Spot-Quoted XRP Futures Now Offered by CME Group

Renowned San Francisco–based blockchain company Ripple has taken another step to boost adoption for its U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, RLUSD.

On Monday, December 15, the company announced the expansion of RLUSD to multiple layer 2 networks, including Optimism, Base, Kraken’s Ink, and Unichain, using Wormhole’s Native Token Transfers (NTT) standard.

Notably, its decision to integrate Wormhole’s NTT standard follows plans to allow RLUSD to move natively across supported blockchains without relying on wrapped or synthetic versions.

Per the announcement, the move follows Ripple’s plans to preserve liquidity, maintain regulatory controls, and enhance security, while enabling a wide range of DeFi use cases across networks optimized for scalability and efficiency.

With this major expansion, RLUSD will emerge as the first regulated U.S.-based stablecoin to launch across the aforementioned L2 chains.

XRP in spotlight following latest Ripple development

Ripple disclosed the big move, highlighting its significance across its related assets. The company mentioned that the move aims to foster the utility of both RLUSD and XRP across the broader crypto ecosystem.

While the move has been ultimately welcomed by the XRP community, it positions the asset for more adoption, as it strengthens its role in the multichain economy.

As the move seeks to support wrapped XRP (wXRP), enabling premier liquidity pairs between RLUSD and wXRP across Optimism, Base, Ink, and Unichain, it positions XRP for more adoption, propelling its price toward a big upswing in the future.

Notably, users will be able to swap, lend, or make payments using XRP and RLUSD directly within DeFi applications on the chains, without needing to bridge back to the XRP Ledger or Ethereum mainnet.

According to the announcement, the rollout will begin with a test phase this December. As such, RLUSD is already live on Ethereum and the XRP Ledger following its recent issuance under a NYDFS Trust Charter.

While the company revealed it will roll out the multichain expansion on a larger scale next year, it further emphasized that the broader deployment will be subject to regulatory approval from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).

Anchorage Digital has acquired tokenization giant Securitize’s wealth management unit, Securitize For Advisors, according to an announcement on Monday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

The move will help Anchorage, the first federally chartered crypto bank, expand its financial advisory services for registered investment advisors. Anchorage will absorb Securitize For Advisors’ team and front-end platform. 

According to the announcement, Securitize For Advisors has grown more than 4,500% over the past year, and has set new all-time highs in new deposits and net assets under management. 

This summer, President Donald Trump signed an executive order paving the way for digital assets to be included in retirement accounts, one of many regulatory changes that have promoted crypto finance experimentation in the U.S.

“RIAs are driving one of the most important waves of crypto adoption. By bringing together Anchorage Digital’s federally regulated custody platform with SFA’s technology and expertise, we’re building the premier solution for wealth managers and their clients,” Anchorage CEO Nathan McCauley said in a statement.

Anchorage provides federally regulated digital asset custody for many of Securitize's platforms and funds. This includes secure storage for client assets, with 99% of Securitize For Advisors assets already custodied at Anchorage before the acquisition.

Corporate growth

In October, Securitize disclosed plans to go public through a SPAC merger at a $1.25 billion pre-money equity valuation. The firm, founded in 2017, is the leading tokenization platform and the issuer of the largest onchain Treasurys product, BlackRock’s BUIDL fund. 

Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo noted in the statement that its advisory unit was “an incredible success story,” but the sale will allow Securitize to double down on its “core business.”

Anchorage launched a registered investment advisor offering, providing custody and settlement services in 2023, with Securitize subsidiary Onramp Invest as an early user. The firm, perhaps best known for its custody operations, has been expanding into new markets, including helping in notable regulated stablecoin launches like Tether’s USAT and OSL Group’s USDGO.

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Bitcoin (BTC) price is under scrutiny again as veteran trader Peter Brandt is cautioning that BTC has violated its parabolic trendline, a technical feature that preceded deep drawdowns in previous bull markets. While the signal is bearish, the current market structure reflects a key difference from previous market cycles. 

Key takeaways:

• Peter Brandt said that Bitcoin has broken its current parabolic advance, a bearish signal that has previously led to drawdowns of more than 80%.

• Despite the current risks, Bitcoin’s accumulation and adoption base is far stronger than in prior market cycles, according to data.

Bitcoin’s parabolic breakdown raises chance of 80% drop

In an X post, Brandt highlighted that Bitcoin bull market cycles have followed parabolic advances with exponential decay over time. In each prior cycle, once a major parabola was violated, the price entered a prolonged corrective phase. Historically, these declines have peaked at less than 80% from the cycle high, but they have nonetheless been severe. 

According to Brandt, Bitcoin’s current parabolic structure has already failed, with BTC down roughly 20% from its all-time high.

While this does not imply an immediate collapse, it places the market in a zone where downside volatility has historically expanded, particularly when global financial conditions tighten. If history repeats itself, an 80% decline for BTC would be a revisit to the $25,000 range over the next few months. 

Macroeconomic pressure adds to the technical breakdown

The technical warning is unfolding as macroeconomic liquidity risks rise. Polymarket is pricing a Bank of Japan (BOJ) rate hike at a 97% probability, with markets expecting a 0.25% increase on Dec. 19.

In the past, the BOJ tightening has been hostile to global risk assets. When Japan raises interest rates, yen carry trades unwind, global funding conditions tighten, and leveraged positions are forced to deleverage. Bitcoin has reacted negatively to the last three BOJ hikes, falling roughly 27% in March 2024, 30% in July 2024, and another 30% in January 2025, according to crypto commentator Quinten. 

