Bitcoin entered Tuesday’s session under clear year end pressure after failing for the third time this month to sustain trading above the $90,000 level. Intraday moves occasionally appeared strong, but the lack of meaningful liquidity as 2025 draws to a close has made these upticks resemble fast rebounds, followed by traders trimming positions near session highs.
The price hovered around $87,400, down roughly 2.5% in the early New York hours. From a technical standpoint, as long as Bitcoin trades below $90,000, upside attempts remain short lived and confined to near term bounces, while the broader market stays locked in a sideways range dominated by profit-taking and a noticeable cooling in institutional appetite this month. The pressure has been amplified by sustained outflows from U.S. listed spot Bitcoin ETFs, which continue to weigh on sentiment.
Although the Federal Reserve’s rate cut earlier this month provided general support for risk on assets, it failed to spark an independent wave of buying in digital assets. Investors are now leaning toward a wait and see approach ahead of the release of December’s Fed meeting minutes, which could reveal the internal split within the committee regarding the 2026 policy roadmap. This has kept crypto trading calm and cautious, without a decisive directional trend so far.
ETF fund flows were the standout driver this month, reversing part of the institutional demand that fueled Bitcoin during the first half of 2025, when strong inflows carried the asset to historical highs. The recent shift in flows coincided with funds prioritizing risk control and year end portfolio management rather than building new long positions.
The Fed minutes, scheduled for release later today, are expected to highlight the degree of disagreement among members on the 2026 interest rate plan. While rate-cut expectations typically support high risk assets, the absence of clarity on the timing and magnitude of future cuts has left investors in a state of anticipation, limiting the directional impact of this month’s rate decision on the digital asset market.
Across the broader altcoin space, Ethereum fell around 3% toward $2,950, XRP slipped 1.6% near $1.86, and Solana dropped roughly 3%, while Cardano posted the deepest loss at 6.5%, and Polygon declined over 4%. Even meme-driven assets like Dogecoin and TRUMP$ pulled back about 3%, in moves that reflected thin holiday liquidity and year-end position closures rather than panic or the start of a new trend.
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