Early Riders | Open Range Weekly | 12.28.25
Bitcoin remained mostly flat this week at a market capitalization of $1.75T.
Early Riders Media
Michael, Brian, and Liam break down the key deals, signals, and themes of 2025, as well as their key predictions for the major developments of 2026, on this week's podcast.
You can find all our episodes on our podcast website as well as listen on YouTube, Apple, and Spotify.
Industry & Institutional Updates
Tether unveiled an AI-enabled wallet with on-device processing for bitcoin, USDT, and XAUT, allowing Tether's new wallet to process data locally, instead of connecting with cloud-based infrastructure first, enhancing privacy and security.
Erebor raised $350M at a $4B valuation, after receiving its national bank charter and FDIC approval as the bank looks to fill SVB's void, offering both traditional banking and digital asset related services.
BlackRock named its bitcoin ETF a top 2025 signal despite the price softness throughout the year, as they continue to receive record inflows into their bitcoin ETFs.
Coinbase announced its acquisition of the prediction-markets startup The Clearing Company, for an undisclosed amount, as they look to increase their exposure to prediction markets.
Citi strengthened their forecast with bitcoin reaching as high as $189,000 by the end of 2026, after emphasizing heightened ETF inflows, institutional adoption, and tightening supply dynamics.
Regulatory Updates
Russia moved to bring bitcoin access to retail investors in the country, after releasing new regulation that allows "tiered-access" for both professional and retail investors.
Arizona lawmakers introduced legislation aimed at preventing existing proposed legislation of allowing property tax on bitcoin.
Ghana passed a law legalizing crypto trading, and allowing their central bank to regulate and license cryptocurrency providers as nation-state adoption and development continues.
What We’re Watching
Erebor, a crypto-native banking startup, announced a $350M capital raise implying a $4B valuation after receiving FDIC approval and its national bank charter this week.
Erebor, which is co-founded and backed by Palmer Luckey (Founder of Anduril Industries) and Peter Thiel (Founder of Founders Fund), is building a full-stack digital bank designed specifically for crypto, stablecoin, and on-chain financial activity, offering deposit accounts, payments, and banking-as-a-service infrastructure. The fundraising round was led by Lux Capital with additional backers such as Founders Fund, 8VC and Haun Ventures. Backed by top-tier investors, Erebor aims to have one of the most conservative loan-to-deposit ratios of any bank in the United States, targeting a ~50% loan-to-deposit ratio at launch, as they look to become a regulated bridge between traditional finance and on-chain markets within a compliant U.S. banking framework.
Chart of the Week
The traditional 4-year cycle theory is dead amidst lackluster performance from bitcoin this year, leading many analysts to believe that 2026 will be the major growth year as opposed to 2025.
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