Market Signal Briefing

The new Etherealize report makes a strong case for ETH L2s. The report shows that ETH L2s are already shaping how institutions move money, settle assets, and run global operations. 
ETH L2s are developing into infrastructure that banks, fintechs, and payment providers can actually use.

What Are ETH L2s?
ETH L2s, or Ethereum Layer 2 solutions, are networks built on top of the Ethereum network. Ethereum is the foundation that provides access to many unique features. ETH L2s let businesses handle large volumes of activity while still relying on Ethereum for security and final settlement.

The most harmful myth that keeps you from making money:

“L2s block fees from going to L1 and hurt ETH.”

That take comes from people with zero depth on the topic, often pushing AI-written content.

Reality is the opposite.

The gas you pay for a swap or any single action doesn’t…

— Mercek (@WorldOfMercek) December 8, 2025

Types of Ethereum Layer 2 solutions
There are a few main types:

Optimistic Rollups assume transactions are valid but allow challenges if they suspect fraud.
ZK Rollups use advanced cryptography to prove transactions are correct upfront, making them faster.
Validiums and Optimiums offer efficiency but rely on external data sources, which introduces more trust assumptions.

New Report 🚀 The Future of Financial Infrastructure: Ethereum’s Layer 2 Landscape

Today we’re releasing a comprehensive analysis of how Ethereum L2s will transform institutional finance: From scalability and privacy to compliance, settlement, and global market structure.… pic.twitter.com/ysz57EdNTJ

— Etherealize (@Etherealize_io) December 4, 2025

Why do ETH L2s Matter for Institutions?
ETH L2s present enormous benefits:

Cost & Speed: It is also cheaper and faster than the entire Ethereum main layer.
Privacy & Compliance: Companies do not need to disclose sensitive data to prove their regulatory compliance.
Interoperability and Customization: You can customize them to meet specific needs. You will still stay connected to Ethereum while you do this.

Source: Etherealize Report
Public L2s are available to anyone, whereas they use private or permissioned L2s to control and supervise regulated businesses. Institutions with high-value settlements can operate on Ethereum L1 and L2s in their day-to-day operations.

Why Act Now?
Stablecoins settled over $27 trillion last year, and major firms like J.P. Morgan and BlackRock are already building on Ethereum. The EU, US, and Asia are becoming less uncertain due to regulatory clarity. First adopters of the ETH Layer 2 solution can influence standards for tokenized assets and identity, gaining a strategic advantage.

Tom Lee’s BitMine has bought 138,452 $ETH worth $437.7 million last week.

They now hold 3.86M ETH worth $12.4B (3.2%) of the entire supply, making them the #1 ETH treasury in the world.

But here’s the bigger story:

ETH demand is rising because Wall Street is quietly building… pic.twitter.com/Iyf5fTrA9b

— Bull Theory (@BullTheoryio) December 8, 2025

Conclusion
ETH L2s are a gateway to a faster, cheaper, and more secure financial system. Institutions that embrace them today will not just keep up; they will lead the future of finance. With L2s, Ethereum becomes a practical and enterprise-ready platform.

Disclaimer
The information discussed by Altcoin Buzz is not financial advice. This is for educational, entertainment and informational purposes only. Any information or strategies are thoughts and opinions relevant to accepted levels of risk tolerance of the writer/reviewers, and their risk tolerance may be different from yours.

We are not responsible for any losses that you may incur as a result of any investments directly or indirectly related to the information provided. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are high-risk investments, so please do your due diligence.

Copyright Altcoin Buzz Pte Ltd.

Bitcoin is acting genuinely weird right now. The price is just whipping around with zero stability.

Three months ago, Oracle (ORCL) was trading at an all-time high of nearly $346, driven by ambitious expansion plans and a narrative focusing on nuclear-powered data centers. Currently, with the stock trading around $217, the company has lost almost 40% of its market value.

On Monday, Bitcoin (BTC) appeared to be emerging from the downtrend in force since the all-time high back in October. However, it wasn't to be.

Bullish reversal signals and rising whale demand raise ZEC's chances of hitting $500 in December, though some caution remains warranted.

On-chain data indicates growing whale participation in Falcon Finance, with several large $FF token withdrawals from centralized exchanges over the weekend and a spike in high-value staking deposits across the protocol’s vaults.

Analysts monitoring blockchain activity identified three major $FF transfers from leading exchanges, movements that may suggest accumulation or early positioning ahead of further staking activity. 

One wallet starting with 0xb39b withdrew 27.18 million FF (approximately $3.01 million) from Binance, while another, 0x7838, transferred 12.22 million FF (about $1.35 million) from Gate.io. A third wallet moved 9.02 million FF (just under $1 million) from Bitget.

So far, none of the tokens have been redeployed on-chain, but analysts note that large withdrawals like these often signal accumulation or preparation for staking, particularly among long-term holders positioning for collateral-backed yield strategies.

Markets rotate toward structured, collateral-backed yield products
Separately, blockchain records reviewed on Etherscan show that 32 distinct wallets have staked between $100,000 and $1 million each in recent days, marking one of Falcon’s largest concentrations of high-value deposits since its vault system launched.

The distribution and scale of deposits suggest participation from entities with access to deeper liquidity, including trading firms, investment funds, and high-net-worth crypto holders. The uptick aligns with a broader market trend of institutional investors reallocating toward structured, yield-generating products amid lower volatility.

Falcon’s Staking Vaults allow users to earn USDf rewards without minting new FF tokens or diluting supply, a feature that has positioned the product as a preferred option among professional investors seeking stable returns within decentralized markets.

The protocol’s collateral framework may also be contributing to the growing inflows. Falcon supports a diversified range of backing assets, including crypto, tokenized equities, sovereign bills, corporate credit, and gold. This multi-asset approach mirrors traditional finance strategies and provides yield exposure without relying solely on crypto leverage.

Falcon Finance recently surpassed $2 billion in circulating USDf, reporting continued daily inflows with more than $700 million in new collateral deposits and USDf mints recorded in recent months.

While it remains unclear whether the latest whale movements represent long-term positioning or short-term rotations, analysts say the data points to an emerging trend: large holders moving toward RWA-linked and collateral-backed yield strategies that blend traditional finance stability with on-chain efficiency.

Featured image via Shutterstock. 

Key NotesCrypto liquidations fell by more than 50% as the market consolidated.Top whales on Hyperliquid are taking a U-turn on their bearish stance amid Strategy’s latest buy.Most of the whales that have profited so far have a bearish bias.
Leading whales on the perpetual exchange, Hyperliquid, have been shifting their stance from very bearish just a week ago to slightly bearish at the moment.

According to data from CoinGlass, the gap between bullish and bearish Hyperliquid wallets, worth $1 million to $50 million and beyond, has been closing down. The cumulative volume for these whales, betting on longs, reaches $2.14 billion, while the addresses targeting shorts sit at $2.43 billion.

On the other hand, smaller wallets, surpassing 300,000 addresses in total, have been strongly bullish.

The shift in whale sentiment could trigger higher volatility within the crypto market due to their strong influence on token prices, especially smaller altcoins.

According to an X post by Lookonchain, Bitcoin

BTC
$90 044

24h volatility:
2.3%

Market cap:
$1.80 T

Vol. 24h:
$43.62 B

whale “1011short” just increased their Ethereum

ETH
$3 101

24h volatility:
1.9%

Market cap:
$374.43 B

Vol. 24h:
$22.81 B

long position to 67,103 ETH, currently worth roughly $210 million.

This #BitcoinOG(1011short) just ramped up his $ETH long to 67,103.68 $ETH($209.8M).

He's now sitting on over $4M in unrealized profit, with a liquidation price at $2,069.49.https://t.co/pyezYFp3rT pic.twitter.com/EGVDusuT6B

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) December 9, 2025

The whale is currently sitting on an unrealized profit of over $4 million as the leading altcoin rose from its local low of around $3,080.

Will the Crypto Market Boost?
The crypto market has been wandering in bearish conditions since the Oct. 10 selloff and liquidation.

Despite Bitcoin’s recovery from its local low of $80,000, the asset is still trading 29% below its all-time high, constantly moving above and below the $90,000 mark.

However, Bitcoin’s recent break above $92,000 has been called a “good sign” by the analysts.

The leading Bitcoin treasury company, Strategy, also purchased 10,624 BTC on Dec. 8, while the broader crypto market witnessed bearish consolidation. Moreover, on Dec. 6, the company’s CEO Phong Lee also assured that Strategy will not sell its BTC holdings until 2065.

Strategy’s massive BTC purchase and the shift in whale sentiment have cooled down the bearish sentiment in the market. According to Coinglass, the total crypto liquidations decreased by 57% to $208 million.

Lower liquidations usually hint at less speculation, which would consequently mean that traders are waiting for macro catalysts, the upcoming US CPI report, which is scheduled for Dec. 10, for example.

The US inflation has consistently risen between July and September, and the October report wasn’t released due to the US government shutdown. If the CPI shows signs of a cooldown from September’s 3%, financial markets could finally see a boost and vice versa.

Disclaimer: Coinspeaker is committed to providing unbiased and transparent reporting. This article aims to deliver accurate and timely information but should not be taken as financial or investment advice. Since market conditions can change rapidly, we encourage you to verify information on your own and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.

Cryptocurrency News, News

Wahid has been analyzing and reporting on the latest trends in the decentralized ecosystem since 2019. He has over 4,000 articles to his name and his work has been featured on some of the leading outlets including Yahoo Finance, Investing.com, Cointelegraph, and Benzinga. Other than reporting, Wahid likes to connect the dots between DeFi and macro on his newsletter, On-chain Monk.

Wahid Pessarlay on X

The Qualcomm stock price continued its recent rebound in the past few days as investors bought the recent dip. The QCOM stock was trading at $175, up by over 10% from its lowest level in November, giving it a market capitalization of over $187 billion.

Qualcomm’s growth is continuing 
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The Qualcomm stock price has jumped by over 47% from its lowest level in April this year as the artificial intelligence (AI) tailwinds continued.

The rally accelerated recently after the company unveiled chips, known as the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Mobile Platform, that may compete with Nvidia in the future. 

It then continued after the company published strong financial results, which showed that its revenue rose by 10% to $11.3 billion.

More results showed that the company’s QCT’s revenue rose by 13% to $9.8 billion, while its IoT revenue rose by 7% to $1.68 billion.

The company has also boosted its forward guidance, and now expects that its first quarter revenue will be between $11.8 billion and $12.6 billion. 

Most of this growth will come from its Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT) business, which it expects will make between $10.3 billion and $10.9 billion. 

The smaller Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL) business is expected to make between $1.14 billion and $1.16 billion. This business has an EBIT margin of between 74% and 78%, higher than QCT’s 30% to 32%.

Analysts expect its growth to slow
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On the other hand, data compiled by Yahoo Finance show that the company’s revenue in the current quarter will be $12.15 billion, up by 4.11% from the same period last year. 

Analysts also expect that the annual revenue will grow by 2.92% to $45.43 billion, followed by $46 billion in the next financial year. These estimates mean that the company is not expected to benefit substantially from its AI investments. 

This slow growth explains why the company’s valuation metrics are not as fancy as those of other chip companies like Nvidia and AMD. Its forward price-to-earnings ratio has dropped to 14.43, lower than the sector median of 24. Its forward EV to EBITDA metric of 11.60 is much lower than the industry median of 19.

As such, these numbers mean that the company will need to come up with more innovative products to boost its growth. While its recently launched AI chips are good, chances are that they will not capture market share against other companies like AMD and Nvidia.

Analysts have a mild opinion about the company, with the average estimate among analysts tracked by Yahoo Finance being $191, up by 9% from the current level.

Qualcomm stock price technical analysis 
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QCOM stock chart | Source: TradingViewThe daily chart shows that the QCOM stock price has rebounded from a low of $118.80 in April to $175 today. It has formed an ascending channel and remained above the 50-day and 100-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMA).

The stock remains above the Supertrend indicator, a sign that the bullish trend is continuing. Therefore, the most likely scenario is where the stock continues rising, with the next level to watch being at $185, the upper side of the channel.

However, the stock has formed a head-and-shoulders pattern, a common bearish reversal sign. This means that, while the stock has more upside, there is a risk that it may retreat, potentially to $160.

