Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) is doing what it was engineered to do: shadow Bitcoin’s every mood swing — but in ERC-20 form for Ethereum and DeFi. On December 18, 2025, the WBTC/USD price is hovering around the high-$80,000s, tracking Bitcoin’s reaction to a softer-than-expected U.S. inflation print and fresh signals from spot Bitcoin ETF flows. [1]
Below is a full, news-style breakdown of WBTC price today, what’s driving the move on 18.12.2025, and a practical WBTC forecast built from the day’s key analyses (macro, ETF flows, and major technical levels).
Wrapped Bitcoin price today: WBTC/USD snapshot (Dec. 18, 2025)
As of this afternoon (Dec. 18, 2025), major pricing trackers show WBTC around ~$88,000 per coin:
- Coinbase’s WBTC converter showed 1 WBTC ≈ $88,227 (timestamped on-page on Dec. 18). [2]
- CoinGecko’s converter showed 1 WBTC ≈ $88,255, also listing Dec. 18, 2025 in its 7‑day price table. [3]
Because crypto trades 24/7 and prices vary slightly by venue, it’s more accurate to think of WBTC “today” as a tight band around $88K rather than a single frozen number.
Today’s notable WBTC market metrics (from Coinbase):
- Circulating supply: ~125,330 WBTC
- Market cap: ~$11.05B
- 24h trading volume: ~$411M
- 24h range (approx.): low ~$85,377, high ~$88,910 [4]
Short-term context (from CoinGecko): over the past 7 days, CoinGecko’s table shows WBTC fluctuating roughly between $86K and $92.5K, with Dec. 18 listed at about $88,255. [5]
Why Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) moves like Bitcoin (and when it can differ)
WBTC is not “a Bitcoin fork” or “Bitcoin on Ethereum.” It’s a separate token designed to track BTC’s value while living on Ethereum as an ERC‑20 asset. The mechanism is straightforward:
- Bitcoin is held with custodians.
- WBTC is minted/burned to match BTC deposits/redemptions.
- A “proof of reserve” approach is used to support the 1:1 backing narrative. [6]
In practice, that means WBTC’s price forecast is mostly a Bitcoin forecast — with a small twist: WBTC can trade at a minor premium/discount depending on liquidity, venue-specific demand, fees, and the market’s appetite for custodial/bridge risk.
What’s driving WBTC and Bitcoin on 18.12.2025: CPI surprise rewires the rate-cut narrative
The macro headline moving markets today is U.S. inflation.
Reuters reports that the Consumer Price Index rose 2.7% year-over-year in November, below the 3.1% forecast cited in the same report. Core CPI (excluding food and energy) was reported at 2.6% year-over-year. [7]
That sounds clean… except the data is messy. Reuters also notes the October CPI release was canceled because a 43‑day government shutdown prevented data collection, making month-to-month comparisons unusually difficult. [8]
Investopedia echoes the same concern: economists cautioned that the shutdown disrupted data collection and could have created distortions (including timing effects around holiday sales), even if the topline print looked encouraging. [9]
Why this matters for WBTC
Crypto tends to trade like a high-volatility “risk asset” when markets are focused on interest rates. Today’s softer inflation number boosted expectations for rate cuts in 2026, a backdrop that often supports speculative assets — including Bitcoin, and therefore WBTC. [10]
A Bloomberg Markets Wrap carried by SWI swissinfo.ch describes the post-CPI reaction as a relief rally across stocks and bonds, explicitly noting that Bitcoin rallied following the inflation surprise. [11]
Today’s crypto-specific analysis: spot Bitcoin ETF inflows and a market stuck in a range
Beyond macro, the most actionable “crypto plumbing” signal today is spot Bitcoin ETF flow data.
FXStreet reports that U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $457.29 million in inflows on Wednesday, calling it the highest single-day inflow since Nov. 11. [12]
FXStreet’s same analysis frames the broader market structure like this:
- Bitcoin is stabilizing near $87,000
- The market has been range-bound with key zones:
- Support region: around $81,000
- Heavy selling / cap: above $95,000
- Short-Term Holder Cost Basis: referenced around $101,500 as a key level the market has struggled to reclaim [13]
That matters for a WBTC forecast because WBTC generally doesn’t “have its own independent trend.” If Bitcoin is range-bound, WBTC is range-bound.
WBTC in DeFi today: Aave positioning shows steady collateral supply, modest borrowing
One way to sanity-check demand for WBTC as a working asset (not just a price ticker) is to look at major DeFi venues.
AaveScan’s Aave V3 Ethereum dashboard shows that on Dec. 18, 2025 (daily snapshot at midnight UTC), there were about:
- 44.9K WBTC supplied
- 1.4K WBTC borrowed
- Borrow APR: about 0.40%
- Supply APR: about 0.01% [14]
Translation: WBTC is still widely posted as collateral, but borrowing demand looks relatively modest versus supplied collateral — consistent with a market that’s cautious about leverage after a choppy period.
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) forecast: key levels to watch next (near-term outlook)
Because WBTC tracks BTC so closely, the cleanest WBTC/USD forecast is best expressed as scenario bands driven by Bitcoin’s support/resistance.
