Bloomberg just published its annual trade tape, “The 11 Big Trades of 2025: Bubbles, Cockroaches, and a 367% Jump”, and crypto makes the cut again. This time it shows up as a cautionary line item in a year that took Bitcoin from a new peak above six figures back to roughly flat on the year.
In a companion version on Bloomberg Law, the editors describe investors crowding into “crypto strategies” alongside overstuffed yield trades and narrative stocks. It is a snapshot of how big macro desks talk about this market after a cycle of blow‑off rallies and slow bleed drawdowns.
Crypto’s line in the script
The Bloomberg Law excerpt gives the cleanest read on how the list frames digital assets inside 2025’s macro story. After walking through record gold, meme‑like swings in mortgage giants, and a blown‑up carry trade, the piece turns to risk trades that rode narratives instead of cash flows.
“Crypto strategies built on leverage, hope, and not much else.”
That single sentence is the entire crypto section in the public excerpt. No ticker. No ETF name. No specific token. Crypto sits in the same bucket as “fragile narratives,” not as a standout winner or loser with its own heading.
The tone is a sharp contrast with Bloomberg’s 2023 list. Back then, a full segment titled “Bitcoin: Back from the dead” credited spot ETF filings and a legal reset for helping BTC more than double that year, even as the asset stayed below its previous all‑time high, in a piece syndicated by BizNews from Bloomberg’s original package. In 2025, crypto graduates from comeback story to example of risk trades that ran on hope.
367% jump or 410% jump?
There is a second tell in the packaging. The main markets piece on Bloomberg.com flags “a 367% jump” in one trade in the headline. The Bloomberg Law version runs with “a 410% jump” in its title for what is clearly the same year‑end feature.
Bloomberg does not spell out the underlying asset in the free portions of either page, and the discrepancy sits right in the headline math. For crypto traders who live and die by basis points, it is a reminder that even top‑tier outlets can fuzz the exact size of a move once it becomes year‑end storytelling.
Where the market actually is
Bitcoin trades around $87,519 as of December 28, 2025, essentially flat on the day and roughly in line with levels flagged in mainstream write‑ups of the year’s close. Data shared in mid‑summer by InvestingHaven showed BTC touching an all‑time high above $123,000 in July before sliding back. Statista’s chart of daily closes later recorded a peak near $116,000 in September. The Times reported this week that Bitcoin “surged past $100,000” during the year but now ends 2025 slightly below where it started.
That round‑trip fits the way broader markets now talk about the asset. Reuters’ year‑ahead scorecard on trades for 2025 noted that gold, silver, and defense stocks topped performance tables while “cryptocurrencies, bonds, and defensive equities lagged,” even after the fireworks around Trump’s strategic Bitcoin reserve plans and U.S. spot ETF flows.
From redemption arc to risk gauge
The shift in Bloomberg’s language matters more than the cameo length. In 2023, crypto in the “Big Trades” list signaled survival. Bitcoin’s rebound, driven by spot ETF filings and a clean‑up of some of the worst frauds, marked the asset as a battered but persistent part of global markets.
By 2025, the same franchise treats crypto as one more crowded macro expression. The line about leverage and hope lands in a year when Bitcoin underperformed gold, whipsawed anyone who chased highs above $120,000, and left the flagship coin sitting near $87,000 while metals printed 60% plus returns according to both Bloomberg’s own commodities coverage and Reuters’ recap of the year.
For crypto desks, that is the signal inside Bloomberg’s glossy year‑end feature. Digital assets are no longer the outside bet that occasionally forces their way into a macro narrative. They now sit directly in the crosshairs of mainstream risk review. When Bloomberg files crypto under “fragile narratives” in its trade of the year package, it tells you how traditional PMs will size and time this market in 2026.
