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CoinMarketCap's Altcoin Season Index currently stands at 23. The index is calculated by comparing the price performance of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins and wrapped coins, against Bitcoin over the past 90 days. An altcoin season is declared when 75% of these top coins outperform Bitcoin during this period. A score closer to 100 signifies an altcoin season, while the opposite condition is considered a Bitcoin season.

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, compiled by data provider Alternative, has risen one point to 29. The move indicates a continued easing of investor caution, following the index's shift from the extreme fear category to the fear category a day earlier. The index gauges market sentiment on a scale where zero represents extreme fear and 100 signifies extreme greed. Its calculation is based on market volatility (25%), trading volume (25%), social media mentions (15%), surveys (15%), Bitcoin's market capitalization dominance (10%), and Google search volume (10%).

An anonymous whale address that has held Ethereum for four years began converting its holdings into Bitcoin today, AmberCN reported. The wallet started swapping WETH for WBTC approximately five hours ago and has so far exchanged 14,145 WETH, valued at around $44.3 million, for 492 WBTC. The transaction was executed at a swap ratio of 1 WETH to 0.03478 WBTC, resulting in an average purchase price of $90,014 per WBTC. The whale is known to have accumulated a total of 22,344 ETH in early 2022 through exchanges such as Kraken, Bitfinex, and Poloniex at an average price of $2,916 per ETH.

According to CoinNess market data, XRP has overtaken BNB to reclaim its position as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Excluding the dollar-pegged stablecoin Tether (USDT), the asset now ranks third. Data from CoinMarketCap shows XRP's market cap at approximately $123 billion, surpassing BNB's roughly $121.3 billion. XRP is currently trading at $2.02, an increase of 8.08%.

An address believed to belong to mining hardware manufacturer Bitmain (BMNR) has staked an additional 82,560 ETH, worth approximately $259.07 million, within the last hour, according to a report from Onchain Lens. The move is part of an ongoing strategic accumulation of the asset by the address. On-chain data indicates that Bitmain has now staked a cumulative total of 544,064 ETH, valued at approximately $1.7 billion.

Julio Moreno, a senior analyst at CryptoQuant, has pointed out that on-chain data does not show large-scale accumulation by Bitcoin whales, warning that investors should be cautious of data distortions that include the wallet activities of exchanges. He explained that most currently circulating Bitcoin transaction data fails to filter out exchange holdings. Moreno added that processes such as an exchange reorganizing its wallets can appear as whale activity and be mistaken for accumulation. He emphasized that data that excludes exchange addresses actually indicates a decrease in BTC holdings by whales. This trend is also observed among addresses holding between 100 and 1,000 BTC, a group that includes ETF holdings. Moreno previously stated his belief that Bitcoin has already passed its cycle high and is heading toward a low.

A bearish technical outlook is currently prevailing for Bitcoin, Cointelegraph reported in a recent analysis. While noting that analyst opinions are divided, the outlet argued that the charts currently favor a bearish perspective. According to the report, a key support level from last April is a pivotal point that will determine whether Bitcoin maintains its bullish trend or turns bearish. On the monthly chart, BTC is finding support near its 20-month exponential moving average (EMA), which held during the last correction. A monthly close below both the 20-month EMA and the April low would signify a break in the uptrend, potentially sending the price down to $50,000. On the weekly chart, a "dead cross"—with the 20-week EMA falling below the 50-week simple moving average (SMA)—is highly probable for the first time since January 2022. The analysis added that repeated tests of the key support level could weaken it, leading to the formation of a Head and Shoulders pattern that also points to a potential decline toward $50,000.

Amid a broader recovery in the altcoin market on Jan. 2, the memecoin sector posted the highest gains, led by PEPE, according to an analysis by The Block. The media outlet noted that PEPE surged more than 32% on the day, spearheading the rally. It was followed by other tokens such as the Solana-based memecoin POPCAT. Other memecoins including Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Bonk (BONK), Floki (FLOKI), and dogwifhat (WIF) also showed short-term strength. In addition to memecoins, the artificial intelligence (AI) sector and newly launched tokens also saw significant gains. In response to the trend, VanEck analyst Matt Sigel commented that assets with poor year-end performance tend to experience stronger rebounds in January on average. Jake Kenis, an analyst at Nansen, added that memecoins were the hardest-hit sector following the major crypto liquidation event on Oct. 10. He suggested that the early-year capital flow into memecoins indicates traders are building positions for an upward move after months of sideways trading. However, Kenis cautioned that this movement needs to be confirmed on longer-term charts to be considered a definitive trend.

Stani Kulechov, founder of the crypto lending protocol Aave, announced that future revenue generated outside the Aave protocol will be shared with AAVE token holders. The statement follows the recent failure of a governance proposal that would have made Aave Labs, the protocol's developer, a subsidiary of the Aave DAO by absorbing its intellectual property and equity. During the vote, Kulechov purchased a large amount of AAVE to exercise his voting rights, sparking concerns about centralization. Kulechov explained that Aave must seek new business opportunities beyond its core decentralized finance (DeFi) operations, such as real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, institutional lending, and consumer financial products. He argued that direct DAO funding for these ventures would be inefficient and uncompetitive. Instead, he proposed fostering teams to develop products on the Aave protocol to increase revenue beyond its own fees. Kulechov stated that this external revenue would be shared with AAVE holders and that a formal proposal will be announced soon.

