Why Are Crypto Prices Surging on the Last Day of 2025?

As the year 2026 starts, crypto markets are rebounding with fresh momentum after weeks of limited movement.

The overall market rose by more than 2%, led by Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana. The rally suggests improving investor confidence heading into the new year, with key assets regaining strength after extended consolidation phases.

Crypto Prices Rise as Market Recovers Ahead of New Year

Crypto prices showed renewed strength in the Wednesday session. Bitcoin price has been consolidating near the $89,000 level and has gained momentum following a lengthy period in a sideways market. Ether reached the highest level of $2,900, and XRP gained more than 2%.

Solana being a leading blockchain for new crypto presale projects,Web3 games, NFT projects , the price saw an uptrend of more than 2% in the year end.

Other altcoins like Canton (CC) gained 14%, Humanity Protocol gained 12%, and Chiliz and Lighter gained 11% each.

The LIT token introduced by the Lighter DEX was airdropped at 25% and this caused significant price movement.

This added to the overall increase in crypto prices, which had been strained by extended profit-selling and regulatory apprehension earlier in the quarter.

ETF Inflows Support the Uptick in Crypto Prices

Spot crypto ETFs recorded significant inflows on December 30, signaling a return of institutional demand. According to Sosovalue data, there was a net inflow of $428 million into Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana ETFs. 

Bitcoin itself raised $355 million, with Ethereum and XRP taking the second and third places with 68 and 15.5 million, respectively. Solana ETFs received inflows amounting to $ 5.2 million.

BlackRock made the news that clients acquired 143.7 million of Bitcoin by the company, which further confirmed the institutional appetite.

The recovery of the ETF flows seems to have stabilized the crypto prices and revived the interest of the markets, several sessions of outflows.

🚨BREAKING: 🇺🇸 Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded a net inflow of $355.1M on December 30.

BlackRock clients bought $143.7M worth of $BTC. pic.twitter.com/Icjermw6fg

— DustyBC Crypto (@TheDustyBC) December 31, 2025

Traders Eye Fed Clarity and January Jobs Data

The emphasis of investors is moving towards a macroeconomic perspective. The recent Federal Reserve minutes found that the policymakers were divided, in particular, with references to the data about inflation and employment.

The next U.S. jobs report that will be released on January 9 is now under the spotlight, as this is likely to provide the blanks left by the recent government shutdown.

The indecisiveness surrounding rate reductions in 2026 is still lingering over the sentiment, but overall liquidity picture looks good in terms of crypto prices in the new year. 

Traders are positioning themselves on possible market-moving data as they evaluate the positioning to Q1 2026.

Altseason Buzz Builds Amid New ETF Filings

To make the optimism even more, Bitwise submitted 11 additional crypto ETFs. The proposed funds are AAVE, UNI, ZEC, CC, ENA, HYPE, NEAR, STRK, SUI, TAO, and TRX. 

🚨 BITWISE JUST FILED FOR 11 NEW CRYPTO ETFs$AAVE, $UNI, $ZEC, $CC, $ENA, $HYPE, $NEAR, $STRK, $SUI, $TAO, and $TRX.

Looks like they are finally preparing for the ALT season 👀 pic.twitter.com/ITY3W413At

— Wise Advice (@wiseadvicesumit) December 31, 2025

Such aggressive growth is an indication that there is increasing interest in altcoins and that there might be a complete altseason. Over the past day, the Grayscale Filed for the first U.S. Bittensor ETF, adding optimism to the market.

Meanwhile, Ethereum remained within the range of $2,950-$3,000. Analysts pointed out that any sustained breakout above $3,000 would raise the price to $3,200 and above.

XRP price also hovered over $1.86, with Bitcoin also being range-bound between $87,000 and $90,000. A move above $90,000 would open up further gains to crypto prices in early 2026.