Bitcoin Closed the Day Above $101,000 Amid High Market Stability
The price of Bitcoin returned to the $101,000 mark with surprisingly low speculative activity in the futures market.
The leading cryptocurrency set a new record on December 11 when the daily candle closed at $101,888 on the Binance exchange. This mark updated the previous high from December 8, but what is truly interesting is that the market is showing unusual stability for such high levels.
1-day chart BTC/USDT. Source: Cryptovizor cryptocurrency screener
Speculators are on the sidelines
Charles Edwards, founder of the Capriole Investments fund, noted the unique situation: the funding is below normal, leverage has significantly decreased, and Bitcoin ETFs continue to attract large volumes of funds.
Zaheer Ebtikar, co-founder of the crypto fund Split Capital, pointed out the atypical situation with the Bitcoin futures base—the difference between the current spot market price and the futures contract price, expressed as a percentage. Typically, when Bitcoin approaches historical highs, traders actively buy futures expecting further growth, causing the spot-to-futures price difference to reach 30% or more. Currently, this figure remains at surprisingly low levels.
Bitcoin futures base. Source: Zaheer Ebtikar
Liquidations and forecasts
Recent volatility has led to massive liquidations of leveraged positions. According to CoinGlass data, positions worth $279 million were liquidated in the last 24 hours, with most of it from short positions.
Trader and analyst Michaël van de Poppe noted the $97,844 level as key. In his view, if the price stays above this level, we could see new all-time highs in the coming days.
4-hour chart BTC/USDT. Analysis: Michaël van de Poppe
The current situation shows a qualitative difference from previous growth periods: the market is moving up without excessive leverage and speculative fever, which may indicate a more sustainable nature of the upward trend.