Why Is The Crypto Market Down Today? (18 Dec 2025)
There is no doubt that the crypto market is going through a crash period; only the past 24 hours have seen a further 0.74% decline on top of a 7% bersion for the week, with Bitcoin falling below $88,000.
Ethereum is not facing too much better either, with the crypto market facing further selling pressure in the major altcoin ecosystems of Solana, Dogecoin, and Cardano, with the market terns of traders mostly in the risk zone, indicating a high degree of selling pressure.
The total cap market is now at cri. In the total depth of the crypto market, the total currency market cap now stands at $ 2.93 Trillion, a value reflecting broad based weakness. In the depth of the market, the dilution in value is a function of the macroeconomic variables with the emphasis on the coming Bank of Japan (BoJ) Policy on the 19th of December.
The BoJ is expected to raise the interest rate at a maximum of 0.75, a record in over 30 years. As the world’s top foreign seller of U.S. Treasury bonds, Japan’s market tightening is likely to pull the cash-rich, dollar-saturated world liquidity. The risk-adjustment in asset classes like Bitcoin crypto currency and others is highly expected.
Such is the present prevailing sentiment of the market.Regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. continues to cause market stress. Following the Banking Committee’s postponement of hearings regarding the crypto market structure bill, investors are left in limbo as to when new legislation will be introduced. Delays of this sort cause sell-offs and this is what has been happening in the crypto sphere.
The negative bitcoin and ethereum price momentum continues to be fueled by sell-offs of 1,000,000,000 dollars and above in cryptocurrency ETFs. ETF sell-offs signify a phase of distribution by the larger crypto holders.
Meanwhile, in the Spot Market, volatile price action resulted in the liquidation of 400,000,000 dollars in leveraged trading positions. Although the price action is oversold, the market sentiment as a whole is openly bearish.
In Bitcoin’s case, negative sentiment has resulted in a trading price of $86741, down 04773. Ethereum priced/ down to $2835, i.e. 3.86% drop. BN’s price stagnated to $839. Solana to $123. Dogecoin has dropped below $0.13.
Cardano has negative sentiment caused a 4% drop. Analysts have stated clearly that if bearish price action continues in the market, support for Bitcoin will be severely tested down to $80,000. Ethereum quote price will be as low as $2,500 if the bearish price action does not stop.
With macroeconomic pressures mounting and investor confidence wavering, traders are closely monitoring the BoJ’s upcoming decision. The crypto market remains sensitive to changes in policies and regulation with the outlook in the short term appearing to be pessimistic.
