Bitcoin came under pressure this week, but its price has begun to stabilize after a sharp drop from its October highs. BTC could not hold above the $88,000 to $90,000 resistance and has pulled back about 5 to 6 percent, now trading between the mid-$80,000s and low-$82,000s on spot markets. CME futures are still just under $94,000, showing strong institutional interest but weaker short-term momentum. Analysts are watching a key support level near $62,000. Current trends point to a gradual downtrend rather than a major sell-off or market bottom.
Ethereum has been trading in a tight, slightly downward range, testing key weekly support around $2,900 after losing its early-2026 gains. When ETH dipped to the mid-$2,700s, buyers stepped in, bringing it back to the high-$2,800s and low-$2,900s. The important swing low above $2,850 is still holding. On-chain data is mixed but steady: large holders are both buying and selling, exchange balances continue to drop, and active user numbers remain high. This points to solid fundamentals even as the price consolidates in the short term.
In the stablecoin market, institutionally backed and regulation-focused issuers are gaining ground. Fidelity recently announced a dollar-backed Ethereum stablecoin, the Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD), showing that traditional financial firms now see stablecoins as key for round-the-clock payments, treasury management, and cross-border transactions. This follows similar moves by JPMorgan and Citi. Meanwhile, USDC hit record transfer volumes on Ethereum in the fourth quarter of 2025, reaching about $4.5 trillion and growing over 400 percent year-on-year. This cements USDC’s position as the main source of liquidity in DeFi.
In DeFi, market sentiment is still affected by broader economic trends and changing regulations, but on-chain activity remains strong. Ongoing policy debates in the U.S. and new rules in other countries are prompting protocols to better define the lines between DeFi and traditional finance, especially regarding capital and compliance. Even so, stablecoin transaction volumes are rising, and Layer-2 adoption is picking up, showing steady demand for decentralized lending, trading, and yield, even as prices for ETH and DeFi assets stay in a narrow range.
More data now shows that crypto and traditional finance are truly coming together, not just testing the waters. For example, BingX recently cleared over $2 billion in 24-hour volume for tokenized traditional assets on our crypto platform, showing real demand for trading stocks, bonds, and other real-world assets alongside BTC and ETH. On the institutional side, Fidelity’s late-2025 “2026 Look Ahead” report says that nearly all major banks now have solid plans to expand their crypto services. The report describes 2025 as crypto’s “container moment,” when market structure, custody, compliance, and settlement systems quietly matured. Tokenization and gold are also helping bridge the gap: Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas have been testing tokenized bonds and gold to improve 24/7 collateral efficiency. Analysts expect tokenized stocks, funds, and gold to have a breakout year in 2026 as banks and asset managers offer these products to clients.