Bitcoin finds its legs: Crypto Daybook Americas

By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)

The week is off to a positive start with bitcoin BTC$89,127.04 up more than 1% at $89,800, approaching the upper end of the recent week-long range play between $85,000 and $90,000. Overhead supply between $92,000 and $95,000 remains a key hurdle to beat for the bulls, according to BRN.

This week’s U.S. economic calendar is light but relevant, with third-quarter U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) and consumer confidence reports on Tuesday, followed by jobless claims on Wednesday.

These figures could influence investors' risk sentiment, although year-end holidays could keep market liquidity thin, leading to erratic price moves. On Friday, BTC and ETH options worth $27 billion are set to expire on Deribit, with positioning leaning bullish ahead of the event.

Some analysts remain cautious despite the price bounce.

"The short-term positive momentum may be misleading, and the broader picture of disappointment compared to hopes at the start of the year should not be overlooked," Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at the FxPro said in an email.

"Bitcoin is 30% below its peak and trading at a level lower than it was at the beginning of 2025. Attempts to bring YTD momentum to zero are little consolation in this context," he added. The largest cryptocurrency started the year around $93,400, CoinDesk data show.

In the broader market, tokens like HYPE, KAS, SKY and NIGHT have gained 4% to 6% in 24 hours while major altcoins such as XRP, ETH, and SOL are trading mixed. The CoinDesk 20 and CoinDesk 80 indexes are little changed.

Uniswap's UNI token is down over 1% as voting starts on a proposal to activate the protocol fee switch and turn the token into a value-accruing instrument. Voting has been overwhelming in support of the protocol.

In traditional markets, gold hit a record high $4,420 as longer dated bond yields in Japan continued to rise, highlighting fiscal concerns. The dollar index fell back slightly to $98.48, erasing Friday's gain. Stay alert!

Read more: For analysis of today's activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today

What to Watch

For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk's "Crypto Week Ahead".

• Crypto
  • Dec.22, 11 p.m.: SAHARA$0.02684 end-of-year AMA on X.
• Macro
  • Dec.22, 8:30 a.m.: Canada Nov. PPI YoY (Prev. 6%), MoM Est. 0.3%.
• Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)
  • Nothing scheduled.

Token Events

For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk's "Crypto Week Ahead".

• Governance votes & calls
  • BNB Chain is voting to reduce the number of consecutive blocks a validator produces from 16 to 8. This adjustment aims to prevent large chain reorganizations and prioritize network stability. Voting ends Dec. 22.
  • Axie Infinity is voting to stake the Community Treasury's idle assets to earn compounding protocol rewards. Voting ends Dec. 22.
  • Moonwell DAO is voting to switch the rETH oracle on Base and OP Mainnet to a stable exchange-rate feed and use 2.6 ETH from reserves to repay bad debt. Voting ends Dec. 22.
  • CoW DAO is voting to renew its grants program for 2026. The proposal aims to improve capital efficiency via quarterly fund releases and focuses on developer onboarding, ecosystem alignment, and novel protocol applications. Voting ends Dec. 22.
• Unlocks
  • No major unlocks.
• Token Launches
  • Dec. 22: River’s S2 Airdrop claim period ends.
  • Dec. 22: Solstice’s presale of SLX starts.

Conferences

For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk's "Crypto Week Ahead".

• Nothing scheduled.

Market Movements

• BTC is up 1.73% from 4 p.m. ET Sunday at $89,806.03 (24hrs: 1.39%)
• ETH is up 1.79% at $3,043.84 (24hrs: 1.62%)
• CoinDesk 20 is up 1.31% at 2,773.68 (24hrs: +0.76%)
• Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is down 1 bps at 2.809%
• BTC funding rate is at 0.0082% (9.0173% annualized) on Binance

