Continuing the pattern of weakness during U.S. trading hours, bitcoin slipped below $88,000 on Monday, December 22, 2025, after failing to hold $90,000 gains, while gold surged to a record $4,475 per ounce. Traders eye a record $28.5 billion options expiry on Deribit this Friday amid volatility, with bitcoin miners pivoting to AI outperforming peers.
Cryptocurrency prices muted during the U.S. session on December 22, with bitcoin at $88,885.77 around noon ET, down from intraday peaks above $90,000 but up over 24 hours. Ether traded at $3,027.84, solana at $126.54, and XRP at $1.9085, pulling back yet staying green daily.
Traditional markets rose: Nasdaq and S&P 500 up 0.6%, dollar index down 0.3%. Gold jumped 2% to $4,475/oz record, silver 1.6% near $70/oz high. ByteTree analysts Charlie Morris and Shehriyar Ali noted bitcoin unlikely to shine until precious metals' bull pauses, despite bitcoin's long-term outperformance.
This follows last week's drop below $86,000 during U.S. hours, reinforcing the pattern. Ahead: Deribit's historic $28.5B bitcoin/ether options expiry Friday (over half of $52.2B open interest). Jean-David Pequignot called it culmination of institutional maturity. Key: $96,000 max pain, $1.2B OI at $85,000 put; defensive rolls into January.
Crypto equities mixed: AI-focused miners Hut 8 (+17.5% on AI deal), IREN, Cipher Mining, Bitfarms up 5-10%; Coinbase, Robinhood modest gains; MicroStrategy losses; Circle, Bullish, Galaxy Digital +2-4%.
