「Pal」 Longs Ethereum, Currently Sitting on $375k Unrealized Loss

On December 25, data analyst Murphy noted that roughly $23.6 billion in Bitcoin options are set to expire tomorrow—marking the largest options expiry in Bitcoin’s history. After market makers unwind their associated hedge positions, the support and resistance levels previously established via the options structure will temporarily lose validity, potentially amplifying BTC’s short-term volatility until all participants reposition to form a new market structure. If BTC retraces toward its prior bottom (around $80,000–$82,000) during this period, it would create a “short-term rebound opportunity.” Volatility in the structural vacuum phase does not necessarily signal the start of a new sharp decline. Additionally, a “bullish divergence” signal has emerged on the short-term timeframe for the “price and volume increment gradient.” This metric measures the relative momentum shift between BTC’s price action and actual capital inflows. When the rate of capital outflow slows relative

**Perpetual DEX Trading Volume Drops Sharply Again: DefiLlama Data** As of December 25th, DefiLlama figures show mainstream perpetual DEX (Perp DEX) 24-hour trading volumes have fallen sharply again from the previous day. Lighter, which plans to launch its mainnet and issue tokens by December 31st, may conduct its final token distribution this Friday—potentially keeping its trading volume among the top tiers. Hyperliquid ranks second, while open interest (OI) has seen a slight uptick across most platforms. Key Perp DEX metrics follow: - **Lighter**: 24h volume ~$50.4B | TVL ~$14.1B | OI ~$15.5B - **Hyperliquid** ([app.hyperliquid.xyz/join/NTOD](https://app.hyperliquid.xyz/join/NTOD)): 24h volume ~$35B | TVL ~$41.3B | OI ~$72.6B - **Aster** ([www.asterdex.com/zh-CN/referral/aboter](https://www.asterdex.com/zh-CN/referral/aboter)): 24h volume ~$28.5B | TVL ~$12.7B | OI ~$24.3B - **EdgeX**: 24h volume ~$18.7B | TVL ~$3.68B | OI ~$7.61B - **ApeX**: 24h volume ~$17.6B | T

On December 25th, data from Coinglass shows that funding rates for major centralized (CEX) and decentralized (DEX) exchanges have edged back toward neutral territory. Specific funding rates for leading cryptocurrencies are available in the attached image. Per BlockBeats: A funding rate is a fee set by crypto exchanges to keep perpetual contract prices aligned with the underlying asset’s spot price. It facilitates fund transfers between long and short traders—exchanges do not collect this fee. The mechanism adjusts the cost or profit of traders holding positions to narrow gaps between contract and spot prices. Here’s the breakdown of what funding rates signal: - 0.01% = baseline rate - >0.01% = broadly bullish sentiment - <0.005% = broadly bearish sentiment

As of Dec 25, HyperInsight monitoring shows a whale address (0xdaa) deposited $2.6M in collateral to Hyperliquid yesterday and opened a ~$1.256M 1x-leveraged short position on LIT. The position has an average entry price of $3.53 and a liquidation price of $6.98. As of press time, the address is still adding to the position, with $970K in unused collateral remaining. LIT is currently trading at ~$3.47, with a pre-market fully diluted valuation (FDV) of ~$3.4B. For market sentiment, Polymarket data shows the probability of the bet “Lighter’s FDV remains above $3B one day post-listing” has dropped ~7% today, now sitting at ~55%. Previously, on Dec 20, Lighter transferred 250M LIT tokens (~25% of total supply) to a new address. If this tranche is fully used for future airdrops, each Lighter point would correspond to ~20.8 LIT tokens. Based on current pre-market prices, each point is valued at ~$71.1, and most of the market expects Lighter to airdrop on Dec 31.

On December 25, Daniel, founder of Liquid Capital (formerly LD Capital), posted on social media: “Paper losses are all short-term — the long-term trend is a bull market. Our moves this year — bottom-fishing early on, selling before 1011, and now bottom-fishing again — have all been transparent and consistent.” Separately, Liquid Capital isn’t blindly confident in large-scale bottom-fishing just because its past trades were correct. The team’s daily research and efforts all point to the current price range being a bottom, with a major bull market expected in 2026. “We don’t want to miss out on thousands of dollars in gains because of hundreds of dollars in volatility,” the firm noted, adding it’s prepared to continue buying ETH on dips with a $1 billion allocation. A report released today reveals Daniel’s Trend Research currently holds 645,000 ETH at an average price of $3,150, with an unrealized loss of $143 million.

December 25th — Per LookOnChain monitoring, Erik Voorhees, an early Bitcoin evangelist, has again deposited 1,635 ETH (valued at roughly $4.81 million) into THORChain to swap for BCH.