Anticlimactically, bitcoin looks set to end 2025 at roughly the same price level where it started. For the first 10 months of the year, the cryptocurrency markets rode a genuinely bullish wave. Regulatory reforms progressed, ETFs kept pulling in assets, and onchain activity picked up. BTC hit an all-time high of $126,080 on Oct. 6. However, hopes for a breakout following the euphoria were dashed by a market defined instead by rotation, repricing, and recalibration. A mix of macro letdowns, shifting investment narratives, leverage wipeouts, and heavy whale distribution knocked the market off balance. Prices slipped, ... (full story)