Monday, 22 December, three days before Christmas, and just nine days until the year comes to a close. Significant volatility in crypto is expected over the remainder of December, as Bitcoin climbed +1.4% overnight and began the week trading back at $89,000. Analysts on both sides are calling for
Bitcoin
0.78%
Bitcoin
BTC
Price
$82,016.33
0.78% /24h
Volume in 24h
$21.24B
Price 7d
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to reclaim $100,000 before 2026, while others predict a crash below $75,000.
There is a reason to be optimistic heading into the year-end, as the Bank of Japan’s rate hike last week looks to have been priced in, with no further downside coming with the official announcement, while the US and UK are ending the year by beginning a period of Quantitative Easing (QE), which is expected to bring about further rate cuts in 2026.
Crypto Fear and Greed Chart
The US is also expected to receive stimulus checks at some point in 2026, with prediction markets platform Kalshi showing a 40% chance of a ‘Trump stimmy’ arriving before 2027, which would inject more liquidity into crypto while the nation is going through QE and therefore more risk-on.
Quantitative Easing, Inflation Down, More Money for Crypto? Will the Bitcoin Price Hit New Highs in 2026?
Last weeks CPI data was more bullish than expected, the US continues to take a dovish stance by beginning QE heading into 2026, and the UK seems to be following suit with its own interest rate cut last week.
There is a growing belief that the four-year crypto cycle is officially broken and that 2025 was not the bull market that was promised. This year has been dominated by the influx of altcoin ETFs, which has taken the crypto market some time to get used to, as institutions are now firmly in control of many major-cap digital assets.
$BTC and $ETH to hit ATH and here is why
US Fed to inject $6.8 billion into the market tomorrow
China also injected ¥1.05 trillion
Meaning Liquidity is coming back 🔥
All fingers are pointing towards a bullish market
Great news for crypto holders
Also Miden raised $25M… pic.twitter.com/M5u4IN0AmI
— Kabir.web3🥷🏽 (@Khaabeer77) December 21, 2025
This, alongside rate hikes and global uncertainty stemming from the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Israel, made 2025 a year of extreme volatility. While Bitcoin reached new all-time highs at the beginning of the year, most cryptocurrencies are down significantly year-to-date.
Looking ahead to 2026, official projections and prediction platforms indicate at least one additional US rate cut, with the possibility of more if inflation remains subdued. Additionally, rumors of a potential $2,000 stimulus check tied to tariff rebates are resurfacing in the US. Stimulus checks are likely to drive substantial inflows into speculative assets, adding upside pressure on the Bitcoin price.
Crypto trader, ‘Crypto King‘ posted a chart to X, with the RSI overlaid onto the Bitcoin price chart, accompanied by the caption “The last five times $BTC was this oversold, price doubled within about three months. Now $BTC is oversold again. Think again if you’re selling here.”
While calls of BTC hitting $160,000+ seem somewhat far-fetched, the data support such a move, as the Bitcoin RSI has once again broken below 30, and historically, this has led to explosive upward moves for the top digital asset.
(SOURCE: LSEG Datastream/Crypto King)
DISCOVER: 10+ Next Crypto to 100X In 2026
Ethereum Ecosystem Hits All-Time High in Monthly Transaction Count and Uniswap Hits Record Users: Is On-Chain Liquidity Back?
Many bears and doomers would have you believe that crypto is dead, there is a lack of on-chain liquidity, and new lows are coming. On the contrary, Ethereum is more active than ever.
The Ethereum ecosystem just reached a new all-time high in monthly transaction count, with Base clocking 452.8M tx, Arbitrum 80.1M, and World Chain 53M. These three EVM networks alone have processed more than 855M organic transactions in just one month.
Another recent all-time high is the total stablecoin supply hitting $304Bn, with nearly $196Bn of that stablecoin liquidity living on Ethereum. While altcoin and Bitcoin price action have been volatile in the past few months, calmer waters are seemingly ahead, with billions of dollars in stablecoins ready and waiting on-chain to begin buying speculative crypto in 2026.
ethereum dominates the stablecoin meta.
> total stablecoin supply hit a new ATH at $304 billion.
> $195.9 billion in stablecoins are issued on ethereum.64.44% of the entire stablecoin supply is on ethereum.
believe in ETH. pic.twitter.com/R0OxE7gn9j
— Joseph Young (@iamjosephyoung) December 19, 2025
2026 is coming at a time when crypto ETFs are settled and thriving, regulation in the space is better than ever, with the CLARITY Act set to pass in early 2026, stablecoins hitting new highs, and the US heading into a period of Quantitative Easing.
All of these factors appear poised to converge and should make for a bullish next twelve months in which traders and investors finally get the parabolic bull market that 2025 was meant to bring, with the Bitcoin price soaring to new highs.
For now, sit back as we bring you the crypto news live and direct throughout the day.
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