Bitcoin surged above $90,000 in Asian trading on Monday before reversing and falling below $88,000, echoing a similar whipsaw two weeks earlier. The drop amid Nasdaq futures weakness dragged altcoins lower, underscoring crypto's stock market ties. Institutional buyer Strategy Inc. meanwhile disclosed a $108 million BTC purchase.
Bitcoin continued its late December volatility on December 29, 2025, following a comparable pattern seen on December 17 when it rallied above $90,000 before tumbling to weekly lows below $86,000. This time, BTC rose as much as 3.2% to over $90,300 in Asian hours per Bloomberg, but sank below $88,000 in New York trading, hitting $87,262.89 according to CoinDesk. The reversal erased gains and pulled altcoins down: XRP to $1.85, Ether to $2,937.42, Solana to $123.18, and Dogecoin to $0.1229. The CoinDesk 20 Index retreated to 2,726 after touching 2,789.
The decline tracked a 0.5% drop in Nasdaq 100 futures, reinforcing Bitcoin's correlation with the tech index—especially in downtrends, per Wintermute. Traders turned cautious, with global futures open interest dipping to 533,000 BTC from 540,000, data from Coinglass shows.
Laser Digital analysts highlighted U.S. hour underperformance: "An interesting trend... distinct underperformance during the US timezone... driven most likely by selling pressure from year-end tax harvesting." Elliott wave expert John Glover of Ledn remained bullish longer-term: "The Bitcoin price chart looks very promising for higher prices... but less certainty near term. I continue to look for sideways to slightly lower trading, adding longs between $71k and $84k."
Amid short-term weakness, institutions showed faith. Strategy Inc. filed an SEC disclosure on December 29 for a $108 million purchase of 1,229 BTC. Bitcoin skipped a year-end 'Santa rally' that boosted the S&P 500 to records, leaving traders hopeful for a new-year bounce.
