The correction on global markets has intensified: gold has fallen sharply after recent record highs, Bitcoin has dropped to around $84,000, and the US stock market is also declining amid a sell-off in the technology sector.
According to Reuters, the spot price of gold fell more than 4% on Thursday as investors took profits after a surge to historic highs, with prices falling to around $5,150 per ounce.
Bitcoin, at current prices, is down about 5% to $85,000, with the day’s low at around $84,350.
In the US, indices also fell into negative territory: the S&P 500 was down about 1.1%, and the Nasdaq fell 2.1%, with pressure on the market coming in particular from a sharp drop in Microsoft shares after its earnings report. The decline is also confirmed by the dynamics of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which lost about 1% on Thursday.
Bitcoin accelerated its growth in mid-January and is trading at around $97,024, updating the local highs of recent weeks. Ethereum is holding steady at $3,366.
According to CoinMarketCap, the global capitalisation of the crypto market is around $3.28 trillion, with Bitcoin accounting for around 59%, indicating a concentration of demand in the largest asset, while altcoins are growing less evenly.
The main driver in January is the return of institutional interest through ETFs. US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded strong inflows, including about $843.6 million on 14 January, with total inflows measured in billions of dollars over several days.
The second factor is the US macroeconomy. The market reacted to inflation data and rate expectations, which directly affect risk appetite and the cost of capital. After the publication of the December CPI, Bitcoin accelerated at certain moments, and volatility in crypto intensified.
January news markers that may affect the exchange rate.
Regulation in the US. On 13 January, senators introduced a bill on rules for the crypto market, including the division of powers between the SEC and CFTC and the approach to stablecoins. On 15 January, discussions in the Senate Banking Committee were postponed after public criticism from Coinbase. This is a typical trigger for the market: clear rules are a plus for valuations, while delays and disputes are a cause for nervousness.
Stablecoins and payments. Visa is publicly increasing its focus on stablecoin payments: the company estimates the current annual run rate of such payments at approximately $4.5 billion, with an estimated $270 billion in stablecoins in circulation. Any news about stablecoin regulation and the banking lobby in the US can quickly affect sentiment in crypto.
Risk of incidents and hacks. In January, the market already received a reminder of technological risks: some tokens fell to almost zero after exploits (an example is the incident surrounding Truebit). Such events usually hit the ‘second tier’ and increase demand for quality (BTC, large protocols).
The key event of the month is the FOMC meeting on 27-28 January 2026 and the subsequent press conference. The Fed’s rhetoric on rates and inflation remains one of the strongest external factors for crypto at the beginning of the year.
Bitcoin rose above $90,000 on Monday amid improved risk appetite, but has since corrected. According to CoinDesk, the price reached approximately $90,300 at the height of the session, after which profit-taking began. BTC is currently trading at around $87,300 per coin.
Recall that the autumn crash was exacerbated by the forced closure of shorts worth nearly $19 billion, and the cryptocurrency market as a whole has not yet recovered these losses. The autumn-winter “Santa Claus rally,” which pushed the S&P 500 index to new highs, had virtually no impact on crypto assets, but investor sentiment is gradually improving.
Source: https://www.fixygen.ua/news/20251229/bitkoyn-podolav-riven-90-tisyach-vpershe-za-dva-tizhni.html
Precious metals showed the strongest performance among key asset classes in 2025 amid geopolitical tensions, expectations of a softening US Federal Reserve policy, and seasonally low liquidity at the end of the year.
According to market reports, silver rose 128.47%, gold rose 66.59%, and copper rose 35.45%.
US stock indices also ended the year in positive territory: the Nasdaq added 19.70% and the Russell 2000 added 12.53%.
At the same time, the crypto market showed weaker dynamics: Bitcoin fell by 5.75%, Ethereum by 11.58%, and the altcoin sector by 42.27%.
In the commodities market, the key driver was the “defensive” component of demand: gold hit new all-time highs in 2025, while silver showed relatively sharp growth; copper also strengthened amid bets on infrastructure and industrial demand.
This week (December 15-21), the crypto market experienced fluctuations without a clear trend: after a slump at the beginning of the week, Bitcoin remained in the $87-89 thousand range, and investors switched back to a wait-and-see mode due to the macro agenda, mixed dynamics of ETF flows, and a seasonal decline in liquidity ahead of the holidays.
