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Why Is Crypto Down Today? – December 16, 2025
The crypto market is down today again, with the cryptocurrency market capitalization decreasing by 4.2%. It is close to falling below the $3 trillion mark and now stands at $3.02 trillion. 95 of the top 100 coins have gone down over the past 24 hours. At the same time, the total crypto trading volume is at $134 billion.
Crypto Winners & Losers
At the time of writing, all of the top 10 coins per market capitalization have seen their prices decrease over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin (BTC) is down by 4% since this time yesterday, currently trading at $86,184. Ethereum (ETH) is down by 6.8%, now changing hands at $2,924. This is the highest drop in the category. It’s followed by XRP’s 5.9%, now standing at $1.88. Tron (TRX) saw the category’s smaller fall, having decreased by 0.6%, currently trading at $0.2788.
Looking at the top 100 coins, only five appreciated over the past day. MemeCore (M) is up 3.9% to the price of $1.73. Provenance Blockchain (HASH) follows with a rise of 2.2% to the current $0.03079. On the other hand, three coins recorded double-digit falls. Aster (ASTER) decreased by 12.4% to $0.8193, followed by Ondo (ONDO)’s and Pump.fun (PUMP)’s 10% each to $0.4046 and $0.002418, respectively.
Meanwhile, the US Financial Stability Oversight Council has removed crypto from its list of systemic financial threats in its 2025 annual report. Moreover, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has dismissed or paused close to 60% of crypto-related cases over the past year.
Uncertainty Driving Policy Expectations
Nic Puckrin, investment analyst and co-founder of the Coin Bureau, notes that BTC “is in the red once again.” Having fallen to around $86,000, BTC is now approaching a strong support level at around $84,800, with AI bubble fears and future monetary policy concerns as potential factors.
The market was convinced that “ultra-dove” Kevin Hassett was a shoo-in for the next US Federal Reserve Chair role, but Kevin Warsh, a more hawkish candidate, is emerging as the frontrunner. The market is starting to believe this narrative as Warsh is likely to stick to current projections of just one more rate cut in 2026. December is typically a time to book tax losses for the financial year, and Bitcoin is one asset that will have lost many investors money.
Bitunix analysts noted that the U.S. NFP report is set to be released today, with both it and the subsequent CPI release considered “impaired data” due to a government shutdown. Weak NFP data combined with distorted statistics may impact risk assets, potentially triggering volatility across rates, the U.S. dollar, and crypto markets.
Levels & Events to Watch Next
As of Monday morning, BTC stood at $86,184, showing a clear plunge from $89,935 to the intraday low of $85,427. BTC’s price is down 4.3% over the past week. There’s potential for BTC to rise above $90,000 and towards $100,000, although another drop is possible, putting BTC below $80,000.
Ethereum is at $2,924, having dropped from the day’s high of $3,171 below $3,000 to $2,895. ETH dropped 5.6% in a week, trading in the $2,919–$3,390 range, down 41% from its ATH of $4,946. Further decrease could lead the price to the $2,780 and $2,650 levels, while appreciation could see ETH reclaim the $3,000 and $3,120 zones.
The crypto market sentiment fell again within the fear territory, with the crypto fear and greed index at 22 today, compared to 27 yesterday, indicating significant caution among market participants.
ETFs Saw a Mixed Friday
On the first trading day of this week, the US BTC spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced significant outflows of $357.69 million. The total net inflow pulled back to $57.55 billion. Five out of twelve BTC ETFs saw outflows, with Fidelity responsible for $213.12 million in outflows. The US ETH ETFs saw $224.78 million in outflows on 15 December, marking a third consecutive day of negative flows. The total net inflow fell below $13 billion, now at $12.86 billion.
Meanwhile, Grayscale predicts that Bitcoin will set a new all-time high in the first half of 2026.
This article has been published in Cryptonews.com via Yahoo News.
Why Is Crypto Down Today? – December 16, 2025
The crypto market is down today again, with the cryptocurrency market capitalisation decreasing by 4.2%. It is close to falling below the $3 trillion mark and now stands at $3.02 trillion. 95 of the top 100 coins have gone down over the past 24 hours. At the same time, the ...
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