In a familiar pattern occurring at the start of the U.S. trading day, the cryptocurrency market swiftly lost any slight gains made overnight.
After briefly crossing $89,000 while the U.S. was asleep on Friday, bitcoin quickly fell back below $87,000 as American markets opened after the Christmas holiday.
As crypto investors are too often reminded, this downturn happened while metals surged, with gold, silver, copper, and platinum reaching new all-time highs on Friday.
The metals are likely drawing in capital that would typically flow into bitcoin amidst global economic uncertainties, further bolstered by escalating geopolitical tensions following U.S. strikes on Islamic State positions in Nigeria and tighter sanctions on Venezuela by blocking oil tankers.
Palladium and platinum led the charge, rising over 10%, while silver and copper gained 5%. Gold climbed 1.5% to $4,573 per ounce.
The Nasdaq, S&P 500, and DJIA remained nearly unchanged during morning trading.
Bitcoin has dropped 1.6% in the last 24 hours; ether similarly declined. dropped over 4%, and fell by 3%, leading the sector’s declines.
Crypto stocks also faced losses, with Coinbase (COIN)—recognized as one of the three most promising fintech ideas in 2026 by Clear Street’s Owen Lau—showing a more modest decline of 2%. Meanwhile, Gemini (GEMI) fell 6%, Bullish (BLSH) decreased by 3.8%, and Galaxy Digital (GLXY) slipped by 3.5%.
Bitcoin miners experienced particularly steep declines in early trading after Christmas, even those who have shifted their business models towards AI infrastructure. IREN (IREN), Cipher Mining (CIFR), Terawulf (WULF), and Marathon Digital (MARA) all saw declines of 5% or more. Hut 8 (HUT), a notable performer in the past week due to its AI developments, led with a 7.5% drop on Friday.
