BTC Falls Toward Mid-$80Ks as Market Structure Weakens Into Year-End

Bitcoin extended its decline, falling below $85,500, marking a 7% drop in 24 hours and over 20% in the past month, significantly underperforming equities. Market maker FlowDesk attributes the selling pressure to large supplies of coins moving from long-dormant wallets onto centralized exchanges, overwhelming buying interest and leading managers to focus on protecting year-end gains rather than increasing exposure. Derivatives markets reflect this weakness, with options data from Deribit showing the $85,000 put option becoming the largest open-interest strike, signaling dominant downside positioning. Attention is now focused on MicroStrategy (MSTR) as BTC nears its $74,430 break-even point, with JPMorgan noting anxiety over MSTR's potential removal from the MSCI index in January, which could trigger significant outflows.

(Source：CoinDesk)