Bitcoin held above the $90,000 mark on Tuesday as traders across global markets shifted into defensive positions ahead of Wednesday’s Federal Reserve decision, keeping liquidity thin and sentiment cautious after one of the crypto sector’s steepest monthly downturns since 2018.
The flagship cryptocurrency traded around $90,300 to $90,400 in midday dealing, rising about one percent over the past 24 hours, according to market trackers.
Ether added a modest 0.2 percent, while major altcoins were mixed: BNB climbed nearly one percent, SOL slipped 0.6 percent, and XRP edged lower. The market’s tentative stability followed a bruising November in which Bitcoin and Ethereum shed between 20 percent and 25 percent amid aggressive deleveraging.
Digital assets research firm Matrixport said the current pause in selling is masking deeper caution in derivatives markets. Options pricing still implies roughly five percent downside risk, the firm said, as funds continue to hedge against post-FOMC volatility.
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With year-end deleveraging in full swing, Matrixport noted that traders are treating short-lived bounces as opportunities to lighten exposures rather than evidence of a developing rally.
Liquidity typically tightens into mid-December and through Christmas, a dynamic already visible in thinner order books across major exchanges.
Matrixport identified $91,500 as the key near-term level to watch but maintained that compressing volatility makes a decisive post-FOMC breakout unlikely.
Fresh timezone-segmented data also added new insight into the forces driving November’s selloff. Presto Research reported that European trading hours were the primary source of downward pressure, with average session returns turning sharply negative across BTC and ETH throughout the month. By contrast, U.S. and Asian sessions were broadly flat, underscoring how regional flows diverged as crypto markets unwound leverage.
The broader investment landscape also shifted. Strategy disclosed its largest Bitcoin acquisition in more than three months on Monday, purchasing 10,624 BTC valued at about $963 million, mostly funded through new equity issuance. The buy expands its holdings to roughly 660,600 BTC, worth nearly $60 billion. Yet its shares which traded near $180, remain down with about 50 percent over six months as investors weigh the possibility of index removals by MSCI.
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Macro conditions continued to dominate market direction. Asian equities slipped earlier in the day as traders positioned for the Fed’s guidance on rate cuts and any indication of the speed of easing heading into 2026. Global bond yields stayed elevated after Monday’s slump, limiting risk appetite and curbing momentum across high-beta assets like crypto.
Sentiment in digital assets remains fragile. CryptoQuant’s Bull Score index fell to zero, its weakest reading since early 2022, signaling deteriorating on-chain strength and an absence of fresh liquidity inflows. Despite the gloom, several potential medium-term catalysts loom, including proposed 401(k) rule changes in the U.S. that could, by 2026, open trillions of dollars in retirement savings to Bitcoin exposure.
For now, traders are watching whether Bitcoin can retest resistance in the $94,000–$98,000 band or whether European market hours will continue to apply selling pressure as year-end positioning tightens. The next major directional cue will come from the Fed.
