The crypto market is moving in ways we didn’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 has fallen below $2,900 after a sharp pullback over the past 24 hours. At the same time, XRP ETFs generated $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 in increasingly tight financial conditions, we’re here to break them down. We must read each sign and predict what will happen next.
Unpopular opinion: 2025 was the worst year in crypto history
– Jérémie (@Jeremybtc) December 17, 2025
Bitcoin Price Nears Its Last Line of Defense: Liquidity Tells a Bigger Story
Bitcoin is currently testing a critical price zone, with support at $81,300 attracting a lot of attention. This level is important, especially given Bitcoin’s long-standing relationship with global liquidity. For years, Bitcoin price movements have closely followed liquidity trends, and right now, those trends imply a much higher fair value, right around $180,000. And this gap matters.
Bitcoin and Global Liquidity Gap Has Never Been Higher pic.twitter.com/OuuxMYgbP8
—Quinten | 048.eth (@QuintenFrancois) November 23, 2025
Historically, whenever the price of Bitcoin traded below its liquidity trend, it would eventually return to it. Sometimes this process takes time, and sometimes it happens quickly, but the gap has always narrowed.
Even if the price of Bitcoin were to fall much lower next year, including in worst-case scenarios around $40,000, the trend persists that expanding liquidity eventually pushes the price higher.
Central bank easing, rate cuts, and cheaper dollars tend to show up in the price of Bitcoin later, perhaps not immediately. This is also why rallies often seem sudden or random, even though they are driven by forces moving beneath the surface.
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Ethereum Price Pressure Increases While XRP ETFs Remain Resilient
Ethereum, on the other hand, fell 4% last night, briefly touching a low below $2,800 before closing indecisively. Strong bids around $2,800 still offer near-term support, but resistance between $3,000 and $3,100 remains a big problem.
(source – Trading View)
If the zone holds, a decline towards $2,700 cannot be ruled out. But the price of Ethereum has reached lower levels over the years and long-term holders remain confident.
Much of that confidence comes from what happens behind the scenes. Ethereum execution throughput has reached an all-time high as the mainnet further evolved after the recent Fusaka upgrade. Rollups like Base already process far more activity than Ethereum itself, strengthening its role as a financial settlement layer.
(source – CultivateThePie)
Exchange supply continues to decline, even as Ethereum price lags, showing quiet accumulation from big players like Tom Lee and his reliance on buying Bitmine.
At the same time, XRP ETFs continue to see good inflows. XRP has arguably outperformed most altcoins during this cycle, alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum, especially when considering just when Trump took his seat in the Oval Office.
Continued inflows of XRP ETFs are attracting growing institutional interest. The chart, however, shows that XRP may 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, Ethereum price consolidation, and steady ETF flows beyond just XRP paints a clear picture of a market building something bigger.
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Why did BTC trigger consecutive short and long squeezes in a single session?
By
On December 17, Bitcoin experienced a brutal and chaotic two-hour period that caused prices to violently rise and fall in a short window.
The move started as a quick rally, then just as quickly turned into a sharp decline. Both sides of the market have been affected. Each step pushed Bitcoin to around $3,000 in either direction, underscoring how aggressive trading had become during the session.
Bull Theory reported the initial rise, noting that Bitcoin surged around $3,300 in just 30 minutes. This spike forced the liquidation of approximately $106 million in short positions.
BREAKING: Bitcoin generated $3,300 and liquidated $106 million in shorts in just 30 minutes.
But he then sold $3,400 and liquidated long positions worth $52 million over the next 45 minutes.
Insane level of manipulation in crypto. pic.twitter.com/5zrlnsIhgj
– Bull Theory (@BullTheoryio) December 17, 2025
BREAKING: Bitcoin generated $3,300 and liquidated $106 million in shorts in just 30 minutes.According to the analyst, the speed and scale of the movement made it a classic shortcut.
But the strength didn’t last. Over the next 45 minutes, Bitcoin gave back almost all of these gains. Prices fell by around $3,400, triggering long liquidations of around $52 million.
Bull Theory described the reversal as a quick shift to a long squeeze, showing how quickly the sentiment reversed.
Other market observers have highlighted the same episode from different angles. DEGEN NEWS described Bitcoin as printing “two consecutive volatile hourly candles,” highlighting how unusual the consecutive fluctuations were.
ZeroHedge linked the move to its long-held “10 am slam algo” idea, calling it a nearly $5,000 swing in about an hour at the time of publication.
Both ZeroHedge and Bull Theory pointed out a trend that they believe appears around 10:00 a.m. EST. This timing corresponds to the opening of the American stock markets. And that’s where some of these sharp moves in Bitcoin tend to appear.
Read the full story here.
The post Crypto Market News Today, December 18: Bitcoin Must Defend Its Last Price Line, Ethereum Lags, XRP Crypto Flows Green ETFs appeared first on 99Bitcoins.
