As the end of the year approaches, the performance of the crypto market has entered a delicate window. Starting from December 22, the European and American financial markets usher in the final sprint before the Christmas holiday, and the crypto trading departments of international investment banks like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs have gradually suspended trading activities. What does this mean? Simply put, market liquidity has experienced a phased contraction.

When liquidity tightens, the bulls lose the confidence to continue pushing higher. Bitcoin's price action illustrates this well—after reaching a high of 90,500 on December 23, it has fallen back to 86,500, then entered a low-range consolidation phase. Such volatility isn't large—fluctuations of just over 2,000 points—but for a sideways market, this is already quite active.

The entire market currently lacks a clear trend-driving force. Until there is a clear shift in international macro policies, cryptocurrencies are likely to remain oscillating within the range of 84,400 to 90,000. The key factor to watch is what happens after the Christmas holiday. Starting from December 26, whether institutional funds in Europe and America will flow back into the crypto market will directly determine trading volume and price volatility.

In addition to the post-holiday fund inflows, there are several important points to observe. The progress of approval for crypto spot ETFs is worth monitoring, and the policy signals released in the Federal Reserve's December meeting minutes could also become variables. Once these factors move, they could break the current consolidation balance and trigger unexpected, sharp fluctuations.

From a trading perspective, in such a range-bound market, the most practical approach is to adopt a range trading strategy. Focus on key support and resistance levels, and mainly engage in high sell and low buy within the day. Specifically, Bitcoin can consider short positions between 89,000 and 89,500, with a target of 88,000. If it continues to break down, the next key area to watch is 87,500 to 86,500. Ethereum's situation is similar—short positions can be considered between 2,980 and 3,020, with a target of 2,920. If it breaks below, pay attention to the support zone of 2,850 to 2,800.

In short, right now it's all about waiting. Waiting for liquidity to recover, waiting for clear policy signals, waiting for that moment that might change the rhythm. Until then, patience and discipline are the best strategies.