Scenario 1: Range continues (base case)
FXStreet describes BTC consolidating between key levels this week and flags a sideways band around $85,500–$90,000. If that persists, WBTC is likely to keep chopping in the same neighborhood. [15]
Scenario 2: Bullish break — reclaiming $90K, then pushing higher
FXStreet notes that a close above $90,000 could open a move toward a next resistance area around $94,253. If Bitcoin can reclaim those levels with continued ETF inflows, WBTC would typically follow tick-for-tick. [16]
DailyForex also frames upside pressure as limited by resistance levels in the low-to-mid $90Ks, reinforcing the idea that the market needs a decisive push (liquidity + risk appetite) to escape the current zone. [17]
Scenario 3: Bearish break — slipping under support and revisiting $80K
FXStreet highlights $85,569 (a Fibonacci level cited in its report) as a key support: if BTC breaks and closes below it, the next psychological magnet is $80,000. [18]
DailyForex is even more explicit about what traders are watching beneath the market: it identifies support around $84,000 down to $80,000, and suggests that if $80,000 fails, downside targets could extend toward $75,000 and then $65,000. [19]
Bottom line for the WBTC forecast (short term):
- Above ~$90K (BTC): recovery odds improve, with resistance zones in the low-to-mid $90Ks.
- Below mid‑$85Ks (BTC): bearish pressure increases; $80K becomes the next big test.
- Below $80K (BTC): the market risks a deeper reset, and WBTC would almost certainly mirror it. [20]
2026 outlook: bullish analyst targets versus cycle caution
For a longer-range forecast, the market is split between “institutional adoption continues” and “post-cycle digestion.”
A Dec. 18 analysis from The Motley Fool reports that analysts at Standard Chartered and Bernstein expect Bitcoin to reach $150,000 in 2026 (noting these as downward revisions from earlier targets, but still materially above current levels). [21]
The same piece also argues that historical cycle patterns after Bitcoin halvings can imply choppy or weaker periods after peaks, noting the last halving was in April 2024 and describing an October 2025 peak area around the mid‑$120Ks. [22]
A grounded way to interpret this for WBTC:
- If the “ETF + institutional pipeline” narrative dominates, WBTC’s path could look like a grind higher with bursts of volatility.
- If cycle dynamics dominate (and/or macro liquidity tightens again), WBTC can remain stuck in wide ranges for extended periods — even if the long-term thesis remains intact.
Either way, WBTC’s long-run direction is still basically Bitcoin’s long-run direction — with added custody + smart contract surface area layered on top.
Risks that matter specifically for Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC)
Even though WBTC tracks BTC, it’s not identical exposure.
Key risk categories to highlight (especially for readers who treat WBTC as “just Bitcoin”):
- Custodial / operational risk: WBTC depends on custodians and the mint/burn process.
- DeFi smart contract risk: using WBTC in lending/borrowing or liquidity pools adds protocol risk.
- Tracking deviations: usually small, but liquidity stress can widen discounts/premiums.
Coinbase’s own explainer emphasizes the custodian-backed mint/burn structure and the “proof of reserve” framing for 1:1 backing. [23]
What to watch next (because WBTC won’t move in a vacuum)
From today’s reporting, these are the next catalysts that can plausibly decide whether the market breaks out or breaks down:
- Follow-through on inflation data: Reuters and Investopedia both stress the shutdown-related distortions. That raises the stakes for the next clean prints. [24]
- Fed expectations into early 2026: Reuters notes that the CPI undershoot nudged markets toward higher odds of a January cut, even as some voices caution against overconfidence in a noisy report. [25]
- Spot Bitcoin ETF flow persistence: FXStreet’s callout of the $457.29M inflow is constructive — but markets typically need repeated inflow days to overpower heavy overhead supply zones. [26]
- Key technical levels: the battlefield is clear across multiple analyses — $90K / $93K–$95K above, mid‑$85Ks then $80K below. [27]
The takeaway: WBTC is near $88K today — and the forecast is a Bitcoin forecast with extra plumbing
On Dec. 18, 2025, Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) is trading around ~$88,000, reflecting Bitcoin’s CPI-driven bounce and a market that’s still fighting through heavy technical levels and liquidity dynamics. [28]
The most consistent message across today’s analyses is that the market is trying to stabilize, but hasn’t proven a clean breakout yet. In the near term, the forecast is best treated as conditional:
- Sustained ETF inflows + a move above $90K improves the odds of a climb toward the low-to-mid $90Ks.
- Failure to hold the mid‑$85Ks risks a retest of $80K, and potentially lower if that breaks.
And because WBTC is fundamentally a Bitcoin-tracking wrapper, that’s the WBTC forecast too — just with the added reminder that wrappers come with their own forms of fragility.
References
1. www.coinbase.com, 2. www.coinbase.com, 3. www.coingecko.com, 4. www.coinbase.com, 5. www.coingecko.com, 6. www.coinbase.com, 7. www.reuters.com, 8. www.reuters.com, 9. www.investopedia.com, 10. www.reuters.com, 11. www.swissinfo.ch, 12. www.fxstreet.com, 13. www.fxstreet.com, 14. aavescan.com, 15. www.fxstreet.com, 16. www.fxstreet.com, 17. www.dailyforex.com, 18. www.fxstreet.com, 19. www.dailyforex.com, 20. www.fxstreet.com, 21. www.fool.com, 22. www.fool.com, 23. www.coinbase.com, 24. www.reuters.com, 25. www.reuters.com, 26. www.fxstreet.com, 27. www.fxstreet.com, 28. www.coinbase.com
