Founder Signals Long-Term Opportunity in Cardano DEXes as Price Consolidation Persists

Brett Harrison, the former president of the now-defunct FTX US exchange, has closed a $35 million funding round for his new derivatives venture, signaling renewed investor confidence in the sector and continued venture appetite for crypto-linked derivatives infrastructure.

On Tuesday, The Information reported that Harrison’s startup, Architect Financial Technologies, is using the funding to build an institutional trading platform spanning derivatives, equities, futures and digital assets. Participants in the round included Miax, Tioga Capital, ARK Investment, Galaxy and VanEck.

The new capital follows a $12 million funding round in 2024 backed by Coinbase Ventures, Circle Ventures, SALT Fund and other investors.

CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index is down $667.59 today or 0.76% to $87644.80

• Down two of the past three days
• Down 4.04% month-to-date
• Down 6.18% year-to-date
• Down 30.59% from its all-time intraday high of $126272.76 on Oct. 6, 2025
• Down 9.87% from 52 weeks ago (Dec. 24, 2024), when it traded at $97242.35
• Down 30.59% from its 52-week intraday high of $126272.76 on Oct. 6, 2025
• Up 16.33% from its 52-week intraday low of $74435.56 on April 7, 2025
• Traded as low as $86592.20
• Down 1.95% at today's intraday low

Note: CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX) at 4 p.m. ET close

Data compiled by Dow Jones Market Data

Bitcoin, the flagship cryptocurrency, is on track to score its second-worst Q4 of all time. It performed worse than that only during the devastatingly brutal crypto winter of 2018.

It is worth noting that the gap between the worst year (2018) and the second worst (2025) is significant, but 2025 is still noticeably deeper in the red than the other bad years (2014, 2019, 2022). It separates 2025 from a "mild correction" and pushes it into the "crash" territory. 

The average return for Q4 is 77%. This makes Q4 historically the strongest quarter for Bitcoin. Investors often rely on Q4 to save their portfolio's yearly performance.

By dropping nearly 23%, Bitcoin has underperformed its historical average by practically 100 percentage points (from an expected +77% to a realized -23%).

Instead of the usual "gift" of gains that Bitcoin holders are used to receiving in December (like the +479% in 2013 or +168% in 2020), they are receiving a heavy loss.

The year started poorly and is ending even worse. This is psychologically draining for investors because the gains made in the middle of the year (Q2) have been largely erased by the losses at the end (Q4).

Why is Q4 so awful?

According to a December 2025 report by CryptoQuant, the primary driver of the crash is "demand exhaustion."

Bitcoin reached a new all-time high of roughly $126,000 in early October 2025.

The main groups that drove the 2024–2025 rally (spot ETF buyers, corporate treasuries, and so son) have ceased buying.

Moreover, there have been plenty of reports of whales exiting the market.

The expectation of a year-end rally trapped many traders who bought in November. 

Ripple has stirred discussions across the crypto community today following a large XRP transfer pulled by the renowned San Francisco-based blockchain company.

On Tuesday, December 23, blockchain monitoring platform Whale Alert showcased data revealing a massive crypto transfer from Ripple involving tens of millions of XRP amid the broad crypto market volatility.

The data shows that Ripple moved 65 million XRP worth over $121 million to an unknown address, sparking curiosities about what the firm might be up to.

The transfer, which was executed in a single transaction, came at a time when the broad crypto market was moving on a negative path, with XRP trading in deep red territory.

Did Ripple just dump?

While such a move is not frequently noticed from Ripple, the mysterious transfer of such a large volume of XRP from the firm has caused market watchers to wonder about the purpose of the transfer.

Some commentators fear that the transfer could signal a potential sell-off from the firm or a liquidity move, considering its timing and nature.

Moreover, others suggested that the transfer may have been triggered by Ripple’s recent operational activities, possibly associated with strategic partnerships or internal treasury management.

Over the past months, Ripple has conducted large XRP movements for business development purposes following its push for cross-border payments and growing institutional demand; hence, its latest transfer may also be attributed to one of those causes.

XRP turns red despite strong institutional demand 

Since the massive October 10 crash, XRP has continued to struggle to maintain bullish momentum, falling far beyond crucial support levels.

While the asset has remained unstable as broader crypto markets experience increased volatility, it has failed in its recent attempt to recover previous losses.

After showing decent price gains in the past days, XRP has returned to red territory, showing a price slump of 0.42% over the last 24 hours.

According to data from CoinMarketCap, XRP is trading at $1.89 as of writing time.

With such a massive XRP offload from Ripple coming at a time like this, the transaction has sparked more uncertainties among short-term traders.

XRP has slipped below a level that, for much of the past year, acted like a structural anchor for the chart: the $1.95 area. Crypto analyst Guy on the Earth (@guyontheearth) argued that XRP has now closed under that zone on a higher timeframe, calling out the two-week chart specifically. “For the first time in 13 months XRP has closed under this monthly support at $1.95 on the 2 week chart,” he wrote. “It’s the second time on the weekly this has happened with April tariffs being the first.”

