By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless noted otherwise)
Bitcoin , the top cryptocurrency by market capitalization, remains in a stagnant position above $90,000, with implied volatility dwindling as the end of the year nears.
Volmex’s BVIV, which assesses bitcoin’s 30-day options-based implied volatility, has fallen to an annualized 45.10%, the lowest since November 10, according to TradingView data. This is down from a high of 65% reached on November 21.
Other coins such as ZEC and AAVE have surged over 9% in the last 24 hours, outperforming BTC and ether . HYPE, TAO, and SUI have risen over 5%, whereas KAS and TRX have dipped by more than 1%. The CoinDesk 20 and CoinDesk 80 Indices have each increased over 2%, indicating some optimism in the wider market.
Experts predict that the erratic price behavior in BTC will persist.
“Traders should brace for high-volatility fluctuations and refrain from overinterpreting intraday strength,” Timothy Misir, head of research at BRN, mentioned in an email.
“The market is finding its footing, but the base remains delicate. Although price movement is positive, liquidity is limited, and ETF inflows are varied, signaling a market still in search of a clear path,” he added.
This aligns with the financial markets’ propensity to take time to recover after a downturn that shakes investor confidence and eliminates excessive leverage.
Regarding leverage, total open interest in BTC and ETH futures and perpetual futures has decreased by 36% and 35%, respectively, over the past three months. Additionally, open interest in solana and has fallen 53% and 59.5%, respectively, with experiencing a 70% drop.
It’s evident that there has been significant risk offloading, predominantly led by memecoins.
In traditional markets, gold has resumed its upward trend, while the dollar has weakened to multi-week lows following the Federal Reserve meeting. Stay vigilant!
For further insights into today’s altcoin and derivatives activity, check out Crypto Markets Today
What to Watch
For an extensive list of events this week, refer to CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead”.
- Crypto
- Dec. 12: EstateX (ESX) platform will become accessible to all. Fractional real estate shares can be purchased via PROPX.
- Dec. 12: Stripe will enable dollar-settled stablecoin payments for merchants, supporting USDC on Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, and Base, USDP on Ethereum and Solana, and USDG on Ethereum.
- Macro
- Dec. 12: The Federal Reserve will initiate reserve-management purchases of Treasury bills as per the implementation note related to the Dec. 10 FOMC decision.
- Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)
Token Events
For a detailed list of events this week, please see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead”.
- Governance votes & calls
- Dec. 12: Arbitrum and Lava Network will conduct a fireside chat focused on scaling blockchains with RPC APIs.
- Nexus Mutual DAO is voting on launching a USDC vault by Q1 to generate yield for sophisticated investors by backing real-world insurance policies. Voting concludes on Dec. 13.
- Unlocks
- Dec. 13: will unlock 2.86% of its circulating supply valued at $11.02 million.
- Token Launches
- Dec. 12: RaveDAO (RAVE) will be listed on Binance, Gate.io, MEXC, Kraken, Bitget, BitMart, and others.
Conferences
For a more extensive overview of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead”.
Market Movements
- BTC is down 0.36% from 4 p.m. ET Thursday at $92,560.78 (24hrs: +2.34%)
- ETH is stable at $3,253.10 (24hrs: +1.27%)
- CoinDesk 20 is stable at 2,940.88 (24hrs: +2.26%)
- Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate has risen by 5 basis points to 2.84%
- BTC funding rate is at 0.0078% (8.5957% annualized) on Binance
- DXY has increased by 0.12% to 98.47
- Gold futures have risen by 1.25% to $4,367.00
- Silver futures are up 0.12% at $64.67
- Nikkei 225 closed up 1.37% at 50,836.55
- Hang Seng closed up 1.75% at 25,976.79
- FTSE increased by 0.24% to 9,726.05
- Euro Stoxx 50 rose by 0.52% at 5,783.89
- DJIA closed Thursday up 1.34% at 48,704.01
- S&P 500 closed up 0.21% at 6,901.00
- Nasdaq Composite closed down 0.25% at 23,593.86
- S&P/TSX Composite closed up 0.54% at 31,660.73
- S&P 40 Latin America closed up 1.34% at 3,171.63
- The U.S. 10-Year Treasury rate has risen by 2.5 basis points to 4.166%
- E-mini S&P 500 futures decreased by 0.14% to 6,897.50
- E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures have declined by 0.49% to 25,588.50
- E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average Index futures are up 0.21% to 48,850.00
Bitcoin Stats
- BTC Dominance: 59.38% (-0.12%)
- Ether-bitcoin ratio: 0.03507 (0.21%)
- Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 1,096 EH/s
- Hashprice (spot): $39.46
- Total fees: 2.65 BTC / $240,075
- CME Futures Open Interest: 123,350 BTC
- BTC priced in gold: 21.3 oz.
