As we approach the end of 2025, the cryptocurrency world remains very unpredictable. People who trade digital currencies are seeing major ups and downs, with hundreds of millions of dollars lost almost every single day. This is unusual because holiday periods are usually calmer for trading activities.
The rapid shifts in prices and the failure of markets to bounce back show that the crypto market is still struggling. It hasn’t fully recovered from the big crash that happened earlier. On top of that, there’s uncertainty about what will happen as we move into next year.
Big Money Losses Show Weak Markets at the End of the Year
A company called Wintermute, which plays a major role in stabilizing crypto markets by constantly buying and selling assets (known as a market maker), recently shared a report. According to them, Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $85,000 last week, and Ethereum (ETH) dropped below $3,000. After this, there was a wave of selling driven by complex financial tools called derivatives. These derivatives are special agreements whose value depends on another asset, like Bitcoin or a stock.
Last Monday, liquidations—when traders are forced to sell their assets to pay debts—reached about $600 million. Then, on both Wednesday and Thursday, traders lost around $400 million each day as prices went up briefly but fell again quickly. Wintermute explained, “When prices drop, they drop quickly, but at least it’s not spreading too much because traders are cutting their losses early and focusing on popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.”
By the week’s end, trading calmed down. Bitcoin went back up to close to $90,000, but it couldn’t stay at that level for very long. As reported by CryptoPotato on December 23, Bitcoin struggled to pass the $90,000 mark and fell back to the high $80,000s. Even then, traders were losing about $250 million each day, showing how unstable the market still is. This means Bitcoin is set to lose nearly 24% of its value in the fourth quarter of the year, making it the worst end-of-year performance since 2018, according to data from Coinglass.
Changes in What Traders Are Focusing On
The report also showed that people are now mostly buying Bitcoin and Ethereum. Big investors, like those from banks or large organizations, have been consistently interested in these two cryptocurrencies since summer. On the other hand, smaller traders are moving away from riskier, less popular coins and focusing on these top ones instead.
Wintermute explained that Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to act as “shock absorbers.” This means when the market struggles, traders lean more on these two coins to reduce losses. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is struggling with too many coins being available and not enough people wanting to buy (called token unlocks and supply pressure).
October’s Big Drop Still Affecting Confidence
The current difficult situation for crypto markets can also be traced back to October when another huge wave of selling happened. Back then, Bitcoin’s price dropped more than $12,000 in a single day. This took away confidence from traders who often rely on borrowed money to trade (known as leverage).
Bitcoin is now down about 7% for the entire year, making 2025 one of the very few years it has ended with a loss. This is surprising because Bitcoin’s overall performance has been decent, with no major problems with its technology or usage.
Wintermute warned that Bitcoin and other cryptos are still figuring out their prices. Most of this “figuring out” is happening in the derivatives market, which can lead to quick price drops when too many people try to exit risky investments at the same time. They also pointed out that funding rates, which show whether traders expect prices to go up or down, are still quite low. This means traders aren’t very confident right now. Meanwhile, the options market, where investors bet on future prices, shows that people expect many possible outcomes. With holiday trading slowing down, there’s not much extra money being traded, which makes the market even more fragile.
What Might Happen Next
Wintermute predicts that things might stay calmer as the year ends. They expect price ranges to remain steady unless something big happens, like an economic or government policy change. Even though big investors are slowly putting more money into cryptocurrencies, most short-term movements will depend more on how traders arrange their positions than on long-term confidence. With low activity in the market, sudden price jumps or drops could still happen.
In summary, as 2025 comes to an end, the cryptocurrency market is still going through a bumpy ride. Traders are being extra cautious, especially after the October price crash, and focusing on major coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Whether the market will stabilize or remain shaky depends on broader factors in the economy and on how confident traders feel in the future.