Intel has received numerous investments from notable companies, which has created bullish sentiment toward its stock.

In today's video, I discuss recent updates affecting Intel (INTC 2.68%), Nvidia (NVDA +1.72%), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD +1.44%), and other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks. To learn more, check out the short video, consider subscribing, and click the special offer link below.

*Stock prices used were the after-market prices of Dec. 5, 2025. The video was published on Dec. 5, 2025.

Jose Najarro has positions in Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Intel, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Jose Najarro is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through their link, they will earn some extra money that supports their channel. Their opinions remain their own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.

Discover why Palantir's newest catalyst could unlock the next major surge investors have been waiting for.

Palantir (PLTR 0.15%) is accelerating into a new phase of growth as fresh government approvals and expanding commercial demand push its AI platform deeper into real-world deployment. With revenue climbing fast and key partnerships strengthening, the company looks positioned for major long-term upside as the next wave of AI transformation unfolds.

*Stock prices used were the market prices of Dec. 1, 2025. The video was published on Dec. 5, 2025.

Rick Orford has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Rick Orford is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through their link, they will earn some extra money that supports their channel. Their opinions remain their own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.

Both Amazon and Microsoft should perform well in 2026, but one has the bigger opportunity.

Cloud computing has recently been one of the hottest areas of tech, with companies in the space pouring tons of money into capital expenditures (capex) to build out artificial intelligence (AI) data centers to try to keep up with demand. The two largest cloud computing companies by market share, Amazon (AMZN 1.15%) and Microsoft (MSFT +1.48%), have both seen strong growth, although Microsoft's has been stronger, which has helped its stock outperform Amazon's.

As we move into 2026, let's look at which is set to outpace the other next year.

Image source: Getty Images

The case for Amazon
While Amazon is best known as an e-commerce giant, its most profitable segment is actually its cloud computing unit, Amazon Web Services (AWS). The company created the entire infrastructure-as-a-service industry nearly two decades ago to help customers scale up their computing without the high cost of building out their own infrastructure, and it remains the market share leader.

The driving force for cloud computing today is AI, as organizations use the services to create and deploy their own AI models and apps. Amazon helps customers with this process through its Bedrock and SageMaker solutions. The former provides customers with leading foundational large language models (LLMs) that they can tweak, while the latter enables them to make an AI model from scratch. Amazon also recently introduced a platform for AI agents called AgentCore, which can help customers build and deploy AI agents while monitoring them in real time. AI agents are a big opportunity for the company.

Today's Change

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While AWS has been the slowest-growing of the big three cloud computing providers (Alphabet's Google Cloud is the No. 3 player), its revenue is starting to accelerate. AWS revenue growth accelerated to 20% in Q3, and the company said it could have earned more, but it was operating at capacity. Meanwhile, AWS has more growth opportunities ahead.

Amazon just launched Project Rainier, a massive data center cluster for use by AI safety and research company Anthropic, using its custom Tranium2 chips. That project will continue to ramp up into the end of 2025. Meanwhile, it also signed a $38 billion deal with OpenAI to provide it with computing power using its UltraServers equipped with Nvidia (NVDA +1.72%) graphics processing units (GPUs). Amazon also raised its capex this year to a whopping $125 billion and said it would be significantly higher in 2026 in response to demand.

As for its e-commerce business, Amazon has been using AI and robots to drive strong operating leverage in the business. It's also seeing strong growth from its high-gross-margin sponsored ad business.

The case for Microsoft
Microsoft's Azure has been the fastest-growing of the big three cloud computing companies, with its revenue soaring 40% last quarter. It was the ninth consecutive quarter that Azure revenue has grown by 30% or more. Like AWS, Azure has also been running into capacity constraints, and as a result, Microsoft is spending aggressively to build out its data center infrastructure.

Microsoft's advantage in cloud computing has always been its relationship with and investment in OpenAI, which has given it privileged access to its leading ChatGPT AI models. The two companies finalized a new agreement earlier this year that will give Microsoft an approximately 27% stake in the company and exclusive intellectual property rights and privileged application programming interface access to its AI models through 2032. OpenAI also agreed to spend another $250 billion with Azure in the coming years, which should be a nice growth driver.

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The deal with OpenAI is not the only big deal Microsoft has struck recently. Together with Nvidia, it formed a partnership with Anthropic, which will commit to $30 billion of compute capacity from Azure and an additional 1 gigawatt of compute capacity, which tends to be worth around $50 billion.

Microsoft's other businesses have been seeing solid growth, helped by increasing adoption of its AI solutions. Its productivity and business processes segment, where Microsoft 365 resides, saw revenue growth jump 17% last quarter, while its "intelligent cloud" segment, which includes Azure, climbed 28% year over year.

The verdict
I think both Amazon and Microsoft will perform well in 2026, as demand for cloud computing remains strong. However, I give the edge to Amazon because I think it has more of an opportunity to accelerate growth at AWS, which has been lagging Azure and Google Cloud. That would help change the narrative on the stock and be a big boost.

I also think Amazon's e-commerce business could get a lift if the economy shows signs of improving due to lowered interest rates or a rollback of tariffs. That combination makes it a stock to buy heading into 2026.

U.S. stock futures swung between gains and losses on Tuesday after Monday’s declines. Futures of major benchmark indices were up.

The Federal Open Market Committee’s two-day meeting begins today, with investors eyeing a rate cut decision tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.15% and the two-year bond was at 3.58%. The CME Group's FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing an 89.4% likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting the current interest rates during its December meeting.

FuturesChange (+/-)Dow Jones0.04%S&P 5000.06%Nasdaq 1000.02%Russell 2000-0.06%
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were higher in premarket on Tuesday. The SPY was up 0.063% at $684.06, while the QQQ advanced 0.016% to $624.38, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Stocks In Focus
Ares Management Corp. (NYSE:ARES) jumped 8.71% following the announcement of its inclusion in the S&P 500 index, effective from Dec. 11.

Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that ARES maintains a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a poor value ranking. Additional performance details are available here.

Nvidia
Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) rose 1.57%, Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) advanced 0.62%, and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) gained 1.11% after President Trump confirmed on social media that NVDA will be allowed to ship its H200 chips to approved customers in China and other countries.

NVDA maintains a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a weak value ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.

Toll Brothers
Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE:TOL) dropped 3.49% after reporting mixed financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025.

Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings shows that TOL maintains a stronger price trend over the long term but a weak trend in the short and medium terms, with a moderate quality score. Additional information is available here.

Tesla
Tesla Inc. (NYSE:TSLA) declined by 0.94% after Morgan Stanley downgraded it to equal-weight, citing high valuation.

It maintains a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long term, with a moderate growth ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.

Paramount Skydance
Paramount Skydance Corp. (NASDAQ:PSKY) was up 1.72% after it launched an all-cash tender offer to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) for $30 per share, valuing the company at $108.4 billion. This outbid Netflix Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:NFLX) offer.

PSKY maintained a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a solid value ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.

Cues From Last SessionInformation technology stocks bucked the overall market trend to close higher on Monday, while communication services, materials, and consumer discretionary shares recorded the biggest losses.

IndexPerformance (+/-)ValueNasdaq Composite-0.14%23,545.90S&P 500-0.35%6,846.51Dow Jones-0.45%47,739.32Russell 2000-0.02%2,520.98Insights From AnalystsBased on the “Comerica Economic Weekly,” the bank's outlook focuses on a cooling economy and an imminent shift in monetary policy, though the report does not explicitly predict stock market valuations.

Central to their economic forecast is the expectation of a rate reduction, as “Comerica Economics forecasts for the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to cut the federal funds target a quarter of a percentage point” at the year’s final meeting.

However, long-term guidance may remain ambiguous, with the report noting that “The Fed will likely be tight-lipped about the outlook for rates in 2026 given conflicting views among FOMC members.”

They also anticipate the Fed will “signal measures to support short-term funding markets” following recent signs of tight liquidity.

The economic backdrop appears increasingly fragile. Comerica observes that recent data “generally point to a weaker job market,” highlighting a decline in private payrolls and rising job cuts.

Furthermore, the manufacturing sector “contracted for a ninth consecutive month in November.” Despite this slowing activity, inflation pressures persist, as “food and energy costs rose notably in September.”

See Also: How to Trade Futures

Upcoming Economic DataHere's what investors will be keeping an eye on Tuesday;

November’s NFIB optimism index data will be out by 6:00 a.m., and the delayed October Job openings report will be released by 10:00 a.m. ET.
Commodities, Gold, Crypto, And Global Equity MarketsCrude oil futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 0.02% to hover around $58.87 per barrel.

Gold Spot US Dollar rose 0.31% to hover around $4,203.79 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $4,381.6 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.13% lower at the 98.9630 level.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 1.96% lower at $90,167.15 per coin.

Asian markets closed lower on Tuesday, except Japan's Nikkei 225 index. China’s CSI 300, South Korea's Kospi, India’s NIFTY 50, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, and Australia's ASX 200 indices fell. European markets were mixed in early trade.

Read Next:

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Photo courtesy: godongphoto / Shutterstock.com

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

© 2025 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

SINGAPORE, Dec. 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Against a backdrop of intensifying global macroeconomic volatility and geopolitical uncertainty, gold has once again solidified its status as a core value anchor. Antalpha today announced a strategic partnership with Malca-Amit, a leading custodian certified by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), to launch a seamless exchange service between Tether Gold (XAU₮) and physical gold in Hong Kong.

The circulating market capitalization of XAU₮ has surged from approximately $800 million to $2.2 billion in just five months since July, 2025. We believe this rapid growth marks the beginning of a significant paradigm shift: the transition of gold ownership from traditional physical storage to the digital age.

Top-Tier Security: Fortifying the Foundation with LBMA Standards

To provide the highest level of security for the underlying physical assets of XAU₮, Antalpha has partnered with Malca-Amit, a global leader in high-end asset custody. To further strengthen risk management, the two parties are consulting with one another on the establishment of a gold reserve mechanism designed to support dynamic inventory replenishment, creating a dual security barrier.

As a full member of the LBMA, Malca-Amit holds both ISO 9001 (Quality Management) and ISO 27001 (Information Security) certifications. Its facilities are authorized by the London Clearing House and possess LBMA-recognized qualifications for authoritative precious metals weighing and testing.

Antalpha’s Gold Strategy: Constructing Cycle-Resilient Infrastructure

The core asset driving this exchange revolution—Tether Gold (XAU₮)—is central to Antalpha’s systematic gold strategy. Much like Bitcoin, gold is a key store of value across economic cycles due to its scarcity and historical resilience.

Based on this consensus, Antalpha has continuously participated in the construction of the XAU₮ ecosystem in recent years. As an ecosystem partner of Tether Gold, Antalpha’s core business includes enhancing the XAU₮ market-making network, aggregating cross-exchange liquidity, and providing innovative collateralized lending solutions. Antalpha’s platform is dedicated to activating dormant gold assets and injecting sustained, deep liquidity into the market.

Currently, Antalpha is deploying physical vault nodes in major financial centers worldwide. By deeply linking custodians, trading platforms, and financial institutions, the company is building a "physical-digital" closed-loop ecosystem that integrates seamless asset exchange with trusted circulation.

A Revolution in Efficiency: From Weeks to One Day

Antalpha’s clients can now complete a direct subscription to XAU₮ facilitated by the Antalpha platform. Upon completing KYC verification, Antalpha’s clients can schedule physical exchanges immediately. Leveraging Malca-Amit’s high-standard global vault network and professional logistics system, the settlement cycle has been drastically reduced to T+1 business days, allowing clients to retrieve physical gold at designated locations in Hong Kong.

"Traditional physical gold trading is often burdened by high premiums and structural pain points regarding storage security and lack of liquidity," said Paul Liang, CFO of Antalpha. "Our deep collaboration with top-tier partners within the LBMA system aims to create a comprehensive solution that combines the high liquidity of digital assets with the physical security of traditional gold."

Starting December 12, subject to applicable regulatory requirements in the relevant jurisdictions, Antalpha will provide qualified institutional clients with XAU₮ bulk exchange services support (with a minimum of 2 kg), with comprehensive support for stablecoin settlement channels. Investors in Asia can take physical delivery directly in Hong Kong or opt for professional armored transport services for secure point-to-point delivery. Furthermore, the existing extensive global vault network lays the infrastructure foundation for expanding this exchange service footprint to global markets in the future.

