ETH Surges Above $3,200 as Big Holders Resume Accumulation

Market maker Citadel Securities has recommended that the Securities and Exchange Commission tighten regulations on decentralized finance when it comes to tokenized stocks, causing backlash from crypto users.

Citadel Securities told the SEC in a letter on Tuesday that DeFi developers, smart-contract coders, and self-custody wallet providers should not be given “broad exemptive relief” for offering trading of tokenized US equities.

It argued that DeFi trading platforms likely fall under the definitions of an “exchange” or “broker-dealer” and should be regulated under securities laws if offering tokenized stocks.

“Granting broad exemptive relief to facilitate the trading of a tokenized share via DeFi protocols would create two separate regulatory regimes for the trading of the same security,” it argued. “This outcome would be the exact opposite of the “technology-neutral” approach taken by the Exchange Act.”

Citadel’s letter, made in response to the SEC looking for feedback on how it should approach regulating tokenized stocks, has drawn considerable backlash from the crypto community and organizations advocating for innovation in the blockchain space.

Crypto users, Blockchain Association hits out 

“Whoever thought Citadel would be against innovation that removes predatory, rent-seeking intermediaries from the financial system?” asked lawyer and Blockchain Association board member Jake Chervinsky on Thursday.

“Oh, right, literally every single person in crypto,” he added. 

Uniswap founder Hayden Adams added that it “makes sense the king of shady TradFi market makers doesn’t like open source, peer-to-peer tech that can lower the barrier to liquidity creation.”

Summer Mersinger, CEO of the crypto advocacy group the Blockchain Association, said that “regulating software developers as if they were financial intermediaries would undermine US competitiveness, drive innovation offshore, and do nothing to advance investor protection.” 

Bitcoin is up 1.9% over the past week and continues to climb steadily since December 1. It trades near $93,300 after a flat 24 hours, but the chart is hinting at a breakout, followed by a possible 15+% move.

Buyers have stepped back in, but not the ones that the Bitcoin price would want to sustain the rally.

Buyers Step In as Bitcoin Presses Toward a Break

Bitcoin has traded down since mid-November, building pressure to the downside. Yet, the price has been rising since December 1 and is now pushing into a potential breakout structure. The same is confirmed by a developing inverse head-and-shoulders pattern on the 12-hour chart. That pattern usually appears near market bottoms and supports the idea of a recovery.

However, a clean 12-hour close above the neckline would be necessary for the breakout hopes to rise.

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The strongest confirmation comes from spot flows. Exchange net position change tracks whether coins move into exchanges to sell or out of exchanges to hold. On November 27, exchanges saw net inflows of 3,947 BTC, showing selling pressure. By December 3, the metric flipped to –18,721 BTC, meaning heavy outflows.

A shift of more than 22,000 BTC in favor of buyers shows that demand returned sharply during this climb.

This improvement sets the opening chapter, but the next part of the story explains why the rally still feels unstable.

The Buyer Mix Shows a Hidden Weakness

Short-term holder supply has risen from 2,622,228 BTC on November 30 to 2,663,533 BTC as of December 3. Short-term holders are wallets that keep coins for only a few weeks. They buy quickly, but they also sell quickly.

Their rising supply, an increase of almost 1.6%, often looks bullish on the surface, but it means the rally hopes are being carried by the most reactive group in the market. If the Bitcoin price stalls, they are usually the first to take profits.

Long-term holders, the group that anchors strong breakouts, have not joined in. Their net position change, shown via the HODLer net position change metric, has been negative for the fourteenth straight day. The latest reading sits at –168,611 BTC.

Until long-term holders turn into net buyers, any breakout remains vulnerable to quick reversals triggered by speculative money.

This imbalance explains why the Bitcoin price is pressing toward a pattern break but still lacks the depth needed for a secure rally.

Bitcoin Price Levels That Confirm or Spoil the Move

The Bitcoin price sits just under the neckline at $93,200. A 12-hour close above this level confirms the inverse head-and-shoulders pattern and unlocks the next checkpoints at $96,600, $99,800, and $104,000.

If buyers push through these levels with real strength, the full extension of the pattern lands near $108,300, which marks the potential 15% move referenced earlier.

Weakness shows if Bitcoin slips below $90,400, a level where buyers stepped in during recent dips. Losing that zone invites a deeper test near $84,300, and a fall under $80,500 invalidates the entire structure.

For now, Bitcoin is attempting a pattern break with improving spot flows, rising speculative demand, and cautious long-term holders. The chart has room for a 15+% extension, but clearing $93,200 with real conviction decides whether that move actually begins.

A chip widely used in smartphones, including the crypto-focused Solana Seeker, has an unfixable vulnerability that could allow attackers to gain complete control and steal private keys stored on the device, says crypto wallet maker Ledger.

Ledger said in a report on Wednesday that it tested an attack on the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 (MT6878), and bypassed its security measures to gain “full and absolute control over the smartphone, with no security barrier left standing.”

Ledger security engineers Charles Christen and Léo Benito explained that they took control of the chip using electromagnetic pulses during the chip’s initial boot process.

Crypto wallets often rely on private keys, which some users store on their phones, meaning bad actors can extract private keys from a device to steal from a crypto wallet.

December 4, 2025 05:34:09 UTC

XRP Faces Resistance as Short-Term Rebound Lags Behind BTC and ETH

XRP’s 4-hour charts show clear resistance around $2.20, making its rebound weaker compared to Bitcoin and Ethereum. While the trend could shift quickly, XRP is currently struggling to break through this level. Analysts also note that there is no clear sign that inflows from the XRP ETF are creating any supply shock or lifting the price in the short term. Both the resistance and ETF impact could still change over a longer timeframe.

