Gold and silver prices pulled back sharply as traders locked in profits after a powerful multi-month rally, with silver dropping nearly 9% and gold sliding about 5% following CME margin hikes that triggered leveraged unwinds. Despite the correction, tokenized precious metals saw nearly $900 million in trading volume, and technical structures—particularly for Tether Gold (XAU₮)—suggest consolidation rather than a breakdown in the broader uptrend.

Investor flows favored XRP and Solana, which took in $70.2 million and $7.5 million last week, extending momentum since their US ETF launches in mid-October. In contrast, Bitcoin products saw $443 million in outflows and Ethereum lost $59.5 million, with overall digital asset funds posting $446 million in weekly redemptions.

BlackRock's BUIDL tokenized money market fund has distributed around $100 million in dividends since its launch in March 2024, according to Securitize. The onchain fund has grown beyond $2 billion in assets, expanded from Ethereum to several other major blockchains, and is fueling debate over the risks and growth prospects of tokenized money market products.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, through Interpretive Letter 1188, states that national banks may take part in risk-free principal crypto transactions without maintaining inventory or price exposure. This clarification separates brokerage-style intermediation from proprietary trading and could support higher regulated liquidity in assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Market data show Bitcoin trading around $87,215.87 with declines over the last 24 hours and 90 days as banks explore new, legally defined ways to route client orders.

Bitcoin briefly rose past $90,000 before retreating toward the high $88,000s as liquidations hit both sides; Bull Theory on X cited about $103 million in shorts cleared during a late Sunday surge and roughly $40 million in long positions during the subsequent drop into Monday. CoinCodex's 365‑day model projects Bitcoin near $83,350 by December 2026, while Ethereum's forecast rises to about $4,768, implying roughly a 61% gain.

Bitcoin hovered near $87,000 on Tuesday while Asian equities eased after a seven-day advance and US tech futures dipped. Broader crypto prices and total market capitalization slipped, trading volumes thinned into year-end, and metals such as silver and gold pulled back from recent record highs amid profit-taking.

In a post on X, Dragonfly managing partner Haseeb Qureshi forecast that by 2026 a Big Tech firm could launch or buy a crypto wallet and more Fortune 100 financial institutions will roll out their own blockchains using stacks such as Avalanche, OP Stack, Orbit and ZK Stack. He expects these corporate and fintech layer 1s to struggle for activity against Ethereum and Solana, predicts Bitcoin will trade above $150,000 while losing dominance, and sees the stablecoin market expanding by about 60% as Tether’s share slips.

Maxine Waters, the ranking Democrat on the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, has challenged SEC Chair Paul Atkins over the termination or suspension of major crypto enforcement actions involving firms such as Coinbase, Binance, and Justin Sun. Her letter questions whether recent decisions may have bypassed formal procedures and weakened protections for retail investors, while XRP’s recent 34.74% price decline and sharp volume spike underscore ongoing market volatility.