Why Is Crypto Down Today? – December 18, 2025

After a day of a very minor rise, the crypto market is down today. The cryptocurrency market capitalisation decreased by 1.5% and now stands at $3.01 trillion. Also, 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 $129 billion.

Crypto Winners & Losers

At the time of writing, all top 10 coins per market capitalization have seen their prices decrease over the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin (BTC) is down by just 0.3% since this time yesterday, currently trading at $86,722. This is the category’s smallest drop.

Ethereum (ETH) is down by just 3.9%, now changing hands at $2,834.

The highest drop is Dogecoin (DOGE)’s 5% to the price of $0.1245.

XRP follows with a change of 4.6%, now standing at $1.84.

When it comes to the top 100 coins, 95 coins saw decreases. Of these, three are double-digit.

LEO Token (LEO) is at the top of the red list, having dropped 27.1% to the price of $6.58.

Hyperliquid (HYPE) and Pump.fun (PUMP) follow, with falls of 12% and 11.8%, currently changing hands at $23.94 and $0.002021.

On the green side, Canton (CC) appreciated the most: 5.6% to $0.07517.

Midnight (NIGHT) is next with a 3.9% rise, now trading at $0.06385.

Bitcoin’s volatility becoming more restrained, decreasing below the volatility of Nvidia shares in 2025, Bitwise says. According to the analysts, this shifts reflects a maturing and more diversified investor base.

Meanwhile, Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, affirmed a strict ban on payments using crypto in the country.

“We must understand that cryptocurrencies will never become money within our country,” he said. “They can only be used as an investment instrument. If payment is required, it will only be in rubles.”

BTC Hitting $140,000 in 180 Days

Fadi Aboualfa, Head of Research at Cooper, commented that Bitcoin has shown the same repeatable pattern in 2024 and 2025. Price hits all-time highs, corrects sharply, and “then finds support almost perfectly at its ETF investor cost basis before beginning the next expansion.”

“Institutions are not ‘staking sats’,” Aboualfa says. In fact, he argues, “most do not care about sats at all now that Bitcoin is accessible through equities-style ETF shares. They care about risk-adjusted contribution to a portfolio.”

Notably, without rebalancing, a modest 2% BTC moves to 6.2% in less than 180 days during these cycles. “A 5% allocation drifts dangerously close to double-digit.”

“With BTC now trading near its $84,000 cost basis, that pattern points to a move north of $140,000 in the next 180 days. If cost basis rises 10% to 15% as in prior cycles, the resulting premium seen at past peaks produces a target range of $138,000 to $148,000.”

Moreover, Nick Forster, Founder at onchain options platform Derive.xyz, noted that markets continue to slide as we head into the New Year, “with prices sitting on a knife’s edge amid mixed U.S. economic data and persistent macro uncertainty.”

He says that BTC positioning remains decisively bearish. Traders are pricing continued downside risk through Q1 and Q2, as ongoing sell pressure from previously inactive wallets weighs on spot prices.

“Looking into the December 26 expiry, positioning is increasingly polarised. On the upside, there is a notable build-up of calls at the $100K and $120K strikes, suggesting some traders are still holding out for a sharp relief rally. On the downside, bears have accumulated substantial put exposure at the $85K strike, pointing to expectations of BTC sliding below $85K in the near term.”

The probability of NTC reaching $100,000 is now near 30%, while the chance of reclaiming ATHs sits at around 10%, Forster says.

“ETH tells a more nuanced story,” he says. Signals show a far more balanced outlook into the end of Q2 next year compared to BTC’s persistent bearish bias.

There’s a 45% chance that ETH reclaims $3,000 by the end of Q1 next year. Also, there’s a 25% chance it surpasses $4,000 over the same period.

Overall, Forster says, “volatility remains elevated and positioning is defensive, but upside tails have not been fully abandoned as markets brace for a volatile start to the year.”

Levels & Events to Watch Next

At the time of writing on Thursday morning, BTC stood at $86,722. The day began with $87,011, trading relatively sideways before briefly jumping to the intraday high of $90,164.

It quickly plunged to the intraday low, however, of $85,373. It’s been trading sideways again since.

Bitcoin could further decrease towards $84,000, followed by the $82,300-83,200 range. A higher drop would pull the price below $80,000. On the other hand, a rise may see BTC reclaim 90,000.

Ethereum is currently changing hands at $2,834. Initially, it went up from about $2,906 to the high of $3,021.

It then plunged to the intraday low of $2,796. Like BTC, it has traded sideways up until the time of writing.

If the price continues falling, ETH may see a pullback to the $2,700 level, followed by $2,630. A market uptick could push it upwards to regain the $3,000, if it manages to hold it.

Ethereum (ETH)

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Meanwhile, the crypto market sentiment continues decreasing within the fear territory.

The crypto fear and greed index stands at 22 today, compared to 25 yesterday. It is moving towards the extreme fear zone.

The fear and uncertainty is increasing as the market continues trending downward. Analysts argue that this may continue in the short- and mid-term at least.

ETFs Sees a Mixed Wednesday

The US BTC spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) broke the outflow streak on Wednesday, with $457.29 million in inflows. The total net inflow rose slightly to $57.73 billion.

Two of the twelve BTC ETFs saw outflows and two saw inflows. Fidelity leads the green list with $391.49 million in positive flows. Moreover, BlackRock posted $111.17 million in inflows.

On the red side, Ark&21Shares let go of $36.96 million. It’s followed by Bitwise’s $8.41 million.

At the same time, the US ETH ETFs posted a fifth day of negative flows, with $22.43 million in outflows on 17 December. The total net inflow keeps falling and currently stands at $12.62 billion.

Of the nine funds, two recorded outflows, and none saw inflows. BlackRock recorded the majority of this amount: $19.61 million. Fidelity is next with $2.81 million in outflows.

Meanwhile, Coinbase announced the launch of several new products, expanding into stocks, advanced trading, and built-in prediction markets.

Its users will be able to trade stocks on the platform and place bets on a variety of events through a partnership with Kalshi.

Quick FAQ

1. Why did crypto move with stocks today?

The crypto market saw a decrease over the past 24 hours, and the US stock market closed its Wednesday session lower. By the closing time on 17 December, the S&P 500 was down by 1.16%, the Nasdaq-100 decreased by 1.93%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.47%. This is the major indices’ fourth successive decline, as AI bubble worries increase.

2. Is this drop sustainable?

This latest decrease was expected, many analysts argue. It may continue in the short term. For now, the market would need a major positive signal to pull it upwards significantly.

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