Norges Bank Investment Management, which oversees Norway's $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund, has given full support to all five of Metaplanet's management proposals ahead of the company's 22 December Extraordinary General Meeting. The Tokyo-listed firm plans to restructure its capital base, issue new preferred share classes, and potentially raise $150 million via MERCURY shares to fund additional Bitcoin purchases.

An analyst known as Deg_ape argues that the Bitcoin halving has never functioned as a rigid four-year clock, but rather as a structural anchor within broader liquidity and macro cycles. According to this view, macro bear phases expand and overlap as liquidity conditions shift, with recent data showing around $130 billion in new liquidity injections and a historic 30-day balance decline among retail wallets while larger holders accumulate. This divergence suggests that price action may lag underlying liquidity, driving capitulation among smaller investors even as bigger players reposition for the longer term.

Bitwise stated on Wednesday that Bitcoin's price swings in 2025 were milder than Nvidia's and projected that this lower volatility will persist in 2026. The firm linked Bitcoin's maturing profile to a decade-long decline in volatility, growing institutional participation, ETF products and a more diversified investor base, while also forecasting a new all-time high and continued outperformance of crypto-related equities over tech stocks.

Bitcoin recently retreated from resistance near $90,000 and is now trading under $87,000, below the 100-hour Simple Moving Average. The price is consolidating after a drop toward the $85,282 low, with key resistance levels seen around $87,350 and $87,800. A move above $87,800 could open the way to $88,000–$89,200, while failure to break higher may trigger another decline toward $85,000 or even $84,200.

Bitcoin is in a key inflection phase as it trades above the $86,000 weekly support zone while momentum weakens after a rejection near $93,000. Analyst Michael Van De Poppe notes that price remains in a short-term downtrend unless BTC can reclaim $88,000, with potential liquidity targets at $83,000 and $80,000. Another analyst, Crypto Damus, highlights that a deeper retracement toward $78,000 or even a longer-term retest around $70,000 could still fit within the broader market cycle.

On December 17, Bitcoin posted a violent two-hour price swing of roughly $3,000 in both directions, first squeezing shorts and then longs as aggressive trading took hold. One 30‑minute surge of about $3,300 reportedly wiped out around $106M in short positions before a $3,400 drop over the next 45 minutes triggered roughly $52M in long liquidations. Across the broader crypto market, more than 120,000 positions were closed over 24 hours, with total liquidations nearing $400M and Bitcoin accounting for about $108M of that.

Bitcoin has fallen over 30% since early October, shifting sentiment from optimism to caution as some market participants view the move as a possible peak. A new thesis argues the classic four-year pattern may be giving way to a structurally supported supercycle. Price action remains weak below 90,000 dollars, with 85,000–86,000 highlighted as key support.

On-chain data shows Bitcoin active wallets have dropped to 2023 lows while the Fear & Greed Index has fallen to 11, pointing to extreme fear and thinning liquidity as the year-end approaches. Analysts note that Bitcoin’s price is hovering near $86,000 above the $81,500 True Market Mean Price, identifying $81,000 as key downside support and $100,000 as the level that must be reclaimed to negate bearish momentum.