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Top altcoins remain under pressure amid muted ETF flows and thin liquidity.
Cryptocurrency markets extended their losses on Wednesday, with Bitcoin trading below the $87,000 mark. Most major altcoins are trading lower as well, with the total cryptocurrency market capitalization at roughly $3.03 trillion, down about 0.8% over the past 24 hours.
Bitcoin (BTC) is trading around $86,995, down roughly 0.5% on the day, while Ethereum (ETH) is hovering near $2,936, lower by about 0.8%.
Other top 10 altcoins by market capitalization are also trading lower, with losses ranging from around 0.4% to more than 2%. Solana (SOL) fell about 2.1%, while Dogecoin (DOGE) declined roughly 2.2%. BNB and XRP dropped 1% and 1.4%, respectively.
Muted Participation
Analysts at glassnode noted in a Dec. 23 post on X that the 30-day simple moving average of net flows into both Bitcoin and Ethereum spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has turned negative since early November and has remained so.
“This persistence suggests a phase of muted participation and partial disengagement from institutional allocators,” the analysts wrote, adding that the trend shows signs of a broader liquidity contraction across crypto markets.
Among the top 100 assets by market capitalization, Rain (RAIN) is the top gainer on the day, rising 15.6%, while Provenance Blockchain (HASH) rose 4.6%.
On the downside, Midnight (NIGHT) slid 12.2% and pumpfun (PUMP) fell 7.2%, making them the biggest daily losers for a second straight day.
Over the past 24 hours, total liquidations reached roughly $224.6 million, dominated by long positions at about $169.7 million, according to data from Coinglass. Bitcoin liquidations surpassed $62 million, followed by Ethereum at $58.2 million and Solana at $20.7 million.
ETFs and Macro Conditions
Spot Ethereum ETFs saw $95.5 million in net outflows on Tuesday, Dec. 23, bringing total assets down to about $18.0 billion, while spot Bitcoin ETFs posted larger outflows of $188.6 million, leaving total assets at roughly $114.3 billion, according to SoSoValue data.
U.S. consumer confidence slipped in December amid worries about jobs and income. The Conference Board said on Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell 3.8 points to 89.1, coming in below the 91.0 level expected by economists polled by Reuters.
“Despite an upward revision in November related to the end of the shutdown, consumer confidence fell again in December and remained well below this year’s January peak. Four of five components of the overall index fell, while one was at a level signaling notable weakness,” said Dana M Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board.
Analysts at Keyrock pointed out in a Dec. 22 research report that unless growth data shows clearer signs of stabilising or long-end yields move lower, markets are “likely to remain choppy, with liquidity improving at the margin but lacking conviction.”