Major cryptocurrency prices are trading sideways this Wednesday as investors exercise caution. This market stagnation is driven by light holiday trading volumes, anticipation of upcoming U.S. economic reports, and a record options expiry this week.

According to data from CoinGecko, the total crypto market cap fell slightly, by 0.7% to $3.02 trillion last check on Wednesday, Dec. 24, Asian time. Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s largest crypto asset by market cap, seesawed between $86,800 and $88,100 before stabilizing near $87,000 when writing, down by 0.5% in the past 24 hours.

Ethereum (ETH) slid 0.8% to $2,940 while other large-cap cryptocurrencies such as BNB (BNB), XRP (XRP), Solana (SOL), and Tron (TRX) recorded losses between 1-2%. Some of the smaller-cap crypto assets, such as Midnight (NIGHT), Pump.fun (PUMP) and Uniswap (UNI) stood as the top laggards, posting losses of 14%, 8%, and 7%, respectively.

Investors are maintaining a cautious stance and reducing exposure to risky assets ahead of the Christmas holiday period, which is typically characterized by lower trading volumes as traders realize profits. 

Data compiled by CoinGlass shows that the futures open interest of the total crypto market has declined by 1.3% over the past 24 hours to $128.1 billion. The volume in the spot market also dropped 10% to $101 billion.

At the same time, investor appetite remains in check due to a confluence of macro headwinds and upcoming market events. When writing, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index was at 24, indicating persistent “Extreme Fear.”

Traders remain cautious ahead of US Jobless data

Crypto prices have remained suppressed as traders have taken aback today as they wait for the release of U.S. jobless data later today. The data is expected to come slightly hotter at around 223,000–225,000 new claims. As such, hotter-than-expected data could tend to put more pressure on the Fed to cut rates.

However, comments from several Fed officials and the Fed chair himself have lately set a more hawkish tone for rate cuts, at least for early 2026. Cryptocurrencies tend to rally on expectations of rate cuts and pull back when they are delayed or deemed less likely to occur in the near future.

The market had turned bearish just days before after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates to 0.75%, the highest in the past 30 years, a divergence from the Fed, which cut rates in December to a range of 3.50%-3.75%.

Cryptocurrencies have historically been volatile when the BoJ ramped up interest rates, as it can strengthen the yen and potentially unwind “carry trades” that involve borrowing in Japan to invest in higher-yielding, riskier assets elsewhere.

Record options expiry spooks investors

Adding another layer of bearish pressure, traders are also preparing for nearly $27 billion to $28.5 billion of options expiry from Bitcoin and Ethereum contracts on Deribit that will take place on Friday, Dec. 26.

If this record expiry comes to take place, it would mark the largest expiry in the exchange’s history.

As such, the hedging from market makers around the “max pain” price (currently around $96,000 for BTC) could keep prices fixated until the options expire. However, it should be noted that once the record expiry takes place on Friday, it could trigger a post-expiry relief rally or increased volatility as mechanical hedging pressure dissipates and the market resets for 2026.