By Francisco Rodrigues (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)
Bitcoin surpassed $88,000 even after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates to their highest level in almost three decades, an action typically expected to bolster the yen and diminish the appeal of carry trades.
Instead, the currency declined amid fears that the higher rates would jeopardize the spending plans of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who assumed office in October. The yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond reached 2% for the first time since 2006.
Other cryptocurrencies also made gains. Ether increased by 3.4% in the last 24 hours, although major altcoins such as BNB and SOL experienced gains of less than 1%. The broader CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index rose by 1.3%.
Contributing to this backdrop was the cooler-than-anticipated U.S. inflation data released yesterday. This report bolstered the likelihood of the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates in the future, potentially benefiting risk assets, although prediction markets still predominantly indicate no rate cut in the upcoming month.
In addition, risk assets continue to confront the possible unwind of the AI trade.
“Capital is still aggressively flowing into AI infrastructure, but monetization issues are becoming increasingly difficult to overlook,” analysts at QCP Capital noted. “Major companies such as Oracle and Iren are increasing capital expenditures, while AI-related revenues have remained relatively flat.”
Analysts warned that risk-asset valuations could sharply decrease if revenues fail to materialize. Many crypto firms are profiting from the AI trade, particularly bitcoin miners who have started transitioning into AI infrastructure through multibillion-dollar deals.
Regulatory advancements are further promoting market development.
“The United States is set to solidify the GENIUS Act’s regulatory framework by 2026,” Ira Auerbach, head of Tandem at Offchain Labs and former head of digital assets at Nasdaq, informed CoinDesk. “Stablecoin issuers who previously relied on offshore jurisdictions will discover significant advantages in relocating reserves and operations to U.S. territory.”
Auerbach also mentioned that certain retirement-plan providers are getting ready to trial target-date and balanced funds with 0.5% to 1% crypto exposure, likely generating consistent demand that is less connected to market cycles.
“This approach treats digital assets less as a variable factor and more as an additional risk component in constructing long-term portfolios, which is how structural demand begins to emerge,” Auerbach concluded. Stay vigilant!
Read more: For insights into today’s activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today
What to Watch
For a more detailed schedule of events this week, check out CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
- Crypto
- Dec. 19: Metaplanet Inc. sponsored ADRs begin trading over-the-counter in the U.S. under the ticker MPJPY, replacing the existing unsponsored OTC trading under the MTPLF ticker.
- Macro
- Dec. 19, 10 a.m.: U.S. Dec. (Final) University of Michigan Survey. Consumer Sentiment Index Est. 53.4; Inflation Expectations Est. 4.1%.
- Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)
Token Events
For a more comprehensive list of happenings this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
- Governance votes & calls
- Lido DAO is voting on a transformative package aimed at evolving from a pure staking protocol into a diversified DeFi product suite over the next three years. Voting concludes on Dec. 19.
- CoW DAO is voting on whether to dissolve the Sprinter solver bonding pool and return the 500,000 USDC and 1.5M COW to the original investors. Voting ends on Dec. 19.
- Arbitrum DAO is voting to activate the ArbOS 51 upgrade, introducing a 32M transaction gas limit, dynamic gas targets, and a doubled minimum base fee to enhance scalability. Voting concludes on Dec. 19.
- Dec. 19: Avantis will host a League of Leverage discussion.
- Unlocks
- Dec. 20: will unlock 6.79% of its circulating supply, valued at $37.28 million.
- Token Launches
- Dec. 19: ZkPass (ZKP) will be listed on Binance, MEXC, Bybit, BingX, and others.
Conferences
For a more thorough list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
Market Movements
- BTC is up 2.91% from 4 p.m. ET Wednesday at $88,092.82 (24hrs: +0.73%)
- ETH is up 6.82% at $2,969 (24hrs: -3.87%)
- CoinDesk 20 is up 3.33% at 2,707.79 (24hrs: +1.22%)
- Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is down 1 bp at 2.86%
- BTC funding rate is at 0.01% (10.95% annualized) on Binance
- DXY is up 0.23% at 98.65
- Gold futures are unchanged at $4,360.50
- Silver futures are up 1.73% at $66.35
- Nikkei 225 closed up 1.03% at 49,507.21
- Hang Seng closed up 0.75% at 25,690.53
- FTSE is down 0.10% at 9,828.28
- Euro Stoxx 50 is unchanged at 5,745.04
- DJIA closed up 0.14% at 47,951.85
- S&P 500 closed up 0.79% at 6,774.76
- Nasdaq Composite closed up 1.38% at 23,006.36
- S&P/TSX Composite closed up 0.61% at 31,440.85
- S&P 40 Latin America closed up 1.15% at 3,093.49
- U.S. 10-Year Treasury rate is up 2.9 bps at 4.145%
- E-mini S&P 500 futures are up 0.27% at 6,849.00
- E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are up 0.4% at 25,363.25
- E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average Index futures are unchanged at 48,356.00
Bitcoin Stats
- BTC Dominance: 59.94% (+0.13%)
- Ether-bitcoin ratio: 0.03347 (1.19%)
- Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 1,031 EH/s
- Hashprice (spot): $37.57
- Total fees: 2.74 BTC / $237,800
- CME Futures Open Interest: 120,865 BTC
- BTC priced in gold: 20.3 oz.
- BTC vs gold market cap: 5.9%
Technical Analysis
- BTC/USD is currently nestled between the $84,200 support level and the $90,500 weekly resistance. Even though the 0.382 Fibonacci level lies lower at $84,200, current price action remains above it, buoyed by a distinct bullish RSI divergence indicating rising momentum despite price consolidation.
- A decisive weekly close above $90,500 would affirm this divergence, likely sparking a trend continuation toward the 0.236 Fibonacci target at $100,400.
Crypto Equities
- Coinbase Global (COIN): closed on Thursday at $239.20(-2.04%), +3.24% at $246.94 in pre-market
- Circle (CRCL): closed at $80.99 (+2.26%), +3.04% at $83.45
- Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $22.51 (-1.32%), +3.07% at $23.20
- Bullish (BLSH): closed at $42.88 (+1.73%), +1.28% at $43.43
- MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $9.69 (-2.42%), +2.68% at $9.95
- Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $13.38 (+3.24%), +3.21% at $13.81
- Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $14.56 (+7.3%), +3.71% at $15.10
- CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $11.20 (-2.44%), +3.66% at $11.61
- CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI): closed at $37.49 (+2.68%)
- Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $15.21 (+4.61%)
Crypto Treasury Companies
- Strategy (MSTR): closed at $158.24 (-1.33%), +3.71% at $164.11
- Semler Scientific (SMLR): closed at $17.11 (+1.06%)
- SharpLink Gaming (SBET): closed at $9.02 (-2.7%), +5.1% at $9.48
- Upexi (UPXI): closed at $1.88 (+0.53%)
- Lite Strategy (LITS): closed at $1.35 (-1.46%)
ETF Flows
Spot BTC ETFs
- Daily net flows: -$161.3 million
- Cumulative net flows: $57.55 billion
- Total BTC holdings ~1.31 million
Spot ETH ETFs
- Daily net flows: -$96.6 million
- Cumulative net flows: $12.54 billion
- Total ETH holdings ~6.15 million
Source: Farside Investors
