Die Bitcoin-Mining-Schwierigkeit beendete das Jahr 2025 fast auf einem Rekordniveau und wird voraussichtlich im Januar erneut steigen, da schnellere Blockzeiten eine Aufwärtskorrektur auslösen.
Why major crypto firms are diverging on Ether ahead of 2026
- Trend Research has lifted its Ether holdings above 601,000 ETH using borrowed stablecoins.
- The firm is now the third largest corporate Ether holder despite being unlisted.
- Fundstrat expects Ether to fall toward $1,800 in the first quarter of 2026.
As 2026 approaches, Ether is becoming a clear dividing line for large crypto focused firms.
Some companies are increasing exposure aggressively, while others are preparing for a potential downturn in the months ahead.
Recent on chain data and market positioning show that corporate strategies around Ether are no longer aligned, reflecting different expectations around price behaviour, liquidity conditions, and the pace of crypto adoption within the financial system.
Trend Research pushes ahead
Hong Kong based investment firm Trend Research has continued to accumulate Ether despite growing discussion of downside risks in early 2026.
Blockchain data shared by Lookonchain shows the firm recently acquired about $35 million worth of ETH, lifting its total holdings above 601,000 ETH.
At current prices, the position is valued at roughly $1.83 billion.
The same data indicates that Trend Research has borrowed around $958 million in stablecoins from the decentralised lending protocol Aave.
Its average purchase price stands near $3,265 per ETH. Lookonchain published these details in a Monday post on X.
According to a post by founder Jack Yi, Trend Research plans to keep buying Ether regardless of short term price moves of a few hundred dollars.
Alongside ETH, the firm also maintains a heavy position in the Trump family linked World Liberty Financial token, underlining a broader high conviction crypto stance going into next year.
Corporate holder rankings shift
With more than 601,000 ETH, Trend Research now ranks as the third largest corporate Ether holder.
It sits behind BitMine Immersion Technologies and SharpLink Gaming.
However, because Trend Research is not publicly listed, it does not appear on several widely followed tracking platforms, including the StrategicEthReserve.
BitMine, the largest corporate Ether holder, has historically relied on a dollar cost averaging strategy rather than large single phase accumulation.
The contrast highlights how firms with significant balance sheets are adopting different approaches as uncertainty builds around the next market cycle.
Fundstrat flags downside risk
While some firms continue to accumulate, others are bracing for a possible drawdown.
Fundstrat Global Advisors recently circulated an internal research note projecting that Ether could fall to a local bottom around $1,800 in the first quarter of 2026.
Screenshots of the note emerged on Dec. 21 and were attributed to Fundstrat co-founder and managing partner Tom Lee.
The analysis pointed to a meaningful pullback across major crypto assets in the first half of 2026, followed by the formation of a durable low either in the first or third quarter before a recovery into year-end.
The forecast drew attention because Lee is also chairman of BitMine, which holds roughly $12.3 billion worth of Ether, making it the largest known corporate ETH holder.
Smart money stays cautious
Positioning data suggests that professional traders are also leaning defensive.
According to blockchain intelligence platform Nansen, traders labelled as smart money remain net short on Ether by about $117 million.
At the same time, Nansen data shows these traders added around $15 million in long positions over the past 24 hours.
The move points to a modest pickup in risk appetite, even as overall positioning continues to reflect caution around near term price direction.
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FLOW price prediction: $3.9 exploit spells doom for the altcoin already down 39%
- Flow Network halted after a $3.9M exploit triggered panic selling.
- South Korean exchanges flagged FLOW, raising delisting concerns.
- FLOW remains below key support, with bearish technical indicators.
The Flow Network is facing one of its most challenging moments following a serious exploit that raised fresh concerns about the network’s security and governance.
As the fallout continues to unfold, the pressure on FLOW has intensified, reflecting growing unease among market participants.
Over the past 24 hours alone, the FLOW price has fallen by roughly 15.25% to around $0.10, extending losses to nearly 39% over the last week.
The Flow exploit
The crisis began on December 27, when attackers exploited a vulnerability in Flow’s execution layer, draining roughly $3.9 million through a series of cross-chain bridges.
Validators responded by halting parts of the network to prevent further losses, pushing the Flow Network into a read-only state.
To contain the incident, the network underwent a chain restart and upgrades tied to the Mainnet-28 protocol.
UPDATE: Protocol Fix Released
The protocol fix addressing today’s exploit has been released. Node operators are now coordinating to deploy the upgrade.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR NETWORK RESTART
The network will be restored to a checkpoint prior to the exploit. This is necessary to…
— Flow.com (@flow_blockchain) December 27, 2025
Several ecosystem participants criticized Flow Network for inadequate communication and warned that halts and rollbacks could create cascading risks for exchanges and users alike.
South Korea exchanges place FLOW on watchlist
As technical concerns mounted, major South Korean exchanges, including Upbit and Bithumb, placed FLOW on investment watchlists, citing the recent security incident and ongoing investigation.
Under South Korea’s Virtual Asset User Protection Act, such a designation can lead to a 60-day review period and potential delisting, weighing heavily on market sentiment, given South Korea’s importance to FLOW trading activity.
Even the possibility of reduced access or liquidity has encouraged traders to exit positions aggressively.
Past precedents involving other tokens under similar reviews have only intensified fears, contributing to the sharp drop in price and the surge in sell-side volume.
