Three years after hitting the crypto scene’s radar as a milestone target, Bitcoin finally smashed through the $90,000 barrier early Monday. The breakthrough on December 29, 2025, came with a 2% daily climb, shattering a psychological barrier that had capped price action for weeks. Not bad for an asset that was struggling to break out of the $86,700-$87,200 range just days earlier on Christmas Eve.
Traders are now positioning for what could be substantial new year momentum. It’s about time. The cryptocurrency has been stuck in a descending channel with its midline around $87,000, while major options expiry strikes between $85,000 and $90,000 effectively pinned the spot price. The technical picture shows a classic bullish RSI divergence around the 43 level, indicating potential upward momentum.
The long-awaited breakout from $87,000 prison finally arrived, shattering the options pinning that kept Bitcoin hostage for weeks.
Let’s be real though—Bitcoin still sits about 30% below its October peak of $126,000. The digital gold has underperformed actual gold by roughly 40% in 2025. Bitcoin’s renowned market dominance of 62.7% and massive $2.28 trillion market capitalization continue to provide a stability advantage over altcoins despite recent price fluctuations. Bitcoin ETFs haven’t exactly helped, with December recording $1 billion in selloffs following November’s even more brutal $3.5 billion in drawdowns. Meanwhile, stocks and precious metals are setting fresh records. Talk about salt in the wound.
The bulls haven’t lost their religion, though. BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes is still calling for $200,000 by March 2026, pointing to expected Fed liquidity injections of about $40 billion monthly.
Monday’s rally also got a boost from diminishing hopes for a Russia-Ukraine peace deal, because nothing says “buy Bitcoin” like continued global instability. The ongoing conflict has also contributed to a 1% rise in West Texas Intermediate crude to $57.24 per barrel, with rising oil prices coinciding with the broader crypto market gains.
The bears have their own story. Bloomberg’s Mike McGlone has made the jaw-dropping prediction that Bitcoin could crash 90% to $10,000 in 2026. His reasoning? Competition from other cryptocurrencies and something called “post-inflation deflation.” Sure.
Technical analysts aren’t exactly optimistic either. Elliott Wave interpretation suggests Bitcoin completed a five-wave structure from 2022 lows to 2025 highs.
Translation: We might be in for extended pressure through mid-2026, with potential drops to $84,000, $70,000, or even $58,000. Yikes.
