Trading Moment: Christmas Market Outlook Uncertain, Bitcoin Tests $83,200 Support, Ethereum Closely Watches $2,600 Level

  • Market Context & Diverging Central Bank Policies: The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut rates in December (87% probability), while the Bank of Japan has signaled a potential rate hike, creating a complex macro backdrop. China's central bank reiterated its crackdown on virtual currencies, defining stablecoins as risky.
  • Crypto Market Under Pressure: Bitcoin had its worst November since 2018, falling 17.55% and breaking below $86,000. Analysts are divided: some predict further declines to the $67,000-$70,000 range or even $40,000-$50,000, while others see the drop as a healthy correction with key support near $83,200.
  • Ethereum's Key Levels: ETH is fluctuating between $2,600 and $3,000. A break below $2,600 could lead to a drop toward $2,000, while a move above $3,000 could target $3,300-$3,400. The market faces additional selling pressure from approximately 1.5 million ETH scheduled to be unstaked by end-December.
  • Significant Liquidations & Sector Declines: Over the past 24 hours, total crypto liquidations reached $591 million, with BTC and ETH accounting for $199 million and $135 million, respectively. Major sectors like DePIN and L2 fell over 8-9%.
  • ETF Inflows Provide Contrast: Despite market panic, Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs saw net inflows of $71.37 million and $76.55 million respectively as of November 28, marking consecutive days of positive flows.
  • Project-Specific Risks Emerged: Yearn Finance's yETH pool was exploited for ~$9 million, the SAHARA token plunged over 55%, and Binance added several tokens to its monitoring list, causing sharp price drops.
Summary

Daily market data review and trend analysis, produced by PANews.

1. Market Observation

In the US, due to signs of weakness in the labor market, institutions such as Goldman Sachs predict that a Federal Reserve rate cut in December is almost a certainty, with the market pricing in an 87% probability of a rate cut . Meanwhile, discussions about the next Federal Reserve Chairman have also attracted attention, with White House National Economic Council Director Hassett considered a leading candidate , whose stance could push for more aggressive rate-cutting policies. In stark contrast, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda has issued its clearest signal to date regarding a rate hike , hinting at a possible rate adjustment in December and planning to further clarify the future path after the rate reaches 0.75%.

On the regulatory front, the People's Bank of China convened a multi-department meeting on November 29th, reiterating its crackdown on virtual currencies and defining stablecoins for the first time as a form of virtual currency with risks of money laundering and illegal fundraising. Meanwhile, investigative reports on the rampant cryptocurrency speculation show that this activity is gradually infiltrating mainstream social media and e-commerce platforms, including Xiaohongshu and Taobao , forming a trap for ordinary investors. Regulatory authorities may further intensify their oversight of virtual currency-related activities to prevent potential financial risks and protect investor rights. In this environment, risk aversion and demand for scarce assets have surged, with spot silver prices historically breaking through $57/ounce, driven by tight supply and expectations of interest rate cuts, while gold prices have also remained strong. However, the traditional "Christmas rally" in US stocks may be absent this year . Wall Street strategists point out that the disruptive impact of AI and continued market volatility have broken past seasonal patterns, adding uncertainty to the year-end performance of risk assets.

Bitcoin closed at $90,360 in November, marking its worst November performance since 2018, with a monthly drop of 17.55%. This downward trend continued on December 1st, with the market opening in the red and falling by more than 5% at one point, breaking below $86,000. This volatility triggered massive leveraged liquidations, further exacerbating market uncertainty. Renowned trader Peter Brandt pointed out that the price of Bitcoin could fall below $70,000, with support at the mid-$40,000 level. Analyst James Wynn believes the market is in a phase of "anxiety and denial," with an initial target price of $67,000, and a potential further decline to the $40,000 to $50,000 range. Economic analyst Timothy Peterson's analysis shows that the current Bitcoin price movement has a 98% correlation with the monthly charts of the 2022 bear market, suggesting that a true recovery may not occur until the first quarter of next year. Analyst Aylo also pointed out from a historical cycle perspective that Bitcoin always falls back to the 200-week moving average (currently around $63,000 to $65,000) after reaching its peak, and believes that factors such as miners shifting to AI may become downward catalysts.

