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Hongji Feng
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Bitcoin is now trading near $89,000 after slipping under $90,000 again, and most large-cap tokens are lower on the day, which keeps the Crypto Fear & Greed Index around 25 and indicates that anxiety has eased only slightly from last week while conviction remains thin and easily shaken by routine headlines.
The seasonal “Santa Claus rally” enters the conversation each December because equity desks track a tendency for late-month strength, yet for digital assets, the calendar effect only matters when liquidity and positioning are prepared to carry bids across sessions rather than fade into the close, which is not the profile this market has shown in recent days.
Bitcoin Price (Source: CoinMarketCap)
Seasonality Needs More Than A Calendar
If a holiday lift is going to matter for crypto, order-book depth on the largest spot pairs needs to rebuild into and after the United States session so that routine headline flurries do not push price through thin ladders, and spreads need to remain tight during moderate selling so execution costs do not sap appetite for adding risk late in the day.
Derivatives should confirm the shift with funding that moderates without relying on squeeze-driven bursts and with a futures basis that settles toward neutral rather than flipping repeatedly, because those signs show that leverage is resetting in a controlled way.
Flows then complete the picture when creations for spot Bitcoin products appear in a steady run instead of one-off prints and when net stablecoin issuance turns higher for more than a session or two, since those patterns show new dollars entering rather than the same capital recycling through a narrower set of venues.
Triggers That Could Decide December
Macro drivers still shape the path into year-end because a firm dollar and higher yields have repeatedly leaned on risk assets, meaning that softer rate expectations would remove a headwind, while any renewed hawkish tone would keep bids cautious and push market makers to carry less inventory through event windows.
Rotation beyond Bitcoin usually follows improved depth in the leader rather than leading it, so a healthier backdrop would show advances broadening from Bitcoin into larger caps only after order books thicken and funding calms.
For desks that watch sentiment, the index near 25 says fear dominates, yet not at the extreme levels seen earlier, which can allow short-lived rebounds on quiet days.
But a durable turn requires evidence that arrives together rather than piecemeal, including deeper books through the U.S. close, steadier funding and basis across multiple sessions, a visible run of ETF creations, and a rise in net stablecoin supply that survives beyond a single headline cycle.
If those pieces align, the case for a December lift improves, and the seasonal story becomes a tailwind rather than a distraction, while in their absence, the market remains one adverse policy remark or liquidity wobble away from another test of support.
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