Cryptocurrency markets are mostly flat or slightly down on Friday, Dec. 26, with Bitcoin briefly climbing back above the $89,000 level before retracing in slow post-holiday trading. Most major altcoins are slightly in the red over the past 24 hours, pushing the total crypto market capitalization down by 1.4% to $3.01 trillion.
Bitcoin (BTC) is trading just below $87,000, down about 1% on both the daily and weekly charts, while Ethereum (ETH) is hovering just below $3,000, also flat today and down about 1.7% in the past seven days.
Among the top-10 altcoins by market capitalization, Dogecoin (DOGE) lost the most in the past 24 hours, down 3.3% to $0.12.
Still No Risk Appetite
Analysts at Singapore-based analytics firm Matrixport noted in a Dec. 26 post on X that Bitcoin has been under pressure since mid-October, with volatility staying low and risk appetite still weak after October’s market shock.
They noted that leverage has continued to unwind and positioning across derivatives and ETFs is slowly shifting ahead of the largest Bitcoin options expiry on record, adding that "the balance between downside exhaustion and upside optionality is becoming increasingly nuanced."
The Fear & Greed Index shows that crypto sentiment remains stuck in “extreme fear,” even after the modest price rebound seen around the Christmas holiday.
Top Gainers & Losers
Among the top-100 tokens by market cap, Ethena (ENA) and World Liberty Financial (WLFI) are the top gainers today, both up about 4.4%.
On the downside, Canton (CC) is the biggest loser today, down about 6%, followed by DOGE.
Over the past 24 hours, total liquidations came in at a relatively modest $259 million, according to Coinglass. Long positions made up the larger share at roughly $152 million, while short liquidations totaled about $106 million.
Bitcoin liquidations accounted for around $117 million in the past 24 hours, followed by Ethereum at $44 million. SOL saw about $17 million in liquidations.
ETFs and Macro Conditions
Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw their fifth consecutive day of outflows on Christmas Eve, with about $175.3 million in net outflows, leaving total net assets at roughly $113.8 billion. Meanwhile, spot Ethereum ETFs also saw net outflows totalling $52.7 million on Wednesday, Dec. 24, bringing total net assets down to about $17.8 billion, according to SoSoValue. There is no ETF flow data for Thursday, Dec. 25, as U.S. markets were closed for Christmas.
On the macro front, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Thursday, Dec. 25, that inflation in Japan is slowly picking up and moving closer to the central bank’s 2% target. He added that the BOJ is still ready to raise interest rates if needed, according to Reuters.
On the geopolitical side, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an X post today that he plans to meet with President Trump this weekend, likely on Sunday, Dec. 28, in Florida, as Kyiv and Washington discuss ways to end the war with Russia.
