December Fallout?

Setting the Stage

Author

Shelby Cannon
January 02, 2026

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Driving Market Moves 📈    

  

With December officially behind us — and taking its chaos, catalysts, and chart drama with it — the market is poised for the new year with plenty of unfinished business. The biggest catalysts of the year may have already shown their hand, but their impact is still rippling across crypto and equities right now.

Here’s what mattered in recent weeks… and why those developments still matter heading into January.

1. Earnings Season 💶 

Back in November, roughly 20% of the S&P 500 reported earnings, and the cross-sector lineup was unusually spicy:

  • Crypto: Robinhood, Hut 8

  • AI: Palantir, AMD, ARM

  • Speculative Momentum: DraftKings, Beyond Meat (the unexpected meme-stock understudy)

Those reports didn’t just drop and disappear — they set tone, sentiment, and momentum that are carrying through December. Between AI giants surprising to the upside and crypto-adjacent equities posting mixed signals, earnings season injected enough volatility to keep markets twitchy well into the holidays.

Earnings Releases

2. Bitcoin’s Favorite Month 🪙 

November has historically been Bitcoin’s strongest month, with an average return of 42.31% — and this year kept that streak alive.

If Bitcoin had hit November’s historical average exactly, it would have landed near $155,000, breaking an eight-year trendline that’s acted like reinforced concrete. While BTC didn’t hit that perfect textbook number, its move was strong enough to push price action right into the edge of that long-term resistance.

For January, that matters. Why? Because a breakout in November sets up the possibility for support flipping — where old ceilings become new floors. That’s the kind of structural shift that can define the first quarter of the coming year.

3. Waiting for the Green Light 🟢 

The perfect scenario — Bitcoin rising while BTC dominance falls — didn’t fully materialize in November, but the groundwork is still intact. BTC dominance broke its three-year uptrend earlier in 2025, retested it exactly as expected, and is still hovering in the range where an alt-season setup could form.

The catch hasn’t changed:
For altcoins to explode the way they have in previous cycles, regulatory clarity must land first. Specifically the Market Structure Bill and the Clarity Act. Until then, anything outside Bitcoin and Ethereum remains partially tethered.

4. Ethereum’s Powder Keg 🧨 

November’s most interesting chart belonged to Ethereum. Billions in potential upside liquidations formed a cluster of greenish-yellow “trigger zones” above price. That setup hasn’t disappeared — and as ETH inches upward in December, each approach to those zones could spark tens of millions in forced buying.

Translation:
If ETH reaches those levels, price can accelerate violently — fast enough to drag the broader market with it.

The Bottom Line 📒 

November planted the seeds. January is where the aftershocks play out.

The earnings tone, the BTC trendline pressure, the altcoin setup, and Ethereum’s liquidation cluster all feed directly into how markets behave into January.

Crypto may not have delivered a full holiday miracle yet — but the groundwork for a very loud Q1 is already in place.

ETH’s Next Big Burn 🔥 

Ethereum’s next major upgrade — Fusaka — is just about to go live, and it has the crypto world buzzing. The name sounds like a character cut from The Lion King, but the upgrade itself is anything but whimsical. It changes one of the most important economic mechanics in Ethereum’s ecosystem — and could give ETH a serious long-term price tailwind.

Here’s the simple, no-nonsense explanation (with only the acceptable amount of sarcasm).

The Problem: L2s Are Basically Living Rent-Free

Right now, Layer-2 networks (the chains built on top of Ethereum — think Base, Arbitrum, Optimism) pay almost nothing in fees back to Ethereum.

Why?
Because the “blob” storage they use to post data on Ethereum is extremely cheap. Too cheap.

Imagine Ethereum as an apartment building. Today, if the complex has empty rooms, L2s can waltz in, kick their feet up, and nap on the couch rent-free. No utilities. No cleaning fee. No “dogs under 50 pounds only” policy.

It’s a nice life for them… not so great for Ethereum’s bottom line.

The Solution: Fusaka 🐂 

Fusaka introduces a minimum base fee for blob space — even when traffic is low. In other words, Ethereum puts on its stern landlord voice and says:

“Even if the room is empty, you’re paying at least $500. We still gotta keep the lights on.”

Cute version?
Ethereum politely taps L2s on the shoulder and says: “Rent please :)”

Either way, L2s can no longer freeload. They must pay something — every block, every day, no matter what.

Why This Matters ✅ 

Here’s the spicy part.

Every one of these new base fees paid by L2s is burned (destroyed forever).
Burning supply = reducing available ETH = a built-in mechanism that can increase price over time.

