NEW YORK, December 31, 2025, 17:34 ET — After-hours
- Bitcoin was down about 0.7% near $87,700 in late U.S. trading, on track for a 2025 loss.
- U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs logged about $355 million of net inflows on Dec. 30, Farside Investors data showed.
- Crypto-linked shares including Strategy and Coinbase were lower in after-hours trading.
Bitcoin was down 0.7% at $87,696 on Wednesday, extending a late-year drift that has left the token on track for its first annual loss since 2022.
The year-end slide matters because the market has been treating bitcoin more like a “risk asset” — the kind that often falls when investors cut exposure to stocks and other higher-risk trades. Analysts say that link to equities could tighten further in 2026 as traders focus on interest-rate expectations and valuations in AI-related shares. Investing
U.S. stocks ended the final session of 2025 lower, and trading volumes stayed thin into the New Year holiday, a backdrop that can magnify moves across markets that rely on steady liquidity.
Bitcoin traded between $87,173 and $89,014 on the day, while ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, was up 0.3% at $2,976.
Crypto-linked U.S. stocks tracked the softer tone after the bell. Strategy was down about 2.3% and Coinbase fell 2.4% in after-hours trading, while miners Marathon Digital slid 3.6% and Riot Platforms eased 0.4%.
The pullback caps a year of sharp swings. Bitcoin surged earlier in 2025 after the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, then fell alongside stocks after tariff headlines, before rebounding to an all-time high above $126,000 in early October.
Days later, the market sold off again after Trump announced a new tariff on Chinese imports and threatened export controls on critical software, Reuters reported. That triggered more than $19 billion of “liquidations” — forced selling when leveraged traders can’t meet margin calls — across crypto positions. Investing
“In 2025, the market showed that bitcoin increasingly exhibits the characteristics of a risk asset,” said Linh Tran, a senior market analyst at XS.com, pointing to a stronger correlation with U.S. equities. Investing
Flows into regulated products offered one of the few bright spots into year-end. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs — funds that hold bitcoin directly and trade like stocks — posted $355.1 million of net inflows on Dec. 30, snapping a seven-session run of outflows, according to Farside Investors.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) led with $143.7 million, while Ark 21Shares’ ARKB drew $109.6 million and Fidelity’s FBTC took in $78.6 million, the same data showed.
Policy remains a key overhang for 2026. The crypto industry has scored regulatory wins in Washington, including the SEC’s move to dismiss lawsuits against Coinbase and Binance and the passage of a law setting federal rules for dollar-pegged tokens, known as stablecoins, Reuters reported. Investors are still waiting for broader market-structure legislation that could reshape how crypto platforms are regulated.
Traders are watching whether bitcoin can reclaim the $90,000 level as liquidity returns after the holiday break, and whether ETF inflows hold up in early January. A sharp shift in U.S. rates or trade-policy messaging could set the tone, with near-term support seen around Wednesday’s $87,173 low.
