Bitcoin climbed back above $89,000 on Dec. 22, trading at $89,008 with a 24-hour gain of 0.8%, HTX market data show. The move marks a recovery above the key $89,000 level.

Strategy held 671,268 bitcoin as of Dec. 14, 2025, with a total cost of approximately $50.33 billion and an average cost of about $74,972 per coin, BlockBeats reports. Founder Michael Saylor shared the Bitcoin Tracker data on Dec. 21.

Galaxy Digital Head of Research Alex Thorn said Bitcoin will reach $250,000 by the end of 2027, BlockBeats reports. He wrote on Dec. 21 that options market pricing shows roughly similar probabilities of BTC at $70,000 or $130,000 by end-June 2026, and at $50,000 or $250,000 by end-2026, reflecting high uncertainty over the near to mid term. Thorn noted the crypto market was in a bear phase and that BTC had not re-established clear bullish momentum, adding that downside risks persist until BTC firmly holds the $100,000–$105,000 range and citing macro uncertainties including the pace of AI capital spending, the monetary policy environment, and November U.S. midterm elections. He observed a structural decline in BTC's long-term volatility partly linked to larger covered-call and yield-generation strategies, said the volatility smile now prices puts richer than calls versus six months ago, and maintained a long-term bullish view, adding that institutional access is expanding and that Bitcoin is likely to be accepted like gold as a hedge against currency devaluation within two years.

Casa co-founder Jameson Lopp said on Dec. 21 that quantum computers will not break the Bitcoin network in the short term, BlockBeats reports. A thorough overhaul and unprecedented fund migration could take 5 to 10 years, he said.

A Bitcoin whale trimmed its short position by 20 BTC approximately 20 minutes ago, booking a $465,000 profit, on-chain analyst Ai's Aunt (@ai_9684xtpa) reported. The address still holds a short position of 550.7 BTC valued at $48.6 million, with an unrealized profit of $12.8 million and funding fee gains of $9.6 million. The whale has opened four consecutive BTC short positions since March 2025, bringing total profits to more than $55.51 million, BlockBeats reported on Dec. 21.

The Coinbase Bitcoin Premium Index stood at -0.044% on Dec. 21, marking seven consecutive days in negative territory, Coinglass data show. The index tracks the difference between Bitcoin's price on Coinbase and the global average, with positive values indicating Coinbase trades above the average and negative values below.

Coinglass data show that if Bitcoin breaks $90,000 on Dec. 21, cumulative short liquidation strength on major centralized exchanges would reach $481 million. Conversely, a drop below $86,000 would see cumulative long liquidation strength hit $514 million on major exchanges.

Fundstrat crypto strategy head Sean Farrell said on Dec. 21 that differences between his market outlook and Tom Lee's reflect distinct client mandates, with his research geared to portfolios where crypto allocations are about 20% and above, while Lee's targets large asset managers allocating 1%–5% to BTC and ETH, BlockBeats reports. Farrell characterized his cautious first-half stance as risk management and cited risks including possible government shutdown, trade volatility, AI capex uncertainty, potential Fed chair transition, tight high-yield spreads, low cross-asset volatility, and recent diverging fund flows; he added BTC is in a valuation no-man's land, and said ETF demand should improve over time as major brokers join, though near-term pressures include selling by original holders, miner stress, potential MSCI removal of MSTR, and fund redemptions. His base case is an early-year rebound followed by another pullback in the first half, setting up more attractive entry points for year-end, and he still expects BTC and ETH to challenge new all-time highs by year-end; Tom Lee said in an interview that BTC could set a record by the end of January 2026, while Farrell's Dec. 20 report projected BTC at 6 万至 6.5 万美元 in 2026 H1 and ETH at 1800 至 2000 美元.