Digital currencies exhibited bearishness on Thursday as Bitcoin wavered below $103,000.

As altcoins displayed mixed performances, this article explores XRP, Ethereum, and the lesser-known USUAL coin.

First XRP ETF goes live

The much-anticipated momentum for the Ripple community arrived today as the first spot XRP exchange-traded fund began trading.

Canary Capital’s XRPC instantly opens Ripple’s native coin to institutional investors seeking compliant blockchain access.

According to Canary’s CEO, Steven McClurg:

XRP is one of the most established and widely used digital assets in the world. Access to XRP through an ETF will enable the next wave of adoption and growth in a critical blockchain system.

The ETF debut sparked excitement in the financial landscape, considering Ripple’s years of regulatory fights with the securities regulator, and now entering mainstream adoption.

Data shows XRP soared after the ETF update.

The remittance token is hovering at $2.49 after surging more than 3% the previous 24 hours.

Its 24-hour trading volume has increased by over 50% to $6.3 billion, signaling renewed enthusiasm.

Canary’s success might attract other renowned financial companies, offering institutions a compliant way to gain exposure to the native XRP.

Whale bets big on Ethereum

Savvy market players are capitalizing on Ethereum’s current weakness to accumulate at a discount.

According to Arkham Intelligence data, an unknown large-scale investor purchased over 385,000 Ethereum tokens, worth roughly $1.38 billion, in the past ten days.

The substantial purchase signals trust in Ethereum’s future performance, especially ahead of the December Fusaka upgrade aimed at enhancing staking efficiency and scalability.

Whale accumulations often herald bullish price trends as these entities use insider knowledge when executing.

These trends coincide with institutions’ interest in Ethereum.

For instance, SharpLink and BitMine have doubled down on Ethereum purchases in the past months.

ETH has lost over 4% of its value in the past 24 hours to $3,401.

USUAL jumps 20%

Fiat stablecoin issuer Usual was among the few projects with bullish trajectories today.

Native token, USUAL, has gained more than 20% the past day to $0.03974, with its daily trading volume up over 360%.

USUAL turned bullish after a strategic restructuring proposal to strengthen the platform’s long-term sustainability.

The UIP-11 introduces multiple reforms that would boost tokenomics.

That includes reducing USUAL’s maximum supply by 25% to bolster scarcity and reducing inflation by 50%.

Furthermore, the proposal calls for eliminating fees for USD0++ transactions to streamline internal transfers and removing the 5% commission.

USUAL’s current rally reflects optimism in the proposal.

However, the alt will hardly decouple for long due to prevailing broader bearishness.

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