The crypto market is moving in a way we don’t expect, as we focus on the price of Bitcoin and Ethereum, and steady inflows into XRP ETFs.
Bitcoin is trading just above $86,000, while Ethereum price slipped under $2,900 after a sharp pullback in the last 24hours. At the same time, XRP ETFs pulled in $18.99 million in net inflows, pushing total assets above the $1 billion mark.
Since these three assets have held up better than most of the market, which continues to struggle under tightening financial conditions, we are here to break them down. We are to read every sign and predict what comes next.
Unpopular opinion: 2025 has been the worst year in crypto history
— Jeremy (@Jeremybtc) December 17, 2025
Bitcoin Price Near Its Last Line of Defense: Liquidity Tells a Bigger Story
Bitcoin is now testing a critical price zone, with support at $81,300 that draws heavy attention. This level is important, especially with Bitcoin’s long-standing relationship with global liquidity. For years, Bitcoin price movements have followed liquidity trends closely, and right now these trends imply a fair value much higher, just around $180,000. And that gap matters.
Bitcoin & global liquidity gap has never been higher pic.twitter.com/OuuxMYgbP8
— Quinten | 048.eth (@QuintenFrancois) November 23, 2025
Historically, whenever Bitcoin price has traded below its liquidity trend, it has eventually snapped back toward it. Sometimes this process takes time, and sometimes it happens quickly, but the gap has always closed.
Even if the Bitcoin price were to dip much lower next year, including worst-case scenarios around $40,000, the pattern still goes that liquidity expansion eventually pulls the price higher.
Central bank easing, rate cuts, and cheaper dollars tend to show up in Bitcoin price later, maybe not immediately. This is also why rallies often feel sudden or random, even though they are driven by moving forces underneath the surface.
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Ethereum Price Pressure Builds While XRP ETFs Stay Resilient
Ethereum, on the other hand, dropped by 4% in price last night, briefly touching lows under $2,800 before closing indecisively. Strong bids around $2,800 are still offering short-term support, but resistance between $3,000 and $3,100 remains a big problem.
(source – TradingView)
If the zone holds, some downside toward $2,700 cannot be ruled out. But Ethereum price has formed higher lows over the years, and long-term holders remain confident.
Much of that confidence comes from what is happening behind the scenes. Ethereum’s execution throughput is at an all-time high, with the mainnet scaling further after the recent Fusaka upgrade. Rollups like Base are already processing far more activity than Ethereum itself, propping up its role as the settlement layer of finance.
(source – GrowThePie)
Exchange supplies continue to fall, even as Ethereum price lags, showing quiet accumulation by larger players like Tom Lee and his Bitmine buying addiction.
At one and the same time, XRP ETFs continue to record good inflows. XRP has arguably outperformed most altcoins this cycle, alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum, especially if we consider only the time when Trump took his seat in the Oval Office.
The ongoing inflows of XRP ETFs are a growing institutional interest. The chart, though, shows that XRP might be entering an early recovery phase after holding key levels of $1.86, before falling with the market today.
Volatility remains, but the combined picture of liquidity, consolidating Ethereum price, and consistent ETF inflows beyond just XRP, is picturing a clear image of a market that is building something bigger.
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H Crypto +30% BEAT Crypto +23%: Hottest Crypto to Buy Right Now?
H and BEAT crypto have both posted strong moves, with H crypto up around 30% and BEAT gaining 23%. Why are these two moving while many tokens are chopping sideways, if not dumping?
H, a crypto token of Humanity Protocol, and BEAT are benefiting from new narratives entering the space; it is expected, psychologically, as humans, that we are always rotating attention toward projects that feel different, something untapped.
At the moment, both coins, although pumping on the same day, are sitting in two very separate corners of the market. One leans heavily into identity and privacy, the other into gaming, AI, and culture.
Each one of the runs shows the same thing. New narratives tied to actual usage tend to run.
But for how long? Let’s break them down and judge which one is the hottest crypto to buy right now.
Crypto has a narrative addiction problem
Narrative pops up → capital floods in → brands pivot → build for 6-9 months → narrative dies → pivot to a new narrative pic.twitter.com/6ptQYPLDlw
— Polina Kalashnikova (@kalashnikovapv) November 19, 2025
Read the full story here,
Why Did BTC Trigger Back-to-Back Short and Long Squeezes in a Single Session?
On December 17, Bitcoin saw a sharp and chaotic two-hour stretch that sent prices violently higher and lower within a short window.
The move began with a fast rally, then flipped just as quickly into a steep drop. Both sides of the market took hits. Each leg pushed Bitcoin roughly $3,000 in either direction, highlighting how aggressive trading had become during the session.
Bull Theory flagged the initial surge, noting that Bitcoin jumped about $3,300 in just 30 minutes. That spike forced the liquidation of roughly $106M in short positions.
BREAKING: Bitcoin pumped $3,300 and liquidated $106 million worth of shorts in just 30 minutes.
But then it dumped $3,400 and liquidated $52 million worth of longs in next 45 minutes.
Insane level of manipulation in crypto. pic.twitter.com/5zrlnsIhgj
— Bull Theory (@BullTheoryio) December 17, 2025
According to the analyst, the speed and scale of the move made it a textbook short squeeze.
But the strength did not last. Over the next 45 minutes, Bitcoin gave back nearly all of those gains. Prices dropped around $3,400, triggering about $52M in long liquidations.
Bull Theory described the reversal as a fast shift into a long squeeze, showing how quickly sentiment flipped.
Other market watchers pointed to the same episode from different angles. DEGEN NEWS described Bitcoin as printing “two straight volatile hourly candles,” emphasizing how unusual the back-to-back swings were.
ZeroHedge tied the move to its long-running “10 am slam algo” idea, calling it a near $5,000 swing within about an hour at the time of its post.
Both ZeroHedge and Bull Theory have pointed to a pattern they say shows up around 10:00 a.m. EST. That timing lines up with the opening of US stock markets. And it’s where some of these sharp Bitcoin moves tend to appear.
Read the full story here.
The post Crypto Market News Today, December 18: Bitcoin Needs to Defend Its Last Price Line, Ethereum Lags, XRP Crypto ETFs Flows Green appeared first on 99Bitcoins.
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