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Bitcoin briefly surged to $92,000 on Dec. 8 before slipping back to $90,000, despite Michael Saylor’s firm, Strategy, announcing the purchase of 10,624 bitcoins. Analysts and influencers remain divided: some point to market manipulation, while others argue the crypto economy is entering a bear phase.
Diminished Impact of Saylor’s Monday Announcements
After kicking off the new week by jumping 4% to $92,000, bitcoin ultimately ended the day lower, trading around $90,000. Although volatility is nothing new for BTC, its Dec. 8 price action seemed unusual, as it coincided with the announcement that Michael Saylor’s company, Strategy, had purchased an additional 10,624 BTC, bringing its total holdings to 660,624 BTC.
Read more: 660,624 BTC and Counting: Strategy’s Latest Mega-Buy Sends Crypto Watchers Spinning
During bitcoin’s sharp rally in the second half of the year, Michael Saylor’s regular Monday announcements of new BTC acquisitions by Strategy often coincided with renewed market momentum. The effect was most pronounced while the company pursued an aggressive debt‑funded accumulation strategy, amplifying investor sentiment. However, once Strategy scaled back its leveraged purchases, the impact of Saylor’s statements diminished and proved insufficient to counter bitcoin’s subsequent downtrend.
Additionally, the Oct. 10 market crash, which resulted in the wipeout of over $19 billion in leveraged positions in 24 hours, spawned a bearish sentiment that has afflicted BTC since then. Suggestions that the macro structure that supported the BTC rally for much of 2025 had collapsed saw the cryptocurrency tumble to $80,500, a drop of over 30% from its Oct. 6 peak of more than $126,000.
Analysts Debate Strategy’s Motives
Since seemingly bottoming on Nov. 21, BTC has been slowly appreciating, renewing hopes that it could still end 2025 with modest gains. However, the top cryptocurrency has struggled to maintain an upward momentum, with each rally seemingly failing to last for a few days. Strategy’s purchase of nearly $1 billion of BTC, which many expected to give the cryptocurrency a boost, similarly failed to spark a rally that would see it ultimately reclaim $100,000.
In fact, right around the time Saylor revealed the purchase, BTC trended downward, dropping below $90,000. This price action has confounded analysts and some influencers like Andrew Tate, who publicly questioned why the announcement failed to lift the cryptocurrency.
“I’m huge on BTC, but micro strat buy 10k btc in a single day, and the price doesn’t move. Explain that to me,” Tate asked in a post on X.
While some social media analysts attributed BTC’s underwhelming performance to alleged market manipulation by a single large trader, Jacob King, a financial analyst and contrarian, argued that the crypto economy is in the early stages of a bear market, hence Saylor’s “staged pump” will not bring the anticipated relief. King suggested that investors are unlikely to be assuaged by a man whose prior trades are “underwater.”
“His latest buy was a staged pump, hoping the market blips enough so he can offload at a higher price. Saylor was once openly anti- BTC. His current ‘convert’ act is purely a trick to get naive investors chasing a sinking stock. Get out while you still can,” King said in a reply to Tate.
FAQ ❓
- What happened to bitcoin on Dec. 8? BTC briefly hit $92,000 before sliding back to around $90,000.
- How much BTC did Strategy buy? Michael Saylor’s firm added 10,624 BTC, raising its total holdings to 660,624 BTC.
- Why didn’t the purchase boost prices? Analysts say bearish sentiment and reduced leveraged buying muted the impact of Saylor’s announcement.
- What regional factors shaped the downturn? The Oct. 10 crash wiped out $19B in leveraged positions, fueling a broader bear trend across global markets.