Ethereum's Estimated Leverage Ratio on Binance has reached 0.6–0.7, nearing historical peaks that typically precede significant volatility. Large holders accumulated approximately 218,000 ETH over the past week, data show. ETH traded near $3,935 at press time, with resistance at $4,000 and support around $3,800.

North Korea's cyber operations laundered approximately $1.65 billion in cryptocurrency between January and September to fund weapons programs, according to the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team. The total includes $1.4 billion stolen from Bybit in February and additional proceeds from illicit cryptocurrency activities throughout 2024. The country has deployed IT workers to eight nations to circumvent UN sanctions and generate revenue.

Ripple has completed its $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road, rebranding the non-bank prime broker as Ripple Prime. The transaction makes Ripple the first cryptocurrency company to own a global multi-asset prime brokerage. Ripple Prime will provide clearing, financing, and brokerage services across digital assets, derivatives, foreign exchange, and fixed-income products to institutional clients.

The REX-Osprey XRP ETF (XRPR) has surpassed $100 million in assets under management, marking a milestone for institutional XRP adoption in the United States. CME Group launched options on XRP futures after five months of futures trading that recorded over 567,000 trades totaling $26.9 billion in notional volume. XRP traded at approximately $2.56, reflecting a 3.49% increase over 24 hours.

XRP rose more than 5% to $2.56, recording its second consecutive daily gain. Trading volume climbed 11% to $3.62 billion. The advance followed withdrawal of over 18 million tokens from Binance reserves in the past week, data from CryptoQuant show.

XRP rose over 5.4% to approximately $2.57 following two institutional milestones. The XRPR spot ETF exceeded $100 million in assets under management, with nearly 40% coming from hedge funds and institutional portfolios, according to REX-Osprey. CME Group reported XRP futures contracts have generated over $26.9 billion in notional volume since launching in May.

Ripple has launched Ripple Prime, an institutional brokerage platform, following its $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road completed in October 2025. The platform integrates multi-asset trading, custody, and collateral services with Ripple's payment infrastructure and RLUSD stablecoin. Michael Arrington, founder of Arrington Capital, described the acquisition as Ripple's smartest move to date, citing synergies between Hidden Road's brokerage capabilities and Ripple's blockchain technology.

China accounts for 14.05% of Bitcoin's global hashrate as of Q4 2025, ranking third behind the United States and Russia. The figure represents approximately 145 exahashes per second, according to Luxor's Q4 2025 Global Hashrate Map. The activity persists despite a comprehensive 2021 ban on cryptocurrency mining and transactions, which authorities implemented citing financial crime risks and systemic stability concerns.