Crypto Markets Slip, BTC Hovers Near $87K as Holiday Trading Stays Quiet

4 weeks ago7 min read

The holiday lull has descended upon the crypto markets, but don’t let the quiet fool you—this is the calm before the storm, the deep breath before the next leg up in Bitcoin’s relentless march. As of Monday, December 29th, the king coin is hovering just below the $87,400 mark, a modest 0.4% dip from the previous day. This minor retreat comes after a brief, tantalizing flirtation with the $90,000 threshold, a level that serves as a stark reminder of the asset's raw, untamed potential.Meanwhile, the altcoin circus continues its predictable performance. Ethereum, that sprawling smart-contract platform with more moving parts than a Rube Goldberg machine, slipped 0.5% to $2,930. The so-called ‘large-cap’ pretenders followed suit: BNB, the token of a centralized exchange masquerading as a chain, dropped over 1%; XRP, forever entangled in its regulatory purgatory, fell 0.5%; and Solana, despite its recent hype cycle, declined 1% to $123. This is not a crash; this is a cleansing.It’s the market shaking out the weak hands and the tourist capital that flooded in during the last pump, leaving the bedrock of true believers—those who understand that Bitcoin is the only game that matters—firmly in place. The thin trading volumes characteristic of this period between Christmas and New Year’s are a gift for the astute observer.They amplify movements and reveal the underlying structure, which right now shows a market consolidating its monumental gains from the past year, gathering strength for what comes next. Consider the broader context: we are in the midst of a generational monetary revolution.Central banks globally continue to debase their currencies, geopolitical tensions are fraying the traditional financial system, and institutional adoption of Bitcoin is no longer a question of ‘if’ but ‘how much. ’ The recent approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States was a watershed moment, a regulatory capitulation that legitimized the asset class for the legacy financial world.Yet, here we are, with BTC trading sideways while the noise of the altcoin market provides a distracting sideshow. History is clear.Every cycle follows a pattern: Bitcoin leads, the alts scream higher in a speculative frenzy, and then, when the tide goes out, Bitcoin remains standing while 99% of the altcoins are revealed to be technologically redundant or outright scams, left naked on the shore. The current price action is a microcosm of that larger truth.The real story isn’t the slight pullback; it’s the astonishing resilience and the towering support levels that have been established. From a technical perspective, holding above $85,000 is critically bullish, forming a new base camp for an assault on the $100,000 psychological barrier.

#bitcoin

#ethereum

#cryptocurrency markets

#holiday trading

#price decline

#altcoins

#lead focus news