1. Greekslive: Market liquidity is poor during the Christmas holiday until year-end delivery
During the Christmas holiday, traditional markets close, yet the crypto market has significantly risen, driven by Bitcoin. Currently, the maximum pain point for $BTC options is $84,000, and for $ETH, it is $3,000. However, based on market performance, it is highly likely that this year's annual maximum pain point will become invalid, similar to previous years. Moreover, the short-term implied volatility (IV) continues to decrease compared to yesterday, as market makers are nearing the end of their rollovers, and it is expected that IV will maintain a stable trend before year-end. During the Christmas holiday until year-end delivery, market liquidity is poor, requiring less momentum for price movements, which may continue to present a volatile market condition.
2. Data: Among 25 listed mining companies, only 7 achieved positive returns this year
These include Core Scientific (CORZQ) up 327%, TeraWulf (WULF) up 169%, Bitdeer (BTDR) up 167%, Hut 8 (HUT) up 91%, Iris Energy (IREN) up 72%, Northern Data (NB2) up 58%, and Cipher (CIFR) up 33%. In contrast, Argo Blockchain (ARB) fell by as much as 84%, and Hive (HIVE) dropped 29%. Despite actively offsetting the profit pressures post-halving through financing and diversifying into AI and other businesses, mining companies still face challenges such as increased mining difficulty and soaring operational costs, with some companies reporting the cost of mining a single $BTC exceeding $50,000.
3. Russian Finance Minister: Russia is using Bitcoin in foreign trade
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov stated on Wednesday that changes in legislation allow companies to use Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in international payments. This year, Russia has permitted the use of cryptocurrencies in foreign trade and has taken steps to legalize cryptocurrency mining, including Bitcoin. Siluanov mentioned in an interview with Russia 24 TV channel: "As part of an experimental regime, we can use Bitcoin mined in Russia (for foreign trade transactions)."
4. Bank of Korea data: Over 30% of South Korea's population are cryptocurrency investors
Data from the Bank of Korea shows that as of the end of November, the total number of cryptocurrency investors in South Korea has surpassed 15.59 million for the first time, exceeding 30% of the national population, with total asset size reaching 102.60 trillion KRW (approximately $79 billion), and the daily trading volume nearing the total of the domestic stock market. Following the expectation of cryptocurrency-friendly policies after Trump's election as U.S. president, Bitcoin prices rose nearly 35% in November, significantly boosting activity in the South Korean crypto market. Among them, the average holding amount per investor in the top five exchanges reached 6.58 million KRW (approximately $5,070), with 610 thousand new investors added in November. Additionally, the deposit scale of cryptocurrency exchanges, which has not been invested in the market, also increased to 8.80 trillion KRW (approximately $6 billion).