This service involves VA and precious metals trading, which may be subject to market volatility, custody, and regulatory risks. Investors should consult a professional advisor.

About Antalpha

Antalpha is a leading fintech company specializing in providing financing, technology, and risk management solutions to institutions in the digital asset industry. Antalpha offers Bitcoin supply chain and margin loans through the Antalpha Prime technology platform, which allows customers to originate and manage their digital assets loans, as well as monitor collateral positions with near real-time data.

About Malca-Amit

Malca-Amit is a leading global provider of logistics, storage, and customs services for valuable goods (including gold) and is a core member of the LBMA. With its global network and highest security standards, it serves banks, financial institutions, mining companies, and jewelers worldwide.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking" statements pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "aims," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "likely to," and similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Antalpha' s beliefs, plans, and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Antalpha s filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and Antalpha does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

Contacts

Investor Contact: [email protected]

System Sales Increased 12.8% Year-over-Year to RMB419.9 Million

Positive Same-Store Sales Growth of 3.3% for Company Owned and Operated Stores

27.9 Million Registered Loyalty Club Members at Quarter-End,
Representing 22.3% Year-over-Year Growth

SHANGHAI and NEW YORK, Dec. 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TH International Limited (Nasdaq: THCH), the exclusive operator of Tim Hortons coffee shops in China (“Tims China” or the “Company”), today announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter 2025.

THIRD QUARTER 2025 HIGHLIGHTS

Total revenues of RMB358.0 million (USD50.3 million), representing a 0.4% decrease from the same quarter of 2024.System sales1 of RMB419.9 million (USD59.0 million), representing a 12.8% increase from the same quarter of 2024.Net new store openings totaled 15 (a net openings of 38 made-to-order (“MTO”) stores and a net closure of 23 non-MTO stores, of which seven were Tims Express stores).Same-store sales growth for company owned and operated stores was positive 3.3%.Same-store sales growth for system-wide stores was positive 1.3%.Company owned and operated store contribution2, previously reported as adjusted store EBITDA, was RMB21.8 million (USD3.1 million), compared to RMB39.9 million in the same quarter of 2024.Company owned and operated store contribution margin3, previously reported as adjusted store EBITDA margin, was 7.7%, compared to 13.3% in the same quarter of 2024.Registered loyalty club members totaled 27.9 million members as of September 30, 2025, representing a 22.3% year-over-year growth. ________________________
1 System sales is calculated as the gross merchandise value of sales generated from both company owned and operated stores and franchised stores.
2 Company owned and operated store contribution, is calculated as fully burdened gross profit4 of company owned and operated stores excluding depreciation & amortization.
3 Company owned and operated store contribution margin, is calculated as company owned and operated store contribution as a percentage of revenues from company owned and operated stores.
4 Fully burdened gross profit of company owned and operated stores, the most directly comparable GAAP measure to company owned and operated store contribution, was a loss of RMB4.8 million (USD0.7 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2025, compared to a profit of RMB10.1 million in the same quarter of 2024.

COMPANY MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

Mr. Yongchen Lu, CEO & Director of Tims China, stated, “In Q3, we returned to positive net new store openings and continued our strong momentum in system sales, achieving a 12.8% year-over-year growth. With our successful “Light & Fit Lunch Box” platform products launched in Q2, we further enhanced our differentiated “Coffee + Freshly Prepared Food” strategy, driving a 3.3% same-store sales growth for company owned and operated stores. At the same time, our sub-franchise and retail businesses maintained their steady contribution to cash flow and profitability. Profits from other revenues achieved a year-over-year increase of 58.2% during the quarter.”

Mr. Dong (Albert) Li, CFO of Tims China, commented, “We are excited to announce the successful issuance of approximately US$89.9 million senior secured convertible notes due September 2029, the restructuring of our unsecured convertible note due 2027, and the repurchase of all outstanding amount due under our variable rate convertible senior notes due 2026. These strategic transactions enable us to focus on the development of our overall store network and the core Tim Hortons brand nationwide.”

THIRD QUARTER 2025 FINANCIAL RESULTS

Total revenues were RMB358.0 million (USD50.3 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2025, representing a decrease of 0.4% from RMB359.6 million in the same quarter of 2024. Total revenues comprise:

Revenues from Company owned and operated stores were RMB282.9 million (USD39.7 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2025, representing a decrease of 5.5% from RMB299.5 million in the same quarter of 2024. The decrease was primarily attributable to closures of certain underperforming stores, partially offset by a 3.3% increase in same-store sales growth for company owned and operated stores in the third quarter of 2025. The decrease was also attributable to a 0.2% increase in the number of orders from 10.7 million in the third quarter of 2024 to 10.8 million in the same quarter of 2025, offset by a 5.7% year-over-year decrease in average ticket size.Other revenues were RMB75.1 million (USD10.6 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2025, representing an increase of 25.0% from RMB60.1 million in the same quarter of 2024. The increase was primarily due to the expansion of our franchise business as the number of our franchised stores increased from 382 as of September 30, 2024 to 479 as of September 30, 2025. Company owned and operated store costs and expenses were RMB278.2 million (USD39.1 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2025, representing a decrease of 0.5% from RMB279.6 million in the same quarter of 2024. Company owned and operated store costs and expenses comprise:

Food and packaging costs were RMB86.5 million (USD12.2 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2025, representing a decrease of 0.4% from RMB86.9 million in the same quarter of 2024, which was in line with the revenue trend. Food and packaging costs as a percentage of revenues from company owned and operated stores increased by 1.6 percentage points from 29.0% in the third quarter of 2024 to 30.6% in the same quarter of 2025.Rental and property management fees were RMB55.1 million (USD7.7 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2025, representing a decrease of 4.6% from RMB57.8 million in the same quarter of 2024, which was in line with the revenue trend. Rental and property management fees as a percentage of revenues from company owned and operated stores increased by 0.2 percentage points from 19.3% in the third quarter of 2024 to 19.5% in the same quarter of 2025.Payroll and employee benefits expenses were RMB48.5 million (USD6.8 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2025, representing a decrease of 4.2% from RMB50.7 million in the same quarter of 2024, which was in line with the revenue trend. Payroll and employee benefits expenses as a percentage of revenues from company owned and operated stores increased by 0.3 percentage points from 16.9% in the third quarter of 2024 to 17.2% in the same quarter of 2025, which was primarily due to higher labor scheduling portion for full-time employees as a percentage of overall staffing hours.Delivery costs were RMB37.2 million (USD5.2 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2025, representing an increase of 20.9% from RMB30.8 million in the same quarter of 2024, which was in line with the 20.9% increase in delivery orders from 5.7 million in the third quarter of 2024 to 6.9 million in the same quarter of 2025. Delivery costs as a percentage of revenues from company owned and operated stores increased by 2.9 percentage points to 13.2% in the third quarter of 2025 compared to 10.3% in the same quarter of 2024, which was primarily due to higher delivery revenue portion as a percentage of total revenues from company owned and operated stores.Other operating expenses were RMB24.1 million (USD3.4 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2025, representing an increase of 2.0% from RMB23.7 million in the same quarter of 2024, which was primarily due to higher utilities and maintenance costs incurred. Other operating expenses as a percentage of revenues from company owned and operated stores increased by 0.6 percentage points to 8.5% in the third quarter of 2025 compared to 7.9% in the same quarter of 2024.Store depreciation and amortization expenses were RMB26.6 million (USD3.7 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2025, representing a decrease of 10.8% from RMB29.8 million in the same quarter of 2024, which was primarily due to impairment on property and equipment in relation to company owned and operated store closures and the reduced capital expenditures per store as a result of our initiatives to improve store unit economics. Store depreciation and amortization as a percentage of revenues from company owned and operated stores decreased by 0.5 percentage points to 9.4% in the third quarter of 2025 compared to 9.9% in the same quarter of 2024. Costs of other revenues were RMB51.8 million (USD7.3 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2025, representing an increase of 14.2% from RMB45.3 million in the same quarter of 2024, which was primarily driven by an increase in the revenues generated from franchise business as the number of our franchised stores increased from 382 as of September 30, 2024 to 479 as of September 30, 2025. Costs of other revenues as a percentage of other revenues decreased by 6.5 percentage points from 75.4% in the third quarter of 2024 to 68.9% in the same quarter of 2025 due to higher margin we generated from franchise business during the third quarter of 2025.

Marketing expenses were RMB15.8 million (USD2.2 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2025, representing a decrease of 14.4% from RMB18.5 million in the same quarter of 2024, driven by our cost optimization measures and improved brand influence. Accordingly, marketing expenses as a percentage of total revenues decreased by 0.7 percentage points from 5.1% in the third quarter of 2024 to 4.4% in the same quarter of 2025.

General and administrative expenses were RMB51.8 million (USD7.3 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2025, representing an increase of 30.3% from RMB39.8 million in the same quarter of 2024, which was primarily due to: (i) a RMB5.4 million (USD0.8 million) increase in outside service fees related to audit, IT, and business travel; (ii) a RMB13.1 million (USD1.8 million) increase in impairment losses of rental deposits and credit loss of account receivables; partially offset by a RMB4.2 million (USD0.6 million) decrease in headquarter staff compensation costs; and a RMB1.5 Million (USD0.2 million) decrease in depreciation & amortization. As a result of the foregoing, adjusted general and administrative expenses, which excludes: (i) share-based compensation expenses of RMB0.6 million (USD0.1 million), and (ii) impairment losses of rental deposits of RMB4.0 million (USD0.6 million), were RMB47.3 million (USD6.6 million), representing an increase of 23.2% from RMB38.4 million in the same quarter of 2024. Adjusted general and administrative expenses as a percentage of total revenues increased by 2.5 percentage points from 10.7% in the third quarter of 2024 to 13.2% in the same quarter of 2025. For more information on the Company’s non-GAAP financial measures, please see “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures to the Most Directly Comparable GAAP Measures” set forth at the end of this earnings release.

Franchise and royalty expenses were RMB16.4 million (USD2.3 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2025, representing an increase of 4.7% from RMB15.6 million in the same quarter of 2024, which was primarily due to the increase of amortized upfront franchise fees and a higher royalty rate applicable. Accordingly, franchise and royalty expenses as a percentage of total revenues increased by 0.3 percentage points, from 4.3% in the third quarter of 2024 to 4.6% in the same quarter of 2025.

Impairment losses of long-lived assets were RMB8.0 million (USD1.1 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2025, compared to RMB15.6 million in the same quarter of 2024, which was primarily due to a decrease in the number of planned closures of underperforming company owned and operated stores.

As a result of the foregoing, operating loss was RMB65.7 million (USD9.2 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2025, compared to RMB55.9 million in the same quarter of 2024.

Adjusted Corporate EBITDA was a loss of RMB15.0 million (USD2.1 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2025, compared to a gain of RMB2.0 million in the same quarter of 2024. Adjusted Corporate EBITDA margin was negative 4.2% in the third quarter of 2025, compared to positive 0.6% in the same quarter of 2024.

Net loss from continuing operations was RMB73.8 million (USD10.4 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2025, compared to RMB87.4 million for the same quarter of 2024. Adjusted net loss was RMB53.8 million (USD7.6 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2025, compared to RMB41.4 million for the same quarter of 2024. Adjusted net loss margin was negative 15.0% in the third quarter of 2025, compared to negative 11.5% in the same quarter of 2024.

Net loss was RMB73.8 million (USD10.4 million) for the three months ended September 30, 2025, compared to RMB87.4 million for the same quarter of 2024.

Basic and diluted loss per ordinary share was RMB2.24 (USD0.31) in the third quarter of 2025, compared to RMB2.75 in the same quarter of 2024. Adjusted basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share was RMB1.63 (USD0.23) in the third quarter of 2025, compared to RMB1.32 in the same quarter of 2024.

Liquidity

As of September 30, 2025, the Company’s total cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and time deposits were RMB159.3 million (USD22.4 million), compared to RMB184.2 million as of December 31, 2024. The change was primarily attributable to cash disbursements on the back of the expansion of our business, partially offset by the draw-down of additional bank borrowings.

