Christmas holiday long and short positions continue to be wiped out: 150 million positions are rolling in the liquidation wave

Yesterday was the first active trading day after the Europe and America Christmas holiday, and Bitcoin staged a classic long and short double kill market. It broke through the $90,000 mark in the morning, triggering nearly $110 million in short position liquidations; in the afternoon, it quickly plunged to $87,000, wiping out nearly $40 million in long positions. This bizarre market movement caused traders to experience extreme highs and lows within a single day.

Rebound and washout or long and short double kill? Why Christmas market often triggers liquidation waves

This rapid rise followed by a sharp pullback has become a market norm in December. Due to liquidity drying up during the Christmas period, many institutions and retail investors choose to take holidays, resulting in insufficient market entry funds and significantly reduced market tolerance for price volatility. Small amounts of capital can cause large price swings, triggering numerous stop-loss orders and liquidations, creating a vicious cycle of “liquidation markets.”

Some market commentators jokingly refer to this kind of K-line structure as a “Christmas tree,” because it frequently appears during the holiday season. However, an important signal worth noting is that the total liquidation amount this time is controlled below $300 million, far lower than the $500 million liquidation scale seen in previous years when Bitcoin experienced similar movements. This reflects that trading funds in the crypto market are indeed limited, and market momentum is gradually waning.

Narrow fluctuations amid liquidity exhaustion: a new feature of holiday markets

As the Christmas holiday approaches, traditional financial markets see a significant drop in liquidity, and the crypto market is similarly affected. On New Year’s Eve, the US will release unemployment data, but the market generally expects that volatility will not be too intense, and the overall trend should continue the narrow oscillation seen last week.

In the short term, BTC is currently fluctuating around $90,000. The market expects the price to possibly oscillate within the $87,000 to $88,000 range, with little chance of a breakthrough. It is worth noting that recent market attention has been on the performance of commodities like silver, but the correlation between Bitcoin and silver is limited, and silver’s price movements have little reference value for the crypto market.

Waiting before New Year’s Eve: when can we escape the liquidation market

From the market rhythm, the real new scene may not arrive until after the 2026 Spring Festival. Under the continued tight liquidity and holiday trading, the long and short double kill trend is expected to recur repeatedly. Investors should increase risk awareness during this period, especially when trading during holidays, and set cautious stop-loss levels to avoid becoming victims of the liquidation wave.