Bitcoin breaks above US$90,000 as traders bet on New Year rebound
The original cryptocurrency is down about 4% in 2025
[MUMBAI] Bitcoin rose in Asia trading to top US$90,000, hinting at a potential breakout after the token missed out on a Santa rally that sent stocks to record highs.
The original cryptocurrency rose as much as 3.1 per cent to above US$90,200 in Singapore on Monday (Dec 29), according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Other cryptocurrencies also jumped, with Ether up as much as 4 per cent to surpass US$3,000.
Bitcoin was largely unmoved as the S&P 500 surged to a record close in the build-up to Christmas. The wider crypto space has yet to recover from a weeks-long sell-off that began in October with the liquidation of some US$19 billion worth of leveraged positions.
That episode hollowed out the market, with traders reluctant to bet big on a comeback since. Now, there are early signs of a shift in mood.
Monday’s uptick “appears somewhat driven by short-term retail traders taking on growing positions in futures”, said Sebastian Bea, chief investment officer of ReserveOne, a crypto treasury firm.
The Bitcoin funding rate, a key barometer of crypto sentiment, is at its highest level since Oct 18, according to CryptoQuant data, signalling growing demand for bullish bets in the perpetual futures market.
Open interest in futures positions for Bitcoin has also bounced from recent lows, but remains “well below recent peaks that coincided with Bitcoin recent highs in October”, Bea added. The token reached a record of US$126,251 on Oct 6.
Despite mounting institutional adoption and a series of policy wins under pro-crypto US President Donald Trump, Bitcoin is down about 4 per cent in 2025. BLOOMBERG
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