Bitcoin Breaks $89,000

On December 31, MLM Monitor reported that Jump Crypto received an airdrop of 9,284,890 LIT tokens (valued at roughly $24.2 million). The firm began providing liquidity on the Lighter platform in mid-November. Of the 9,284,890 LIT tokens, 323,956.6 were distributed to a newly created wallet—likely rewards from its liquidity provision activities. This means Jump Crypto effectively acted as a liquidity provider on the exchange with the equivalent of 9,284,890 LIT tokens. That sum represents approximately 0.93% of LIT’s total token supply and about 3.72% of its circulating supply.

On Dec. 31, Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT.O) announced plans to distribute digital tokens to its stakeholders, with Crypto.com facilitating the process via its technology. (FX168)

December 31: U.S. initial jobless claims continued to decline last week, hitting 199,000—below consensus market expectations. Some analysts note holiday-season claims are more volatile and subject to significant seasonal revisions, rendering them less reliable as a basis for index compilation.

December 31st: On-chain analyst Ai Auntie (@ai_9684xtpa) reported that a trader purchased 3,000 call options contracts on Deribit—expiring January 30, 2026, with a $100,000 strike price—paying a total premium of $2.86 million. If held to expiry, the trader would incur a loss if BTC fails to exceed $100,953.67 that day, while a full loss of the $2.86 million premium would result if BTC does not rise above $100,000. (Profits may also be taken at any time if BTC rallies.)

On December 31st, Multicoin Co-Founder Kyle Samani—who chairs the board of Forward Industries (FORD)—posted: "Manus feels like the first time a Generalized Agent has real-world viability. Bringing zkTLS to Manus would be a massive opportunity."

On December 31st, Forbes reported that analysts expect a 2026 Federal Reserve rate cut and ongoing U.S. dollar weakness to push Bitcoin prices higher. Dollar data shows the greenback fell nearly 10% in 2025—its largest annual decline since 2017. ING Chief International Economist James Knightley noted the Fed is currently in an accommodative stance. Meanwhile, Polymarket pegs the probability of a rate cut before June 2026 at 96%. Former President Trump has signaled he may replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell in January 2026 to further lower the central bank’s current 3.5%-3.75% interest rate range. Experts at Unchained and Clear Street argue looser monetary policy will position Bitcoin as a top beneficiary of dollar depreciation, making it a key driver of crypto market growth in 2026.