- BTC hit $90.5K, then slipped to $87.6K as fast selling pressure stopped the early breakout.
- Long-term holders sold only 2.7K BTC, marking the lowest daily total seen in 2025.
- ETF outflows near $1B signaled weaker demand while exchange balances kept falling.
Bitcoin opened the day with enough momentum to briefly clear the $89K zone, only to give nearly all of it back as sellers stepped in almost as quickly as the rally formed. According to the 1-hour chart, the move started from the weekly open around $87,865, where BTC’s price climbed through earlier intraday highs and flashed a short-lived shift in structure.
That push topped out inside the narrow $90,298-$90,552 resistance band, an area that has repeatedly capped upside attempts in recent weeks. However, the reaction at the top of the move came fast. Bitcoin’s price briefly stalled around this key resistance and then slipped into a sharper drop that sent BTC back toward $87,600.
Source: TradingView
As a result, most of the early gains disappeared in minutes. Even so, the day’s low held above the $87,066-$86,611 support range, which kept the broader intraday structure from breaking down entirely. Meanwhile, momentum readings reflected the strain. The RSI spiked toward 89 during the climb, an exhaustion signal by any measure, before sliding to the high 30s as the rejection took hold.
Similarly, volume rose on the downswing, showing heavier participation on the sell side than during the early lift. The move looked less like a reversal of trend and more like a market that ran too hot, too quickly.
Market Activity Shifts as Exchange Balances Thin
Spot flow data added another layer to the picture. December has been marked by steady net outflows from exchanges, according to CoinGlass. Per this data, only two days, December 3 and December 19, showed net inflows, roughly $40 million and $26 million, respectively.
Source: CoinGlass
Yet, every other session leaned the opposite way. In such scenarios, traders appeared more interested in moving BTC off platforms than supplying liquidity, a pattern that often reflects longer-horizon positioning rather than short-term trading appetite.
Derivatives activity tilted in the same direction. Roughly $42.45 million in short positions were wiped out during the rally, almost twice the size of long liquidations, which totaled $26.99 million. The pressure forced shorts to step aside, which helped accelerate the early push above $89,000. Funding rates also followed the tone.
Source: CoinGlass
The weighted funding OI rate nudged up to +0.00885%, suggesting traders holding longs were still willing to keep them active. Besides, open interest rose about 2% in the last day, now sitting near $58.09 billion.
Source: CoinGlass
This hints that positioning, at least on the derivatives side, remains sticky as more traders are opting to add or hold trades rather than exiting. Such a condition is often associated with increased volatility potential, one that might raise the risk of abrupt price movements.
Holder Conviction Strengthens While Fresh Capital Evaporates
On the other hand, on-chain behavior from long-term holders has been surprisingly quiet. Data from Checkonchain showed only about 2.7K BTC sold two days ago, the lightest daily total seen this year. The numbers look stark when set beside July’s activity, when sellers offloaded between 8K and 18K BTC on most days.
According to the chart, earlier bursts in March near prior highs produced around 13K BTC sold. Even September’s peak saw roughly 11K BTC change hands. Nonetheless, this time, the usual profit-taking hasn’t arrived.
