According to a recent technical analysis by market expert Egrag Crypto, XRP has formed a “Super Guppy Compression” against Bitcoin, signaling the potential for a major structural shift. The analyst has revealed what could come next for the XRP/BTC pair following this development, indicating a higher probability of a bullish breakout within the next few months. 

XRP Bitcoin Pair Forms Super Guppy Compression

In his X post, Egrag Crypto provided a detailed breakdown of the XRP/BTC price structure and the recent patterns emerging within its chart. He suggested that the trading pair recently entered a transition phase after a multi-year decline, with price action tightening as the market moved through a period of compression. 

Egrag Crypto revealed that XRP/BTC has completed a Super Guppy Compression pattern, which shows full ribbon compression across both short- and long-term Moving Averages (MA). According to the analyst, this compression signals an upcoming volatility expansion, indicates exhausted selling pressure, and highlights a clear transition phase in the market. 

Color dynamics within the Guppy system on the chart also suggest a shift in market behavior. Egrag Crypto notes that the short-term Moving Averages, or “ribbons” as he calls them, are turning green, signaling early bullish momentum. At the same time, long-term ribbons remain red but are flattening, indicating that the downward trend on XRP/BTC is easing. These developments also show that the market has exited its bearish phase; however, a clear uptrend has yet to emerge, leaving the trading pair in a base-building stage.

From a price-structure perspective, Egrag Crypto notes that XRP/BTC is forming a bullish rectangular pattern. The analyst revealed that the trading pair had repeatedly bounced off support while facing rejection at resistance, indicating that supply is being absorbed rather than aggressively sold off. According to him, this behavior aligns with textbook reaccumulation patterns observed after extended downtrends, signaling a potential upward move ahead. 

Egrag Crypto has shared key targets for where he believes XRP/BTC could go next, depending on its current market structure. He noted that the structure matters more than the underlying emotion, suggesting that although the market may seem quiet, it is actively positioning for a decisive move. 

Analyst Sets Bullish And Bearish Targets For XRP/BTC

Continuing his analysis, Egrag Crypto predicted that over the next three to six months, the XRP/BTC price has a 60-70% chance of a bullish breakout. He added that there is also a 30-40% possibility of an extended consolidation, but only if the market structure breaks—a scenario he considers unlikely. 

Looking at the chart, the analyst has identified two key upside targets and one downside scenario. If XRP/BTC crosses the red resistance line at approximately $0.0000338, Egrag Crypto predicts an initial surge to a “conservative” target of $0.000091, followed by a rise to a “normal” target of $0.00014. Conversely, if a structure break occurs, XRP/BTC could plunge from $0.0000193 to $0.00000668.

Seattle-area startup Included announced Wednesday that it has been acquired by Phenom, a global human resources company based in Pennsylvania. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Included launched five years ago in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the widespread move by companies nationwide to better support racial and ethnic diversity throughout their operations. The startup initially focused its data analytics on DEI-related efforts, but expanded to support employee retention and engagement, faster hiring timelines, and managing performance evaluations.

Raghu Gollamudi, Included’s co-founder and CEO, called the acquisition “a major accelerator for our vision.”

“By integrating Included into Phenom’s Applied AI platform, we’ll bring more Native AI and Agentic AI into people analytics — so teams can move from static dashboards to insights that are timely, actionable, and embedded in how work actually happens,” Gollamudi said on LinkedIn.

Included has less than 15 employees, according to LinkedIn data. Jennifer Lyons, spokesperson for Phenom, said via email that “a majority of Included employees have become Phenom employees.”

She added that Included will not continue as a standalone brand. “Phenom has a successful history of natively integrating acquisitions into our broader Applied AI platform,” she said. “This approach helps existing customers of both companies succeed.”

Included was created by a trio of co-founders:

• Gollamudi, who won Startup CEO of the Year at the 2022 GeekWire Awards, previously co-founded privacy tech startup Integris Software, which sold to OneTrust in 2020. Earlier in his career, he was a principal development lead at Microsoft for nine years.
• Chandan Golla, the company’s chief product and customer officer, was vice president of products at Integris and worked at eBay for more than a decade.
• Laura Close, the startup’s chief business development officer, previously worked in career consulting and in support of labor organizations. Close is now CEO of Close Cohen, a job search and executive coaching firm.

Included raised $7.3 million from investors that include FlyingFish, SignalFire, Ascend, Trilogy Equity Partners and Alumni Ventures.

While Phenom would not provide details on the deal, Lyons said, “Investors are pleased.”

Editor’s note: Story updated Jan. 15 to correct the funding total and include comments from Phenom regarding the status of former Included employees, Included’s integration and investor response.

A flurry of cannabis business transactions came on the heels of President Donald Trump's Dec. 18 executive order - with many more to come once marijuana rescheduling is finalized.

Flurry of cannabis M&A that followed Trump marijuana rescheduling a sign of things to come is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

News of the move to acquire Seraphic comes less than a week after CrowdStrike announced an agreement to acquire identity security startup SGNL for $740 million.

The post CrowdStrike to Acquire Browser Security Firm Seraphic for $420 Million appeared first on SecurityWeek.

