Bitcoin Stumbles in Q4 But Still Outshines Every Other Crypto Sector
Bitcoin takes a hit—yet still leaves competitors eating its dust.
While Q4 saw BTC dip, its dominance remains unchallenged. No altcoin sector came close to matching its resilience.
Here's the kicker: Even wounded, the king still rules. Meanwhile, 'innovative' DeFi projects keep recycling the same hype—just with higher APYs and shinier buzzwords.
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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