December’s $910B crypto flush separates pros from panic‑selling tourists: Finestel
The post December’s $910B crypto flush separates pros from panic‑selling tourists: Finestel appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
December’s $910B “capitulation” crushed high‑beta gamblers, while pro desks rotated to cash, BTC, ETH and select privacy/AI plays, according to Finestel. Summary December’s “capitulation” erased about $910B in crypto value as BTC slid from a $94k bull trap to ~$88k and ETH dropped 7.8% amid thin liquidity and spiking vol, according to a new report by Finestel. Finestel‑tracked managers cut leverage to ~1.3x, raised stablecoins above 23% and trimmed high‑beta alts below 11%, mitigating roughly 85% of potential drawdowns. Privacy and AI tokens like NIGHT, TAO and regional play ZBT outperformed, while meme coin Whitewhale became exit liquidity, as pros prepare for a volatile Q1 2026. A new report by the crypto fin-tech company Finestel suggests that December’s $910 billion crypto flush didn’t just punish gamblers; it cleanly separated professional risk managers from everyone else. While retail traders panic‑sold into a cascading drawdown, institutional desks quietly rotated to defense, preserving capital and keeping dry powder for 2026. December’s capitulation, in numbers Total crypto market cap fell 23% in weeks, from roughly 3.913.91 trillion to 3.003.00 trillion, erasing about 910910 billion in paper value in what analysts now call the “December Capitulation.” Bitcoin (BTC) opened the month near 94,00094,000, briefly reclaimed that level in a classic “bull trap,” then closed around 88,00088,000, down 6.4% for December but still up about 114% year‑to‑date. Ethereum (ETH) slid 7.8% to roughly 2,9702,970, while overall trading volumes collapsed 18% to 862862 billion, creating a thin‑liquidity backdrop where Bitcoin’s 30‑day realized volatility spiked to 32%. “The broader market metrics were brutal,” one section of the Finestel report notes, describing a selloff that “actually surpassed” earlier year‑end downturns in scale. Macro shock: Fed, BoJ and geopolitics The trigger was a dense cluster of macro shocks rather than a single on‑chain failure. Markets had crowded into the so‑called “Hassett Trade,” betting that President Trump’s nominee Kevin Hassett would deliver aggressive…
Filed under: News - @ January 13, 2026 3:27 pm