Bitcoin gained about 1.6% (at closing) between December 15 and December 21, but there was a noticeable V-shaped movement during the week: selling pressure in the $85,000–86,000 range was offset by rebounds to $88,000–89,000.
Ethereum remained virtually unchanged over the same period (close to zero at closing), staying around the $3,000 mark, but with noticeable intraday fluctuations.
Sentiment remained subdued: fear and greed indices showed “Extreme Fear” for most of the week, which usually amplifies sharp movements in a thin market.
The key external factor was expectations regarding US interest rates and year-end risk-off sentiment. In December, the Fed cut rates by 25 basis points to 3.5-3.75%, while the market interpreted its rhetoric as more cautious about further steps.
Against this backdrop, any hint of a pause or a tighter rate trajectory weighed on risk appetite, as evidenced by the reaction of crypto assets at the beginning of the “last full week of the year.”
The second theme is institutional flows. According to reports and market news, there were inflows and noticeable outflows from BTC and ETH ETFs during the week (investors often “close” risk or lock in results at the end of the year), which added volatility and increased dependence on news.
The third line is that “traditional finance” continues to tokenize, but this is still more of an infrastructure trend than an immediate price driver. For example, JPMorgan announced the launch of a tokenized money market fund on the Ethereum blockchain, supporting the long-term narrative around real assets on-chain.
Even during a calm week in terms of prices, reminders of the risks were loud and clear: research on crypto crime and isolated incidents in DeFi underscore that “operational risk” (vulnerabilities, deployment errors, key management) remains a key vulnerability for the industry.
Fixygen’s short-term forecast until the end of 2025
Until December 31, the base scenario is sideways movement with an increased likelihood of sharp spikes due to low liquidity during the holidays and reduced institutional activity. Important triggers for the rest of the year are ETF flow dynamics, any surprises from US macro statistics and Fed rhetoric, plus local stories about major players in the public market (there is also growing attention around the classification of companies with large crypto reserves).
Regarding risks: during the “holidays,” the influence of thin trading and liquidations increases — movements may be disproportionate to the news.
The cryptocurrency market remains under pressure in early December 2025 after a sharp decline in November, but has shown signs of stabilization in recent days: Bitcoin (BTC) is trading in the $90,000–92,000 range, remaining approximately 25–30% below its historic October high of over $120,000.
According to CoinMarketCap, the total capitalization of the cryptocurrency market on December 6–8 is about $3 trillion, which is significantly lower than the peak values of the fall, against the backdrop of the “December reckoning” — a continuation of the sell-off that began in November and intensified due to investors exiting spot Bitcoin ETFs and the unwinding of excess leverage.
Ethereum (ETH) is holding above $3,000 – around $3,100 – and looks stronger than Bitcoin in early December: a number of reviews note the local leadership of ETH and some of the major altcoins amid a recovery from November’s decline. Analysts admit the possibility of a move to $3,500–3,900 if the overall improvement in sentiment continues, although they emphasize that this requires maintaining the $3,000 mark as key support.
Among the factors determining the dynamics of December, market participants highlight, on the one hand, expectations of a 25 bp cut in the US Fed rate (probability of about 85-90%), which traditionally supports demand for risky assets, including cryptocurrencies, and, on the other hand, continued pressure from long-term holders who are taking profits and institutional players who are reducing their positions after the record rally of 2025.
The forecast for the end of 2025, according to analysts’ estimates, is cautiously neutral. For Bitcoin, the key range in the short term is considered to be $82,000–100,000: a breakout and consolidation above the psychological level of $100,000 could pave the way for a recovery towards $110,000–120,000, while failure to stay above $86–88 thousand will again increase the risks of a rollback to the lower part of the range.
For Ethereum, the baseline scenario assumes trading in the range of approximately $2.8–3.6 thousand, with possible attempts to break above it if global risk appetite improves.
Experts emphasize that the end of the year will be marked by increased volatility: the market is essentially completing a painful “reset” of excessive leverage and speculative positions. This creates the conditions for more sustainable growth in 2026 based on institutional demand, tokenization of real assets, and further clarification of regulations. However, in the last weeks of 2025, investors should be prepared for sharp intraday price fluctuations, according to analysts.
