As 2025 approaches its end, Wintermute reports that crypto markets remain volatile, with sharp derivatives-driven selloffs pushing Bitcoin briefly under $85,000 and Ethereum below $3,000 last week. Daily liquidations hit roughly $600 million on Monday and about $400 million on both Wednesday and Thursday, while Bitcoin's struggle around $90,000 leaves it facing a near-24% fourth-quarter decline.

In late December 2025, Bitcoin was struggling to sustain upward momentum as traders increasingly criticized Michael Saylor and Strategy over leverage, debt, and possible forced selling. On-chain analytics firm Santiment argued that this intense bearish mood, combined with Strategy's roughly 65% stock drop since July and worries about index removal, may indicate emotions have reached an extreme and that selling pressure could be nearing exhaustion. Strategy still holds more than 670,000 BTC and, according to recent disclosures, has slowed purchases and built a cash buffer while allowing for potential Bitcoin sales or derivatives use as part of risk management.

A crypto analyst recommends trimming Bitcoin exposure in favor of "high quality" altcoins, arguing BTC's risk–reward has weakened with price around $87,000 and roughly 30x above its last cycle low. Using XRP's 7x surge in 23 days in mid-2025 as an example, they contend patiently accumulated alts can outperform later in the cycle.

According to Artemis data covering August 2024 to August 2025, Ethereum‑based stablecoin transfers increasingly involve business wallets, with B2B volume up 156% and P2B payments rising 167%. While P2P still accounts for most transaction count, corporate and merchant activity now drives the majority of dollar volume, underscoring Ethereum’s growing role in real-world settlement even as ETH trades below $3,000.

In December 2025, gold and silver extended gains while Bitcoin traded sideways, underscoring a split between haven demand and risk exposure. On-chain and activity metrics indicate softer participation, and Bitcoin is tracking its weakest fourth quarter since 2018, down nearly 22%, with prices near the 85,000–90,000 dollar range and fair value estimates around 88,000 dollars.

Bitcoin is on track to finish Q4 2025 with a loss of almost 22%, its softest fourth-quarter performance since the 2018 downturn. The price has hovered between $85,000 and $90,000 in recent days, as on-chain indicators and macro headwinds highlight fading speculative demand and a cautious market tone.

Meme-themed cryptocurrencies reached a record $150.6 billion market cap in December 2024 and later fell to $47.2 billion by November 2025, a 69% drop. The cycle was fueled by political tokens and a surge in January 2025 launches, while U.S. interest climbed from 20% to nearly 30% during the year.

In its newly released 2026 outlook, crypto analytics firm Presto Research projects Bitcoin could climb to $160,000 and expects tokenized assets and stablecoins to approach $490 billion in value. The report anticipates a maturing market shaped by institutional adoption, confidential DeFi reaching $10 billion, and growing focus on regulation-ready products and measurable cash flows.

On December 19, Ethereum’s derivatives activity on Binance saw its Estimated Leverage Ratio climb to 0.611, while the Taker Buy/Sell Ratio rose to 1.13. These readings suggest buyers are paying market prices to enter longs and are using elevated leverage. ETH was trading just above $2,900 at the time, up over 3% on the day.