Crypto Weekly: BTC Under Pressure, ETH Steadies, XRP Leads Volatility

The crypto market just closed one of its heaviest weeks in months. A sharp downside break in bitcoin triggered half a billion dollars in liquidations, dragged ether lower, and hit large-cap altcoins in a single sweep. Prices have bounced off the worst levels but the tone is still defensive, with traders watching policy headlines, ETF flows and leverage data more closely than price hype.

Bitcoin is hovering just under the 90K band, ether is fighting to hold the low-3K area, and XRP is the most volatile of the majors after a clean technical breakdown and heavy institutional flows. This update walks through the week’s biggest stories, how the charts look right now, and what near-term levels matter most.

Key News Over the Past Week

A violent selloff in early Asia trading wiped out roughly $500 million in bullish leveraged bets, with total liquidations near $650 million and almost 90% coming from long positions in BTC, ETH and other large caps.
As that move hit, bitcoin dropped more than 5% intraday and ether slipped over 6%, pushing both back toward the lower edge of their November ranges.
Crypto-linked stocks and digital-asset treasury names sold off as well, with several listed companies holding large BTC, ETH and SOL positions falling over 10% on the week’s worst day.
XRP suffered a standalone 7% slide after losing its short-term support band, with the breakdown from about 2.16 to near 2.05 confirming a failed consolidation despite strong ETF inflows around the token.
At the same time, XRP’s spot ETF segment continued to attract capital, with cumulative inflows in the hundreds of millions of dollars even as price swung lower, underscoring the token’s role as the week’s most talked-about altcoin.
On the structural side, Ethereum’s “Fusaka” upgrade moved onto the near-term calendar, aiming to improve how the base chain handles the heavy transaction load coming from layer-2 networks.
Another structural headline: a major asset manager finalised plans to convert its Chainlink trust into an ETF, adding LINK to the small but growing list of single-asset crypto ETFs alongside BTC, ETH, SOL and XRP.

Market Overview

Spot markets spent most of the week in recovery mode after Monday’s flush. Bitcoin briefly pushed back above the 90K handle but struggled to stay there, with every move higher meeting supply from traders using the bounce to reduce risk. Volumes were healthy on the selloff and mixed on the rebound, a classic profile for a market still working through leftover leverage.

Ether traded as a higher-beta follower. It underperformed on the way down, then staged a sharper rebound into the low-3K zone. The move helped repair part of November’s damage but left ETH still clearly below the main resistance band that capped rallies for most of the autumn.

XRP was the most actively debated coin this week. On the one hand, ETF inflows and on-chain accumulation show strong longer-term appetite. On the other, the spot chart broke down cleanly from a tight consolidation, and short-term flows turned sharply negative. That combination gave XRP the widest intraday ranges among the large caps and kept it firmly in the “trader’s coin” category all week.

Technical Analysis

Bitcoin (BTC) – around $89K
- Price & trend: BTC is trading just under $89,000 after bouncing from sub-86K lows and failing to hold pushes above roughly 92K. The structure is still a descending channel from the October peak near 126K, with lower highs and lower lows defining the short-term trend.
- Support / resistance:
  - First support sits around 86K–87K, the area of Monday’s liquidation low.
  - Below that, the next defensive line is the 84K region, where several recent down moves have stalled.
  - On the upside, immediate resistance comes in near 92K–93K, followed by a heavier band around 99K–100K where the last major breakdown began.
- RSI / MACD: Daily RSI(14) is hovering near 40, still below the midline, which fits a tired downtrend rather than outright capitulation. MACD remains below its signal line with a shallow negative histogram, suggesting bearish momentum is fading but not yet reversed.
- OBV / ATR / pattern: OBV stepped down during the liquidation spike and has only recovered modestly, signalling that real coins changed hands on the selloff. ATR is elevated versus October, confirming a higher-volatility regime. Overall pattern: grinding downtrend inside a broad channel, with rebounds so far acting as relief rallies, not new legs higher.
Ether (ETH) – around $3,000
- Price & trend: ETH is trading close to $3,000, slightly above its recent low near 2,800 and still below the congestion zone that starts around 3,200. The slope from the summer high is negative but flattening.
- Support / resistance:
  - First support is in the 2,800–2,850 pocket, where last week’s selloff finally found buyers.
  - A deeper zone sits near 2,600–2,650, the base of the previous leg up on the weekly chart.
  - Overhead, ETH needs to clear 3,150–3,250 to break its immediate downtrend; beyond that, 3,400–3,500 is the bigger resistance shelf from early autumn.
- RSI / MACD: Daily RSI(14) sits around 42, reflecting mild positive momentum off the lows but no real strength yet. MACD is still negative but turning higher, hinting that the bearish phase is losing power as price grinds sideways above support.
- OBV / ATR / pattern: OBV shows a small higher low compared with the November trough, consistent with steady dip-buying rather than aggressive accumulation. ATR remains above its mid-year average, but not at panic levels. ETH’s pattern looks like a potential base forming at the bottom of a downward channel, with the 3,150–3,250 band as the key confirmation zone.
XRP (top-trending altcoin) – around $2.0
- Price & trend: XRP is trading close to $2.00–2.05 after breaking down from a consolidation band centred around 2.16. Over the past week it dropped about 7% in a single session, then stabilised just above key support. Short-term structure is bearish within a larger uptrend, given its strong 12-month performance.
- Support / resistance:
  - Immediate support is the 2.00–2.05 area flagged by traders as the line that must hold to avoid a deeper slide.
  - If that breaks, the next demand zone sits between 1.80–1.87, where earlier pullbacks found strong buying interest.
  - On the upside, lost support at 2.16–2.20 now acts as the first resistance band, with a tougher cap around 2.30–2.35.
- RSI / MACD: Daily RSI(14) is about 46, just under neutral, which matches a market that has cooled off but not collapsed. MACD is mildly negative and drifting sideways, showing that the immediate impulse is down but the move is not accelerating.
- OBV / ATR / pattern: OBV spiked lower on the breakdown day, reflecting heavy selling by larger players even as ETF flows stayed positive in the background. ATR for XRP is higher than for BTC and ETH in percentage terms, confirming its role as the high-beta coin of the week. The pattern is a descending channel inside a broader trading range, with clear trigger levels at 2.05 on the downside and 2.20 on the upside.