KEY OPERATING DATA

Tims onlyFor the three months ended or as of（Exclude the discontinued business)Jun 30, Sep 30, Dec 31, Mar 31, Jun 30, Sep 30,2024 2024 2024 2025 2025 2025            Total stores907 946 1,022 1,024 1,015 1,030Company owned and operated stores574 564 576 569 566 551Franchised stores333 382 446 455 449 479Made to order (MTO) stores82 485 632 652 692 730Non-MTO stores825 461 390 372 323 300Same-store sales growth for system-wide stores-14.6% -21.7% -13.3% -7.8% -4.8% 1.3%Same-store sales growth for company owned and operated stores-13.8% -20.7% -12.3% -6.5% -3.6% 3.3%Registered loyalty club members (in thousands)21,403 22,815 24,045 25,150 26,192 27,900Company owned and operated store contribution (Renminbi in thousands)32,429 39,922 12,973 17,154 27,176 21,786Company owned and operated store contribution margin10.1% 13.3% 4.8% 6.7% 9.6% 7.7%             KEY DEFINITIONS

Same-store sales growth. The percentage change in the sales of stores that have been operating for 12 months or longer during a certain period compared to the same period from the prior year. The same-store sales growth for any period of more than a month equals to the arithmetic average of the same-store sales growth of each month covered in the period. If a store was closed for seven days or more during any given month, its sales during that month and the same month in the comparison period are excluded for purposes of measuring same-store sales growth.Net new store openings. The gross number of new stores opened during the period minus the number of stores permanently closed during the period.System sales. Gross merchandise value of sales generated from both company owned and operated stores and franchised stores.Company owned and operated store contribution (previously reported as adjusted store EBITDA). Calculated as fully burdened gross profit of company owned and operated stores excluding depreciation and amortization.Company owned and operated store contribution margin (previously reported as adjusted store EBITDA margin). Calculated as company owned and operated store contribution as a percentage of revenues from company owned and operated stores.Adjusted general and administrative expenses. Calculated as general and administrative expenses excluding share-based compensation expenses, expenses related to the issuance of certain ordinary shares to CF Principal Investments LLC in November 2022 (the “Commitment Shares”), offering costs related to the ESA (the “ESA Offering Costs”), expenses related to 200,000 of our ordinary shares that may be purchased from our controlling shareholder by a holder of our convertible notes at its option pursuant to the terms of an Option Agreement dated September 28, 2022 (the “Option Shares”), professional fees related to warrant exchange and other financing programs, and impairment losses of rental deposits.Adjusted corporate EBITDA. Calculated as operating loss for continuing operations excluding certain non-cash expenses consisting of depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation expenses, impairment losses of long-lived assets, loss on disposal of property and equipment, expenses related to the Commitment Shares, the ESA Offering Costs, the Option Shares, professional fees related to warrant exchange and other financing programs, and impairment losses of rental deposits.Adjusted corporate EBITDA margin. Calculated as adjusted corporate EBITDA as a percentage of total revenues.Adjusted net loss. Calculated as net loss for continuing operations excluding share-based compensation expenses, impairment losses of long-lived assets, loss on disposal of property and equipment, expenses related to the Commitment Shares, the ESA Offering Costs, the Option Shares, professional fees related to warrant exchange and other financing programs, impairment losses of rental deposits, changes in fair value of convertible notes, changes in fair value of warrant liabilities, changes in fair value of ESA derivative liabilities, loss of the debt extinguishment and gain on disposal of Popeyes business.Adjusted net loss margin. Calculated as adjusted net loss as a percentage of total revenues.Adjusted basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share. Calculated as adjusted net loss attributable to the Company’s ordinary shareholders divided by weighted-average number of basic and diluted ordinary shares. RECENT BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTS

On October 31, 2025, Tims China announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement for the issuance of Senior Secured Convertible Notes due September 2029 (the “2025 Senior Secured Convertible Notes”) in an aggregate principal amount of approximately US$89.9 million. The 2025 Senior Secured Convertible Notes are convertible directly into newly issued ordinary shares of Tims China at a price of US$2.7822, which equals to 110% of the five-day volume-weighted average share price (“VWAP”) prior to signing. The 2025 Senior Secured Convertible Notes are secured by a pledge of 100% of the shares of TH Hong Kong International Limited and an all-asset debenture of Tims China. The Company intends to use part of the proceeds from the issuance of the 2025 Senior Secured Convertible Notes for the repurchase of all outstanding amount due under its variable rate convertible senior notes due 2026. Concurrently, Tim Hortons Restaurants International GmbH (“THRI”) and Cartesian Capital Group have agreed to extend the maturity of their 2024 unsecured convertible notes from June 2027 to September 2029, with the conversion price reset to align with that of the 2025 Senior Secured Convertible Notes. The above transactions were closed on December 2, 2025.

On December 3, 2025, Tims China announced the launch of an innovative eco-friendly straw developed together with Tencent’s CarbonXmade program. The product debuted at the 2025 Sustainable Social Value Innovation Summit in Beijing and will be introduced in Tims stores across Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. Through this rollout, Tims China aims to encourage consumers to make small, everyday choices that collectively support a more sustainable future.

USE OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

The Company uses non-GAAP financial measures, namely company owned and operated store contribution, company owned and operated store contribution margin, adjusted general and administrative expenses, adjusted corporate EBITDA, adjusted corporate EBITDA margin, adjusted net loss, adjusted net loss margin, and adjusted basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share in evaluating its operating results and for financial and operational decision-making purposes. The Company defines (i) company owned and operated store contribution as fully burdened gross profit of company owned and operated stores excluding depreciation and amortization; (ii) company owned and operated store contribution margin as company owned and operated store contribution as a percentage of revenues from company owned and operated stores; (iii) adjusted general and administrative expenses as general and administrative expenses excluding share-based compensation expenses, expenses related to the Commitment Shares, the ESA Offering Costs, the Option Shares, professional fees related to warrant exchange and other financing programs, and impairment losses of rental deposits; (iv) adjusted corporate EBITDA as operating loss for continuing operations excluding certain non-cash expenses consisting of depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation expenses, impairment losses of long-lived assets, loss on disposal of property and equipment, expenses related to the Commitment Shares, the ESA Offering Costs, the Option Shares, professional fees related to warrant exchange and other financing programs, and impairment losses of rental deposits; (v) adjusted corporate EBITDA margin as adjusted corporate EBITDA as a percentage of total revenues; (vi) adjusted net loss as net loss for continuing operations excluding share-based compensation expenses, impairment losses of long-lived assets, loss on disposal of property and equipment, expenses related to the Commitment Shares, the ESA Offering Costs, the Option Shares, professional fees related to warrant exchange and other financing programs, impairment losses of rental deposits, changes in fair value of convertible notes, changes in fair value of warrant liabilities, changes in fair value of ESA derivative liabilities, loss of the debt extinguishment and gain on disposal of Popeyes business; (vii) adjusted net loss margin as adjusted net loss as a percentage of total revenues; and (viii) adjusted basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share as adjusted net loss for continuing operations attributable to the Company’s ordinary shareholders divided by weighted-average number of basic and diluted ordinary share. The Company believes company owned and operated store contribution, company owned and operated store contribution margin, adjusted general and administrative expenses, adjusted corporate EBITDA, adjusted corporate EBITDA margin, adjusted net loss, adjusted net loss margin, and adjusted basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share enhance investors’ overall understanding of its financial performance and allow for greater visibility with respect to key metrics used by its management in its financial and operational decision-making.

These non-GAAP financial measures are not defined under U.S. GAAP and are not presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. As these non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tools and may not be calculated in the same manner by all companies, they may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures used by other companies. The Company compensates for these limitations by reconciling the non-GAAP financial measures to the nearest U.S. GAAP performance measures, which should be considered when evaluating the Company’s performance. For reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, please see the section of the accompanying tables titled, “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures to the Most Directly Comparable GAAP Measures.” The Company encourages investors and others to review its financial information in its entirety and not rely on any single financial measure.

EXCHANGE RATE INFORMATION

This earnings release contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars (“USD”) at specified rates solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise stated, all translations from RMB to USD were made at the rate of RMB7.1190 to USD1.00, the exchange rate in effect on September 30, 2025 set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board. The Company makes no representation that the RMB or USD amounts referred could be converted into USD or RMB, as the case may be, at any rate or at all.

CONFERENCE CALL

The Company will hold a conference call today, on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, at 8:00 am Eastern Time (on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, at 9:00 pm Beijing Time) to discuss the financial results.

Participants are strongly encouraged to pre-register for the conference call, by using the weblink provided below.

https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BId10b556eeb90481aa578a2eaa12a8b1e

Participants may also view the live webcast by registering through below weblink:

https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/rb3jsjt7

The webcast features a ‘Submit Your Question’ tab at the top, where you will have the opportunity to submit your questions before and during the call.

A live and archived webcast of the conference call will also be available at the Company’s Investor Relations website at https://ir.timschina.com under “Events and Presentations”.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this earnings release may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, such as the Company’s ability to further grow its business and store network, optimize its cost structure, improve its operational efficiency, and achieve profitable growth. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and generally relate to future events or the Company’s future financial or other performance metrics. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “potentially,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “could,” “would,” “project,” “target,” “plan,” “expect,” or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. New risks and uncertainties may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company and its management, as the case may be, are inherently uncertain and subject to material change. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include various factors beyond management’s control, including, but not limited to, general economic conditions and other risks, uncertainties and factors set forth in the sections entitled “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F, and other filings it makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Nothing in this communication should be regarded as a representation by any person that the forward-looking statements set forth herein will be achieved or that any of the contemplated results of such forward-looking statements will be achieved. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements in this communication, which speak only as of the date they are made and are qualified in their entirety by reference to the cautionary statements herein. Except as required by law, the Company expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the Company’s expectations with respect thereto or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any statement is based.

ABOUT TH INTERNATIONAL LIMITED

TH International Limited (Nasdaq: THCH) (“Tims China”) is the parent company of the exclusive master franchisees of Tim Hortons coffee shops in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. Tims China was founded by Cartesian Capital Group and Tim Hortons Restaurants International, a subsidiary of Restaurant Brands International (TSX: QSR) (NYSE: QSR).

The Company’s philosophy is rooted in world-class execution and data-driven decision making and centered around true local relevance, continuous innovation, genuine community, and absolute convenience. For more information, please visit https://www.timschina.com.

INVESTOR AND MEDIA CONTACTS

Investor Relations

Gemma Bakx
[email protected], or [email protected]

Public and Media Relations

Patty Yu
[email protected]