December 4, 2025 05:34:09 UTC

Connecticut Orders Kalshi, Robinhood, and Crypto.com to Halt Event-Based Betting

Connecticut has issued cease-and-desist orders to Kalshi, Robinhood, and Crypto.com, accusing them of running unlicensed online sports betting through event-based contracts. The state says these products count as sports wagering and cannot be offered without approval. All three firms were told to immediately stop promoting or providing these services to residents. Kalshi and Robinhood argue their contracts are federally regulated by the CFTC, not state gambling laws, setting up a regulatory dispute over how such products should be classified.

December 4, 2025 05:28:00 UTC

Bitcoin Downside Limited If Strategy Holds Its 650K BTC

Bitcoin is unlikely to face another deep correction like 2022 as long as Strategy keeps holding its 650,000 BTC. With Bitcoin now about 25% below its all-time high, any future pullback may look more like a long sideways phase than a major crash. The report adds that Bitcoin has stronger liquidity channels compared to past cycles, suggesting long-term holders should stay patient and avoid panic selling.

December 4, 2025 05:17:54 UTC

Ethereum’s Fusaka Upgrade Goes Live Today

Ethereum’s major Fusaka upgrade is live today, bringing big improvements to speed and network capacity. The update increases block space, makes data checks lighter for nodes, and helps reduce congestion caused by Layer-2 networks. This means faster confirmations, steadier gas fees, and cheaper L2 transactions for everyday users. Fusaka also allows rollups like Base and Arbitrum to scale more easily, which can increase overall activity on Ethereum. Analysts say the upgrade could strengthen ETH’s long-term demand.

December 4, 2025 05:17:54 UTC

Ethereum Price Climbs on Strong Wallet Buying

Ethereum rose to $3,215 as mid-sized investors holding 1,000–10,000 ETH increased their buying. Data from Santiment shows a sharp rise in new activity on the network, with 190,000 new wallets created in a single day. This jump in demand and fresh user growth is giving Ethereum a solid boost after a slow week. Analysts say continued wallet accumulation could help support the price in the coming days.

Powerful hedge fund Citadel Securities has voiced strong opposition to broad decentralized finance (DeFi), particularly for tokenized U.S. equities, in a letter to the SEC that provides feedback on proposed for exemptive relief. 

Its stance has attracted strong backlash from some crypto industry voices. 

Not decentralized?

Citadel argues that many DeFi platforms effectively operate as exchanges or broker-dealers, despite claims of decentralization.

There are identifiable intermediaries (developers, governance groups, and so on) who profit from transactions and influence order execution.

Users interact with smart contracts that function like binding agreements, just as orders on a traditional exchange do.

If DeFi trading of tokenized equities were exempt from SEC rules, this would lead to transparency gaps such as fees and conflicts of interest. There are also surveillance and compliance gaps, operational risks as well as custody issues.

Tokenized securities must be treated like traditional equities, Citadel argues.

At the same time, the hedge fund has stressed that it is not opposing innovation. 

“However, it is important not to override key investor protections when trading tokenized securities,” it said. 

Gensler’s playbook? 

Some crypto industry commentators have accused Citadel of using the playbook of former SEC Chair Gary Gensler. 

“Who ever thought Citadel would be against innovation that removes predatory, rent-seeking intermediaries from the financial system? Oh, right, literally every single person in crypto,” Variant CLO Jake Chervinsky quipped. 

Notably, Citadel recently lost two of their general counsels to crypto companies. 

In October, Citadel CEO Ken Griffin recently disclosed a significant stake in DeFi Development Corp, which is a Solana treasury company. 

Solana started a fresh increase above the $135 zone. SOL price is now consolidating above $142 and might aim for more gains above the $145 zone.

• SOL price started a fresh upward move above the $135 and $140 levels against the US Dollar.
• The price is now trading above $140 and the 100-hourly simple moving average.
• There is a bullish trend line forming with support at $143 on the hourly chart of the SOL/USD pair (data source from Kraken).
• The pair could extend gains if it clears the $145 resistance zone.

Solana Price Gains Momentum

Solana price started a decent increase after it settled above the $128 zone, like Bitcoin and Ethereum. SOL climbed above the $135 level to enter a short-term positive zone.

The price even smashed the $140 resistance. The bulls were able to push the price above $142. The price is now consolidating gains above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the recent upward move from the $123 swing low to the $146 high.

Solana is now trading above $140 and the 100-hourly simple moving average. Besides, there is a bullish trend line forming with support at $143 on the hourly chart of the SOL/USD pair.

On the upside, the price is facing resistance near $145. The next major resistance is near the $148 level. The main resistance could be $150. A successful close above the $150 resistance zone could set the pace for another steady increase. The next key resistance is $162. Any more gains might send the price toward the $180 level.

Another Pullback In SOL?

If SOL fails to rise above the $145 resistance, it could start another decline. Initial support on the downside is near the $143 zone and the trend line. The first major support is near the $135 level and the 50% Fib retracement level of the recent upward move from the $123 swing low to the $146 high.

A break below the $135 level might send the price toward the $128 support zone. If there is a close below the $128 support, the price could decline toward the $120 support in the near term.

Technical Indicators

Hourly MACD – The MACD for SOL/USD is losing pace in the bullish zone.

Hourly Hours RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for SOL/USD is above the 50 level.

Major Support Levels – $143 and $135.

Major Resistance Levels – $145 and $150.