripple Labs is piloting its US dollar-backed stablecoin RLUSD on Ethereum layer-2 networks Optimism, Base, Ink, and Unichain, after first launching the token on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum in 2024. The pilot uses Wormhole's Native Token Transfers standard so RLUSD can move between chains as a native token rather than as a wrapped version, while a broader rollout and additional chains are planned for next year pending regulatory approval. RLUSD, issued under a New York Department of Financial Services Trust Company Charter, currently has a market capitalization of $1.3 billion.

Dogecoin fell through the $0.1320 area and is trading under $0.1300 and the 100-hour simple moving average. After setting a low near $0.1266, the pair is consolidating with nearby hurdles at $0.1325, $0.1340 and $0.1350. A move above $0.1400 could open $0.1450–$0.1500, while failure risks $0.1280, $0.1250 and $0.120.

Four AI chatbots assessed Ethereum’s prospects into December 25, with most leaning toward an upside scenario. ChatGPT put a 45% chance on $3,200–$3,600 by December 25, 25% on a break above $4,000, and about 10% on a slide below $2,000, while Gemini estimated 29% odds for a $2,000 drop. Others saw $4,000 as more plausible absent shocks.

On December 15, 2025, Bitcoin Bancorp announced plans to deploy up to 200 licensed Bitcoin ATMs across Texas beginning in Q1 2026. The OTC-traded operator (BCBC) cited Texas' clear rules and strong demand, and its shares rose 7.83% on the day and 29.53% over five days.

On Monday, Ark Invest led by Cathie Wood increased positions in BitMine, Coinbase, Circle, Block, Bullish and its Ark-21Shares Bitcoin ETF, according to its trade filing. Purchases included $17 million in BitMine, $16.26 million in Coinbase and $10.8 million in Circle across ARKK, ARKW and ARKF, as all six holdings finished the day lower.

On 16 December 2025, Ripple outlined a shift in how it develops RLUSD, treating it as regulated settlement infrastructure that can operate across multiple blockchains rather than a single-chain stablecoin. Following its conditional approval to act as a U.S. trust bank, the company is focusing RLUSD on layer-2 environments, emphasizing regulatory compliance, issuer control, and interoperability with XRP, while rolling out deployments slowly and permissionedly.