On Tuesday, Bitcoin briefly surged above $94,000 before retreating to around $92,500 during Wednesday morning trading in Asia. This fluctuation reignited bullish sentiment but left the market vulnerable ahead of one of the year’s most critical Federal Reserve announcements.
The price action occurred amid mixed performance in Asian stock markets as investors awaited clearer guidance on the Fed’s future policy direction and anticipated Chair Jerome Powell’s final press briefing for 2025.
Altcoins showed varied results. Ether climbed approximately 7% over the past day to trade near $3,320, pushing its weekly gains close to 10%. Solana increased by more than 5%, while Dogecoin rose about 5%. Cardano outshined others with an impressive daily jump of 8.5% and nearly a 6% gain over the week. However, all these tokens experienced a slight pullback of around 1-2% during Asian morning hours as traders likely took profits following overnight rallies.
XRP saw a modest increase of roughly 2% within twenty-four hours but remains down about 4% for the week. Meanwhile, BNB, USDC, and TRX remained relatively flat in their trading ranges.
The liquidity for smaller cryptocurrencies stayed thin—a reflection of uneven market depth that has characterized December’s trading environment so far.
Bitcoin’s rebound was partly fueled by heightened social media enthusiasm. According to blockchain analytics firm Santiment, this surge triggered retail investors’ fear-of-missing-out (FOMO), with many anticipating further price increases based on optimistic calls for higher valuations.
Nevertheless, this optimism quickly faded as BTC slipped below $93,000 later in Asian sessions. This reversal sparked renewed discussions about whether this price movement held technical significance or was merely another stop-loss hunt within Bitcoin’s broader range between $86,000 and $94,000.
Certain analysts suggested that such volatility spikes might signal exhaustion rather than strength. Mark Pilipczuk from CF Benchmarks noted via email that Bitcoin exhibited “a classic volatility spike,” where realized volatility surpassed implied volatility for the first time in months—an event historically observed eight times before bitcoin bottoms followed by recoveries six times out of those occurrences.
Gracy Chen—the CEO of Bitget—commented on crypto’s fragility compared to traditional equities: “Bitcoin consolidating inside a wide band from $86K to $94K indicates insufficient momentum or support levels needed for decisive directional moves.”
Globally speaking markets reflected mixed signals: Chinese stocks declined after inflation data revealed an uptick in November reducing hopes for further domestic monetary easing; Japanese shares edged downward; South Korea and Taiwan posted moderate gains; silver prices extended their rally reaching record highs; meanwhile the U.S dollar stabilized amidst ongoing uncertainty whether central banks worldwide will ease financial conditions into next year (2026).
The convergence between Federal Reserve policies worldwide equity sentiments along with crypto-specific capital flows means upcoming major shifts depend less on Tuesday’s breakout itself but more heavily hinge upon whether Bitcoin can reclaim its previous high zone between approximately $94K-$96K following Powell’s speech—or if macroeconomic caution forces it back toward mid-$80Ks territory once again.