The market has been quite volatile these days. Silver surged to $76 per ounce, gold surpassed $4540, and both are hitting record highs. The US stock market hasn't been idle either, with the S&P 500 reaching 6936 points. The only awkward one is Bitcoin—hovering around $87,000, down over 30% from its high earlier this year.

Looking at the data makes it clear. The midday quote on December 27 was $87,285, down 0.41% for the day, still oscillating between $85,000 and $90,000. Compared to the opening price of $93,000 at the start of the year, it's already down 6.5%. This is definitely not the Bitcoin we know.

Remember early October? Bitcoin once soared to a historical high of $126,210, with market enthusiasm at its peak. But then it started to decline steadily, ending up with the worst quarterly performance since the Terra collapse in Q2 2022.

Even more painful is the fund flow. The US spot Bitcoin ETF saw about $500 million in net outflows this week, with a total of $4.3 billion leaving over the past two months. This indicates some institutional funds are temporarily pulling back, leaving the once-hot asset.

Why is this happening? The logic behind it isn't complicated. Traditional assets tend to perform strongly at the end of a rate-hiking cycle, while crypto assets, as high-risk investments, tend to be neglected in such environments. Plus, market expectations for short-term positive news have adjusted, and funds are naturally seeking safer places.

However, in the long term, these fluctuations have limited impact on the ecosystem itself. The key still depends on fundamentals and future policy directions. Everyone is now watching and waiting for the next definitive signal.