Related: Bitcoin to $40K? Macro analyst Luke Gromen turns bearish on Bitcoin

Why this BTC market cycle may be different

Despite the parallels, Bitcoin’s demand structure has evolved since 2022. Glassnode data shows that corporate Bitcoin treasuries have expanded from about 197,000 BTC in January 2023 to over 1.08 million BTC today, a 448% increase.

This growth reflected Bitcoin’s evolution into a strategic balance-sheet asset rather than a purely speculative trade. In addition, long-term holder supply remains elevated, and spot ETF products have introduced more stable, institutionally driven inflows.

While these shifts do not eliminate downside risk, they suggest that future drawdowns may be smaller and more absorption-driven than in past market cycles.

Related: Bears take over below $90K? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. While we strive to provide accurate and timely information, Cointelegraph does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information in this article. This article may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Cointelegraph will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your reliance on this information.

XRP has moved lower again, slipping below $1.89, as weakness across the broader crypto market continues. The drop comes amid rising uncertainty ahead of global economic events, including U.S. non-farm payroll data and growing expectations of a Bank of Japan interest rate hike, both of which have pressured risk assets.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have also traded lower, adding to the selling pressure on XRP.

XRP Slips Below Short-Term Support

The drop to $1.89 shows that an important short-term support level has been lost. However, analyst Casi Trades says this alone does not confirm a full bearish breakdown.

On higher timeframes, attention remains on the $1.97 area, which is viewed as a critical level for maintaining XRP’s broader structure. As long as this level is not decisively broken on a daily close, the risk of a deeper sell-off remains contained.

Downside Levels to Watch

If XRP fails to reclaim the $2.03 level, which previously acted as macro support, selling pressure could persist. A confirmed break below $1.97 would strengthen the bearish case and could open the door to a move toward $1.64, the next major support zone.

Is a Short-Term Bounce Still Possible?

Despite the recent dip, the analyst points to slowing downside momentum and short-term bullish divergence signals. These often support brief relief rallies if overall market conditions stabilize.

For any meaningful recovery, XRP would need to move back above $2.03 and hold that level as support. A successful reclaim could allow a retest of resistance near $2.14–$2.16.

What Happens If XRP Turns Higher?

If market sentiment improves and XRP breaks above its next major resistance near $2.41, the outlook would turn more positive. In that case, price targets around $2.75 to $2.90 could come into focus.

However, the broader market environment remains fragile, and XRP’s next move might depend on macro signals and overall crypto sentiment.

Bitcoin continues to struggle below the $90,000 level, failing to reclaim key resistance as bulls attempt to defend current demand zones. Price action reflects a market under pressure, with momentum fading after a prolonged correction. From its all-time high, Bitcoin has now retraced roughly 30%, placing the asset firmly in a corrective phase where uncertainty and caution dominate trading behavior.

According to a report from Axel Adler, on-chain data confirms that market stress is no longer limited to price alone. Two key indicators—the Short-Term Holder Spent Output Profit Ratio (STH SOPR) and the P/L Block—are signaling broad loss realization among participants and a deterioration in overall market sentiment.

These metrics provide insight into the behavior of short-term holders, who are often the most sensitive to price swings and macro uncertainty. Together, these signals suggest that Bitcoin remains in a fragile state, where confidence has weakened, and recovery attempts face increasing resistance.

STH SOPR and P/L Block Confirm Capitulation Pressure

Adler explains that the Short-Term Holder Spent Output Profit Ratio (STH SOPR) measures whether coins held for less than 155 days are being sold at a profit or a loss. When the indicator falls below one, it signals that recent buyers are realizing losses.

Currently, the 7-day moving average of STH SOPR has slipped into the red zone, with a reading near 0.99. This confirms that short-term holders are, on average, selling Bitcoin below their acquisition price—a behavior typically associated with heightened stress and emotional selling.

Historically, similar SOPR conditions have marked local capitulation phases, when selling pressure peaks and weaker hands exit the market. As long as the SOPR 7-day average remains below one, short-term participants stay in “stress mode.”

Adler notes that a meaningful improvement would require a sustained move back above one on a daily close, signaling that sellers have exhausted supply and buyers are once again absorbing sell-side pressure.

Complementing this signal, the P/L Block indicator tracks the aggregated profit and loss state of market participants. The current red block reflects loss dominance, with a P/L Score of minus three—classified as pronounced stress.

With Bitcoin down 30% from its all-time high and 30-day returns negative, both indicators align, reinforcing a clear picture of capitulation among short-term holders.

Bitcoin Price Analysis: Weekly Structure Remains Critical

The weekly chart shows Bitcoin trading around the $89,900 level after a sharp rejection from the $120,000–$125,000 region. Price has retraced aggressively but is now attempting to stabilize above the rising 200-week moving average (green), a level that has historically defined long-term trend validity. So far, this area is acting as dynamic support, suggesting that buyers are defending higher-cycle structure despite broader market weakness.

However, Bitcoin remains below the 50-week moving average (blue), which is now sloping downward. This configuration reflects a loss of medium-term momentum and confirms that the market is still in a corrective phase rather than a resumed uptrend.

The 100-week moving average (red) continues to rise well below price, reinforcing that the broader macro trend remains intact, but also highlighting how much excess was built during the prior rally.

Volume has declined during the recent consolidation, signaling indecision rather than aggressive accumulation. This typically precedes a volatility expansion. From a structural perspective, holding above the $85,000–$88,000 zone is critical. A sustained breakdown below the 200-week MA would increase the probability of a deeper retracement toward the $75,000–$80,000 region.

Conversely, reclaiming the 50-week MA near $95,000 would be an early signal that downside pressure is fading. Until then, Bitcoin remains range-bound, with long-term support holding but momentum still fragile.

Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com