ETH slipped below $3,000 as Canton rose 7% to $0.135 and Zcash gained 3.4% near $540, with market cap around $3.060T.
Bitcoin’s year-end tape is starting to feel mechanical. After another push through $90,000, the market snapped back toward $87,000, reinforcing a familiar loop that has punished breakout attempts. The $90,000 area is behaving like a hard ceiling, forcing traders to respect range conditions rather than chase momentum. BTC has since reclaimed $87,000 but remains below $88,000, with market capitalization near $1.750 trillion and dominance above 57%. Risk appetite is selective, and the rest of the market is taking its cue from that failed surge into the final sessions.
The pattern traces back to early December, when BTC was turned away at $94,000 and every follow-up bid met immediate resistance. Repeated rejections have kept the market pinned below key levels, and the last two weeks have been clear. Since Dec. 15, bitcoin has tried to reclaim $90,000 at least five times, and each attempt stalled. After a quiet weekend near $87,000, BTC pushed above $90,000 again, only for sellers to reject it and drive price below $87,000. For now, the tape is a range trade, not a trend.
Altcoins largely mirrored the hesitation. Ethereum briefly traded above $3,000 but slipped back below that line, while BNB was capped at $854 and XRP failed to clear $1.90. SOL, BCH, LINK, and DOGE stayed modestly lower on the day, reinforcing a defensive tone. The downside is concentrated in a few majors, with ADA down more than 4%, MNT off over 5%, and XLM and XMR lower by roughly 3% to 3.5%. Even with pockets of strength, the total crypto market capitalization held sluggishly around $3.060 trillion according to CoinGecko’s tracker today.
Against that backdrop, two names kept printing green. Canton (CC) extended its run with another sharp daily jump, rising about 7% to $0.135 and again topping the mid-cap leaderboard. Zcash (ZEC) also advanced, adding 3.4% and trading close to $540, even as several better-known assets stayed underwater. The repeat winners matter because they reveal where marginal risk is flowing, not where headlines are loudest. If bitcoin remains boxed under $90,000, expect traders to keep rotating into isolated momentum plays like these. That dynamic can persist until a breakout resets psychology.
