Bitcoin sinks below $87,000 as crypto assets slide, metals soar post-Xmas

• Major cryptocurrencies and crypto stocks slid in early U.S. trade Friday, with bitcoin slipping back below $87,000 and bitcoin miners down 5% or more across the board.
• Gold, silver and other metals surged, with geopolitical concerns adding to the debasement trade.

In what's become all too familiar action at the start of the U.S. trading day, the crypto sector quickly more than gave up even the tiniest hint of an overnight rally.

Nudging above $89,000 at one point as the U.S. slept on Friday, bitcoin BTC$87,287.15 quickly tumbled back below $87,000 as American stocks opened for trade following the Christmas holiday.

Again all too familiar for crypto bulls, the poor price action occurred as metals continued to soar, with gold, silver, copper and platinum all posting new record highs on Friday.

Already attracting capital that might otherwise go to bitcoin as part of the global debasement trade, the metals today are also maybe benefitting from rising geopolitical tension after the U.S. hit Islamic State targets in Nigeria on Christmas Day and added to pressure against Venezuela by blocking sanctioned oil tankers.

Palladium and platinum led the metals surge, both up more than 10%, while silver and copper gained 5%. Gold is ahead 1.5% to $4,573 per ounce.

The Nasdaq, S&P 500, and DJIA were all trading nearly flat in morning action.

Bitcoin was lower by 1.6% over the past 24 hours; ether ETH$2,922.79 was down similarly. DOGE$0.1259 was off more than 4% and XRP$1.8721 sank 3%, leading losses for the rest of the sector.

Crypto stocks were also in the red, with Coinbase (COIN), named one of the three most promising fintech ideas in 2026 by Clear Street's Owen Lau, outperforming with just a 2% decline. Gemini (GEMI) was down 6%, Bullish (BLSH) off 3.8% and Galaxy Digital (GLXY) lower by 3.5%.

Bitcoin miners were hit especially hard in the early post-Christmas trading session — even those who have pivoted business models from mining BTC to AI infrastructure. IREN (IREN), Cipher Mining (CIFR), Terawulf (WULF) and Marathon Digital (MARA) were among those falling 5% or more. A standout performer over the past week on its own AI plans, Hut 8 (HUT) was leading the loss list Friday, down 7.5%.

2025 was defined by a stark divergence: structural progress collided with stagnant price action. Institutional milestones were reached and TVL increased across most major ecosystems, yet the majority of large-cap Layer-1 tokens finished the year with negative or flat returns.

This report analyzes the structural decoupling between network usage and token performance. We examine 10 major blockchain ecosystems, exploring protocol versus application revenues, key ecosystem narratives, mechanics driving institutional adoption, and the trends to watch as we head into 2026.

• IREN emerged as the clear standout with roughly +300% year-to-date gains while Bitdeer was the sector’s biggest laggard.
• AI focused miners like IREN, Cipher and Hut 8 delivered triple digit gains, supported by GPU cloud deals, hyperscaler partnerships and long-term data center leases.
• Bitcoin pure-play miners such as Marathon, CleanSpark, Riot and Bitdeer underperformed, highlighting that BTC holdings alone were not enough to offset weaker earnings, execution issues and delayed AI strategies.

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