Bitcoin falls in Q4 yet beats all other crypto sectors

Bitcoin has quietly held its ground better than most corners of the crypto market, even after sliding from record highs. Glassnode reported that the past three months have shown “persistent relative weakness” across nearly all crypto sectors compared to BTC. This suggests that the capital is clustering around the top crypto.

The OG crypto price dipped by more than 4% in the last 24 hours to trade below $86,000. The cumulative digital assets market cap dropped by 3.8% in the same session, losing the crucial $3 trillion mark. The Fear and Greed index is still flashing “Fear” sentiment is hovering among investors. The CoinGlass data shows that crypto liquidation breached $658 million amid the fresh dip.

Bitcoin drops 26% in Q4 but still outperforms

Bitcoin Vector in a post mentioned that the first half of the year was clearly BTC-led. Its dominance rose while marking bottoms and rotations. However, the picture flipped in the second half as the dominance trended lower. Investors rotated into Ether and other majors after a strong but never fully reclaimed leadership afterward.

BTC Dominance: Yearly Recap

The first half of the year was clearly BTC-led, dominance rising and marking bottoms and rotations.

In the second half, the picture flipped: dominance trended lower, making room for ETH rotation, but never fully reclaiming leadership afterward.… pic.twitter.com/wasqcm3SFA

— Bitcoin Vector (@bitcoinvector) December 15, 2025

It added that the recent attempts to rebuild post-deleverage event have weakened again by year-end. This signals low conviction in BTC leadership and a market still searching for a clear anchor. The numbers back it up as Bitcoin price fell around 26% over the last quarter to around $86,000. This looks painful, yet it is still marginally better than the broader market’s 27.5% drawdown over the same period.

Analysts say BTC remains stuck in a frustrating range between $85,000 and $94,000, with every bounce met by sellers who bought heavily near October’s all-time high. Bitcoin has mirrored the downturn in broader risk assets but hasn’t recovered alongside them. This highlights how thin liquidity and fading risk appetite continue to weigh on the market.

Major crypto sectors post double-digit losses in Q4

Ether has performed worse. ETH price slumped by over 35% in the last 90 days, diving below $3,000. XRP and Solana prices have nosedived 38% and 47%, respectively, at the same time. XRP is trading at an average price of $1.87 at the press time. SOL is hovering around $126.

Other sectors have been hit even harder. AI-linked tokens are down nearly 50% as the speculative frenzy around artificial intelligence cooled. The meme coin category has shed 56% of its market cap. This unwinds nearly a year of hype. Dogecoin price dropped by 52% while Shiba Inu is down by 40% in the past 90 days.

Real-world-asset tokens, one of the buzziest narratives going into the fall. They were dragged down by 46% in three months. DeFi tokens have slumped 38%.

Despite all the ups and downs, one buyer hasn’t flinched. Strategy disclosed another billion-dollar purchase this week. It added 10,645 BTC after buying a similar amount last week. The company now holds more than 671,000 Bitcoin worth roughly $60 billion, with its latest buys funded by nearly $1 billion in freshly issued stock.

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