Bitcoin approached $90,000 into the first U.S. trading session of 2026, with a fresh CME futures gap and long‑liquidation clusters near $88,000 signaling potential downside. Liquidity and cross‑crypto liquidations exceeded $200 million ahead of the Wall Street open. Gold rebounded after its New Year's Eve dip, edging back toward all‑time highs and highlighting 2025's divergence.

Bitcoin opened 2026 around $87,500, with TradingView showing muted action after a soft Q4. Analysts on X flagged low weekly RSI and a tight Bollinger BandWidth, indicating potential for heightened volatility, while 2025 closed "red" and voices like Simon Dixon questioned the four-year cycle; others eyed $90K near term and $150,000 in the year ahead.

At the start of the final week of 2025, Bitcoin failed to establish $90,000 as support while trading around $88,037 and closing in on the yearly candle. Derivatives data showed elevated volatility after a $24 billion options expiry, onchain metrics highlighted key realized price levels near $99,785, and Bitfinex whales pushed BTC long positions to their highest level in nearly two years as they position for 2026. Traditional markets and precious metals hit fresh highs while crypto lagged, but whale spot activity and large order sizes suggested accumulating demand, even as Bitcoin’s nearly 40% pullback from its $126,200 all-time high kept sentiment cautious.

Bitcoin traded around $88,000 with only modest weekend volatility while traders watched the final days of the 2025 yearly candle. Analysts highlighted a three‑day bullish RSI divergence and a possible retest of the $93,500 yearly open, but noted that BTC is about 6% lower year‑to‑date and could post its first red post‑halving year, challenging the four‑year cycle view.

Bitcoin traded near $90,000 during the Asia session on December 26 as gold and silver reached new record highs. Traders are watching a nearly $24 billion Bitcoin options expiry and key resistance near $95,000 amid choppy, range-bound market conditions.

Bitcoin traded near $87,000 as a record options expiry totaling $23.7 billion is set for Friday. The event spans roughly 300k BTC option contracts and 446k IBIT option contracts, and some market participants point to an initial upside target around $100,000 once the expiry clears.

On December 23, 2025, Bitcoin traded below $90,000 into the U.S. session and was down about 1% on the day. Traders flagged resistance at the 4H 200-period SMA/EMA and a whale opened $166,822,000 in BTC shorts alongside $54,856,000 in ETH and $18,790,000 in SOL. At the same time, gold approached $4,500 per ounce and bullish divergences appeared on Bitcoin's three-day and BTC/XAU charts.

On Sunday, Bitcoin hovered near $88,000 into the weekly close as traders positioned for volatility. Some analysts outlined a relief rally toward $98,000–$100,000 and even $150,000 targets, while others warned of a slide toward the $70,000–$72,000 zone amid rising Binance inflows and a technical break below $90,000.

Bitcoin rose about 2.5% versus the daily open and aimed for $88,000 on Friday after the Bank of Japan lifted its policy rate to around 0.75%, a three-decade high. Arthur Hayes argued negative real rates could push USD/JPY toward 200, while Temple 8 Research said further hikes may be off the table to protect the yen and manage stimulus costs.