TH INTERNATIONAL LIMITED AND SUBSIDIARIESUNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS(Amounts in thousands of RMB and US$, except for number of shares)       As of December 31, 2024 September 30, 2025 RMB RMB US$      ASSETS     Current assets:     Cash and cash equivalents152,368  131,609  18,487 Restricted Cash31,869  27,720  3,894 Time deposits-  -  - Amount due from related parties5,858  2,766  389 Accounts receivable, net30,526  17,981  2,526 Inventories37,578  40,241  5,653 Prepaid expenses and other current assets158,882  176,017  24,724 Total current assets417,081  396,334  55,673       Non-current assets:     Property and equipment, net502,159  387,952  54,495 Intangible assets, net97,019  85,868  12,062 Operating lease right-of-use assets493,308  372,585  52,337 Other non-current assets53,967  47,773  6,710 Total non-current assets1,146,453  894,178  125,604 Total assets1,563,534  1,290,512  181,277       LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’EQUITY     Current liabilities:     Bank borrowings, current381,263  428,034  60,126 Accounts payable223,838  200,199  28,122 Contract liabilities39,678  36,206  5,086 Amount due to related parties48,117  115,541  16,230 Convertible notes, at fair value473,716  503,780  70,766 Operating lease liabilities178,115  177,094  24,876 Other current liabilities191,205  155,077  21,782 Total current liabilities1,535,932  1,615,931  226,988       Non-current liabilities:     Convertible notes, at fair value464,847  425,619  59,786 Contract liabilities8,022  9,738  1,368 Operating lease liabilities380,075  263,203  36,972 Other non-current liabilities7,673  7,456  1,048 Total non-current liabilities860,617  706,016  99,174 Total liabilities2,396,549  2,321,947  326,162       Shareholders’ equity:     Ordinary shares10  10  1 Additional paid-in capital1,818,421  1,821,586  255,877 Accumulated losses(2,668,505) (2,874,875) (403,831)Accumulated other comprehensive income9,185  16,229  2,279 Treasury shares-  -  - Total deficit attributable to shareholders of the Company(840,889) (1,037,050) (145,674)Non-controlling interests7,874  5,615  789 Total shareholders’ deficit(833,015) (1,031,435) (144,885)      Commitments and Contingencies-  -  -       Total liabilities and shareholders’ deficit1,563,534  1,290,512  181,277        TH INTERNATIONAL LIMITED AND SUBSIDIARIESUNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME/(LOSS)(Amounts in thousands of RMB and US$, except for per share data)             For the three months ended September 30, For the nine months ended September 30, 2024 2025 2024 2025 RMB RMB US$ RMB RMB US$Revenues:           Company owned and operated stores299,455  282,884  39,736  918,141  819,515  115,117 Other revenues60,099  75,134  10,554  140,392  188,221  26,439 Total revenues359,554  358,018  50,290  1,058,533  1,007,736  141,556             Costs and expenses, net:           Company owned and operated stores           Food and packaging86,855  86,538  12,156  289,289  248,817  34,951 Rental and property management fee57,799  55,133  7,744  184,571  168,252  23,634 Payroll and employee benefits50,683  48,532  6,817  176,662  148,779  20,899 Delivery costs30,805  37,243  5,233  90,587  97,622  13,713 Other operating expenses23,678  24,142  3,391  72,291  62,584  8,791 Store depreciation and amortization29,792  26,570  3,732  93,540  81,717  11,479 Company owned and operated store costs and expenses279,612  278,158  39,073  906,940  807,771  113,467             Costs of other revenues45,330  51,767  7,272  105,080  129,795  18,232 Marketing expenses18,496  15,824  2,223  51,085  47,159  6,624 General and administrative expenses39,752  51,799  7,274  134,002  141,307  19,850 Franchise and royalty expenses15,632  16,363  2,298  43,809  47,348  6,651 Other operating costs and expenses783  120  17  10,479  1,333  187 Loss on disposal of property and equipment1,098  2,277  320  3,716  5,257  738 Impairment losses of long-lived assets15,585  7,985  1,122  40,386  29,088  4,086 Other income815  621  87  5,070  2,586  363 Total costs and expenses, net415,473  423,672  59,512  1,290,427  1,206,472  169,472             Operating loss(55,919) (65,654) (9,222) (231,894) (198,736) (27,916)            Interest income980  1,797  252  2,221  2,880  405 Interest expenses(4,078) (4,255) (598) (18,742) (12,662) (1,779)Foreign currency transaction gain/(loss)(37) (442) (61) 4,417  (493) (70)Loss of the debt extinguishment-  -  -  (10,657) -  - Changes in fair value of Deferred Contingent consideration-  -  -  (16,941) -  - Changes in fair value of convertible notes(27,921) (5,209) (732) (48,461) 866  122             Loss from continuing operations before income taxes(86,975) (73,763) (10,361) (320,057) (208,145) (29,238)Income tax expenses(410) -  -  (1,499) (484) (68)Net loss from continuing operations(87,385) (73,763) (10,361) (321,556) (208,629) (29,306)            Discontinued operations：           Income from discontinued operations before income taxes (including gain on disposal of Popeyes business RMB66,203 thousand in 2024) before income taxes-  -  -  44,959  -  - Income tax expenses-  -  -  -  -  - Net income from discontinued operations-  -  -  44,959  -  -             Net loss(87,385) (73,763) (10,361) (276,597) (208,629) (29,306)            Less: Net income/(loss) attributable to non-controlling interests1,466  (869) (122) 3,926  (2,259) (317)Net income/(loss) attributable to shareholders of the Company           -from continuing operations(88,851) (72,894) (10,239) (325,482) (206,370) (28,989)-from discontinued operations-  -  -  44,959  -  - Basic and diluted loss per Ordinary Share(2.75) (2.24) (0.31) (8.65) (6.34) (0.89)            Net loss(87,385) (73,763) (10,361) (276,597) (208,629) (29,306)            Other comprehensive income/(loss)           Unrealized gain on short-term investment, net of nil income taxes-  -  -  -  -  - Fair value changes of convertible notes due to instrument-specific credit risk, net of nil income taxes1,280  (2,683) (377) (213) (2,539) (357)Foreign currency translation adjustment, net of nil income taxes10,866  6,406  900  5,765  9,583  1,347             Total comprehensive loss(75,239) (70,040) (9,838) (271,045) (201,585) (28,316)            Less: Comprehensive income/(loss) attributable to non-controlling interests1,466  (869) (122) 3,926  (2,259) (317)Comprehensive loss attributable to shareholders of the Company(76,705) (69,171) (9,716) (274,971) (199,326) (27,999)             TH INTERNATIONAL LIMITED AND SUBSIDIARIESUNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS(Amounts in thousands of RMB and US$)             For the three months ended September 30, For the nine months ended September 30, 2024 2025 2024 2025 RMB RMB US$ RMB RMB US$Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities(12,999) (1,713) (241) (8,038) (3,107) (436)Net cash used in investing activities7,426  (13,602) (1,911) (21,259) (66,975) (9,408)Net cash provided by/(used in) financing activities27,980  (3,326) (467) 16,204  46,787  6,572 Effect of foreign currency exchange rate changes on cash5,460  (788) (109) 6,240  (1,613) (226)Net decrease in cash27,867  (19,429) (2,728) (6,853) (24,908) (3,498)Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash, at beginning of the period168,867  178,758  25,109  203,587  184,237  25,879 Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash, at end of the period196,734  159,329  22,381  196,734  159,329  22,381              TH INTERNATIONAL LIMITED AND SUBSIDIARIESRECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP MEASURES TO THE MOST DIRECTLY COMPARABLE GAAP MEASURES(Unaudited, amounts in thousands of RMB and US$, except for number of shares and per share data)            A. Company owned and operated store contribution  For the three months ended September 30, For the nine months ended September 30, 2024 2025 2024 2025 RMB RMB US$ RMB RMB US$Revenues - company owned and operated stores299,455  282,884  39,736  918,141  819,515  115,117 Food and packaging costs - company owned and operated stores(86,855) (86,538) (12,156) (289,289) (248,817) (34,951)Rental expenses - company owned and operated stores(57,799) (55,133) (7,744) (184,571) (168,252) (23,634)Payroll and employee benefits - company owned and operated stores(50,683) (48,532) (6,817) (176,662) (148,779) (20,899)Delivery costs - company owned and operated stores(30,805) (37,243) (5,233) (90,587) (97,622) (13,713)Other operating expenses - company owned and operated stores(23,678) (24,142) (3,391) (72,291) (62,584) (8,791)Store depreciation and amortization(29,792) (26,570) (3,732) (93,540) (81,717) (11,479)Franchise and royalty expenses - company owned and operated stores(9,713) (9,510) (1,336) (30,101) (27,345) (3,841)Fully-burdened gross (loss) profit - company owned and operated stores10,130  (4,784) (673) (18,900) (15,601) (2,191)Store depreciation and amortization29,792  26,570  3,732  93,540  81,717  11,479             Company owned and operated store contribution39,922  21,786  3,059  74,640  66,116  9,288 Company owned and operated store contribution margin13.3% 7.7% 7.7% 8.1% 8.1% 8.1%            B. Adjusted general and administrative expenses  For the three months ended September 30, For the nine months ended September 30, 2024 2025 2024 2025 RMB RMB US$ RMB RMB US$General and administrative expenses from continuing operations(39,752) (51,799) (7,274) (134,002) (141,307) (19,850)Adjusted for:           Share-based compensation expenses1,375  566  80  1,260  2,391  336 Professional fees related to financing programs-  -  -  10,464  1,007  141 Impairment losses of rental deposits-  3,954  555  2,457  8,850  1,243 Adjusted General and administrative expenses(38,377) (47,279) (6,639) (119,821) (129,059) (18,130)Adjusted General and administrative expenses as a % of total revenue10.7% 13.2% 13.2% 11.3% 12.8% 12.8%            C. Adjusted corporate EBITDA and adjusted corporate EBITDA margin  For the three months ended September 30, For the nine months ended September 30, 2024 2025 2024 2025 RMB RMB US$ RMB RMB US$Operating loss from continuing operations(55,919) (65,654) (9,222) (231,894) (198,736) (27,916)Adjusted for:           Depreciation and amortization39,896  35,900  5,043  123,478  110,071  15,462 Share-based compensation expenses1,375  566  80  1,260  2,391  336 Impairment losses of rental deposits-  3,954  555  2,457  8,850  1,243 One-off expense of store closure-  -  -  3,181  -  - Professional fees related to financing programs-  -  -  10,464  1,007  141 Impairment losses of long-lived assets15,585  7,985  1,122  40,386  29,088  4,086 Loss on disposal of property and equipment1,098  2,277  320  3,716  5,257  738 Adjusted Corporate EBITDA2,035  (14,972) (2,102) (46,952) (42,072) (5,910)Adjusted Corporate EBITDA Margin0.6% -4.2% -4.2% -4.4% -4.2% -4.2%                        D. Adjusted net loss and adjusted net loss margin  For the three months ended September 30, For the nine months ended September 30, 2024 2025 2024 2025 RMB RMB US$ RMB RMB US$Net loss from continuing operations(87,385) (73,763) (10,361) (321,556) (208,629) (29,306)            Adjusted for:           Share-based compensation expenses1,375  566  80  1,260  2,391  336 Professional fees related to financing programs-  -  -  10,464  1,007  141 Impairment losses of long-lived assets15,585  7,985  1,122  40,386  29,088  4,086 Impairment losses of rental deposits-  3,954  555  2,457  8,850  1,243 One-off expense of store closure-  -  -  3,181  -  - Loss on disposal of property and equipment1,098  2,277  320  3,716  5,257  738 Loss of the debt extinguishment-  -  -  10,657  -  - Changes in fair value of Deferred Contingent consideration-  -  -  16,941  -  - Changes in fair value of convertible notes27,921  5,209  732  48,461  (866) (122)Adjusted Net loss(41,406) (53,772) (7,552) (184,033) (162,902) (22,884)Adjusted Net loss Margin-11.5% -15.0% -15.0% -17.4% -16.2% -16.2%            E. Adjusted basic and diluted net loss per Ordinary Share  For the three months ended September 30, For the nine months ended September 30, 2024 2025 2024 2025 RMB RMB US$ RMB RMB US$Net loss from continuing operations to shareholders of the Company(88,851) (72,894) (10,239) (325,482) (206,370) (28,989)Adjusted for:           Share-based compensation expenses1,375  566  80  1,260  2,391  336 Professional fees related to financing programs-  -  -  10,464  1,007  141 Impairment losses of long-lived assets15,585  7,985  1,122  40,386  29,088  4,086 Impairment losses of rental deposits-  3,954  555  2,457  8,850  1,243 One-off expense of store closure-  -  -  3,181  -  - Loss on disposal of property and equipment1,098  2,277  320  3,716  5,257  738 Loss of the debt extinguishment-  -  -  10,657  -  - Changes in fair value of Deferred Contingent consideration-  -  -  16,941  -  - Changes in fair value of convertible notes27,921  5,209  732  48,461  (866) (122)Adjusted Net loss attributable to shareholders of the Company(42,872) (52,903) (7,430) (187,959) (160,643) (22,567)Weighted average shares outstanding used in calculating basic and diluted loss per share32,479,266  32,544,164  32,544,164  32,410,787  32,542,071  32,542,071 Adjusted basic and diluted net loss per Ordinary Share(1.32) (1.63) (0.23) (5.80) (4.94) (0.69)                  

ToplineShares of top U.S. chipmakers rose in premarket trading on Tuesday, hours after President Donald Trump announced that he will allow the export of previously restricted advanced AI chips to China and other countries, with the U.S. government receiving a 25% cut of the sales.

President Donald Trump said Nvidia will be allowed to export its advanced H200 AI chips to China.

SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Key FactsIn premarket trading early on Tuesday, Nvidia’s shares rose 1.56% to $188.47 after climbing 1.73% on Monday.

The president’s announcement mentioned Nvidia’s H200—its second-most-advanced AI chip—by name, whose exports the Biden administration had restricted.