The 2-Weekly Close Is Crucial For XRP

From there, his analysis went straight to the downside implication. “The technical target of this break down is 90c,” he added. “Do with this information what you have to. Everyone must make their own decisions at this time. The goal is getting back above $1.95.”

The way he laid it out, $1.95 was not simply a mid-range price level but the lower boundary of a broader consolidation “rectangle.” Losing it, in that framework, opens the door to a measured move lower — with the reclaim of $1.95 as the key invalidation.

He also offered a risk-management approach for holders who are uncomfortable sitting through a potential continuation move. “If you are uncomfortable holding your bags with this breakdown – sell to reduce risk to where you feel comfortable,” he wrote. “Buy back on a close above $1.95 on the daily ( or a timeframe that you believe in) and your % loss of XRP is next to nothing. But should we go to 90c you are looking at a further 50% loss in capital.”

For those treating the move as an opportunity rather than a warning sign, he mapped out incremental levels he views as potential buy zones on the way down. “Alternatively if you believe in XRP longer term and don’t like trading at all – keep buying on the way down,” he wrote. “Key levels are at $1.61, $1.42 and finally the 90c target and the 75c initial breakout.”

Even in a bearish framing, he cautioned against assuming a straight-line cascade into every marked level. “We have went in a straight line down for weeks so it is unlikely that these targets would all be hit imminently,” he said. “$1.42 lowest this week if things get really ugly – not massively likely but possible with this breakdown and a big sell off in BTC to lower lows.”

Not everyone agreed with the choice of timeframe used to call the breakdown. One account, XRP whale (@cryptoXRPwhale), pushed back on the premise: “2 week chart is not significant. You can’t choose a specific timeframe and say it’s a structure breakdown that fits your narrative… lol” Guy responded by reiterating that the level being referenced is higher-timeframe support, not a short-term marker. “Look at the chart. It held 13 months and now broke structure,” he wrote. “The lower boundary is monthly support. I’ve said all this.”

There was also an attempt in the replies to flip the bearish target into a bullish setup. “Any price under $1 will be short-lived & sets $XRP up for a stronger push to the upside past ATH,” wrote Lawrence Bensen (@Lawrence_Bensen), referencing prior cycle lows and a reported wick below $1 on Binance earlier in the cycle. Guy acknowledged the point while keeping the technical math intact. “Yeah for sure – it has already been to 90c on Binance [on October 10],” he wrote. “I think we will recover before going as low as 90c – but that is the technical target of losing this consolidation.”

His near-term bias, meanwhile, leaned toward caution largely on liquidity conditions rather than an absolute conviction that $0.90 must print. “My bias is that I find it hard to believe at Christmas people are going to throw heaps of money in this market,” he wrote. “Low liquidity has been an issue anyways and this week wont help. So the slow bleed continues.”

At press time, XRP stood at $1.89.

An experimental orchestral project in Brazil aims to convert Bitcoin price data into live music, after receiving approval to raise funds through one of the country’s tax-incentive programs for cultural initiatives.

According to Brazil's Federal Register, the authorization allows the project to seek up to 1.09 million reais ($197,000) from private companies and individual donors for an instrumental concert that uses financial data to generate music, drawing on concepts from art, mathematics, economics and physics.

The publication does not specify whether any blockchain or onchain infrastructure will be used in the performance. The performance will take place at the country's federal capital, Brasília.

The project description says it will convert monetary figures into musical notation by using an algorithm to track Bitcoin (BTC) price movements and related technical data in real time during the performance. These data inputs are intended to guide melody, rhythm and harmony as the orchestra plays live.

The approach is designed to give audiences an audible representation of Bitcoin’s volatility by translating market behavior into sound, blending traditional orchestral instruments with data-driven composition. 

The approval confirms that the project met the requirements of Brazil’s Rouanet Law and cleared technical review, formally allowing sponsors to deduct contributions from taxes.

Fundraising must be completed by Dec. 31, with the initiative classified under the “Instrumental Music” category, which determines how tax incentives apply.

Earlier experiments in algorithmic crypto art

The Brazil initiative builds on earlier experiments in algorithmic art that have treated crypto-native and other real-world data streams as raw material for creative expression.

In 2020, a San Francisco–based group working in programmable digital art unveiled an artwork designed to change its appearance in line with Bitcoin’s price movements. The project, Right Place & Right Time by artist Matt Kane, used BTC market data as a live input, allowing shifts in the cryptocurrency’s value to drive visual changes in the piece.

The work was released through Async Art, a platform known for programmable NFTs, where Kane structured the artwork into a central “Master” image composed of multiple independent layers. Each layer responded to Bitcoin price action, with changes in the data influencing elements such as scale, rotation and positioning over time.