Bitcoin hovered around $90,000 and repeatedly failed to hold above $92,000 over the past month amid softer US labor data and cooling growth. On Dec. 9 Target trimmed its fourth quarter outlook; on Dec. 10 Macy's warned inflation would squeeze margins; on Dec. 18 Nike posted lower quarterly sales. The chance of a Jan. 28 rate cut fell to 22% and the 10-year Treasury yield stood at 4.15%.

Solana’s SOL token has dropped 32% since November, while the wider altcoin market fell 21%, as network fees and DApp revenues declined alongside slowing onchain activity. Despite $636 million in U.S. Solana ETF assets, 20.35 million SOL on corporate balance sheets and roughly 68% of supply staked, growth has shifted to Base, Arbitrum, Polygon and BNB Chain, limiting SOL’s near-term upside. Analysts highlight that without a clear rebound in Solana’s usage metrics, the token may continue to lag competing ecosystems and the broader market.

Bitcoin held above $85,000 after a recent sell-off, while spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $358 million in net outflows and the price sits 31% under the $126,219 all-time high. Despite the breach of the $90,000 level and short-term ETF weakness, correlation and volatility metrics, along with institutional positioning via ETFs and corporate reserves, suggest large investors have not definitively abandoned expectations for a move toward $100,000.

On Monday, crypto markets fell as Bitcoin retested $85,000 and Ether touched $2,900, while leveraged longs saw $527M liquidated in 24 hours. Traders shifted risk after surveys and Fed chair speculation changed macro expectations, and AI-related debt concerns added pressure.

SOL has failed to hold above $145 for four weeks as Solana’s TVL fell by more than $10 billion from its September peak. Following the Oct. 10 market shock, memecoin trading cooled and DEX volumes retreated, while perpetual futures funding shows muted long demand at a 6% annualized rate.