Whale address 0x6031d closed a $16.48M BTC long position about four hours ago with a realized profit of $63K, according to Hyperinsight data cited by BlockBeats on December 31. The same address has executed seven trades this week, with only one position closed via stop-loss.

Federal Reserve officials are sharply divided on the 2026 rate path, with views nearly evenly split between zero, one or two cuts, the Dec. 31 dot plot showed, after three rate reductions in 2025 brought the target to 3.5%–3.75%, BlockBeats reports. CME data show market-implied probabilities of a January cut at 20% and 45% in March, with most forecasts pointing to only one reduction in 2026. Analysts said that if employment weakens and inflation remains contained, one to two cuts could support risk assets, while a rebound in inflation could pause rate cuts and pressure equities and crypto. Jerome Powell is set to step down in May, and a potentially more dovish successor is viewed as an additional variable for the 2026 crypto market, according to BlockBeats.

On December 31, major whale accounts on Hyperliquid were carrying large unrealized losses on long positions in Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Solana, according to Coinbob data cited by BlockBeats. The “BTC OG Insider Whale” showed about $39.4 million in losses, mainly from ETH longs, while the “CZ Counterparty” faced roughly $27.6 million in ETH and XRP losses. At the same time, accounts such as “The Ultimate Short” and “Altcoin Short Leader” opened new LIT short positions, signaling a tactical shift amid market pressure.

Circle has minted $1 billion worth of its USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin on the Solana blockchain, CoinDesk reported. According to the report, when combined with recent Tether issuances, a total of $2 billion in stablecoins has been issued on Solana over the past 11 hours.

BitMine chairman Tom Lee said on Dec. 31 that year-end holiday trading often sees institutions step away, with quant programs, bots and tax-related stop-loss selling dominating, BlockBeats reports. On Dec. 29, CoinShares reported weekly outflows from digital asset products totaled $446 million, bringing the total since Oct. 10 to $3.2 billion and indicating sentiment has not fully recovered.

Address bc1qw withdrew 400 BTC worth $35.18M from Binance on Dec. 30, on-chain data show. The address accumulated 2,000 BTC valued at $177.23M over two days, BlockBeats reports.

Tether minted 1 billion USDT on December 30, increasing its circulating supply, according to Cointelegraph. USDT mints often precede market liquidity expansions, following similar large issuances throughout 2025.

BlackRock transferred 657.962 BTC to Coinbase Prime on Dec. 30, Arkham data show. The Bitcoin was valued at approximately $57.83 million. The movement was completed within about 20 minutes.