(MENAFN- The Rio Times) Global crypto started December in full risk-off mode. In less than a day, roughly 5% of total market value – about US$140 billion – vanished as Bitcoin suddenly slid from the low US$90,000s to around US$86,000, erasing most of its October–November rally.

Around US$400–600 million in leveraged long positions were flushed out in a thin weekend market, turning a routine wobble into a sharp sell-off.

The trigger came in Asia. Japanese bond yields hit their highest level since 2008, unsettling risk assets, while China's central bank and security agencies promised a tougher crackdown on“illegal” virtual-currency activity and stablecoins.

That combination hit a market already bruised by one of Bitcoin's worst quarters in years and weeks of heavy outflows from spot BTC ETFs.

BlackRock's flagship IBIT has seen billions leave since its peak, with the broader ETF complex only just returning to marginal net inflows last week.



On the charts, the picture is more hangover than healthy pullback. On four-hour candles, Bitcoin has broken below short-term moving averages and now hugs the lower Bollinger band, with RSI sinking into oversold territory.

The daily chart shows price trapped under a thick layer of resistance between US$89,000 and US$94,000, while weekly indicators flag fading momentum and room for a deeper test toward the low US$80,000s or even the mid-US$70,000s if macro conditions deteriorate.

Ethereum, trading near US$2,800, fell about 6% as a fresh DeFi exploit siphoned off millions in ETH, reinforcing concerns that smart-contract risk remains underpriced.

Ether ETFs are finally drawing money in, but that support struggles against a“death cross” on the daily chart. XRP lost roughly 7%, breaking key support despite sizeable ETF inflows and whale accumulation.

Solana dropped around 7% and Litecoin about 8%, both behaving like high-beta echoes of Bitcoin. Among smaller names, privacy coin Zcash led the losers with a double-digit fall, even as obscure micro-caps posted eye-catching gains.

For expats and traditional investors watching from Brazil and elsewhere, the message is clear: crypto is still trading less like a new reserve asset and more like a speculative derivatives casino, painfully sensitive to central-bank shifts, regulatory crackdowns and its own security failures.

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