Why Is Crypto Down Today? – December 16, 2025

What Happened

Nic Puckrin, investment analyst and co-founder of the Coin Bureau, BTC “is in the red once again – a chart that is becoming all too familiar as a disappointing Q4 draws to a close.”

He adds that it doesn’t help that December is typically a time to book tax losses for the financial year, and Bitcoin is one asset that will have lost many investors money.

Market Context

The crypto market is down today again, with the cryptocurrency market capitalisation decreasing by 4.2%. It is close to falling below the $3 trillion mark and now stands at $3.02 trillion. 95 of the top 100 coins have gone down over the past 24 hours. At the same time, the total crypto trading volume is at $134 billion.

At the time of writing, all of the top 10 coins per market capitalization have seen their prices decrease over the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin (BTC) is down by 4% since this time yesterday, currently trading at $86,184.

At the same time, Tron (TRX) saw the category’s smaller fall, having decreased by 0.6%, currently trading at $0.2788.

MemeCore (M) is up 3.9% to the price of $1.73.

Notably, the market was convinced that “ultra-dove” Kevin Hassett was a shoo-in for the next US Federal Reserve Chair role. However, Kevin Warsh – a far more hawkish candidate – now appears to be emerging as the frontrunner.

“The second Kevin is far more likely to stick to the FOMC’s current projections of just one more rate cut in 2026, so the market is starting to believe this narrative,” Puckrin says.

“This all makes for a lacklustre end to 2025, and we could even see BTC fall below $80,000 if the rout continues. In the short term, the ETF cost basis at $83,800 is the next level to watch, and there’s support below that at $81,200 – the true market mean.”

“On one hand, earlier pricing of rate cuts supports medium-term liquidity expectations, offering underlying support for assets such as BTC,” they write. “On the other hand, heightened data uncertainty may trigger sharp short-term volatility across rates, the U.S. dollar, and crypto markets, increasing the likelihood of leveraged positions being flushed out.”

Why It Matters

Uncertainty Driving Policy Expectations

For crypto, “weak NFP data combined with distorted statistics create a dual impact on risk assets,” the analysts say.

Details

Crypto Winners & Losers

Ethereum (ETH) is down by 6.8%, now changing hands at $2,924. This is the highest drop in the category.

It’s followed by XRP’s 5.9%, now standing at $1.88.

Looking at the top 100 coins, only five appreciated over the past day.

Provenance Blockchain (HASH) follows with a rise of 2.2% to the current $0.03079.

On the other hand, three coins recorded double-digit falls.

Aster (ASTER) decreased by 12.4% to $0.8193, followed by Ondo (ONDO)’s and Pump.fun (PUMP)’s 10% each to $0.4046 and $0.002418, respectively.

Meanwhile, the US Financial Stability Oversight Council has removed crypto from its list of systemic financial threats in its 2025 annual report.

Moreover, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has dismissed or paused close to 60% of crypto-related cases over the past year.

Having fallen to around $86,000, BTC is now knocking on the door of its 100-week moving average, a strong support level that sits around $84,800, he says. And AI bubble fears and concerns over future monetary policy appear to be to blame once more.

Additionally, Bitunix analysts noted that the U.S. NFP report is set to be released today, arguing that both it and the subsequent CPI release should be viewed as “impaired data” because of the government shutdown.