• DXY is down 0.12% at 98.48
• Gold futures are up 1.24% at $4,441.80
• Silver futures are up 2.22% at $68.99
• Nikkei 225 closed up 1.81% at 50,402.39
• Hang Seng closed up 0.43% at 25,801.77
• FTSE is down 0.37% at 9,860.97
• Euro Stoxx 50 is down 0.17% at 5,750.28
• DJIA closed on Friday up 0.38% at 48,134.89
• S&P 500 closed up 0.88% at 6,834.50
• Nasdaq Composite closed up 1.31% at 23,307.62
• S&P/TSX Composite closed up 1.00% at 31,755.77
• S&P 40 Latin America closed down 0.19% at 3,087.72
• U.S. 10-Year Treasury rate is up 1.8 bps at 4.169%
• E-mini S&P 500 futures are up 0.36% at 6,912.00
• E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are up 0.53% at 25,709.75
• E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average Index futures are up 0.09% at 48,509.00

Bitcoin Stats

• BTC Dominance: 59.77% (0.27%)
• Ether to bitcoin ratio: 0.03388 (unchanged)
• Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 1,045 EH/s
• Hashprice (spot): $38.24
• Total Fees: 1.88 BTC / $165,900
• CME Futures Open Interest: 119,605 BTC
• BTC priced in gold: 21.3 oz
• BTC vs gold market cap: 6.01%

Technical Analysis

• The chart shows bitcoin's hourly price swings in candlestick format.
• BTC has broken out of a mini-descending channel, confirming seller exhaustion and opening doors for more gains ahead.
• A clean break above the rising trendline off Nov. 21 lows would cement the immediate bullish outlook, exposing the supply zone of $92,000-$95,000.

Crypto Equities

• Coinbase Global (COIN): closed on Friday at $245.12 (+2.47%), pre-market up 1.87% to $249.71
• Circle Internet (CRCL): closed at $86.13 (+6.35%), +1.73% at $87.66
• Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $24 (+6.62%), +3.37% at $24.81
• Bullish (BLSH): closed at $44.60 (+4.01%), +1.84% at $45.42
• MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $10.18 (+5.06%), +1.67% at $10.35
• Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $14.5 (+8.37%), +1.86% at $14.77
• Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $15.6 (+7.14%), +1.79% at $15.88
• CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $12.03 (+7.41%), +2.83% at $12.37
• CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI): closed at $41.1 (+9.63%), +4.33% at $42.88
• Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $15.51 (+1.97%), -0.45% at $15.44

Crypto Treasury Companies

• Strategy (MSTR): closed at $164.82 (+4.16%), +2.32% at $168.65
• Semler Scientific (SMLR): closed at $17.93 (+4.79%), +3.07% at $18.48.
• SharpLink Gaming (SBET): closed at $9.81 (+8.76%), +2.45% at $10.05
• Upexi (UPXI): closed at $2.08 (+10.64%), +1.92% at $2.12
• Lite Strategy (LITS): closed at $1.43 (+5.93%), +2.1% at $1.46

ETF Flows

Spot BTC ETFs

• Daily net flows: -$158.3 million
• Cumulative net flows: $57.39 billion
• Total BTC holdings ~1.31 million
  

Spot ETH ETFs

• Daily net flows: -$75.9 million
• Cumulative net flows: $12.46 billion
• Total ETH holdings ~6.09 million

Source: Farside Investors

While You Were Sleeping

• Boxing Day bonanza: $27 billion in bitcoin, ether options set for year-end reset (CoinDesk): The expiration involves over 50% of Deribit's total open interest, with a bullish bias indicated by call options outnumbering puts by almost 3-to-1.
• Binance opens up ways for users to generate income using ETH options (CoinDesk): A new feature enables everyday traders to earn premiums by employing a strategy previously reserved for professional traders, with safeguards in place and temporary fee discounts.
• Hong Kong Plans New Crypto, Infrastructure Rules for Insurers (Bloomberg): The Hong Kong Insurance Authority would require insurers to fully back non-stablecoin digital token holdings with capital, classifying them as high risk under proposed investment rules.
• Gold and silver hit record highs on geopolitical tensions (Financial Times): Investors have piled into the two precious metals amid U.S. pressure on Venezuela, easing rate expectations and lingering tariff uncertainty, reflecting broader anxiety over fiat debasement.