Bitcoin (BTC) continues to trade sideways in the mid-$80,000 range without a year-end "Santa rally." Trading volume has declined due to reduced liquidity at year-end, and a cautious wait-and-see sentiment is deepening as a massive BTC options expiry approaches.
As of 8:31 a.m. on Thursday, BTC was trading at $87,301.87, down 0.29% from 24 hours earlier, according to CoinMarketCap. Ethereum (ETH) fell 0.64% to $2,914.46, XRP dropped 0.91% to $1.84, and Solana (SOL) declined 1.03% to $121.51.
The domestic market showed a similar pattern. On Bithumb, a Korean cryptocurrency exchange, BTC was trading at 128.458 million won, down 0.45% from the previous day. ETH fell 0.79% to 4.282 million won, while XRP dropped 1.82% to 2,701 won.
While all three major indices on the New York Stock Exchange rose on Tuesday, enjoying a Santa rally, the cryptocurrency market has struggled to find a rebound opportunity. Concerns are growing that downside risk could increase due to the expiry of 300,000 BTC options scheduled for Thursday.
The BTC options set to expire are worth approximately $23 billion (about 34 trillion won), the largest on record. Large-scale buying or selling could increase price volatility.
Cryptocurrency investor sentiment remains in a state of "extreme fear." The Fear and Greed Index from Alternative.me, a cryptocurrency data analytics firm, stands at 23 points. The index indicates contracted investor sentiment as it approaches 0 and market overheating as it approaches 100.
Despite this market uncertainty, some experts are offering positive outlooks from a long-term perspective. The CEO of Strategy, known as the world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder, presented an optimistic forecast that BTC prices will rise next year.
"The possibility of a shift to monetary easing in the United States will reduce pressure on risk assets and create a favorable environment for Bitcoin," Strategy CEO Phong Le said, according to digital asset media outlet The Daily Hodl on Wednesday. The Federal Reserve indicated a "one-time cut" (0.25 percentage point reduction) in its outlook for the benchmark interest rate next year on December 10.
Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, also said on X, "Most investors who regret missing Bitcoin's all-time high are those who couldn't enter when fear was at its peak. A period like the current one could be an opportunity for long-term investors."