On the other hand, some analysts hold a relatively optimistic or neutral view. Analyst Sykodelic believes this decline is a healthy liquidity cleanup. CrypNuevo predicts the price may fluctuate between $80,000 and $99,000, with key resistance at $94,500. A break above this level could see the price test the major resistance at $99,000. Against this backdrop, CoinAnk's liquidation heatmap shows short-term support between $83,200 and $84,000, while short-term upside resistance is between $94,000 and $95,200. Meanwhile, the CEO of Strategy reiterated that Bitcoin will only be sold if the Bitcoin Net Asset Value (mNAV) falls below 1 and funding is unavailable.

Ethereum 's price action is similar to Bitcoin's. Analyst Daan Crypto Trades points out that ETH is currently fluctuating within the key range of $2,600 to $3,000. A break above $3,000 could see it rise to $3,300-$3,400; conversely, a drop below $2,600 could see it fall to a low of $2,000. Analyst Man of Bitcoin also believes that ETH has not yet shown clear signs of bottoming out, with a key level at $2,903. However, the market is also facing selling pressure. According to data from ValidatorQueue, approximately 1.5 million ETH will be unstaking by the end of December, which may be related to institutional rebalancing and market volatility.

Recent project-related risk events have been frequent. Yearn Finance's yETH stablecoin pool was attacked, with attackers exploiting an infinite minting vulnerability to drain the pool, resulting in a loss of approximately $9 million. Although the Yearn team stated that other core treasuries were unaffected, the incident has still raised market concerns about DeFi security. Meanwhile , the price of the SAHARA token plummeted by over 55%. According to KOLs, this was due to its active market makers being liquidated by the exchange for abnormal operations on other projects, leading to forced liquidation of their positions. Furthermore, amidst the current panic, Binance announced that it would add tokens such as DENT, CHESS, and SXP to its monitoring list, causing these tokens to generally fall by more than 20%.

2. Key Data (as of 13:00 HKT, December 1st)

(Data source: CoinAnk, Upbit, Coingecko, SoSoValue, CoinMarketCap)

  • Bitcoin: $8,576 (down 7.82% year-to-date), daily spot trading volume $61.03 billion.

  • Ethereum: $2,827 (-15.18% year-to-date), daily spot trading volume $20.53 billion.

  • Fear of Greed Index: 24 (Fear)

  • Average GAS: BTC: 1.2 sat/vB, ETH: 0.04 Gwei

  • Market share: BTC 58.7%, ETH 11.6%

  • Upbit 24-hour trading volume rankings: XRP, BTC, LSK, WAL

  • 24-hour BTC long/short ratio: 48.49% / 51.51%

  • Sector Performance: DePIN sector fell 9.23%, L2 sector fell 8.98%.

  • 24-hour liquidation data: A total of 193,186 people worldwide were liquidated, with a total liquidation amount of $591 million. This included $199 million in BTC liquidations, $135 million in ETH liquidations, and $31.77 million in SOL liquidations.

3. ETF Flows (as of November 28)

  • Bitcoin ETF: +$71.371 million, marking the third consecutive day of net inflows.

  • Ethereum ETF: +$76.5491 million, marking the fifth consecutive day of net inflows.

  • Solana ETF: +$5.37 million

  • XRP ETF: +$22.68 million

4. Today's Outlook

The largest declines among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization today were: Zcash down 21.7%, Ethena down 17.2%, Dash down 15.5%, KuCoin down 12.1%, and Virtuals Protocol down 12%.

5. Hot News

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Author: 交易时刻

This article represents the views of PANews columnist and does not represent PANews' position or legal liability.

The article and opinions do not constitute investment advice

Image source: 交易时刻. Please contact the author for removal if there is infringement.

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