Bitcoin Slides Toward $85,800 as Year-End Caution Deepens in Crypto; Ethereum, XRP and Solana Extend Losses
Crypto markets continued their December pullback on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, with traders dialing down risk ahead of fresh macro signals and thinner year-end liquidity. In Asian trading, Bitcoin fell toward $85,800, while Ether hovered around $2,930 and other major tokens—including XRP, Solana and Dogecoin—showed broad weekly declines that point to a market-wide retreat rather than any single-token shock. [1]
The move comes after a week of chop that followed last week’s Federal Reserve 25-basis-point rate cut, and it highlights a recurring theme for late 2025: policy easing has not been enough to restore sustained risk appetite, as investors increasingly prioritize capital preservation into year-end. [2]