Whale Alert reported that 250 million USDC has been minted at the USDC Treasury.

Whale Alert reported that 250 million USDC has been minted at the USDC Treasury.

Whale Alert reported that 250 million USDC has been minted at the USDC Treasury.

Analysts at The Block Research have released their outlook for the cryptocurrency market this year, highlighting several key trends. A consensus view anticipates Bitcoin (BTC) will maintain a market dominance of over 50%, supported by continued net inflows into spot ETFs. While some analysts expect a sideways market in the first half of the year followed by a bullish turn in the second half, others suggest geopolitical risks may limit the potential for new all-time highs. The market is also expected to see sustained weakness in altcoins, with only projects demonstrating real-world use cases likely to survive. The stablecoin sector is poised for explosive growth, with some predicting total supply could surpass $500 billion amid wider adoption for corporate payments. This growth may be accompanied by a decline in USDT's market share as USDC emerges as a key neutral bridging asset. Prediction markets are forecast to become one of the year's strongest narratives, alongside the growth of perpetual decentralized exchanges (perp DEXs), interoperability solutions, and real-world assets (RWAs). In contrast, the NFT market is expected to remain stagnant. Analysts also warned of potential selling pressure from companies holding digital asset reserves, noting that Bitmain may begin selling its ETH holdings in the first quarter. This could coincide with declining venture capital valuations and a broader market correction driven by large-scale token unlocks.

U.S. Nasdaq-listed Santech Holdings (STEC) has rebranded to BitVentures (BVC) and is launching a cryptocurrency mining business, according to Cointelegraph. The company, formerly a technology-focused holding firm involved in tech investments and e-commerce platforms, announced the name change last month. Following the rebrand, BitVentures has acquired mining equipment from Bitmain, including three types of Antminer rigs, to formally begin its new operations.

Bitmine (BMNR), which has been strategically accumulating ETH, is pursuing an increase in its authorized share limit from 500 million to 50 billion shares, CoinDesk reported. Chairman Tom Lee urged shareholders to approve the proposal, emphasizing that the move is not intended to dilute existing equity. Lee added that the increase is aimed at securing flexibility for future capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, and potential stock splits.

Major exchanges have seen $105 million worth of futures liquidated in the past hour. In the past 24 hours, $372 million worth of futures have been liquidated.

The global cryptocurrency regulatory environment is entering a major transition phase this year, with significant changes expected across the industry as the U.S., UK, and Hong Kong move to formalize their institutional frameworks, Cointelegraph reported. In the U.S., the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) released a draft framework late last year that would permit the issuance of dollar-pegged stablecoins. Under the proposal, banks could issue stablecoins through subsidiaries and would be subject to financial soundness reviews. The Federal Reserve (Fed) has also withdrawn its guidance restricting banks from engaging in crypto-related activities, enabling them to offer services such as custody and payments starting this year. Additionally, the market structure bill known as CLARITY is nearing passage. Meanwhile, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority is set to announce its final cryptocurrency regulations, which will fully implement anti-money laundering (AML), know-your-customer (KYC), consumer protection, and licensing systems. Hong Kong is also advancing a stablecoin regulation bill, aiming for its implementation this year.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has risen above $90,000. BTC is trading at $90,037 on the Binance USDT market.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced the departure of Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw, who is known for her anti-cryptocurrency stance. Crenshaw recently criticized the agency, stating that its standards had collapsed over the past year and that the crypto market was beginning to resemble a casino.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has fallen below $89,000. BTC is trading at $88,961.21 on the Binance USDT market.

Ilya "Dutch" Lichtenstein, who was sentenced to five years in prison in November 2024 for hacking Bitfinex and laundering the stolen funds, has been released early, DL News reported. His sentence was reduced under the U.S. First Step Act, a federal law aimed at the rehabilitation and re-socialization of inmates. Lichtenstein and his wife, rapper Heather Morgan, were convicted for their roles in stealing and laundering Bitcoin worth $4.5 billion from the exchange in 2016.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has risen above $90,000. BTC is trading at $90,040 on the Binance USDT market.

The three major U.S. stock indices opened higher. The S&P 500 is up 0.63%, the Nasdaq Composite has gained 1.06%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen 0.19%.

Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin miner Bitfarms (BITF) has announced the sale of its 70 MW facility in Paso Pe, Paraguay, to Sympatheia Power Fund for $30 million, according to GlobeNewswire. The sale marks the company's complete withdrawal from mining operations in Latin America. Bitfarms plans to reinvest the proceeds into developing high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI)-based energy infrastructure.

Binance has announced that it will delist the FLOW/BTC margin trading pair at 4:00 a.m. UTC on Jan. 3.