Two days remain until 2026, and the crypto market feels fine on the surface but still hides some intrigue on a smaller scale.
Bitcoin is holding up, but Zcash is back in full pump mode, and that is the same combo CryptoQuant keeps flagging as a BTC risk tell. XRP just printed a weird stat line, where shorts went to $0 in the one-hour liquidation window, while the 24-hour total sits near $2.63 million. At the same time, Monero emerges as a “dark horse” with a big cup-and-handle pitch and an “80% silver-style” upside target if the breakout is confirmed.
TL;DR
- Zcash is pumping again, and the CryptoQuant read is that this has been a bad omen for Bitcoin more often than not.
- XRP printed a zero-short-liquidation window, meaning that bears were not there to be punished, and bulls took the damage.
- Monero is pressing a long-term cup-and-handle idea, with an 80% projection if a breakout confirms.
Bitcoin raises new red flag as Zcash shines green again
ZEC’s move this week is hard to miss. In TradingView’s view, it steps up fast from about $460 to $520 in a few hours with barely any pullback, the kind of burst you often see late in a Bitcoin run, when traders start hunting faster action elsewhere.
CryptoQuant analyst Maartunn’s point is as follows: when Zcash starts running on its own like this, Bitcoin has a history of cooling off or taking a hit.
That is not magic, it is paternal behavior, as can be seen on the charts. Privacy coins tend to spike when the market rotates into volatility plays, and the heatmap lines up with that story: ZEC lights up while Bitcoin’s line starts to look flatter. You saw a similar mix in early 2021 and mid-2022, right before BTC spent weeks chopping instead of trending.
Derivatives activity fits the same picture. BTC perps look less aggressive, while ZEC interest is rising, which usually means traders are levering into the chase. Those moves can fade fast, but they often leave Bitcoin with less fuel in the tank right after.
$0 for XRP: Liquidations without bears
If Zcash signals excitement, XRP represents exhaustion. Over Monday, its liquidation sheet by CoinGlass turned absurd: one-hour data shows over $20,000 of long positions flushed and $0 shorts affected. For comparison, the 24-hour total climbed to $2.63 million, with shorts barely above $1.9 million.
That imbalance translates into a literal “$0 short liquidation” event; there were no bears left to get hit. When short interest collapses and price still drops, it means the entire pressure is coming from spot sellers and tired longs. The TradingView chart shows XRP sliding from $1.90 to $1.87 in a steady bleed, without the usual wick signature that accompanies short squeezes.
Source: CoinGlassThis pattern often appears after periods of over-levered bull confidence. Traders front-run potential breakouts, shorts exit to avoid funding costs and the market loses its counterbalance. The result is a price that can drift down for hours without capitulation.
The timing is poor for momentum players heading into the holiday pause: funding rates on major XRP pairs have compressed, while open interest remains high, implying stuck positions with little liquidity to exit.
Unless a fresh catalyst arrives around year’s end, XRP will likely trade sideways through the first sessions of 2026, waiting for wider market volatility to return.
Monero targets 80% silver-style move
While Zcash is making quick spikes and XRP is digesting messy leverage, Monero (XMR) is building a slow but serious setup.
Capo of Crypto, who got attention for a bad BTC-to-$12,000 call in late 2023, posted an XMR chart and argued that Monero is forming a big cup-and-handle that has been years in the making, and he compares it to how silver and gold looked before their big runs this year.
The idea behind the pattern is that XMR has been spending a long time absorbing selling pressure under a major resistance band around $417-$620. That zone has capped rallies since 2017, but the current “handle” is tighter and sitting on a higher floor, which is what traders like to see before a breakout attempt.
Source: Capo of CryptoIf the price of XMR clears the 2021-area ceiling and can hold above about $650, the classic measured-move math points to something like $1,000-$1,100, which is where the “about 80%” upside talk comes from.
What makes this interesting is the timing. Privacy coins are back in the conversation in parts of Asia and Eastern Europe, and the flow into Monero looks more like steady accumulation than a bot-driven pump.
Should Bitcoin stay stuck around the $90,000 area and money start rotating into “laggards with a narrative,” XMR would become an obvious target. The heatmap shows Monero warming up but not overheating yet, which often means the move is still early if it is going to happen.
Crypto market outlook into 2026
Right now, the market is not giving a simple bullish or bearish read, it is split. Bitcoin still sets the tone, but the ZEC signal is back on the board, and that is the same kind of backdrop that has shown up around previous local BTC tops. The rotation also looks picky: privacy coins and a few smaller coins are getting attention, while the usual big names are not leading.
What may happen next:
- BTC pokes into the $78,000-$80,000 support area at least once, more like a test than a crash.
- ZEC stays wild above $500 because that is where the chase traders are parked now.
- Monero holds a bid around $390-$420 as rotation money looks for “next narrative” trades.
- XRP likely stays capped under $1.90 until the leverage imbalance resets.
Early 2026 sessions decide if this is just year-end rotation or the start of a real privacy-coin mini-run that will keep BTC sideways for a bit.
Source: https://u.today/morning-crypto-report-bitcoins-uh-oh-pattern-returns-as-zcash-zec-pumps-again-xrp-prints-0-after
