NEW YORK, December 31, 2025, 03:03 ET — Market closed
- Bitcoin rose about 1.2% in early trade, holding near $88,500.
- U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs flipped back to net inflows on Dec. 30, reversing the prior day’s outflow.
- Strategy disclosed another bitcoin purchase in an SEC filing as traders headed into thin New Year liquidity.
Bitcoin rose about 1.2% to $88,512 in early trade on Wednesday, holding near the $88,000 level. Ether gained 0.5% to $2,973, while U.S.-listed crypto proxies were mixed, with Coinbase down 0.9%, Strategy up 0.1%, and miners Marathon and Riot down 1.8% and 3.8%; iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) was up about 0.9% in the latest available trade.
The move followed a swing back to net inflows for U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) — products that hold bitcoin and trade like stocks — after a run of year-end outflows. Data from Farside Investors showed the group pulled in $355.1 million on Dec. 30, reversing a $19.3 million outflow the prior day. 1
Corporate buying stayed in focus as well. In a December 29 filing, Strategy said it bought 1,229 bitcoins for $108.8 million, financed by shares sold through its at-the-market program — a facility that lets companies sell stock into the open market from time to time. 2
Broader markets have offered a mixed backdrop heading into the holiday. Wall Street’s main indexes ended slightly lower on Tuesday after minutes of the Federal Reserve’s December meeting showed policymakers divided over the path for rates, Reuters reported. 3
Currency markets were also in play as traders reassessed rate expectations into 2026. The U.S. dollar was headed for its biggest annual drop since 2017, with the dollar index down 9.5% in 2025, Reuters reported, a backdrop that has coincided with stronger appetite for a range of non-dollar assets. 4
“Bitcoin risks closing the year in the red, signalling consolidation rather than a cycle breakdown,” said Riya Sehgal, a research analyst at Delta Exchange. CoinSwitch Markets Desk said a sustained weekly close above $94,000 could open a move toward $101,000 and $108,000, while $84,000 remained key support. 5
A “weekly close” refers to the price at the end of the week; traders use it as a checkpoint for momentum. “Support” is a price zone where buying has tended to show up in the past.
U.S. stock markets are scheduled to open on New Year’s Eve for regular hours, but will be closed on New Year’s Day, with trading set to resume on Jan. 2; the bond market is due to close early at 2 p.m. ET. The only major U.S. data due Wednesday are weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. ET and the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index at 9 a.m. ET, MarketWatch said. 6
The next major macro test for risk assets is the U.S. employment report for December, scheduled for Jan. 9 at 8:30 a.m. ET, according to the Labor Department’s release calendar. 7
