Crypto roundup for Tuesday highlights a shift in the market sentiment as the U.S. growth figures poke the U.S. dollar bears, despite other economic details favoring the Federal Reserve (Fed) rate cuts.
The U.S. dollar’s bounce exerts additional downside pressure on the Bitcoin price (BTC), extending the previous day’s pullback from a 10-day high towards $87,100 as we write. Meanwhile, the spot gold price (XAU/USD) also retreats after hitting an all-time high of $4,498. That said, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) bounced off an 11-week low, paring intraday losses while facing a two-day losing streak near 98.10 as we write.
Let’s talk about the data. The preliminary reading of the U.S. third-quarter (Q3) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) surprised markets with the strongest growth since late 2023. That said, the U.S. Q3 GDP growth rate (annualized) came in at 4.3% compared to 3.3% market forecasts and 3.8% prior.
Meanwhile, Durable Goods Orders for October hit a three-month low of -2.2%, versus the market expectations of -1.5% and the upwardly revised prior reading of 0.7%.
The U.S. ADP Employment Change 4-Week Average eased to 11.5K from 16.25K, whereas the preliminary readings of the Q3 Core Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) matched 2.9% market forecasts on a quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) basis, versus 2.6% prior. That said, the PCE prices also matched the 2.8% QoQ growth versus the 2.1% previous readings, while the Industrial Production for October reports a -0.1% Month-over-Month (MoM) outcome against the market consensus and previous readings of 0.1%.
Additionally, the U.S. Conference Board’s (CB) Consumer Confidence for December came in at 89.1 compared to 91.7 expected and 92.9 prior (revised), while the Richmond Manufacturing Index for the same month flashed a -7.0 mark versus the market forecasts of -8.0 and prior readings of -15.0.
Although the U.S. data was mostly downbeat, apart from the GDP, the U.S. dollar faced a corrective bounce, especially due to mildly offered equity indices and the sluggish markets as traders prepare for the Christmas holiday season.
Elsewhere, U.S. President Donald Trump raised prospects of either selling or keeping the seized Venezuelan oil to escalate geopolitical tensions. On the same line, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu reaffirmed Iran’s military and nuclear activities as a significant threat, and U.S. Vice President JD Vance expressed doubts about a quick peace deal between Israel and Palestine.
It’s worth noting that Mark Zandi of the global rating agency Moody’s Analytics warned that U.S. inflation might be higher than reported, as the official Consumer Price Index (CPI) data may be flawed. The doubts about the U.S. CPI’s credibility also helped the U.S. dollar bears take a breather and challenge risky assets like cryptocurrencies and equities.
Crypto, Equity Update
Major cryptocurrency coins reverse the previous day’s gains by falling between 1.0% and 3.0% amid fresh challenges to the risk appetite as Tuesday’s trading bell rings in New York.
Bitcoin (BTC), Binance Coin (BNB), and Ripple (XRP) are each down nearly 1.0%, while Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Cardano (ADA) drop around 2.0% each at the latest.
On a broader front, the crypto market capitalization (market cap) falls 2.5% on the day to $2.96 trillion, while the Bitcoin Dominance inches up to 59.1% from 59.0% during the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data.
That said, some of the top crypto news are as follows, while more updates like this could be traced to our Coin Bytes.
The world’s largest asset management company, BlackRock, named spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) as one of the top three investing themes in 2025. The global investment firm, the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), which offered a negative return so far in 2025 but attracted over $25 billion in net inflows this year.
The first country in the world to use Bitcoin as a legal tender, El Salvador, is making significant progress in its discussions about Bitcoin policy and economic reforms with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $1.4 billion loan package. The IMF’s Mission Chief for El Salvador was quoted as saying, “The sale of the government e-wallet Chivo is well advanced, and discussions about the Bitcoin project continue, centered on enhancing transparency, safeguarding public resources, and mitigating risks.”
Talking about equities, Wall Street benchmarks posted modest losses while reversing the week-start rise, as strong U.S. GDP and an absence of major negatives from other scheduled data attracted sellers. With this, the Dow Jones remains lackluster, but the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both drop around 0.20% each by press time.
On Monday, news surrounding Starlink, owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, joined optimism about progress in the Nvidia chip exports to China and favored the U.S. equities despite lacking major catalysts. That said, the Dow Jones, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq were all reporting intraday gains of nearly 0.50%.
- Gold retreats from a record high, easing from $4,498 to $4,450 at the latest.
- Bitcoin (BTC) extends pullback from a 10-day-high, down nearly 1.0% intraday to $87,100 at the latest.
- Ethereum (ETH) snaps two-day recovery, down 3.0% to $2,920 as we write.
- U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) bounces off 11-week low, butstill posts modest daily losses around 98.10 as we write.
- U.S. equity benchmarks are mildly negative, as the Dow Jones lacks clear directions, but the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are both down around 0.20% each by press time.
- WTI Crude Oil retreats from a 10-day-high, mildly offered near $57.80by press time.
Quiet Days Ahead as Holiday Mood Sets In
With potential year-end consolidation, known as the paring of previous moves during the holiday-linked year-end inaction and thin liquidity, the U.S. dollar could remain under pressure, especially as the latest data support the Fed rate cuts.
However, the holidays might not benefit cryptocurrencies and equities much, though they could end 2025 on a slightly positive note. Tech news could favor Wall Street and offer some support to risk assets, despite lacking momentum due to the year-end holiday season.
Notably, most of the scheduled data is already out and loud, and hence a lack of major data/events could join the market’s consolidation to offer sluggish days ahead.
Also read: Is Bitcoin New Digital Silver Now? Silver Jumps 130% this Year!
