Gate Research: Ethereum Staking Demand Rebounds | Tokenized Equity Assets Hit New Highs

Crypto Market Overview

• BTC (+0.02% | Current Price: 88,660 USDT): BTC exhibited weak range-bound consolidation over the past 24 hours, repeatedly oscillating between 88,000–89,000 USD with limited volatility. Short-term moving averages (MA5/MA10) have repeatedly converged with and crossed MA30, indicating an unclear directional bias and a tendency toward sideways movement in the near term. Although MACD briefly turned positive, momentum expansion remains limited, with frequent alternation of red and green histogram bars hovering around the zero axis, reflecting cautious market sentiment. Structurally, a sustained breakout above 89,500–90,000 USD with accompanying volume expansion would be required to validate further upside. Conversely, a breakdown below 88,000 USD could expose BTC to downside risk toward the 87,000 USD support area.
• ETH (+0.02% | Current Price: 2,980 USDT): ETH continues to trade within a relatively stable consolidation range, moving between 2,950–3,000 USD and showing marginally stronger performance than BTC. On moving averages, MA5 and MA10 have begun to turn slightly upward, while MA30 has not yet formed a definitive trend-supportive structure, suggesting that short-term rebound momentum still requires further confirmation. MACD is positioned slightly above the zero axis with a mild bullish bias, and the DIFF and DEA spread has opened marginally but lacks meaningful strength, indicating no clear trend breakout signal yet. Should ETH stabilize above the 3,000 USD threshold and retest resistance at 3,050 USD, continuation of the upward trend may be confirmed. However, a retracement below 2,950 USD could lead to another test of support at 2,900–2,880 USD.
• Altcoins: The latest Fear & Greed Index reads 21, remaining in the “Extreme Fear” category and slightly lower compared to yesterday and last week. This suggests that despite recent price rebounds, investor confidence has yet to meaningfully recover. Market risk appetite remains suppressed, and short-term price action is susceptible to sentiment-driven fluctuations.
• Macro: On December 30, the S&P 500 fell 0.14% to 6,896.24 points; the Dow Jones slipped 0.20% to 48,367.06; and the Nasdaq declined 0.24% to 23,419.08. As of 02:15 AM, December 31 (UTC), spot gold is trading at 4,366 USD/oz, down 0.63% over the past 24 hours.

Trending Tokens

ELIZAOS elizaOS (+48.41%, Circulating Market Cap: $44.3M)

According to Gate market data, ELIZAOS is currently trading at $0.005757, up approximately 48.41% over the past 24 hours. ELIZAOS is an application-layer project centered around a Web3 agent and autonomous interaction ecosystem, with a core objective of enabling users to deploy, manage, and invoke on-chain and off-chain agents capable of autonomous execution through an Agent Framework and instruction-based coordination mechanisms. The project emphasizes “orchestrable agents,” “composable strategies,” and “cross-scenario invocation.” Architecturally, the elizaOS Framework serves as its foundational development layer, supporting multi-agent collaboration and extensible task modules that enable practical applications including prediction markets, automated trading, data retrieval, and strategy execution.

The latest surge in ELIZAOS may primarily be attributed to narrative and technical catalysts amplifying sentiment. Recent progress includes completion of the elizaOS Framework, the project’s migration from the ai16z branding to the independent elizaOS ecosystem, and the relaunch of testing activities focused on agent-driven prediction markets and strategy execution. Increased communication from core contributors and renewed official engagement further reinforce the signal of an ecosystem reboot. Additionally, the market’s renewed focus on “Crypto × AI Agents” — particularly amid expectations for a speculative cycle in 2026 Q1 — has fueled interest. As a representative asset in this sector with a relatively small circulating market cap of just $44.3 million, ELIZAOS presents higher elasticity and capital leverage potential, with capital and community attention driving a trend-level breakout accompanied by rising volume.

CC Canton Network (+20.34%, Circulating Market Cap: $5.439B)

According to Gate market data, CC is currently priced at USD 0.14896, up 20.34% over the last 24 hours. Canton Network, developed by Digital Asset, is an institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure positioned as an interoperable financial settlement layer for regulated markets. It is designed for banks, custodians, clearinghouses, and major asset managers, offering privacy protection, permission-controlled access, and interoperable cross-chain composability at the settlement layer.

This round of appreciation may be driven by momentum in the tokenization narrative and a series of institution-focused developments. Canton Network recently completed its version 3.4 upgrade, with roughly 600 validator nodes successfully migrated, enhancing network scalability, developer experience, and institutional throughput. Official data indicates that daily on-chain processing volume now exceeds USD 350 billion, reinforcing the network’s credibility as a scalable financial backbone. Recent institutional catalysts have also elevated expectations: DTCC and Digital Asset confirmed plans to support the issuance and utilization of tokenized Treasuries (USTs) on Canton beginning in 2026, positioning the network to potentially serve as collateral infrastructure and a cross-asset settlement layer for global markets.

RECALL Recall (+24.47%, Circulating Market Cap: $99.87M)

According to Gate market data, RECALL is currently trading at $0.11944, up approximately 24.47% within 24 hours. Recall is an application-layer protocol designed for AI trading agents and model evaluation scenarios, positioned as a “public benchmark layer for AI trading capabilities.” Through real capital deployment, verifiable performance records, and open competitive formats, the protocol evaluates the effectiveness of various LLMs (Large Language Models) and VLMs (Vision-Language Models) in real-world trading decision-making.

