Quarter-to-date, Bitcoin has lagged risk assets, with BTC down 22% while the S&P 500 is up 2.18%. In a recent interview, Michael Saylor said Bitcoin's fundamentals remain strong in 2025; MicroStrategy added 31k BTC this quarter. Coin Metrics reports wrapped BTC supply, including WBTC and cbBTC, totals 172,130 BTC.

The Kingdom of Bhutan plans to deploy 10,000 BTC, valued at roughly $1 billion, to support the long-term development of its new Gelephu Mindfulness City economic zone. Announced by King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck in his National Day Address, the Bitcoin Development Pledge focuses on mindful, sustainable growth and potential collateral, yield strategies, and prudent governance for the kingdom's BTC reserves.

On December 21, 2025, Galaxy Digital Research issued its 2026 outlook, calling the year too chaotic to forecast while projecting Bitcoin could reach $250,000 by end-2027. Bitcoin set a $126,080 all-time high on October 6, 2025, then slid to the low $90,000s and around $88,000 in December. The firm also anticipates strong growth in stablecoins.

Bitcoin core developer Jameson Lopp said moving Bitcoin to post‑quantum cryptography could take 5–10 years, citing decentralized coordination. He agreed with Adam Back that quantum computers pose no near‑term threat, while Charles Edwards warned BTC could fall below $50,000 by 2028 if node operators don't enforce BIP 360.

Reports describe Fundstrat's internal Bitcoin outlook for 2026 as divided between risk-focused downside planning and a more optimistic macro view. Sean Farrell is said to outline a base case that sees BTC falling toward $60,000–$65,000 and ETH and SOL also pulling back, while Tom Lee continues to project new all-time highs that could reach up to $200,000 by late January 2026. Market participants are weighing these separate scenarios as distinct time frames and mandates rather than a single unified firm forecast.

Alex Thorn, Galaxy Digital's head of firmwide research, expects Bitcoin to reach $250,000 by the end of 2027. He cautioned that 2026 is hard to forecast and said options markets currently assign equal odds of $50,000 or $250,000 by the end of next year, reflecting heightened near‑term uncertainty.

Wang Chun, co-founder of Bitcoin mining pool F2Pool, recounted a 2024 incident where he reportedly sent 500 BTC into a wallet he believed was compromised to test if it was under hacker surveillance, resulting in the loss of 490 BTC. He shared this story after a separate December 20 phishing case in which a user mistakenly transferred about 50 million USDT in an address poisoning attack and is now working with law enforcement to recover the funds. The Ethereum Community Foundation has urged wallets and explorers to stop truncating addresses with dots, arguing that this interface choice unnecessarily increases the risk of such scams.

On December 21, Bitcoin fell 0.21% over 24 hours and traded at $87,844. The hourly setup shows pressure near $87,576 support, with a possible move toward $87,000 next week if no rebound. Broader charts suggest low volume and likely consolidation in the $85,000–$95,000 range through month-end.