- BTC vs gold market cap: 6.18%
Technical Analysis
- The chart illustrates daily price variations in , a digital asset that signifies ownership of one troy ounce of actual gold.
- The token’s price has recently broken out of a triangular consolidation, signaling a continuation of the broader uptrend.
- Price movements now appear to be approaching record settings.
Crypto Equities
- Coinbase Global (COIN): closed on Thursday at $269.02 (-2.21%), +0.55% at $270.49 in pre-market
- Circle (CRCL): closed at $88.57 (+0.18%), -0.16% at $88.43
- Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $29.86 (+1.15%), unchanged in pre-market
- Bullish (BLSH): closed at $45.38 (-1.63%), -0.22% at $45.28
- MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $11.84 (-0.67%), +0.17% at $11.86
- Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $15.75 (+1.16%), stable in pre-market
- Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $17.40 (+0.4%), -0.11% at $17.38
- CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $14.82 (+2%), -0.47% at $14.75
- CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI): closed at $46.34 (+0.94%)
- Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $16.59 (+5.47%)
Crypto Treasury Companies
- Strategy (MSTR): closed at $183.30 (-0.73%), -0.1% at $183.12
- Semler Scientific (SMLR): closed at $19.22 (-5.55%)
- SharpLink Gaming (SBET): closed at $11.53 (-4.08%), +0.95% at $11.64
- Upexi (UPXI): closed at $2.41 (-1.63%), +3.73% at $2.50
- Lite Strategy (LITS): closed at $1.81 (-1.63%)
ETF Flows
Spot BTC ETFs
- Daily net flows: -$77.5 million
- Cumulative net flows: $57.84 billion
- Total BTC holdings ~1.31 million
Spot ETH ETFs
- Daily net flows: -$42.3 million
- Cumulative net flows: $13.13 billion
- Total ETH holdings ~6.33 million
Source: Farside Investors
While You Were Sleeping
- SEC Approves Tokenization of Certain Stocks in Move to Blockchain (Bloomberg): The no-action letter to Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC) permits the firm to offer a tokenization service for a limited range of highly liquid securities
- Boring Bitcoin’s Green Light Moment on the Horizon? (CoinDesk): BTC continues to frustrate traders with its aimless price movements, yet some indicators, such as Bitcoin’s MACD histogram, are signaling a potential return to bullish sentiment.
- Stablecoins Gain Support from Cross-Party UK Lawmakers Advocating Pro-Innovation Regulations (CoinDesk): The coalition expresses concerns over the Bank of England’s proposed framework, which limits the application of stablecoins in wholesale markets, prohibits interest on reserves, and caps holdings at £20,000 ($26,750).
- XRP Expands to Solana, Ethereum, and Other Platforms, Enhancing Ripple Ecosystem (CoinDesk): Hex Trust’s new wrapped token launches with deep liquidity and secure institutional custody, enabling value transfer into DeFi across multiple blockchains without relying on unregulated bridges or informal cross-chain systems.
- Venezuelan Oil Seizure Undermines Maduro’s Power Base (Wall Street Journal): Stalled tanker movements and decreasing buyers threaten the revenue stream vital for the country’s leadership, exacerbating financial strain and limiting access to critical foreign currency inflows.