The latest rally is driven by upgrades to the model-based trading competition system and accelerated application deployment. Recall has launched a live ETH trading competition featuring GPT-5.2, Claude Sonnet 4.5, Grok-4, and others, comparing performance using “image-only inputs vs. full market data,” alongside a $15,000 prize pool that has stimulated traffic and capital inflows. In a recent agent challenge on HyperliquidX, the best participant achieved a return of +135.45%, intensifying market conviction in the feasibility of AI-driven real trading. Amid sector momentum in AI × Crypto and rapid iteration of LLMs, Recall is viewed as a structural beneficiary due to its unique positioning as a project that combines real trading validation with competency ranking and performance benchmarking.

Alpha Insights

Tokenized Equity Market Capitalization Reaches New Highs, Structural Growth Momentum Emerges

According to Token Terminal, the market capitalization of tokenized equities has surpassed $1.2 billion, marking a historic high and reflecting an accelerating migration of traditional financial assets onto blockchain infrastructure. New inflows are primarily concentrated in tokenized versions of major technology and blue-chip stocks such as TSLA, AAPL, and NVDA. These assets continue to attract both crypto-native users and offshore investors due to advantages such as simplified secondary trading, 24/7 settlement, and lower cross-border investment thresholds. Concurrently, on-chain data indicates an expansion in both trading depth and custody scale, with the market structure displaying reinforcing positive feedback loops between capital inflows and liquidity formation.

At a macro level, the strengthening performance of tokenized assets signals an accelerated realization of the “on-chain securitization” and RWA (Real World Assets) tokenization roadmap. The current growth trajectory is not solely driven by speculative sentiment, but is instead underpinned by clearer regulatory guidance, improvements in compliant custody and clearing infrastructure, and the acceleration of institutional-grade product launches. In the near term, record-high valuations may catalyze an expansion cycle for on-chain securities trading ecosystems. Over the long term, continued progress in regulatory alignment and cross-chain liquidity solutions could position tokenized equities as a crucial bridge between crypto markets and traditional capital markets, exerting structurally transformative pressure on existing trading and settlement frameworks.

Ethereum’s Structural Consolidation Nearing Completion; Directional Breakout May Arrive in 2026

Matrixport data indicates that in the previous cycle, Ethereum benefited from the narratives of “smart contract platform expansion” and “programmable money,” driving substantial new capital inflows. Between 2020 and 2021, ETH rallied sharply, with market expectations once projecting a potential run to $10,000. However, the trend failed to sustain, and ETH retraced from its peak, entering a prolonged consolidation phase within a large triangular structure. Two attempts to break out of the range ultimately failed to hold, with price action quickly reverting to the consolidation zone—highlighting insufficient trend momentum and a lack of consensus around directional bias.

Structurally, the current triangular formation has notably converged, volatility continues to compress, and the price is approaching the terminal end of the structure. Prior to a confirmed breakout, ETH is likely to remain range-bound, favoring defensive positioning and event-driven strategies. As the long-term consolidation approaches completion, 2026 may represent a decisive window for Ethereum’s directional shift: a confirmed breakout could signal the start of a new trend cycle, whereas a confirmed breakdown would require heightened vigilance toward secondary effects such as sentiment deterioration and fundamental repricing. Investors should continue to monitor trading structure, on-chain activity, and narrative recovery to assess the likelihood of an inflection point.

Ethereum Staking Demand Rebounds, Validator Entry Queue Expands Significantly

Ethereum’s validator entry queue has expanded substantially for the first time in six months, now approaching nearly double the exit queue, indicating a clear rebound in staking demand. Recent on-chain data shows that incremental staking is primarily being driven by digital asset treasury institutions such as BitMine, which are reallocating ETH to capture stable yield and native on-chain rewards. Additionally, efficiency and activation enhancements brought by the Pectra upgrade may be contributing to accelerated validator onboarding. Structurally, the combination of rising entries and slowing exits is supporting network security and decentralization, while providing near-term uplift to staking yields and active deposit volumes.

From a medium-term perspective, performance improvements and economic model adjustments introduced by Pectra have strengthened Ethereum’s ecosystem scalability and reinforced its pricing logic as a yield-bearing asset, suggesting institutional allocation could continue. However, rapid queue growth may prolong activation times and temporarily suppress staking returns; during periods of macro or sentiment deterioration, concentrated withdrawals may still introduce liquidity volatility. Overall, shifts in the validator queue structure indicate incremental improvement in Ethereum’s underlying fundamentals, although the durability of this trend will ultimately depend on whether upgrade benefits are reflected in real-world data and supported by market risk appetite.


References

• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/BTC_USDT
• Farside Investors, https://farside.co.uk/btc/
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/ETH_USDT
• Farside Investors, https://farside.co.uk/eth/
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/crypto-market-data
• Investing, https://investing.com/indices/usa-indices
• Investing, https://investing.com/currencies/xau-usd
• X, https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/2005821333645492273?s=20
• X, https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/2005730354116596154

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Disclaimer
Investing in cryptocurrency markets involves high risk. Users are advised to conduct their own research and fully understand the nature of the assets and products before making any investment decisions. Gate is not responsible for any losses or damages arising from such decisions.