Crypto Market Drops as BTC and ETH Slide, Major Token Unlocks Ahead

I. Crypto Market Overview

Key Takeaways

Macro Environment

The Federal Reserve maintains rates at 5.25%-5.50% amid persistent inflation, keeping liquidity tight for crypto. Eurozone inflation is moderating, with the ECB expected to hold rates steady, supporting DeFi stability. Regulatory clarity on stablecoins and self-custody in the US and Europe is boosting institutional and developer confidence.

Crypto Market

The crypto market saw broad declines over the past 12 hours, with BTC down 4.43% to $97,474 and ETH dropping 9.27% to $3,144.86, pressured by risk-off sentiment and no major bullish catalysts. Altcoins also fell, with SKY (SKY) down 9.07%, Telcoin (TEL) down 4.06%, while Quant (QNT) bucked the trend, rising 4.36% on renewed DeFi interest.

Today's Outlook

Key events today include the US ISM Manufacturing PMI release, the end of the Federal Reserve's quantitative tightening, and major token unlocks totaling over $566M, including SUI, EigenLayer, and Alloca, which may drive volatility across the crypto market.

Fear and Greed Index

80.00% Annual Percentile

20 Fear

Total Crypto Market Cap

$3.09T

0.32%

Total Market Trading Volume

$83.21B

35.61%

Altcoin Season Index

8.33%

Quarterly Percentile

21 / 100

Total Futures Market Open Interest

3.73B

0.36%

Futures

752.54B

4.09%

Perpetuals

II. Industry Updates

Macro-economic Policies

The Federal Reserve has maintained its benchmark interest rate at 5.25%-5.50%, citing persistent inflation. This continued restrictive monetary policy keeps borrowing costs high, limiting liquidity in crypto markets and dampening risk asset flows.

Expectations for a US interest rate cut in December have strengthened, with futures pricing in an 80%+ probability. Anticipation of lower rates is supporting a rebound in Bitcoin and altcoin prices as investors position for increased liquidity.

Canada's Q3 GDP grew 2.6% annualized, surpassing forecasts due to strong oil exports and government spending. The positive economic surprise has bolstered the Canadian dollar, but mixed domestic demand may limit spillover effects on crypto market sentiment.

The euro remained stable after eurozone CPI data confirmed inflation is moderating. The European Central Bank is expected to hold rates steady in December, reducing volatility in EUR-denominated crypto pairs and supporting DeFi stability.

The Malaysian ringgit strengthened against the US dollar as rate cut expectations in the US grew. A weaker dollar environment typically enhances capital flows into emerging market crypto assets and increases DeFi protocol activity.

Cryptocurrency Regulatory Trends

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce affirmed self-custody of crypto assets as a fundamental right, highlighting privacy concerns and influencing ongoing U.S. regulatory debates. This stance may bolster investor confidence in decentralized asset management.

Visa expanded its stablecoin settlement services through a partnership with Aquanow, enabling 365-day USDC settlements for institutions in CEMEA. This regulatory-compliant move enhances cross-border payment efficiency and could drive stablecoin adoption.

The Wyoming Stablecoin Council launched a testnet tap for its Frontier Stable Token (FRNT), allowing public smart contract simulations. This regulatory initiative supports innovation in U.S. stablecoin infrastructure and may attract developer and institutional interest.

U.S. regulatory developments, including the Genius Act and CLARITY Act, are strengthening institutional trust in stablecoins for charitable and payment use. This regulatory clarity is fostering broader crypto adoption among major nonprofits and institutions.

SKY (SKY): SKY (formerly MakerDAO) surged 8.5% in 24h with $47.8M volume, driven by ongoing post-rebrand momentum and high DeFi activity, but no specific new event in the last 24h.

Telcoin (TEL): Telcoin (TEL) rose 7% in 24h to $0.00523, with $3M volume, following its final approval as a Digital Asset Depository Institution in Nebraska, enabling on-chain stablecoin issuance and regulated DeFi services.

Quant (QNT): Quant (QNT) gained 3.9% in 24h, reaching $98.34 with $48.7M volume, as traders target the $100 resistance zone amid renewed interest in interoperability and multi-chain DeFi infrastructure.

Smart Money Movements

A dormant Ethereum address holding 40,000 ETH ($119.65M) was reactivated after 10.3 years, highlighting significant long-term gains and potential market impact.

Bitmine acquired 16,693 ETH worth $50.1M via FalconX, demonstrating continued institutional accumulation of Ethereum amid ongoing market developments.

BlackRock executed ETF redemptions moving 4,044 BTC ($354M) and 80,121 ETH ($235M) on-chain, reflecting capital outflows from ETF products rather than new purchases.

The HyperLiquid team redistributed 2.6M HYPE tokens ($91M), with $21.3M sent to Flowdesk OTC and $8.2M restaked, indicating active treasury and liquidity management.

Senator Dave McCormick purchased $150,000 in Bitwise Bitcoin ETF, as confirmed by financial disclosures, marking notable political participation in institutional crypto products.

Events to Watch

Dec 1 (Mon)

US ISM Manufacturing PMI for November releases; Federal Reserve ends quantitative tightening; Powell to speak; $566M in crypto tokens unlock, including SUI, EigenLayer, Alloca.

Dec 2 (Tue)

Ethena (ENA) unlocks $27.66M (0.58% supply); VeChain launches Hayabusa hard fork and StarGate mainnet; Fed Chair Powell speaks at 09:00.

Dec 3 (Wed)

Ethereum Fusaka mainnet upgrade launches, introducing EIP-7918 and PeerDAS; Australia Q3 GDP data releases; Hong Kong spot ETH ETF launches.

Dec 4 (Thu)

Superform Labs holds UP token sale on Cookie; US Initial Jobless Claims data releases.

Dec 5 (Fri)

US Core PCE inflation data for September releases; Canada employment data releases; Eurozone Q3 GDP and wage data releases.

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