The deal aims to bolster CrowdStrike's Falcon platform with "continuous identity" protection to secure human and AI-driven access in real-time.

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2025 was the strongest year for cybersecurity funding since the 2021 peak, according to Pinpoint Search Group.

The post Cybersecurity Firms Secured $14 Billion in Funding in 2025: Analysis appeared first on SecurityWeek.

Significant cybersecurity M&A deals announced by Akamai, Red Hat, Checkmarx, Silent Push, and ServiceNow.

The post Cybersecurity M&A Roundup: 30 Deals Announced in December 2025 appeared first on SecurityWeek.

Microsoft announced Monday that it acquired Osmos, a Seattle startup that helps companies automate data engineering work. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Osmos’ team will join the engineering organization behind Microsoft Fabric, the tech giant’s data and analytics platform, to “accelerate autonomous data engineering,” according to a Microsoft blog post.

Founded in 2019, Osmos initially focused on external data ingestion — helping companies bring in data from customers, suppliers, and partners. Over time, the startup began experimenting with large language models embedded directly in data engineering workflows, and later built products within Microsoft Fabric, using the platform’s extensibility platform.

Now, instead of selling tools alongside data platforms, Osmos’ technology will live inside one.

“By bringing Osmos’ technology and team into Microsoft, we have the opportunity to accelerate what we’ve been building and deliver it to a far broader audience — directly where customers already operate their data platforms,” Osmos CEO Kirat Pandya wrote in a blog post.

Microsoft Fabric, launched in 2023, unifies data engineering, data science, real-time analytics, and business intelligence in a single environment. Osmos’ technology will help turn raw data into “analytics- and AI-ready assets,” according to Bogdan Crivat, who leads Microsoft’s Azure Data Analytics team.

“Many teams spend most of their time preparing data instead of analyzing it,” Crivat wrote in a blog post.

As part of the deal, Osmos is winding down its standalone offerings. The company says its current product suite — including Uploaders, Pipelines, and Datasets, as well as its data agents for Databricks and Fabric — will begin sunsetting in January 2026 as the tech is integrated into Fabric.

Osmos raised $13 million in a round led by Lightspeed in 2021 that also included CRV, Pear, and SV Angel.

Pandya previously worked at Google and Microsoft. Osmos co-founder Naresh Venkat also worked at Google, as well as Trend Micro and Dell. Osmos has less than 20 employees, according to LinkedIn.

The total disclosed value for all the cybersecurity M&A deals announced in 2025 exceeded $84 billion.

The post 8 Cybersecurity Acquisitions Surpassed $1 Billion Mark in 2025 appeared first on SecurityWeek.

Cannabis MSO PharmaCann is selling some of its Colorado retail assets to Vireo Growth Inc. for $49 million in newly issued Vireo shares.

Cannabis MSO Vireo bets on Colorado with $49 million acquisition is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Seattle-based mental health startup Joon Care has been acquired by Handspring Health, a New York-based health tech company. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“The acquisition is a major step toward building the most clinically rigorous and digitally engaging platform for youth and family mental healthcare in the country,” said Sahil Choudhry, co-founder and CEO of New York-based Handspring, in a LinkedIn post.

Joon launched in 2019 to provide online care for teens and young adults, pairing digital tools with virtual therapy sessions. The company serves patients 13- to 26-years-old who need help with anxiety, depression, disordered eating, sexual and gender identity, academic problems and other challenges. The course of therapy typically runs 16 weeks. The company’s program emphasizes its use of evidence-based care strategies and patient assessments to track progress.

Joon spun out of Seattle’s Pioneer Square Labs (PSL) and raised an initial $3.5 million round in 2020. Two years ago, it announced an additional $6 million investment, which would provide two to three years of operations, CEO Emily Pesce said at the time.

Handspring said in a press release that it would be integrating the companies’ “expert teams,” but did not say if all of Joon’s employees would be retained. The company has roughly 50 employees, based on information on LinkedIn.

GeekWire reached out to Pesce and will update the story if we hear back.

Handspring launched in 2021 and has raised $18.2 million, according to PitchBook. It also provides virtual therapy and online support, serving a slightly larger demographic with patients from 8- to 29-years-old.

Both companies operate multi-state platforms. Joon is licensed to provide care in Washington, Oregon, California, Texas, New York, Delaware and Pennsylvania. Its treatment is covered by 16 insurance companies, according to its website, and includes national giants Aetna and UnitedHealthcare.

Joon also launched a partnership in 2023 with the City of Seattle to provide free care to clients who are referred to the startup through the city’s human services programs. The collaboration appears to be ongoing, and Handspring said it would continue serving families under Joon’s existing contracts with government agencies, as well as treatment covered by insurance companies.

Pesce was a finalist for Startup CEO of the Year at the 2023 GeekWire Awards.

More consolidation is afoot in the world of cybersecurity. Bitsight, a cybersecurity startup last valued at $2.4 billion when ratings firm Moody’s took a stake in the business and became its largest shareholder in 2021, is acquiring Cybersixgill for $115 million. Boston-based Bitsight’s focus is cyber risk management. It works with enterprises to assess their […]