FLOW market sentiment turns defensive
Technically, FLOW has broken below several key support levels, including the psychological $0.10 mark.
The selloff pushed the token to a fresh all-time low near $0.097, underscoring the depth of the capitulation.
Momentum indicators paint a bleak picture, with the daily Relative Strength Index (RSI) falling to extreme oversold territory below 13.
Such readings often signal exhaustion among sellers, but they do not guarantee a sustained rebound.
In addition, FLOW remains well below all major exponential moving averages, reflecting a firmly bearish trend.
Trading volume has also weakened on a longer-term basis, suggesting that buyers are reluctant to step in despite historically low prices.
FLOW price prediction amid the uncertainty
The broader technical outlook continues to lean bearish.
Out of a basket of commonly tracked indicators, the majority currently point to further downside risk rather than recovery.
While oversold conditions could spark short-lived bounces, the larger structure remains damaged.
On higher timeframes, the weekly RSI sits in neutral territory, indicating that the downtrend still has room to develop.
From a longer-term perspective, the distance between the current price and meaningful resistance levels highlights the scale of the challenge ahead.
For FLOW to signal a genuine trend reversal, it would need to reclaim lost ground well above current levels, including major moving averages.
Until confidence in network security, governance, and exchange support is restored, such a move appears unlikely.
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Trump-linked crypto firm faces auditor scrutiny as financial turmoil deepens
- Alt5 Sigma faces scrutiny after missing filings and hiring an auditor whose licence expired earlier this year.
- Trump-linked crypto deal draws attention as governance gaps and auditor penalties raise oversight concerns.
- Board exits, audit delays, and legal disclosures put Alt5 Sigma at risk of Nasdaq delisting.
Alt5 Sigma, a US-listed crypto firm that struck a high-profile deal with a Trump-backed digital asset venture, is facing growing regulatory and governance scrutiny after a series of audit, filing, and board-level disruptions, Financial Times reported.
The company is yet to publish overdue financial results and is now working with an audit firm whose licence to practise lapsed earlier this year.
The developments have raised fresh questions about oversight at the company just months after it committed to holding large volumes of a politically connected crypto token.
Alt5 Sigma drew attention in August when it agreed to buy and hold tokens issued by World Liberty Financial, a crypto project backed by the Trump family.
The deal also saw Eric Trump join Alt5 Sigma as a board observer, while World Liberty Financial became an investor in the company.
Since then, Alt5 Sigma has struggled to meet its regulatory obligations, triggering concerns among investors and regulators.
Auditor under review
In December, Alt5 Sigma appointed Victor Mokuolu CPA PLLC as its new auditor.
However, filings in Texas show that the firm’s licence to practise expired in August and had not been renewed as of December 26.
Under state rules, the firm is barred from carrying out audit work until the licence is reactivated.
Alt5 Sigma told Financial Times, its auditor is undergoing a mandatory peer review under Texas State Board of Accountancy regulations, with the process expected to conclude by the end of January 2026.
The company said no audit or review of its financial statements will be issued until the firm’s licence becomes active.
While Victor Mokuolu renewed his personal certified public accountant licence on August 31, his firm’s licence remained inactive at year-end.
Past regulatory penalties
The audit firm has previously faced enforcement action.
In 2023, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board fined Victor Mokuolu CPA PLLC $30,000 for failing to notify the regulator about audits of six public companies it conducted in 2022.
The Texas board imposed an additional $15,000 penalty last year for the same violations.
The firm has also been working for more than two years to address deficiencies that resulted in a failing grade under the profession’s peer review process in 2023.
Despite this, it disclosed 30 small-cap audit clients in a recent regulatory filing.
Mokuolu founded the firm in 2020 after working in the oil and gas industry.
Filing delays and board gaps
Alt5 Sigma has not filed its quarterly results for the period ending in late September, placing it at risk of being delisted from Nasdaq.
The company attributed the delay partly to the timeliness and responsiveness of its previous auditor, which formally resigned in November.
Governance issues have compounded the pressure.
Chief financial officer Jonathan Hugh, hired around the time of the Trump-linked deal, left after three months.
Chief executive Peter Tassiopoulos exited in October.
Board member David Danziger resigned last month, leaving Alt5 Sigma in violation of requirements to maintain an audit committee of a certain size with accounting expertise.
Corporate shifts and disclosures
Alt5 Sigma was incorporated in July 2024 by biotech firm JanOne Inc., which merged with Alt5 Sigma and adopted its name in the same month.
JanOne had previously rebranded in 2019, having earlier operated as Appliance Recycling Centers of America.
The company says it provides infrastructure that allows financial institutions to integrate with digital assets.
As of December 8, it held about 7.3 billion $WLFI tokens valued at roughly $1.1 billion.
Since August, its chair has been Zack Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Financial and son of Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy for peace negotiations.
Alt5 Sigma has also disclosed that its Canadian subsidiary and former principal were found criminally liable by a Rwandan court in May for offences including illicit enrichment and money laundering.
That ruling is under appeal, with both parties denying wrongdoing.
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Ethereum: TVL wird sich 2026 „verzehnfachen“ – Experte
Besonders ein wahrscheinlicher Aufschwung bei Stablecoins und in der Tokenisierung könnte laut Joseph Chalom dafür sorgen, dass der TVL von Ethereum nächstes Jahr „explodiert“.