data<\/a> showed stress building beneath the surface. 24-hour liquidations jumped 11% to $222 million, while total crypto open interest rose 1.1% to $129 billion. Despite the weak price action, the average market relative strength index was 47, indicating neutral momentum.\u00a0<\/p>\nOptions expiry keeps prices locked in range<\/h2>\n
Traders are preparing for a major options expiry, with between $27 billion and $28.5 billion in Bitcoin and Ethereum contracts set to expire on Deribit on Dec. 26. Bitcoin options account for roughly $23.6 billion, while Ethereum options make up about $3.8 billion, marking the largest expiry in the exchange\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Options give traders the right to buy or sell at a set price. When a lot of contracts stack up around key strike levels, market makers often hedge their exposure through spot market trades.<\/p>\n
Until the options expire, this hedging may keep prices fixed. While underlying volatility has been building, price action has remained relatively tight due to heavy positioning around major Bitcoin strike prices. Many traders are holding off on new trades and waiting to see how the market behaves after the expiry.<\/p>\n
Thin liquidity shapes short-term outlook<\/h2>\n
Another level of caution is being added during the holiday season. December usually sees lower volume because traders cut their exposure and funds close their books. Bitcoin is already down roughly 28\u201330% from its October peak above $125,000, and the market is still digesting that drawdown.<\/p>\n
Macro conditions have not helped risk appetite. The Bank of Japan\u2019s rate hike to 0.75% has tightened global liquidity and pressured risk assets, including crypto. As investors shift to safer assets, gold and silver have reached all-time highs, while U.S. equity market has declined due to worries about AI-related tech stock valuations.<\/p>\n
In the short term, Bitcoin appears stuck in consolidation. As long as options positioning remains heavy, large moves are unlikely. A clean break may come after Dec. 26, when hedging pressure fades. Until then, price action points to choppy trading with downside risk capped near recent lows, unless liquidation pressure accelerates.<\/p>\n
<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Crypto prices today were largely flat as traders stayed defensive ahead of a record options expiry later this week. Summary Bitcoin is consolidating near\u00a0$88,000 as the crypto market cap eyes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18506"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18507,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18506\/revisions\/18507"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}