Shiny Coins #2 – December Dip: Fed Signals and Elon Boosts Spark Selective Green Amid Broader Bleed
The crypto winter nobody ordered has deepened into December, with Bitcoin cratering below $86,000 after a savage 8% intraday plunge that vaporized $140 billion in market cap overnight. Ethereum’s scraping $2,720, Solana’s nursing wounds at $140-ish, and the total market cap hovers around a shaky $2.9 trillion – down another 4% this week alone, erasing most of November’s fragile gains. Bitcoin dominance has slipped to 57%, a rare sign of altcoin rotation even in the carnage, while the Crypto Fear & Greed Index wallows at a bone-chilling 8 (extreme fear, the lowest since the 2022 bear market lows). Macro headwinds like Japan’s surprise rate hike, a DeFi exploit at Yearn.finance draining $50M, and ETF outflows topping $1B have degens hitting the panic button – but wait, the Fed’s QT ends today (Dec 1), Jerome Powell’s speech could drop rate-cut hints at 86% odds for December, and Elon Musk just doubled down on BTC as “energy-backed currency” in a bombshell interview.
This week’s shiny coins? The survivors defying the bloodbath: narrative beasts like XRP riding ETF launches, Solana’s ecosystem grind, and AI holdouts refusing to fold. In extreme fear, we’ve seen this movie before – capitulation bottoms birth the biggest bounces. Whales are nibbling (on-chain shows 21K+ BTC scooped up quietly), and with liquidity injections looming, these picks could flip from red to rocket fuel fast.
The Shiny Coins Right Now
#1 XRP ($XRP) – $2.02 (+12% 7d)XRP’s the undisputed champ this week, shrugging off the market rout with a fresh ETF launch from 21Shares (ticker TOXR) pulling $666M in inflows already. Ripple’s cross-border narrative heats up post-SEC truce vibes, and on-chain payments hit yearly highs amid ISO 20022 bank integrations. Key metric: Weekly volume up 150%, dwarfing majors. Short-term outlook: Very Bullish – $3 in sight if Powell greenlights cuts.
#2 Solana (SOL) – $142 (+8% 7d)While everything dumps, Solana’s DEX volume ticked up 20% WoW, fueled by Solflare’s new crypto card (Mastercard-backed, no fees) and Telegram mini-app quests rewarding users with SOL airdrops. Ecosystem TVL holds steady at $5B+ despite the bleed. Key metric: Daily active users spiked to 1.2M, meme energy intact. Short-term outlook: Bullish – $160 if alt rotation accelerates.
#3 Bittensor (TAO) – $620 (+15% 7d)AI won’t quit: Subnet expansions announced mid-week, with machine learning compute demand surging as enterprises hedge against volatility. Elon’s energy rant indirectly nods to decentralized AI power plays. Key metric: Miner activity +25%, new ATH for daily emissions. Short-term outlook: Very Bullish – could test $800 on risk-on rebound.
#4 Hyperliquid (HYPE) – $29.50 (+20% 7d)Perps DEX that’s basically printing money in chaos – open interest rebounded 30% as traders hedge the dip with 200x leverage. Fees hit $18M daily, eating CEX lunch. Key metric: Leverage ratio at cycle highs, signaling degen bets on bounce. Short-term outlook: Bullish – $35 if liquidations flush out weak hands.
#5 Chainlink (LINK) – $29 (+10% 7d)Oracles shine in uncertain times: New CCIP integrations with RWAs (real-world assets) like ONDO and QNT partnerships announced, tying into stablecoin boom (20% of market cap now). Key metric: Cross-chain volume +40%. Short-term outlook: Bullish – regulatory tailwinds could push $35.
#6 World Liberty Financial (WLFI) – $0.45 (+25% 7d)Trump’s token that thrives on headlines – Musk’s interview sparked “pro-crypto admin” memes, with policy whispers fueling degen pumps. Pure speculation, but volume’s exploding. Key metric: Google Trends spike 300% post-Elon. Short-term outlook: Very Bullish – $0.60 on tweet-fueled volatility.
#7 Ethereum (ETH) – $2,720 (-5% 7d but relative strength)Down less than the pack, ETH’s gearing for Fusaka upgrade on Dec 3 – lower gas, faster L2s. Staked ETH (stETH) yields hold at 4%, drawing passive inflows. Key metric: ETF cumulative inflows still +$12.9B despite outflows. Short-term outlook: Cautious – $3K hold key for bounce.
#8 Bitcoin (BTC) – $85,800 (-6% 7d)The big dog’s hurting, but on-chain whales added 21K BTC this week amid $160B Shell accepting payments in SA. Extreme fear + QT end = classic setup. Key metric: Long-term holder supply unmoved, hash rate ATH. Short-term outlook: Cautious – $90K relief if Powell dovish.
Hidden Gem of the WeekONDO ($ONDO) – Sub-$2B cap RWA token exploding +18% on institutional stablecoin pilots and tech setups signaling rebound. With RWAs tokenizing trillions in assets, this could 5x quietly while majors consolidate – watch for $2 breakout.
One to Watch CloselyHedera (HBAR) – Down 10% to $0.13 on heavy volume and institutional sells, but key support at $0.12. If it holds through unlocks, could spark L1 rotation; else, sub-$0.10 flush incoming. High-stakes flip.
This week’s selective shine amid the December dump tells a tale of fractured resilience: RWAs and oracles (XRP, LINK, ONDO) anchoring to real-world utility, AI (TAO) and perps (HYPE) as hedges, while Solana memes keep the party flickering. BTC’s slip in dominance? A whisper of altseason if Fed liquidity floods in – but with exploits and macro jitters, it’s survivors-only mode. We’ve been eyeing these setups since the October top; extreme fear at 8 has never lied as a buy signal.
Bottom or just the next leg down? Load the dips, or NGMI in the thaw.
See you next week for more Shiny Coins on Cryptopress.site (And remember — this is not financial advice; markets can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.)
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