Looking back, December 2025 was quite brutal for crypto. Bitcoin closed down nearly 22%, its worst month since 2018, while Ethereum fared even worse with a 28% decline over the quarter. And that’s a full quarter of decline, not just a bad month.

What’s most striking is that the famous Santa rally simply didn’t arrive. Historically, cryptocurrencies tend to rebound in the last week of December and early January, but this time it was the opposite. Every time Bitcoin tried to recover key levels, sellers appeared. Meanwhile, gold and silver hit new highs, which is an interesting contrast considering both assets are supposedly competing for the same safe-haven demand.

The pattern we saw was typical of when liquidity drops and risk appetite disappears. Rebounds were sold off quickly, leverage was reduced during the holidays, and each New York close brought selling pressure. It seemed more like repositioning than the start of a bullish cycle. The question now is whether Bitcoin can hold support in the new year or if that failed rally was a warning that the market needs a deeper correction before truly taking off.