On 15 December 2025, Bitcoin had dropped to a value of $85,000 being wiped out over a few days when the bitcoin market capitalization lost in excess of $100 billion dollars.
Such a drastic depreciation, which can be explained by macroeconomic turbulence and market forces, is predictive of further depreciation unless the catalysts change.
However, as of 17 December 2025, the price of BTC stands at $87,842.87 which is 0.1 % change since yesterday.
The Remark by the Bank of Japan
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has been largely anticipated to increase its interest rate to 0.5%, the highest since decades, in the current week.
This is the smart blow to the yen carry trade, in which the cheap money in the form of yen was used to finance cryptocurrency trading. Analyst Mister Crypto wrote
“For decades, the Yen has been the #1 currency people would borrow & convert into other currencies & assets. That carry trade is diminishing now, as Japanese bond yields are rising rapidly,”
Federal Reserve Uncertainty is Enhanced by the United States Economic Indicators
The US economy lost 105,000 jobs in October and added 64,000 jobs in November, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
The unemployment rate rose to a four-year high of 4.6% last month.
A 25-basis-point reduction in rates made by the Federal Reserve now seems more than precarious, so BTC acts like a liquidity indicator, dropping the federal funds rate to the 4%-4.25% range in its first reduction since December 2024.
The decision came despite inflation stubbornly holding at 2.9%, well above the central bank’s 2% target amid mounting economic pressures.
Liquidation Cascades Enhance Price Fall
Bitcoin was recently down more than 3%, falling from a mark of nearly $90,000 early on December 17, 2025, to a recent price of $85,833.
That’s the lowest price registered for the leading crypto asset since December 1, per data from CoinGecko.
Standard Chartered also slashed its expectations that bitcoin would hit $200,000 by the end of 2025, lowering its forecast to $100,000.
“We think buying by Bitcoin digital asset treasury companies is likely over,”
Geoff Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, said
“As a result, we now think future Bitcoin price increases will effectively be driven by one leg only ETF buying.”
There are Structural Liquidity Deficits Which Enhance Volatility
The timing of the sell-off made it worse. Bitcoin broke down during thin weekend trading, when liquidity is typically lower and order books are shallow. In those conditions, relatively small sell orders can move prices aggressively.
Large holders and derivatives desks reduced exposure into low liquidity, amplifying volatility. That dynamic helped pull Bitcoin from the low $90,000 range toward $85,000 in a short window.
Wintermute, a market maker, was able to sell off $1.5 billion of BTC and hence rebalanced its portfolio after getting exposed to the derivatives market.
Such spot-market pressure was experienced in low volume conditions.
Projections: More Damage is Now On the Horizon
Any certainty in the policy of the Bank of Japan can also trigger a further fall in the value of Bitcoin (BTC) especially when the yen strengthens as warned by the market analysts.
Since Bitcoin itself has lost 20-30% since the last three announcements of an increase in the BoJ rates, such instances highlight the increased sensitivity of the asset to relevant Japanese monetary policies.
On the other hand, the future U.S. employment figures, which are expected to be published on January 9, 2026, would rekindle hopes of an interest-rate reduction, thus stabilizing the negative effects on risk assets.
This macroeconomic reposition shall give an effective measure of market resilience; intense monitoring of yield curves may give the required rebound indication.
