Bitcoin Continues Sideways Without Year-End Rally, Holds at $88,000 [Crypto Briefing]

[Financial News] On the 29th, Bitcoin (BTC) continued to trade sideways around the $88,000 mark. This is in contrast to the year-end rally seen in commodities such as gold and silver, as well as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
According to CoinMarketCap, as of 10:40 a.m., BTC was trading at around $88,000, up 0.37% over the past 24 hours. Over the past week, BTC has declined by 1.16%.
In the Korean won market, BTC is trading at approximately 128 million KRW. According to Cryprice, a global digital asset comparison platform, the Korea premium stands at 1.04%.
Recently, most markets except for digital assets have been on an upward trend. According to the Korea Gold Exchange, on the 24th, the international price of gold reached $4,484.14 per troy ounce (31.1g), a 71.1% increase compared to the same period last year. During the same period, the international price of silver also surged from $29.76 to $71.63 per troy ounce. The three major NYSE indices continued their year-end rally, rising for five consecutive trading days through the 26th (local time).
In contrast, BTC has been trading between $86,000 and $88,000 over the past week. The stock market was buoyed by renewed optimism about earnings as concerns over an Artificial Intelligence (AI) bubble eased, while commodities were driven by a preference for safe-haven assets amid recent geopolitical uncertainties. However, digital assets, considered risk assets, are seen as lacking clear catalysts for a rally.
Hyeon Kyeong Yang, a researcher at iM Securities, explained, "Bitcoin (BTC) has built a narrative as 'digital gold,' but recently its price trend has diverged from that of gold. A significant portion of BTC demand comes from individual investors, hedge funds, and trading-oriented institutions, all of whom are highly sensitive to liquidity and investment sentiment."
At the same time, Ethereum was trading at $2,965, up 0.75% from the previous day, while Ripple was up 0.11% at $1.87.

yimsh0214@fnnews.com Im Sang-hyuk Reporter