In Q4 2025, Tether bought $876 million in bitcoin, lifting its stash to 96,185 BTC and making it the fifth‑largest holder. It moved 961 BTC on November 7 and 8,888.8 BTC on January 1, and now sits on an unrealized gain as prices hover around $88,700.

On December 31, 2025, Peter Schiff said on X that Strategy's 47.5% decline in 2025 would have made it the sixth-worst performer in the S&P 500, arguing its Bitcoin-focused approach hurt shareholders. The S&P 500 rose about 17.3% in 2025, while Strategy's stock finished down roughly 49.35% amid a second-half reversal. As of late December, it held 672,497 BTC at an average cost near $75,000.

On 1 January 2026, El Salvador's National Bitcoin Office said the country was going "all-in" on Bitcoin and artificial intelligence, reinforcing a multi‑year strategy that began with BTC becoming legal tender in 2021. The government has treated its roughly 7,500 BTC position as long‑term reserve infrastructure, while a partnership with xAI to roll out Grok across 5,000 public schools links AI deployment with education and broader economic diversification.

Bitcoin entered 2026 trading near $88,000, with analysts debating whether it will break out or remain locked in a broad range. Research from XWIN Research Japan outlines a base case in which BTC fluctuates mainly between $80,000 and $140,000, while technical signals point to a tightening triangle pattern that could trigger moves of about 15% once resolved. Despite modest recent price changes and macro uncertainty, corporate holders now collectively own more than 1 million BTC, suggesting underlying support even as upside may be capped.

Charles Schwab plans to introduce spot Bitcoin trading in the first half of 2026, with CEO Rick Wurster signaling confidence in the asset's long-term outlook despite recent market weakness. The firm has seen rising client engagement with crypto, and Bitcoin was priced at $87,883.45 with a $1.76 trillion market cap and a 27.86% 90-day decline as of January 1, 2026. Schwab's potential expansion into digital assets would add another major traditional financial institution to the growing list of crypto market participants.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs reversed a seven-day outflow streak with $355 million in net inflows, led by IBIT at $143.75 million, ARKB at $109.56 million, and FBTC at $78.59 million. A December 30, 2025 post flagged a planned $8.165 billion Fed liquidity injection on January 6. Bitcoin trades near $87,800 in a tightening triangle, with $90,000 and $94,000 as upside levels and support around $86,400.

A veteran market analyst has identified a bullish divergence in the Bitcoin-to-gold ratio after the pair fell from 32 on October 5 to about 20, a decline of more than 37%. Daily and weekly RSI readings around recent lows, including a level near 31.85 last seen in November 2022, suggest selling pressure against gold may be cooling. With Bitcoin trading at $87,750 and down 4.8% year-to-date while gold has reportedly surged over 70% in 2025, investors are reassessing whether the BTC/GOLD ratio can rebound above key levels into 2026.

According to Joao Wedson, founder and CEO of Alphractal, Bitcoin has historically shown a strong tendency to turn positive in early January, with the week after December 31 delivering at least a 10% gain in roughly two-thirds of past instances. His cycle analysis also highlights that the current halving cycle has seen around 100 weeks beginning with declines and identifies 2025 as the worst year on record for positive weekly starts. On-chain metrics from Axel Adler Junior further indicate limited selling by long-term holders, with the Long-Term Holder Distribution Pressure Index in the accumulation zone and a Z-score of -1.628.