AMD's share price also rose 1.17% to $223.70 in early trading on Tuesday, while Intel shares inched up 0.5% to $40.50.

Trump’s post mentioned that the eased restrictions will also apply to “AMD, Intel, and other GREAT American Companies.”

News PegThe president made the announcement on his Truth Social platform, saying he had “informed President Xi, of China, that the United States will allow NVIDIA to ship its H200 products to approved customers in China, and other Countries, under conditions that allow for continued strong National Security.” Trump’s post did not offer any specifics about these National Security-related conditions, however, the president said Xi has responded “positively!” The president added that “The Department of Commerce is finalizing the details, and the same approach will apply to AMD, Intel, and other GREAT American Companies.”

What Is Nvidia’s H200 Chip? The H200 is the most advanced chip in Nvidia’s Hopper family of datacenter GPUs—used to train and run AI models—which has been superseded by Nvidia’s next-generation Blackwell family of chips. Restrictions enacted by the Biden administration, and later upheld during Trump’s first few months in office, restricted the exports of the H200 chips to China. Nvidia responded by designing the cut-down H800 and H20 chips, but their exports were also blocked. In August, the U.S. government began granting Nvidia licenses to export H20 chips to China, but Beijing warned its companies against using the cut-down chips. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang acknowledged this at the company’s GPU Technology Conference in October, saying, “China has blocked us from being able to ship to China…They’ve made it very clear that they don’t want Nvidia to be there right now.”

Why Is Trump Allowing H200 Sales To China?In his post, Trump addressed the H20 issue, saying: “The Biden Administration forced our Great Companies to spend BILLIONS OF DOLLARS building ‘degraded’ products that nobody wanted, a terrible idea that slowed Innovation, and hurt the American Worker.” With the more advanced H200 on offer it is unclear if China will allow its companies to purchase Nvidia chips once again. The president also noted that the the U.S. government will receive a 25% cut from the sales of these advanced chips, which is higher than the 15% cut for H20 exports. Trump wrote: “This policy will support American Jobs, strengthen U.S. Manufacturing, and benefit American Taxpayers.”

TangentTrump clarified that the export allowance only applies to the one generation old Hopper flagship chip H200. He added that Nvidia’s U.S. buyers were “already moving forward” with its cutting edge Blackwell chips and the next generation Rubin chips, “neither of which are part of this deal.” Nvidia’s CEO has previously said he hoped to sell Blackwell chips in China “someday.”

Further ReadingTrump Will Discuss Nvidia Export Controls With Xi As Market Cap Nears $5 Trillion (Forbes)

Jensen Huang Hopes Nvidia Can Sell Flagship Blackwell Chips To China ‘Someday’ (Forbes)

Western Digital Corporation (WDC) 53rd Annual Nasdaq Investor Conference December 9, 2025 3:30 AM EST

Company Participants

Kris Sennesael - Executive VP & CFO
Tiang Yew Tan - CEO & Director

Conference Call Participants

Erik Woodring - Morgan Stanley, Research Division

Presentation

Erik Woodring
Morgan Stanley, Research Division

Good morning, everyone. I am -- my name is Erik Woodring. I lead U.S. IT hardware research based out of New York for Morgan Stanley. Delighted to kick off day 1 here at the Nasdaq Conference with Western Digital.

Before we get into things, first, please see the Morgan Stanley research disclosure website at www.morganstanley.com/research disclosures for important disclosures. If you have questions, please reach out to Morgan Stanley's representative.

So I'm pleased to be joined today by Irving Tan, CEO of Western Digital; Kris Sennesael, CFO of Western Digital. Before we start, Kris has a safe harbor statement, and then, we'll get into things.

Kris Sennesael
Executive VP & CFO

Yes. Thanks, Erik, for hosting us here. And so before we start, just a couple of remarks today. We will be making some forward-looking statements in our discussions based on management's current assumptions and expectations, including with respect to our product portfolio, business plans and performance, market trends and dynamics and future financial results.

These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. So please refer to our most recent financial reports on Form 10-K and other filings with the SEC for more information on the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. We will also be making references to non-GAAP financials, and a reconciliation to GAAP and non-GAAP results can be found on our website as well.

Erik Woodring
Morgan Stanley, Research Division

Perfect. Awesome. Thank you, guys, for joining today.

Question-and-Answer Session

Erik Woodring

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The ZEC token has seen price gains despite the downturn of the broader market. This comes as developers push forward a new dynamic fee model to make Zcash stronger and protect its investors.

Why is Zcash Price Rising Today?
ZEC jumped almost 14% during the last 24 hours vastly outperforming the broader market, which is basically in a dip. This move comes as developers introduce a major proposal aimed at reworking the network’s troubled fee system to keep up with surging demand and recent market conditions.

Source: CoinMarketCap; ZEC Price Daily Chart
Shielded Labs has recommended that it abandon its static fee model for a median-based dynamic structure. This was originally set at 10,000 zatoshis and later reduced to 1,000. This system will change fees based on typical transaction activity in the last 50 blocks. It will also use synthetic “comparables” to mimic a steady network load.

This would help reduce spam transactions that slow down the network and make fees easier to predict for regular users. Developers say that having fixed fees has caused congestion in the past. One example is spam attacks that have overloaded shielded wallets.

About 30% of the token’s supply is already shielded. To attract more new users and institutions, it is crucial to improve efficiency.

They also note that, because of the fluctuations in the token’s price, abnormally high transaction costs have been reported by users in some edge cases. The upgrade is meant to address the issue before it becomes a major problem.

This comes after the coin saw some price dip. At the time, Max Keiser said that Zcash’s “pump-and-dump” cycle is over. He said the price was likely to crash to about $55. Samson Mow also shared similar thoughts.

Momentum Builds as Treasuries Expand Holdings
The token has continued to be adopted by institutions. For instance, the Winklevoss twins launched a Zcash treasury vehicle. The firm has acquired 200,000 ZEC since November, worth more than $80 million. They eventually hope to own roughly 5% of the total circulating supply.

To add, another treasury entity, Reliance Global moved all its digital asset holdings into ZEC. The company has liquidated all other positions to focus exclusively on the token.

In particular, Grayscale filed with the regulator to convert the existing Grayscale Zcash Trust into a spot ETF. According to the filing, the ETF would hold the token and track its CoinDesk Price Index.

Adding to its growth,  the SEC invited its founder, Zooko Wilcox to participate in its December 15 roundtable on privacy and financial surveillance. The discussion comes in the context of growing momentum for its utility.

Price action on ZEC shows a split personality, with Zcash crypto today stuck in a neutral higher timeframe while short-term buyers drive an intraday rebound off recent lows.

Summary

Zcash (ZEC) Crypto Today: Where We Really AreDaily Timeframe (D1): Macro Bias – Neutral with a Slight Bullish Lean1-Hour Timeframe (H1): Short-Term Bulls Trying to Reclaim Control15-Minute Timeframe (M15): Execution Context – Bulls, but Late in the SwingMain Scenario for Zcash today: Neutral Daily, Bullish crypto IntradayClear Bullish Scenario about Zcash crypto todayClear Bearish ScenarioHow to Think About Positioning in Zcash crypto today
Zcash (ZEC) Crypto Today: Where We Really Are
ZECUSDT is sitting in an awkward middle ground: the higher timeframe is no longer in full trend mode, but the intraday tape is being driven by short-term dip buyers.

On the daily, ZECUSDT is trading at ~419.8, slightly below its 20-day EMA and just above its 50-day EMA, with the system tagging the regime as neutral. That matches what the broader crypto board looks like: BTC dominance is elevated (~57%), total market cap is down on the day, and the Fear & Greed index is stuck in Extreme Fear (22). In other words, capital is defensive and selective, and ZEC is no longer in a clean trending phase on the daily.

Zoom in, and it is a different story. On the 1-hour and 15-minute charts, price is above all key EMAs and intraday regimes are marked bullish. This is classic countertrend rally inside a neutral higher timeframe: aggressive traders are pushing ZEC off recent lows, but the bigger picture has not committed to a new uptrend yet.

This moment matters because these crosscurrents often decide the next leg. Either intraday bulls drag the daily back into an uptrend, or the daily neutrality reasserts itself and squeezes late long entries.

Daily Timeframe (D1): Macro Bias – Neutral with a Slight Bullish Lean
Price & Trend Structure

– Close: 419.83

– EMA20: 425.91

– EMA50: 413.48

– EMA200: 223.83

– Regime: neutral

ZEC is pinned between its short and medium trend references: below the 20-day EMA but above the 50-day. The 50-day and 200-day EMAs are both well below spot, which confirms that the longer-term trend is still up. However, the recent leg has stalled and is consolidating.

Interpretation: the structural bull trend from much lower levels is intact, but the market is undecided in the current range. This is neither a clean breakout nor a clear breakdown; it is a digestion phase.

RSI (14-day): 48.26

RSI hovering just under 50 is textbook neutrality. There is no clear overbought or oversold condition.

Interpretation: momentum has cooled off; buyers are no longer aggressively in charge, but sellers have not taken full control either. It is the kind of RSI you see before the next directional push, not during it.

MACD (daily)

– MACD line: -33.81

– Signal line: -26.58

– Histogram: -7.22 (negative)

MACD remains below the signal line and below zero, with a slightly negative histogram.

Trend momentum is still in a mild downside phase on the daily. This does not scream collapse, but it does confirm that the dominant impulse over recent weeks has been corrective rather than impulsively bullish.

Bollinger Bands (20-day)

– Mid band: 445.95

– Upper band: 631.53

– Lower band: 260.37

Price at ~419.8 is trading below the mid-band, with plenty of room to both the upper and lower bands.

Interpretation: ZEC is trading in the lower half of its recent volatility envelope, signaling a pullback within the broader range rather than an extreme deviation. Volatility is wide, so any renewed trend could move fast once direction is chosen.

ATR (14-day): 55.3

Daily ATR around 55 means ZEC has been swinging roughly +/- $50–60 per day.

Interpretation: this is a high-volatility environment. Position sizing matters more than usual; a 10–15% intraday swing is not extraordinary here.

Daily Pivot Levels

– Pivot point (PP): 412.06

– First resistance (R1): 433.71

– First support (S1): 398.17

Price is currently trading just above the daily pivot and below R1.

Intraday, the market is leaning slightly to the long side as long as price holds above ~412. A push toward 433–435 would test the upper edge of today’s expected range; a break back below 412 would reopen the door to 400.

Daily Bias Summary

The daily chart is neutral: long-term trend positive (above 200 EMA), but short-term momentum (MACD, RSI, position vs EMA20) is soft. The bias leans mildly bullish as long as price holds above the 50-day EMA (~413) and the daily pivot (~412). However, there is no confirmed daily trend resumption yet.

1-Hour Timeframe (H1): Short-Term Bulls Trying to Reclaim Control
Price & Intraday Trend

– Close: 419.89

– EMA20: 404.02

– EMA50: 384.97

– EMA200: 380.69

– Regime: bullish

Price is comfortably above the 20, 50, and 200 EMAs on the hourly, with the shorter EMAs stacked above the longer ones.

Interpretation: intraday, the trend is clearly up. Short-term participants are buying dips, and the path of least resistance on this timeframe is higher, at least for now.

RSI (14-hour): 64.26

RSI is above 60 but not yet at classic overbought levels.

Interpretation: intraday momentum favors buyers. The market is in a strong move, but not at the kind of exhaustion you would typically fade immediately. However, if RSI pushes firmly into the 70s and stalls near resistance, that would warn of a local pullback.

MACD (hourly)

– MACD line: 10.42

– Signal line: 11.37

– Histogram: -0.95 (slightly negative)

MACD is positive but the line is marginally below the signal, with a small negative histogram.

Interpretation: the underlying trend is still up (MACD above zero), but the very short-term impulse is pausing or consolidating. Bulls are still in control, yet the last push higher is losing some steam, which often precedes either a sideways drift or a shallow pullback.

Bollinger Bands (hourly)

– Mid band: 408.88

– Upper band: 426.55

– Lower band: 391.21

Price is trading in the upper half of the band set, not pinned to the extreme.

Interpretation: ZEC is in an intraday upswing but without a blow-off. There is room for a push toward 425–430 before hourly conditions look stretched. A move back toward the mid-band (~409) would simply be a normal retrace within the current bullish structure.