This is the same economic flywheel introduced during The Merge and turbocharged by the Dencun upgrade. Fusaka simply adds more fuel.

ETH to the Moon? 🌑 

Anyone expecting ETH to instantly rocket on the Fusaka activation date is in for disappointment. This isn’t a meme-coin catalyst — it’s structural monetary engineering.

The effect is slow, steady, and compounding:

  • More activity from L2s →

  • More mandatory base fees →

  • More ETH burned →

  • Lower supply over time →

  • Higher long-term price pressure

Think of it less like fireworks and more like turning on a furnace. The heat builds gradually — and then one day you realize the whole room is warm.

The Real Question ❓️ 

Not “Will Fusaka matter?”
It will.

The real question is how quickly the burn rate ramps up — and how aggressively L2 activity grows in early 2026.

Ethereum just put new economics in motion. Now it’s time to see how fast the fire spreads.


COIN SPOTLIGHT 🔍️ 

GameFi’s Next Level 🎲 

For years, GameFi has been begging gamers for attention like a golden retriever holding a controller in its mouth. But gamers — being gamers — haven’t budged. Not because they hate blockchain. Not because they’re allergic to tokens. But because crypto gaming keeps trying to hand them a homework assignment instead of a good time.

The fix isn’t complicated. In fact, it boils down to three painfully obvious rules the industry somehow keeps forgetting.

GameFi

Rule #1: Become Invisible 👻 

Gamers aren’t anti-crypto. They’re anti-“solve this technical puzzle to play our mediocre game.”

Right now, many blockchain titles require players to open a wallet, memorize a seed phrase, calculate gas fees, sign transactions, approve contracts, and pray they didn’t just click on an exploit. That’s not onboarding — that’s a side quest designed by a tax accountant.

The path forward is simple:
Crypto should sit under the hood, the same way game engines, physics systems, and server infrastructure do today. Players shouldn’t need to know what’s happening behind the scenes. They should click “Play,” swing a sword, farm a potato, or cast a card — with no MetaMask intro cutscene in sight.

Traditional crypto had the exact same problem. Decentralized exchanges were too confusing for average investors until centralized exchanges arrived with training wheels, friendly UIs, and fewer ways to accidentally delete your net worth. GameFi needs that same evolution: smooth, seamless, invisible blockchain rails.

Rule #2: Build Games First 🏓 

A harsh truth: No amount of tokenomics can rescue a bad game.

Studios that finally get it are realizing they must:

  • Finish the game before selling the token

  • Prioritize gameplay loops, not “earn loops”

  • Build worlds and mechanics, not markets

Crypto can enhance fun — ownership of items, interoperable identities, player-driven economies. But it absolutely cannot become a substitute for fun.

Rule #3: Solve Real Problems ➕ 

Web3 shines brightest when it improves actual gaming experiences, not imaginary ones. Strong use cases already exist:

  • True ownership of cosmetics

  • On-chain modding rights

  • Game economies driven by gameplay, not speculation

  • Cross-game identities tied to the player

These are quality-of-life upgrades, not mandatory chores. When implemented right, they enhance the experience. When implemented poorly, they become a paywall disguised as innovation.

The Good News 📰 

A handful of projects are inching in the right direction.

Big Time lets players jump in instantly — no wallet ritual — and actually focus on swinging a sword.

Pixels is a cozy farming MMO that plays like a game first and a token system second.
Gods Unchained behaves like a normal competitive card game; blockchain sits quietly in the basement instead of screaming from the rooftop.

None are perfect. None are industry-defining. But they prove one thing: When crypto gets out of the way, videogames start to look like… videogames.

The Endgame 🎯 

Despite its stumbles, GameFi remains one of the strongest-performing sectors this year. But real players haven’t arrived yet — not until the games meet the standards of traditional gaming.

When that day comes, the winners won’t be the early experiments. They’ll be the projects that nailed gameplay, hid the crypto, and solved real problems.

That’s the moment when GameFi finally levels up — and the moment worth waiting for.


STAGE RIGHT 🎬️     


NOTABLE QUOTES 📚️ 

“The happy man is satisfied with his present situation, no matter what it is.”
 
— Senaca


GARAGE LOGIC ☕️


FINAL SPIN 📽️ 


LAST CHAPTER 📺️ 


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WEALTH ON AUTOPILOT 

A Simple System That Builds Wealth While You Sleep (No Market Timing, Stock Picking, or Financial Degree Required

Read it in a weekend. Implement it in 30 days. Run it for 30 years. No daily decisions. No constant monitoring. Just automated wealth-building that turns steady earners into millionaires while you live your life."

WE HAVE LAUNCHED. ORDER HERE.