Crypto Market Drops as BTC, ETH Lead Declines; Major Token Unlocks Today

I. Crypto Market Overview

Key Takeaways

Macro Environment

The Bank of Japan raised rates to 0.75%, the highest in 30 years, signaling tighter global liquidity and potential risk-off flows. The US Senate confirmed a pro-crypto CFTC Chair, raising expectations for regulatory clarity and institutional adoption. US bank lobbyists are pushing to restrict stablecoin rewards, threatening innovation and competitiveness in the stablecoin sector.

Crypto Market

The crypto market saw broad declines over the past 12 hours, with BTC down 4.43% to $97,474 and ETH falling 9.27% to $3,144.86, pressured by risk-off sentiment and ETF outflows. Most altcoins dropped sharply; ARB fell 11.73%, FET 12.59%, and SOL 8.75%. LEO bucked the trend, up 0.42%, while UNI dropped 8.61%. The downturn was driven by macro tightening and weak spot demand.

Today's Outlook

Today, ZRO will unlock $32.5M in tokens (10.3% of market cap) and KAITO will unlock $4.15M (3.5% of market cap), both significantly increasing circulating supply and potentially impacting token prices.

Fear and Greed Index

90.00% Annual Percentile

21 Fear

Total Crypto Market Cap

$2.99T

0.70%

Total Market Trading Volume

$89.54B

38.41%

Altcoin Season Index

0.00%

Quarterly Percentile

14 / 100

Total Futures Market Open Interest

3.42B

14.47%

Futures

762.30B

2.69%

Perpetuals

II. Industry Updates

Macro-economic Policies

The Bank of Japan raised its benchmark interest rate to 0.75%, the highest in 30 years, signaling a shift from ultra-loose monetary policy. This move has triggered volatility in global markets and could impact crypto liquidity as yen carry trades unwind.

Japan's rate hike is expected to tighten global financial conditions, potentially reducing risk appetite and affecting BITCOIN and DeFi liquidity as the yen's depreciation and bond yield changes alter capital flows.

Bitcoin and Ethereum prices saw short-term gains following the Bank of Japan's rate increase, as investors interpreted the move as a sign of economic stability, boosting risk-on sentiment in the crypto market.

Cryptocurrency Regulatory Trends

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Michael Selig as the new CFTC Chair, signaling a shift toward pro-crypto regulation and raising expectations for clearer rules and increased institutional adoption in the U.S. digital asset market.

The SEC has filed proposed final consent judgments to permanently bar former FTX and Alameda executives from leadership roles, reinforcing strict enforcement and raising compliance standards across the crypto industry.

The U.S. Senate will hold a markup session for the CLARITY Act in January 2026, aiming to clarify the regulatory framework for digital assets and potentially boosting investor confidence and market stability.

Over 125 crypto and fintech groups are urging the U.S. Senate Banking Committee to reject expanded restrictions on stablecoin rewards, warning that such measures could harm innovation and reduce competitiveness in the stablecoin sector.

Lobbyists for major U.S. banks are seeking amendments to the GENIUS Act that would ban third-party stablecoin rewards, threatening the competitiveness and future implementation of the U.S. stablecoin regulatory framework.

PIPPIN (PIPPIN): PIPPIN surged 20.3% in 24h, driven by strong trading volume of $35.8M and growing attention to its AI agent narrative and Solana ecosystem integration.

UNUS SED LEO (LEO): LEO rose 15.2% in 24h, with market cap reaching $7.7B, supported by ongoing token burns tied to iFinex revenue and increased Bitfinex platform activity.

Uniswap (UNI): UNI gained 12.6% in 24h, fueled by a governance vote on burning 100M UNI tokens and activating protocol fee switch, boosting trading volume to $396M.

Smart Money Movements

A whale purchased 2,509 BTC worth $221 million from FalconX, distributing the funds across three new wallets within the past 14 hours, signaling large-scale accumulation during market pressure.

An investor acquired 5,678 ETH for $16.95 million at an average price of $2,985.7 per token within the past hour, following a previous $14.97 million ETH purchase earlier this month.

Arthur Hayes transferred 508.647 ETH, valued at approximately $1.5 million, to Galaxy Digital on December 19, amid a broader $300 billion decline in Ethereum's market cap over the past week.

A whale secured a $12.55 million floating profit from a 15x leveraged short position on 35,221 ETH, with an average entry price of $3,332.52 and a liquidation threshold at $3,855.54.

Bitmine increased its Ethereum holdings by 3.97 million ETH, now controlling 3.28% of total supply and moving 66% closer to its 5% supply target, raising concerns about network decentralization.

Events to Watch

Dec 20 (Sat)

ZRO unlocks $32.5M in tokens (10.3% of market cap); KAITO unlocks $4.15M (3.5% of market cap), both impacting circulating supply.

Dec 23 (Tue)

US Q3 Preliminary GDP data releases, expected at 3.2% vs. prior 3.8%; Undeads Games unlocks 2.15M tokens (1.46% of supply); US Core Durable Goods Orders, CB Consumer Confidence data also due.

Dec 24 (Wed)

US Unemployment Claims data will be released, with expectations set at 224,000 initial claims.

Dec 26 (Fri)

CME front-month Bitcoin futures contract expires, marking the year's final major BTC derivatives settlement and potential market volatility.

III. Phemex Market Focus

New Listings

Dec 19: (VOOI/USDT)

VOOI is a DeFi super-app platform for perp, spot, and yield markets.

Dec 19: (ZKP/USDT)

zkPass enables cryptographic proofs from private Web data without exposing personal information.

Dec 19: (AIA/USDT)

DeAgentAI is an AI infrastructure project for autonomous agents in on-chain environments.

Dec 18: (SCOR/USDT)

SCOR transforms fan participation and sports IP into programmable digital assets.

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