ATR (14-hour): 11.49

Hourly ATR near 11.5 indicates expected swings of around $10–12 per hour during active periods.

Interpretation: intraday trades must account for relatively wide noise. Tight stops within just a few dollars of entry are more likely to get clipped by routine volatility.

Hourly Pivot Levels

– Pivot point (PP): 421.40

– First resistance (R1): 424.43

– First support (S1): 416.86

Price is trading slightly below the hourly pivot, after having traded above it.

Interpretation: very near term, the market is testing whether it can reclaim 421–422. Holding below this zone starts to shift the microstructure more balanced, while a decisive push back above and hold could fuel another drive into 424–425.

15-Minute Timeframe (M15): Execution Context – Bulls, but Late in the Swing
Price & Micro Trend

– Close: 419.88

– EMA20: 410.44

– EMA50: 406.75

– EMA200: 382.58

– Regime: bullish

On the 15-minute chart, price is well above all key EMAs, which are all positively sloped.

Interpretation: the short-term move is firmly bullish. Any mean-reversion longs had their best entry earlier; new longs here are chasing strength rather than buying weakness.

RSI (14, M15): 65.94

RSI on the lower timeframe is pressing into the 60–70 band.

Interpretation: micro momentum is strong, but starting to run hot. This often precedes intraday consolidation or a brief shake-out before continuation.

MACD (M15)

– MACD line: 3.62

– Signal line: 1.59

– Histogram: 2.02 (positive)

MACD is above the signal with a positive histogram.

Interpretation: the very short-term impulse is currently in buyers’ favor. The last leg higher is still active; there is no immediate sign of micro trend exhaustion in MACD itself, only in the elevated RSI.

Bollinger Bands (M15)

– Mid band: 406.08

– Upper band: 424.50

– Lower band: 387.66

Price is trading in the upper band area but not spiking out of it.

Interpretation: ZEC is pressing the upper envelope intraday, reflecting a strong short-term advance. It can continue to grind higher along the band, but risk of a quick mean reversion back toward 410–406 grows as price hugs the top.

15-Minute Pivot Levels

– Pivot point (PP): 421.40

– First resistance (R1): 424.42

– First support (S1): 416.85

Micro price is just under the 15-minute PP.

Interpretation: the immediate battle is around 421. If the tape cannot retake that level soon, short-term traders may start locking in profits, driving price back toward 417–418 or lower.

Main Scenario for Zcash today: Neutral Daily, Bullish crypto Intraday
Dominant Force

The dominant force right now is a neutral daily structure being challenged by short-term bullish momentum. Long term, ZEC is still above its 200-day EMA and trading in a wide, volatile range. Daily indicators (RSI near 50, MACD negative, price under the 20-day EMA) tell us the previous impulsive up leg is over for now. Yet intraday traders are leaning hard into the long side, pushing price above hourly EMAs and lifting short-term RSI.

There is a clear tension:

Daily timeframe: cautious, mean-reverting, waiting for confirmation.
1H and 15m: in active rebound mode, buying dips aggressively.

Which side wins will define the next 5–10 days on ZEC.

Clear Bullish Scenario about Zcash crypto today
In a bullish continuation scenario, the intraday strength would drag the daily back into alignment with the longer-term uptrend.

What this would look like technically:

1. Hold Above Key Support

ZEC needs to hold above the daily pivot (~412) and ideally above the 50-day EMA (~413) on a closing basis. Moreover, dips into the 400–410 zone should be bought quickly, with wicks rather than full-bodied closes.

Implication: buyers are defending the middle of the daily range, turning it into a base rather than a topping area.

2. Reclaim the 20-Day EMA and Mid-Band

A sustained move back above the 20-day EMA (~426) and the Bollinger mid-band (~446) would signal that the corrective phase is likely over.

Implication: the daily trend structure rotates back into trend resumption instead of range digestion.

3. Momentum Confirms

– Daily RSI pushes back above 55–60.

– Daily MACD line curls higher and starts converging toward the signal, shrinking the negative histogram.

Implication: not only is price bouncing, but the underlying trend energy is rebuilding.

4. Upside Targets

First, ZEC would need to clear R1 on the day (~434), then eye the prior value area around the mid-band (440–460). In a stronger extension, price could probe the 480–500 zone, where volatility (ATR) implies daily swings can stretch.

What Invalidates the Bullish Scenario?

A decisive daily close below the 50-day EMA (~413) and S1 (~398) would undermine the bullish setup. Furthermore, if daily RSI rolls over from around 50 into the low 40s while MACD widens its negative histogram, that would confirm renewed downside momentum.

If those conditions appear, the bullish case shifts from trend resumption to a failed bounce in a deeper correction.

Clear Bearish Scenario
The bearish case is that today’s intraday strength is just an oversold bounce inside a larger daily distribution, setting up lower highs before another leg down.

What this would look like technically:

1. Failure at Resistance

ZEC stalls below or around 433–435 (daily R1) and cannot sustain closes above the 20-day EMA (~426). Price repeatedly rejects attempts to break higher, leaving upper wicks on the daily candles.

Implication: supply is waiting above, capping rallies and preventing a clean trend resumption.

2. Break Back Below Intraday Supports

On the intraday charts, ZEC breaks and holds below:

Hourly PP (~421) and then S1 (~417)
1H EMA20 (~404) and eventually 1H EMA50 (~385)

Implication: the short-term bullish structure rolls over into a downtrend, aligning intraday with the already soft daily momentum.

3. Daily Momentum Shifts Bearish

Daily RSI drops from ~48 toward the low 40s or below, while MACD histogram turns more negative as the MACD line diverges further below the signal.

Implication: the market transitions from range to a more directional downside phase.

4. Downside Targets

First, a retest of 398–400 (daily S1 and psychological round level). Below that, volatility (ATR ~55) means a slide into the 360–370 area is realistic, especially if broader crypto risk sentiment stays in Extreme Fear and BTC dominance rises further.

What Invalidates the Bearish Scenario?

A daily close well above 433–435, accompanied by hourly structure remaining firmly bullish, would undercut the near-term bearish case. If daily RSI climbs back above 55–60 and MACD flattens then crosses higher, the idea of just a corrective bounce loses credibility.

In that case, shorts would be fighting a likely larger trend resumption rather than an exhausted bounce.

How to Think About Positioning in Zcash crypto today
Given Zcash crypto today sits in a neutral daily but bullish intraday posture, positioning comes down to timeframe and risk tolerance.

Daily swing traders are in a wait-and-see zone. The best risk-reward trades usually come either off clear support, which is not firmly established yet, or on confirmed breakouts above resistance, which are also missing so far. Here, traders mainly watch 413–412 support and the 426–446 resistance band for resolution.
Intraday traders are trading a live uptrend against a fragile macro backdrop. That means short-term longs may still work, but chasing strength near 420–430 requires tight execution and a clear invalidation level on the hourly chart. ATR on both daily and hourly is elevated, so any mistake gets punished quickly.
Risk and uncertainty remain high. The market-wide context is risk off: total crypto market cap is down over the past 24 hours, BTC dominance is strong, and sentiment is in Extreme Fear. In such environments, rallies can be sharp but short lived, and correlations to BTC can spike without warning.

Key takeaway: Zcash crypto today is not in a clean, trending state on the daily chart. Today’s trade is about respecting both sides of the tape, recognizing that intraday bulls control the short-term path, while the daily structure still demands proof before calling for a sustained new up leg.

Dogecoin (DOGE) price is currently trading near 0.14 USDT on Binance. Price is sitting in the lower half of its 2025 range and stays locked inside a clean bearish channel that started after rejection around 0.21.

Summary

Dogecoin is currently trading just above multi-month support near $0.14, with $0.16 as first serious upside test.​
Volume and flows are currently signaling cautious sentiment, with institutional selling on bounces and subdued whale activity at the lows.​
ETF and structural reset narratives are currently competing with a live threat of a drop toward $0.10–$0.08 if 0.136 support fails.

Dogecoin price levels, structure, momentum
Dogecoin (DOGE) price is currently respecting 0.136–0.140 as the main intraday floor. Sellers are defending 0.145–0.150. Above that sits a thicker supply zone into 0.16–0.18. The channel prints lower highs and lower lows. Every bounce fades. Momentum is currently weak and rallies lack confirmation from volume.

A daily close above 0.150 is currently the first signal that the bears are losing grip. A push into 0.16–0.18 follows if that break sticks. A clean close below 0.136 reopens 0.12. Below that, the chart points to 0.10–0.08 as the next liquidity pocket and yearly-low zone.

Volume, flows, positioning
Spot and perp volume are currently lower than mid-year peaks. Big candles still appear more often on down days than on green days. That pattern signals distribution on strength. Large players use bounces to exit. Order book and flow data show quieter whale prints. Exchange activity leans slightly more supportive near the lows but without capitulation or aggressive new buying.

News, activity, narrative
Network activity is currently hitting three‑month highs while price trades flat near 0.14. Active addresses rise. Volatility tightens. Analysts at crypto.news describe an aggressive downtrend with risk of a sweep toward 0.08 if structure does not change. Other coverage highlights a compression pattern around 0.14–0.145 with MACD leaning toward a bullish cross and an accumulation-style range.

ETF and product news adds fuel. Updated spot DOGE filings and fee details keep a speculative bid alive but do not yet flip the higher-time-frame trend.

Short-term bias and invalidation
Scenario for the bulls: 0.136–0.140 continues to hold. Price is currently trading back above 0.145 with rising volume. Target sits at 0.155–0.160 first, then 0.18 if Bitcoin cooperates. Scenario for the bears: 0.14 cracks on a decisive daily close. Market is currently trading down into 0.12 and then hunts the 0.10–0.08 yearly-low magnet flagged in recent research.

Both are decent options, but one is a much better purchase than the other.

At the moment, a couple of cryptocurrencies in particular have a tendency to steal the spotlight. There's XRP, (XRP 2.08%) Ripple's fintech coin targeted at banks and financial institutions, and Zcash, (ZEC +3.62%) a privacy coin that's essentially a copy of Bitcoin (BTC 1.94%) in most respects.

But which coin is the better place to allocate $1,500 right now? Let's dive in and evaluate the case for each.

Image source: Getty Images.

This coin offers plenty of financial utility
XRP lives on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), a blockchain developed by Ripple and built to move value quickly and cheaply, especially across currencies, and therefore across borders. The core reason to consider buying it now is that Ripple is heavily incentivized to continue to develop the XRPL to be a platform that generates demand for XRP, as XRP is at the heart of the financial services that the company uses the chain to provide.

The ledger has a built-in decentralized exchange (DEX) and cheap transaction fees, so that capital can easily flow from one asset to another without leaving the platform. With the help of a slew of recent acquisitions, Ripple is layering on a product suite on top of those pillars, including tools for making payments, treasury management, and providing stablecoin-based flows targeted at banks and fintech companies.

Today's Change

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-0.04

Current Price

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If more financial institutions route payments over XRPL or use Ripple's products, that activity should show up as ongoing demand for XRP to pay fees and bridge between currencies. That essentially forces users to hold XRP as part of their working capital instead of holding a variety of different currencies, which tends to benefit them. This is because it's simpler operationally, and it also compresses all of the different currency value fluctuation risks into one cryptocurrency.

For a long-term investor, that mix of real-world usage, scale, and a still-meaningful growth runway is exactly what you want to see.

Zcash's next act might be its greatest yet
Zcash takes a very different approach, and as a result it serves a pretty different niche in a portfolio compared to XRP.

In terms of its supply dynamics, it's a copy of Bitcoin, with a capped supply of 21 million coins and a proof-of-work (PoW) design. But in addition to that, it adds the capability for making wallet addresses and transactions private using a type of cryptographic proofs called zk-SNARKs. You don't need to think too much about the technical details here, just know that the zk-SNARKs let fully encrypted transactions remain valid on-chain without revealing sender, receiver, or amounts, and that the proofs themselves were invented well after Bitcoin's debut. That latter point is important, as privacy has long been one of the features thought to be missing from Bitcoin.

