Bitcoin’s performance this year has truly been a rollercoaster—it’s set new all-time highs, but also suffered several sharp drops. What’s even more critical is that BTC may be facing its first annual decline since 2022.

Currently, the price is hovering around $89,000, but there’s a bigger story behind this number: Bitcoin is moving more and more in sync with the stock market. You may have noticed that major global stock indexes have also been volatile this year, with tariffs, interest rate changes, and concerns about an AI bubble bombarding the market one after another. While stocks are still generally trending upward, BTC has started to “empathize” with the stock market.

Why is this happening? Simply put, the player structure has changed. The crypto market used to be dominated by retail investors and geeks, but now traditional institutions and big players have entered the scene. Their mentality is straightforward: if the stock market looks risky, I’ll pull out; if the stock market is hot, I’ll jump in.

A strategist at a trading firm put it bluntly: the main theme for 2025 is that cryptocurrencies will obediently follow the stock market. Changes in monetary policy? AI stock valuations collapsing? Things that used to have nothing to do with crypto can now directly impact BTC prices.

So next year, if you want to watch Bitcoin, you might have to keep an eye on the Fed and the Nasdaq first.