CryptoQuant CEO: 'Jim Cramer 100% Bearish on Bitcoin'

Cryptocurrency derivatives trading volume surged to almost $85.7 trillion in 2025, averaging about $264.5 billion a day, according to a report by liquidation data tracker CoinGlass.

Binance led the market with roughly $25.09 trillion in cumulative derivatives volume, or about 29.3% of global trading, meaning nearly $30 of every $100 traded ran through the exchange, CoinGlass said.

OKX, Bybit and Bitget followed, each posting $8.2 trillion to $10.8 trillion in yearly volume. These four exchanges accounted for about 62.3% of total market share.

CoinGlass said institutional pathways expanded through spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), options and compliant futures, helping drive a structural rise for Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), which had already overtaken Binance in Bitcoin (BTC) futures open interest in 2024 and consolidated its footing in 2025.

Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao proposed additional security measures to “eradicate” address poisoning, including wallet warnings and blacklists of suspicious accounts.

"All wallets should simply check if a receiving address is a 'poison address,' and block the user. This is a blockchain query," Zhao wrote in a Wednesday blog post.

Address poisoning is a form of phishing in which scammers trick victims into sending crypto to illicit wallets by first sending them small transactions. Unsuspecting users often copy and paste the attacker’s address from their wallet history.

Phishing scams cost 6,344 victims over $7.7 million in November, according to Scam Sniffer data. That number is expected to surge in December largely due to $50 million in USDT lost by a single victim on Friday.

"Lastly, wallets should not even display these spam transactions anywhere. If the value of the [transaction] is small, just filter it out," Zhao added.

As XRP returns to the bullish side of the market, its exchange movement is also reflecting growing confidence among both small and large XRP holders.

As momentum appears to be returning to the XRP ecosystem, data from crypto analytics platform CryptoQuant shows that XRP’s exchange reserve has recorded a notable decline over the past day, raising optimism among holders.

XRP exchange reserve plummets

Notably, the total XRP reserve on the global cryptocurrency exchange Binance has shown a modest decline of about 0.5% over the last 24 hours.

Following the drop in this key metric, all crypto exchanges providing support for the leading altcoin now hold lower amounts compared to the figures recorded the previous day. More particularly, Binance accounts for about 2,669,500,000 XRP as of Thursday, December 25.

Although XRP has seen increased selling pressure over the past days, with the asset returning to previous lows, the sudden decrease in its exchange reserves suggests that holders are increasingly transferring XRP into private wallets.

Thus, this stands as a key signal of increased buying activity, which could propel the price of XRP toward a higher surge.

While the metric stands as a strong indication of long-term confidence and reduced selling pressure in XRP, its bullish exchange movement suggests that the recent slowdown in XRP’s price action might be setting up for a rapid surge, positioning the asset for a significant rebound ahead.

XRP ETFs drive strong market interest 

Although XRP’s trading price has remained unstable, its ETF ecosystem has retained bullish momentum following a long streak of unbroken inflows.

As all funds providing support for XRP-based ETF products continue to see massive inflows of capital every day, it appears that institutional demand for the asset has remained strong despite unstable market conditions.

Although the strong momentum driven by XRP ETFs has yet to stabilize XRP’s trading price, investors remain optimistic that sustained demand will drive XRP’s rebound in the long run.

During their latest trading session, XRP ETFs pulled in over $11 million in inflows in just one day.

XRP is currently in an awkward position. In terms of price, the asset is still trapped in a clear declining channel that has dominated the previous few months. Lower highs and lower lows are still present, and XRP is still trading below its important moving averages, all of which are declining. Technically speaking, a verified trend reversal does not resemble this. 

XRP is moving across networks

But when on-chain data is included in the conversation, the overall picture becomes more complex. Approximately one million XRP were transferred across the network in a brief period of time during the last 24 hours, indicating a dramatic increase in XRP Ledger activity. The number of active users is still comparatively high when compared to previous weeks, and the volume of payments increased significantly. This indicates one crucial point: the network itself is not dead or deserted, even though price action is sluggish.

BINANCE:XRPUSDT Chart by TradingView">

Long-term increases in active addresses and payment volume typically precede, rather than follow, more significant directional price changes. Prior to the markets obvious reaction, on-chain activity frequently serves as a leading indicator, indicating phases of accumulation or distribution. Even though it hasnt yet resulted in a bullish price expansion, XRP's spike indicates that capital is moving once more.

XRP pushed down

XRP is still capped by declining resistance on the price chart and is having difficulty regaining crucial levels around the mid-$2 range. Any attempts at a rally are still at risk of failing until XRP breaks out of its declining channel and regains at least one significant moving average with volume confirmation.

The more positive view is that XRP might be entering a base-building stage. RSI is hovering close to oversold-neutral territory, selling pressure seems to be waning, and repeated tests of local lows have not resulted in new breakdowns. This suggests that interest is growing beneath the surface when combined with increasing on-chain engagement.

Not yet, at least not conclusively, is this the end of the downward trend. However, it appears to be the end of complacency. XRP may have a far stronger setup going into the new year than what the chart alone currently indicates, if network activity keeps increasing and the price is able to break above resistance.

The crypto market has yet to fully recover from the October crash, which triggered widespread losses and large-scale liquidations. 

Despite positive catalysts such as the rate cut, liquidity injections, and a falling US dollar index (DXY), a bull rally has failed to materialize for Bitcoin or the broader market, raising concerns among market participants. However, new data suggests that one of the key forces behind the market downturn, excess leverage, may be reducing.

Understanding the Nature of the Crypto Market Weakness

The October market crash resulted in the largest liquidation in cryptocurrency history. BeInCrypto reported that over $19 billion in leveraged positions were wiped out.

The event, dubbed “Crypto Black Friday,” was reportedly triggered by President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 100% tariff on China. Still, the continuation of the downturn revealed deeper vulnerabilities.

Additional liquidation waves followed throughout November. The market experienced liquidations exceeding $1 billion multiple times in the month.

These market declines stood out due to their detachment from typical catalysts. In mid-November, the Kobeissi Letter noted that Bitcoin’s value continued to fall, even after President Trump stated that making America “number one in crypto” was a top priority.

The post highlighted that the initial pressure came from institutional outflows. In a market with moderate leverage, such outflows would likely have resulted in a controlled pullback, reflecting a temporary imbalance between buyers and sellers rather than a sharp sell-off.

This liquidation-driven selling created a cascading effect. Each wave of forced selling pushed prices lower, triggering further liquidations and accelerating the downturn. The result was a sharp and rapid decline.

Evidence of Leverage Reduction and Market Reset

The market structure has shifted significantly since the crash. According to Coinglass data, Bitcoin’s Open Interest has dropped sharply.

A decline in Bitcoin’s OI indicates that traders are closing futures and perpetual positions, reducing the total value of outstanding derivatives contracts. In practical terms, leverage is being flushed from the market.

Alphractal reported that between August and November, Bitcoin saw the most leveraged trades in its history, with up to 80 million on 19 exchanges in a single day. This activity has decreased, with the 7-day average now at 13 million trades.

While Bitcoin shows clear signs of deleveraging, Ethereum presents a more nuanced picture. ETH reached a peak of nearly 50 million trades in 2025. Furthermore, its recent activity remains stronger, with a 7-day average of 17.5 million.

This suggests traders are shifting away from leveraged Bitcoin trades more. Analyst NoLimit further added that when it comes to altcoins, their current situation involves “excess leverage is being removed,” which is a positive sign.

Thus, while the market remains fragile, the reduction in leverage suggests that one of the main structural risks is weakening. If this trend continues, it could create a more stable foundation for a future recovery.

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