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This Week’s Summary

• The cryptocurrency market looks set to end the week at a total market capitalization of around $2.99 trillion.
• Bitcoin’s trading price dropped to around $88,500.
• Ethereum lost over 3% to trade at around $2,900.
• XRP moved down 4%, Solana moved down 3%, and Dogecoin moved down 3%.
• Almost all altcoins have been seen trading in the red, with very few exceptions.
• The DeFi sector saw total value locked (TVL) decline to about $119 billion.

Crypto Trends for the Week of Dec. 15-21, 2025: Market Analysis and Performance

The cryptocurrency market seems poised to end the year on a disappointing downtrend. Last week, most cryptocurrencies lost precious gains as investors closed their wallets and liquidity continued to drain from the market. As a result, the overall market capitalization dropped yet again below the $3 trillion threshold, albeit by only a little.

Bitcoin attempted to climb above the $90,000 mark once this week. However, the bears quickly pushed it back by at least $1,000. The king of cryptocurrencies saw its ambition to finish the year at $100,000 completely squandered. Meanwhile, most analysts seem to believe that BTC will be lucky if it ends 2025 trading above the $85,000 threshold.

Ethereum also lost a vital support level over the past few days. The second crypto in command dropped below $3,000 as it aligned with the market’s general downtrend. Analysts have been pessimistic about its trajectory over the next two weeks, with a return above the $3,000 mark mostly seen as unlikely.

Altcoins & DeFi

Most altcoins have been seen trading in the red, though there are still some exceptions to take note of. For example, XRP moved down 4%, Solana moved down 2%, Cardano moved down 9%, Avalanche moved down 6%, Sui moved down 8%, Chainlink moved down 7%, and TRON moved up 4%. On the other hand, Zcash rose by 7%.

The memecoins have also shifted in interesting ways in recent trading. For instance, Dogecoin moved down 3%, Shiba Inu moved down 10%, and Pepecoin moved down 3%.

The Metaverse sector similarly witnessed some notable movements over the past week. For instance, Axie Infinity fell down 13%, The Sandbox fell down 8%, and Floki fell down 9%. Meanwhile, Decentraland moved down 9%, Render moved down 16%, and ApeCoin moved down 11%. Stacks decreased by 12% and Virtuals by 10%. Meanwhile, MultiversX decreased by 9%.

The DeFi sector lost nearly $2 billion from the total value locked in protocols (TVL), bringing the total to about $119.13 billion.

What’s in the News?

• Terraform Labs sued Jump Trading for $4 billion over an alleged $1 billion profit from Terra’s collapse.

Next Week’s Crypto Market Forecast

The cryptocurrency market has seemingly been under the bears’ overwhelming control more and more with each passing day. Most cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, have been far from the levels they reached in October. Some have lost precious support levels, preventing them from resisting the current downtrend or bouncing back.

As it stands now, the end of the year will most likely be drowned in negative sentiment and the combination of fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

About the Author

Born and raised in Romania, and currently living in Spain, Iulian discovered a knack for writing from a tender age, and he even won some minor awards for fiction that didn't pay much.

Iulian became a content writer in 2011, and he is still doing it to some degree of success today. He is currently specialized in cryptocurrencies, technology, online marketing, and social media. In his free time, Iulian likes reading, traveling, and watching sports. 

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