Macro & Regulatory Environment

Macro kept the pressure on all risk assets. Rate-cut hopes faded as central banks signalled they are still not fully comfortable with inflation. That pushed yields higher and drained some liquidity from speculative corners of the market, including crypto.

On the policy front, China once again underlined its hard line on public-chain crypto trading and stablecoins, calling related activities illegal financial operations and pledging to intensify enforcement. That reminder doesn’t change much for global spot flows—China has been restrictive for years—but it reinforces the message that regulatory risk remains a key part of the landscape, especially for cross-border stablecoin usage.

ETF Flows & Institutional Activity

ETF and ETP data painted a mixed picture. Bitcoin and ether products saw net outflows around the worst days of the selloff as wealth managers and institutional desks cut risk into weakness. At the same time, some of those same platforms continued to add exposure to large-cap altcoin products, suggesting rotation rather than a complete exit.

XRP stood out here. Despite the spot breakdown, its ecosystem of institutional vehicles—including spot funds and structured products—continued to collect assets, with cumulative inflows this month running into the high hundreds of millions. In parallel, the move to convert a major Chainlink trust into an ETF adds another building block for institutions that want single-asset exposure beyond BTC and ETH.

On the listed-equity side, crypto treasuries and mining stocks had a rough start to December, dropping more than 10% in some cases as the underlying coins slid and risk sentiment deteriorated. That reaction shows how tightly tied these equities are to short-term spot moves, even when their long-term theses are built around infrastructure.

Ecosystem & Adoption Trends

Away from price, the builder side of the industry stayed busy. Ethereum’s upcoming Fusaka upgrade is the headline item for the week ahead. The dual-layer change is designed to improve how the main chain handles load from rollups and other layer-2s, which is critical if the network is going to support sustained high throughput without runaway fees.

The broader ecosystem also saw progress on the capital-markets side. Moving Chainlink into ETF format gives one of the key oracle networks a more formal place in traditional portfolios. It joins earlier single-asset funds focused on BTC, ETH, SOL, DOGE and XRP, gradually filling out a menu that looks more like a standard sector lineup than a one-asset bet.

Token unlocks, bridge launches and regional conferences filled out the calendar, with events on multiple continents. None of these moved prices on their own, but together they show an industry that is still investing in infrastructure, even during a choppy tape.

Investor Takeaways

BTC, ETH and XRP all sold off on a wave of forced liquidations, but prices have stabilised above their worst intraday lows.
BTC is stuck in a descending channel with key levels near 86K support and 92–93K resistance, leaving the short-term trend still down.
ETH is trying to base around $3,000, with 2,800 as a key downside line and 3,150–3,250 as the band it needs to reclaim to change the narrative.
XRP is the top-trending altcoin this week, combining heavy ETF interest with a clean technical breakdown that now puts the focus on whether 2.00–2.05 support can hold.
Volatility (ATR) is elevated across majors, which makes position sizing and leverage choices more important than short-term price targets.
Macro and regulatory headlines—especially around rates and China’s stance—remain central drivers of sentiment and liquidity.
Structural developments like Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade and new single-asset ETFs for coins like LINK show that infrastructure and institutional rails are still expanding despite near-term price stress.

Final Thoughts

This week was a reminder that leverage, not just headlines, still drives a big share of crypto price action. One sharp move in bitcoin was enough to trigger a chain reaction across futures, options, ETFs and related stocks. At the same time, the response from longer-term players—steady inflows into some altcoin products, continued work on upgrades and new ETFs—shows that the space is not in retreat.

For now, the market is trapped between two forces: cooling momentum on the charts and ongoing structural progress in the background. Until bitcoin and ether can close decisively back above their nearest resistance bands, and until liquidation waves shrink in size, it makes sense to read this as a consolidation phase rather than the start of a new trend.