Today's Change

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3.62

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14.19

Current Price

$

405.58

On paper, all of that makes Zcash a candidate to be privacy-first digital gold. In practice, it is much smaller and more constrained. Zcash's market cap is roughly $6 billion. That is tiny next to Bitcoin's multi-trillion-dollar footprint and even modest compared with XRP's market cap of $125 billion.

The bigger issue is regulatory posture. Privacy coins have drawn sustained scrutiny from policymakers who worry about money laundering and sanctions evasion. Some major crypto exchanges have restricted or delisted parts of the privacy-coin segment altogether (though at least one exchange recently relisted Zcash specifically), and institutional platforms often simply exclude privacy coins. That makes it a bit harder for Zcash to grow into a mainstream store-of-value asset like Bitcoin, even if its tech is decent.

What's the right call?
I own both XRP (via an exchange-traded fund) and Zcash. But for most investors, there's not much of a contest here for determining where to allocate $1,500.

Zcash asks you to bet that regulators will eventually embrace or at least tolerate strong on-chain privacy at scale, and that large pools of capital will eventually be willing to adopt what today is a relatively small asset as a store of value. Those are both shaky propositions.

In contrast, XRP asks you to bet that Ripple will continue to sign up banks and fintechs and build out the XRPL's features, thereby supporting coin demand. The potential upside is probably a bit higher for Zcash, but it's significantly riskier, and it isn't as though XRP is a low-risk investment, either.

Therefore, for most long-term investors, XRP has a clearer path, more potential users, and fewer structural barriers, so it's significantly more likely to pay off. And that's what makes it the better cryptocurrency to buy with $1,500.

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Just a week after announcing its $1.44 billion USD Reserve, Strategy has made a Bitcoin purchase of nearly $1 billion, one of the largest for 2025.

Strategy Has Made Its Ninth Largest Bitcoin Buy Of The Year
In a new post on X, Strategy co-founder and chairman Michael Saylor has shared info related to the latest routine Monday Bitcoin purchase made by the treasury company.

While the timing of the buy is routine, its scale is not. In total, Strategy has added 10,624 BTC to its holdings with the acquisition. This is the biggest purchase since July’s 21,021 BTC mega-buy.

The new acquisition has cost the firm $90,615 per token or $962.7 million in total. In USD terms, this is the ninth largest addition to the company’s Bitcoin reserves.

This big purchase has come a week after Strategy announced a new shift for the company with its $1.44 billion USD reserve. Saylor said that the reserve will better position the firm to navigate short-term volatility.

The announcement was also accompanied by the usual Monday Bitcoin buy, but at just 130 tokens, it was a relatively small one. If the latest acquisition is to go by, however, the USD reserve doesn’t seem to be stopping Strategy in hoarding more of the cryptocurrency.

According to the filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the new buy, which occurred in the period between December 1st and 7th, was funded using sales of the firm’s STRD and MSTR at-the-market (ATM) stock offerings.

Strategy now holds a total of 660,624 BTC, with an average cost basis of $74,696 per coin or total investment of $49.35 billion. At the current price of the asset, the Bitcoin treasury company’s holdings are worth about $59.68 billion, which means that it’s sitting on a profit of nearly 21% right now.

In some other news, while Strategy has continued its Bitcoin accumulation, the same hasn’t been true for another side of the sector: the spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The spot ETFs refer to investment vehicles that allow investors to gain indirect exposure to BTC. That is, the funds hold the cryptocurrency on behalf of the investors, enabling them to invest into the asset without having to bother with the on-chain side of things.

Since mid-October, the US Bitcoin spot ETFs have mostly faced waves of net outflows as the cryptocurrency’s price has followed a bearish trajectory. The last week of November registered a small positive netflow, however, breaking a streak of four consecutive weeks of outflows.

This turnaround didn’t last, though, with the latest week once again ending with net outflows, as the below chart from SoSoValue shows.

The trend in the weekly netflow of the US BTC spot ETFs | Source: SoSoValue
The outflows were only modest, coming out at about $87.8 million, but still indicate lingering pessimism in the market.

BTC Price
Bitcoin broke above $92,000 earlier in the day, but the coin has since faced a pullback as it’s now back at $89,900.

Looks like the price of the coin has retraced its latest recovery | Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView
Featured image from Dall-E, SoSoValue.com, chart from TradingView.com

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BlackRock is quietly accumulating Bitcoin and Ethereum again — a clear sign institutions are preparing early for the next big crypto liquidity cycle.

XRP ETFs Surge with 15 Straight Days of Inflows, Topping $897MXRP is surging in the ETF market, with 15 straight days of inflows totaling $897M. AUM now hits $860M, highlighting rising investor confidence.

The 15-day inflow streak underscores renewed institutional interest in XRP. As a regulated, accessible entry point to crypto, ETFs are driving adoption, positioning XRP as a top choice for both investors and digital asset enthusiasts.

The XRP ETF leaderboard highlights the market’s leading momentum drivers:

Canary tops the chart with $363M in inflows, asserting its dominance.

Grayscale follows with $211M, reflecting sustained investor confidence.

Bitwise captures $187M, gaining traction among institutions.

 Franklin rounds out the top four with $134M, proving even smaller ETFs are drawing significant attention.

Notably, these inflows are a strong signal of growing investor confidence in XRP, positioning it as a credible and strategic asset in the crypto market. Analysts suggest that this trend could boost liquidity, influence market stability, and impact price movements in the weeks ahead.

However, experts caution that despite the upward momentum, cryptocurrency markets remain highly volatile, and significant inflows do not eliminate the inherent risks of digital assets.

Therefore, XRP’s 15-day inflow streak marks a major milestone, highlighting rising institutional adoption. With AUM surpassing $860 million, leading ETFs, Canary, Grayscale, Bitwise, and Franklin, are driving momentum. For investors seeking regulated XRP exposure, these ETFs offer a clear, structured pathway, signaling a dynamic new phase for the crypto market.

21Shares’ XRP Spot ETF Could Go Live Soon as SEC Filing Updates Signal LaunchCrypto markets are buzzing as 21Shares, a leading digital asset ETF issuer, has just updated its XRP Spot ETF filing (ticker: TOXR) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to market expert Diana, this refiling signals that the ETF is entering the final approval stage, a major milestone that could pave the way for TOXR to go live in the U.S. any moment.

The filing update mirrors a pattern seen with other crypto ETFs where S-1 amendments often signal an imminent launch. Investors are now eyeing the SEC’s approval, poised for XRP’s next major institutional milestone.

If approved, TOXR would join the leading XRP ETFs, giving both institutional and retail investors greater exposure. Amid a surge in XRP ETF inflows and rising AUM, TOXR’s entry into the U.S. market could boost institutional demand, enhancing XRP’s liquidity and market activity.

Therefore, the launch of TOXR could be a game-changer. More than a new investment option, it signals growing legitimacy for XRP in traditional finance. For investors eyeing wider institutional adoption, TOXR opens the door to strategic digital asset portfolio opportunities.

ConclusionThe 15-day inflow streak into XRP ETFs highlights surging institutional interest and the growing influence of ETFs in crypto investing. With AUM topping $860 million and top funds, Canary, Grayscale, Bitwise, and Franklin, leading the charge, XRP is cementing its status as a credible, strategic asset. 

Despite market volatility, these sustained inflows signal strong confidence in XRP’s long-term potential and mark a pivotal step toward broader adoption.

On the other hand, 21Shares’ updated SEC filing for $TOXR puts the ETF on the verge of entering the U.S. market. With institutional demand rising and XRP ETF inflows climbing, TOXR’s potential approval could be a milestone for crypto, linking traditional finance with the expanding digital asset ecosystem. 

A leading Zcash developer has introduced the first in-depth blueprint for a dynamic fee market, igniting community-wide discussion about how the privacy-focused blockchain should evolve its transaction pricing as ZEC’s value, user activity, and institutional interest continue to surge. The proposal, released by Shielded Labs, marks a major shift away from Zcash’s historically static fee structure, which began at 10,000 zatoshi and was later reduced to 1,000. While this fixed-fee approach worked during years of low network usage, it eventually contributed to spam-driven “sandblasting” attacks that overloaded wallets and slowed transaction processing.

Although the introduction of ZIP-317’s action-based accounting helped resolve the most severe abuse vectors, it retained predictably low fees that did not adjust to real-time network conditions. Under ZIP-317, each component of a Zcash transaction—such as Orchard actions, spends, outputs, or JoinSplits—is standardized as a single “action,” allowing fees to scale more fairly with transaction complexity rather than byte size. However, developers argue that the current model is becoming unsustainable as ZEC experiences renewed market momentum, retail adoption grows, and new digital-asset treasury tools emerge.

With ZEC’s rising price, some users have begun reporting significantly higher transaction costs, particularly in edge cases where batching small inputs can lead to large shielding fees. The new proposal introduces a stateless dynamic fee mechanism that calculates a median fee per action based on the last 50 blocks. Synthetic transactions are added to simulate consistent network load, ensuring fees remain adaptive even during quieter periods. This median is then rounded into powers of ten to preserve user privacy and prevent fee-based fingerprinting. During periods of congestion, a temporary priority tier priced at 10× the standard fee gives users an optional path to faster confirmations.

The roadmap envisions a phased rollout: initially off-chain for data gathering, then integrated into wallet policies, and eventually—pending community approval—implemented as a lightweight consensus update. This approach avoids the complexity of Ethereum’s EIP-1559 while maintaining Zcash’s strict privacy requirements. Some developers have also proposed exploring mining difficulty as a long-term indicator for USD-pegged fee adjustments.

ZEC was trading near $395 on Tuesday, up more than 12% as the market reacted to the first meaningful step toward modernizing Zcash’s fee system since ZIP-317.

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Solana’s network faces pressure as active validators over the past three years fall from 2,500 to 800, shaping risks and 2026 market scenarios.

Izabela Anna2 min read

9 December 2025, 09:20 AM

Solana faces renewed scrutiny as fresh data shows a steep contraction in its validator count over the past three years. The network once hosted more than 2,500 active validators. Today, the number sits near 800. The shift raises questions about long-term decentralization and economic sustainability. 

Moreover, the decline unfolds while Solana trades inside a narrow price range, adding pressure on market sentiment. The conversation now centers on how fewer validators shape network resilience and whether price strength can hold through ongoing consolidation.

Validator Landscape Faces Structural PressureAccording to Criptonoticias report, community tallies suggest a drop of nearly 68% since March 2023. Some analysts claim the reduction reflects the removal of low-quality or Sybil-linked nodes. 

Others point to rising operational costs that forced genuine operators out. The debate continues, yet both sides agree that validator diversity remains essential. Besides, the quality and independence of remaining validators now matter more than raw numbers.

Stake distribution also entered the discussion. Concentrated stake raises concerns around governance and potential bottlenecks. Hence, Solana watchers closely track how large delegators shift their positions. 

Additionally, infrastructure teams monitor whether new operators feel encouraged to join, given the high technical and financial requirements. The next year may reveal whether the network reaches equilibrium or continues to consolidate.

SOL price holds within a tight rangeSolana trades near $133 after slipping 2% in the past day, although it still shows modest weekly gains. The price remains locked between support at $124 and resistance at $145. Ali Martinez notes that SOL sits in the middle of this range, where conviction weakens and liquidity thins. 

Source: X

Buyers defended the $132 area several times, however, repeated failures near $138–$140 suggest sellers remain active. A break below $124 could expose $115. Hence, traders now wait for clear signals at either range boundary.

Analysts outline diverging scenarios for 2026Market views on Solana’s next phase remain divided. Curb.sol assigns a small probability to a deeper breakdown that could push the asset into long-term accumulation near $40 during 2026. This scenario aligns with historical cycles where extended consolidation created opportunities before major expansions. 

Additionally, curb.sol argues that the $125 level still holds strategic importance for bulls. Martinez’s range-based view supports this threshold as well. Significantly, curb.sol expects new all-time highs above $1,000 in 2026 if support continues to hold and on-chain participation stabilizes.

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Izabela Anna

Izabela Anna is a knowledgeable freelance journalist, who boasts over five years of experience covering the cryptocurrency market. Her tenure has seen her navigate through the ebbs and flows of multiple market cycles, giving her a deep understanding within. Her journalistic focus lies in dissecting price action dynamics, scrutinizing the on-chain landscape, and providing insights from a technical perspective, making her a trusted voice in the realm of cryptocurrency reporting.

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