Rise in Bitcoin and Ethereum Prices: Latest Updates on the Cryptocurrency Market

The cryptocurrency market has shown signs of stability and partial recovery in recent hours following a strong sell-off in November and early December.
Bitcoin and Ethereum prices have risen slightly, while the total market capitalization remains stable around $3.1 – 3.2 trillion dollars amid increased trading volumes.

Here are the key developments from the past four hours from major sources:

1. Bitcoin Futures Indicate Potential Bottom

Bitcoin futures have returned to the deepest levels of backwardation since the FTX collapse, indicating high market pressures but potentially signaling a near-term price bottom.
BTC is trading around $92,800, up 1.7% over the past 24 hours after previously dropping below $86,000.

2. Ostium Raises $20 Million for TradFi Derivatives

The Ostium protocol built on the Arbitrum network has successfully raised $20 million in a Series A round led by General Catalyst and Jump Crypto.
The protocol has already executed $25 billion in trading volume across contracts on gold, forex, and real assets with self-custody of private keys.

3. Ethereum's Recovery Stalls at Strong Resistance

ETH faces strong resistance in the $3,100 – $3,200 range, with weak demand from institutional wallets limiting its rise towards $4,000.
Nonetheless, ETH rose 3.5% today to about $3,100, buoyed by optimism surrounding the upcoming Fusaka upgrade.

4. Slight Increase in Market Capitalization

The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies reached $3.23 trillion, up 1.2% over 24 hours, with a trading volume of $169 billion.
Bitcoin dominance stands at 57.2%, while Ethereum holds 11.7%.
Polkadot and XRP Ledger sectors led the gains.

5. Ongoing Bearish Sentiment Since November

Despite today's improvement, analysts indicate that November was historically the worst month for Bitcoin (-17.67%), with $1 billion in liquidations and record outflows from ETF funds.
Ethereum dropped 22% last month amid low risk appetite associated with global stock market turmoil.

6. Shifts in the Stablecoin Sector

Ethena's USDe lost about 24% of its supply during November in favor of fiat-backed stablecoins like USDT and USDC, which added billions.
Meanwhile, Baanx launched self-custody debit cards in the U.S. via Coinme, while SeQura added a bitcoin cashback feature for travel bookings.

Conclusion: Neutral to Bearish with Bets on Year-End

The general market mood is neutral to bearish in the short term, with widespread focus on Bitcoin's ability to return to $100,000 before year-end, amid overarching pressures such as:

• Prospects of U.S. interest rate cuts
• Global trade tensions

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