On Dec. 16, K33 reported that prolonged selling by long‑term bitcoin holders is close to saturation after roughly 20% of supply was reactivated over two years. The firm said about 1.6 million BTC ($138 billion) has moved since 2024 and expects the two‑year supply to recover, with selling easing in 2026.

As of December 17 2025, BTC is trading around $86,401.82, slightly above the $84,000 cost basis attributed to ETF buyers, while experiencing a multi‑week correction. Large miners, whales and new accumulation wallets are largely holding or adding to reserves, in contrast to ETFs and some institutions that are offloading BTC and contributing to selling pressure. On‑chain data shows miner reserves near 1.89M BTC and relatively stable holdings among large addresses, even as analysts warn of potential downside targets between $70,000 and $40,000 before a possible new bull phase.

On December 17, 2025, Whale Alert tracked a 3,000 BTC transfer worth $260,387,071 into Binance's "15KX2" deposit address. Arkham tied the sending wallets to Matrixport, and two Matrixport-linked wallets moved about 4,000 BTC ($347.56 million) to Binance the same day. Bitcoin hovered near $86,600, with no confirmed spot selling visible in the order book.

On 17 December 2025, Russian authorities restated that cryptocurrencies cannot be used for domestic payments, and the ruble remains the sole legal medium of exchange. According to Anatoly Aksakov, chair of the State Duma's Financial Markets Committee, digital assets may be held and traded as investments but will not be treated as money within Russia.

Bhutan unveiled a Bitcoin Development Pledge on Tuesday, committing up to 10,000 BTC worth about $1 billion to fund Gelephu Mindfulness City. The plan uses collateralized lending and risk-managed yield to finance infrastructure while keeping sovereign holdings intact. King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck announced it during his National Day Address.

Bitcoin is trading around $86,500 after nearly a 30% slide from its October high above $126,000. Analysts say a decisive break above $88,000 is needed, or attention may shift to $83,000 and $80,000, with some highlighting a deeper $72,000–$75,000 area. Longer-term signals turned cautious as weekly Supertrend support was lost and liquidations drove recent downside.

Under sustained selling pressure through mid-December, Bitcoin has fallen below the $90,000 support and remains in a downtrend. Analyst Lingrid outlines a structure where repeated rejections between $92,500 and $93,500 keep price capped below a key channel, raising the risk of a decline toward $82,000. A break and hold above $92,500 could invalidate this bearish view and refocus attention on the $100,000 region, but current sentiment and price levels make that scenario less likely.

On 17 December 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission restarted its review of Nasdaq's application to list BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF, an actively managed product built around option-writing strategies rather than pure spot Bitcoin exposure. The fund's hybrid structure and listing under Rule 5711(d) have drawn deeper regulatory scrutiny, with a final decision due by 31 December 2025 that could influence how complex Bitcoin-based ETFs are treated in U.S. markets.