Key Points
Bitcoin slipped back to about $87,500 after stalling near $89,000–$90,000 as year-end liquidity thinned.
Market makers warned that leverage is being reduced and a major Friday options expiry could amplify moves around $85,000–$100,000.
BTC priced in gold is flashing stress: BTC/XAU is around 19.5 ounces (below 20) and monthly RSI is near 40.99, close to the long-run floor near 40.85.
Bitcoin’s late-December pullback looks less like a single “bad headline” and more like a market adjusting to thin conditions.
After a Monday push toward $90,000 faded, price repeatedly rejected the upper-$88,000s and slid toward $87,010, leaving BTC near $87,471 on the snapshot.
Momentum was weak rather than capitulatory: 4-hour RSI sat near 43.99 and daily RSI near 42.87, with MACD still below zero. Derivatives are the hinge.
Market makers noted that market depth is contracting into Christmas week while perpetual open interest fell sharply overnight—about $3 billion in BTC and $2 billion in ETH.
The next catalyst is Friday’s expiry, roughly 300,000 BTC option contracts (about $23.7 billion notional) alongside a large IBIT options expiry.
Bitcoin Versus Gold Slips Into A Pressure Zone As Holiday Liquidity Thins. (Photo Internet reproduction)
Heavy strike interest clusters between $85,000 and $100,000, with “max pain” estimates near $95,000. Flows have been a headwind. Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw about $142 million of net outflows on Dec. 22 (U.S. session).
Crypto outflows deepen as Bitcoin lags record gold
CoinShares also reported about $952 million of weekly outflows from digital-asset investment products, led by Ethereum, pointing to U.S. regulatory delays and renewed whale-selling concerns.
Across majors, the tone was broadly risk-off on large perpetual volumes: BTCUSDT about $87,497 (-1.74%) on $4.16 billion; ETHUSDT about $2,963.9 (-2.12%) on $2.59 billion; SOLUSDT about $124.16 (-1.69%) on $397.6 million; XRPUSDT about $1.8817 (-2.35%) on $165.7 million.
Litecoin was comparatively steady around the mid-$70s (about -0.3%). Gold-linked XAUTUSDT rose to about $4,490.9 (+1.64%) on $19.76 million.
The most telling chart may be the relative one. Traders often treat BTC/XAU near 20 as a potential turning point, while 38–40 has aligned with peak Bitcoin-outperformance phases.
With bullion at record highs, Bitcoin is being asked to prove it can regain ground—via weekly and monthly closes back above 20—rather than rely on hopes of a simple bounce.
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