Best Crypto to Buy December 17th: November Jobs Data Lifts Rate Cut Odds, Bitcoin Flashes Bullish Divergence

The latest US jobs data is forcing the Fed’s hand to adopt a dovish monetary policy and aggressively cut rates in 2026. 

The nonfarm payroll (NFP) data for November shows that the US economy added 64,000 jobs, above the 50,000 expectation. 

However, the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.6%, its highest level since September 2021, showing continued weakness in the labour market. 

Additionally, 105,000 jobs were lost in October due to the government shutdown, and the previously reported figures for August and September were revised down by 33,000. The slow wage growth also indicates a weak job market. 

Interest rate trader and macroeconomist Joseph Wang, also known as the Fed Guy, highlights that the labour market weakness could force the central bank to adopt an accommodative stance, ditching its current neutrality. 

Meanwhile, Bloomberg Intelligence’s Anna Wong has also highlighted that the US economy could see continued disinflation over the next 6 months, giving the Fed the room to cut rates aggressively. 

Fed’s dovishness paves a bullish backdrop for risk assets, with Bitcoin, large-cap altcoins and utility coins among the best crypto to invest in today. 

Bitcoin, Chainlink Among The Best Crypto To Buy Today

Bitcoin (BTC)

Bitcoin appears to be in the late stages of a corrective phase, with technical indicators suggesting downside momentum may be weakening.

BTC is currently showing bullish divergences across multiple key timeframes, including the daily, three-day, and weekly charts.

As shown in the daily chart below, Bitcoin has formed a double-bottom structure around the $86,400 level, while momentum indicators such as the Relative Strength Index and on-balance volume have printed higher lows, a setup that historically signals improving underlying strength.

Market intelligence platforms indicate that this week’s correction was largely driven by a liquidation cascade and panic selling from small retail participants. In contrast, on-chain data shows larger holders, including sharks and whales, actively accumulating during the pullback.

Santiment’s social media analysis shows that retail traders are increasingly positioned for lower prices, while Glassnode data reveals that wallets holding between 100 and 1,000 BTC have accumulated more than 54,000 Bitcoin, marking the fastest pace of accumulation for this cohort since 2012.

Sidelined investors who have missed out on the Bitcoin bull run thus far now have one final opportunity to buy the dip before a new all-time high in 2026. 

Bitcoin Hyper (HYPER)

Bitcoin’s bullish strength paves the ideal backdrop for altcoins within the BTC ecosystem to see explosive growth. 

Bitcoin Hyper, the newest BTC layer-2 project, has emerged as a favourite of smart money investors and whales alike. 

Etherscan has flagged several buys worth hundreds of thousands into HYPER, with one whale buying $650k worth of the new crypto in a single transaction. The project ICO has already raised over $29.5 million. 

Bitcoin Hyper is powered by the Solana Virtual Machine and cutting-edge zero-knowledge architecture. In recent weeks, ZK projects like Zcash, Arbitrum and zkSync have seen significant success, which bodes well for HYPER. 

Moreover, the top layer-2 coins have a propensity to reach multibillion-dollar valuations. Even Bitcoin’s Stacks has a peak market cap of over $5 billion, which indicates HYPER’s upside valuation. 

Beyond hype, Bitcoin Hyper is built around real network utility, with its token playing a direct role in transaction fees, staking-based security, and ecosystem incentives across its Bitcoin Layer-2 environment.

Considering its low market cap, many smart money investors are eyeing up to 10x returns from it. 

Chainlink (LINK)

Chainlink (LINK) remains a core piece of blockchain infrastructure, providing decentralized oracle services that allow smart contracts to securely interact with real-world data, APIs, and traditional financial systems. 

Its role has become increasingly important as tokenization, on-chain finance, and institutional blockchain adoption continue to expand.

Recent on-chain data shows that large LINK holders have steadily increased their exposure since early November, signalling renewed long-term interest rather than short-term speculation. The 100 largest wallets have accumulated $263 million worth of LINK since the start of November. 

At the same time, Chainlink’s ecosystem activity continues to grow, driven by the adoption of products such as the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) and data feeds used across DeFi, RWAs, and enterprise applications.

While LINK’s price has lagged broader ecosystem metrics in recent months, analysts often view this divergence between network usage and valuation as a structural setup that could resolve as market conditions improve.

XRP (XRP)

Bitcoin isn’t the only large-cap asset that has formed a bullish divergence. 

The XRP price has formed a series of lower lows, while its Relative Strength Index (RSI-14) has formed a series of higher lows, a classic bullish divergence pattern that signals hidden buying strength. 

Moreover, spot XRP ETFs are continuing to signal growing institutional demand. The products have now amassed roughly $1.2 billion in assets under management, recording net inflows for 30 consecutive trading days since launch.

Historically, a similar pattern of sustained inflows was observed in spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs ahead of major upside moves in both assets, suggesting that institutional positioning is once again building beneath the surface.

XRP continues to hold above the $1.90 support level. A breakout above $2 would indicate the start of a new bull run. 

Pepenode (PEPENODE)

Smart money investors appear to be accumulating Ethereum meme coins, with the likes of Pepe, Mog Coin and Turbo in high demand. 

Among the low-cap gems, Pepenode has emerged as a standout choice and one of the best crypto to buy today. 

Pepenode is the ideal combination of meme culture and utility. It is a gamified meme-coin platform built on Ethereum that combines traditional token mechanics with an interactive “mine-to-earn” system. 

Rather than using physical hardware, users purchase and upgrade virtual mining nodes and facilities using $PEPENODE tokens, simulating mining activity in a browser-based environment. 

Early participants can stake tokens and construct customized node setups that generate simulated rewards, potentially including additional meme coins such as Pepe and Fartcoin. 

The project’s whitepaper outlines tiered node incentives, progressive presale pricing stages, and a roadmap leading to a live virtual mining simulator post-TGE. By blending engagement with token utility, Pepenode aims to sustain community interest beyond a typical presale.

Early presale buyers are also enjoying staking rewards worth 500% per annum. 

The meme coin has already raised nearly $3 million in its ICO, with the early buyers hopeful for 100x returns in the 2026 bull run.