Why is Crypto taking off today? – December 26, 2025

“Bitcoin has struggled to break above the $90k level amid a flurry of macroeconomic data releases, and price action appears to be creating a depression with risk concerns,” he said.

“As we head into the holiday season, trading volumes are following through their usual seasonal breaks, reinforcing the typically high resistance currently seen.”

Bitcoin Nearest Inflection Point As Options And Volatility Signals Are Lined Up — 10x Research

Bitcoin has spent weeks moving sideways, masking deep changes in market conditions that could set up a decisive move. According to 10x Research, an unusual alignment of options positioning, compressed volatility and technical fatigue is forming, a combination that historically precedes sustained trends rather than short-lived price spikes.

The firm noted that capital remained largely on the sidelines after the Oct. 10 crash, with ETF flows accelerating after the Oct. 29 FOMC meeting. While the technical sell-off appeared to be largely over by the end of November, Bitcoin failed to recover as investors ended the year at higher levels and BTC failed to deliver meaningful returns.

As year-end positioning resets and new risk budgets come into play, 10x Research argues that many neglected indicators are beginning to stack up. If the current breakout continues, the setup will show a multi-week uptrend, making ongoing signals on key charts crucial to confirm that a broader trend is underway.

The following stages and events

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $88,681, up roughly 1.7% over the past 24 hours. Price action has improved compared to recent sessions, with BTC defending the mid-$86,000 area earlier this week.

On a broader view, Bitcoin remains below the October highs near $125,000, following the November correction and consolidation phase through December. Last week, BTC traded in a relatively tight range, with short-term support around $86,000-$87,000.

A sustained move above $89,000 would open the door to a test of $90,500, followed by resistance around $92,000–$93,000. On the downside, a loss of $86,000 could expose BTC to further weakness at $84,000, a deep support near $82,000.

Ethereum is currently changing hands around $2,967, posting a daily gain of about 2.2%. After several failed attempts in early December, ETH's recovery has been more decisive than Bitcoin lately.

Despite the decline, Ethereum is below the key $3,000 psychological level. Last week, ETH traded unfairly, reflecting low confidence that volume would moderate.

A strong break above $2,980–$3,000 and the duration of the recent push will turn into bulls, with speculative targets at $3,150 and $3,300 if a buying follow-up is seen. If sellers regain control, ETH could revisit support around $2,850, exposing the $2,700–$2,750 range with a deeper pullback.

Meanwhile, according to the latest CoinMarketCap data, crypto market sentiment remains firmly in the fear zone. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index stands at 27, unchanged from the previous day, indicating continued caution among investors.

While sentiment improved slightly from last month's peak fear reading of 15, it remained below neutral.

Because US stock markets were closed for Christmas, there were no ETF flow updates for December 25.

For December 24, the US spot Bitcoin ETF posted a net outflow of $175.29 million, extending its losing streak. The selling pressure was broad-based, led by BlackRock's IBIT, which saw $91.37 million in withdrawals.

Greyscale's GBTC followed with a loss of $24.62 million, while Fidelity's FBTC lost $17.17 million. Bitwise (BITB) and ARK 21Shares (ARKB) also posted small redemptions.

The U.S. SpotEther ETF also turned negative, posting a $52.7 million net outflow and a short inflow. Greyscale's ETHE led the flow with $33.78 million, followed by BlackRock's ETHA at $22.25 million. Greyscale's ETH Trust (ETH) was the only product to see gains, adding $3.33 million on the day.

Total trading volume across the US ETH ETF reached $689.44 million, while net assets stood at $17.86 billion, representing 5% of Ethereum's total market capitalization.

Meanwhile, Sberbank is exploring crypto-secured loans as the Russian financial sector accelerates its push into digital assets ahead of the country's mid-2026 regulatory deadline.