Bitcoin (BTC) has bounced back above $88,000, offering some relief after recent weakness. The move comes as liquidations reached $195.55 million over the past 24 hours, a sign that plenty of leveraged positions got caught on the wrong side of the market.

The ETF picture tells a different story. Bitcoin ETFs saw $175.3 million in net outflows on Wednesday, while Ethereum (ETH) ETFs recorded $52.7 million in withdrawals. That's institutional money heading for the exits, at least temporarily.

Sideways Action Has Analysts Divided

Crypto Tony sees Bitcoin's recent price movement as an X wave, which is technical jargon for a corrective phase that tends to be choppy and unpredictable. He's expecting another leg down, either right away or after a brief bounce, and suggests traders prepare for both possibilities.

CryptosBatman has a more benign interpretation. He attributes the sideways trading to thin holiday volume rather than fundamental weakness. He points out that Bitcoin is forming a classic pennant pattern, the kind that often precedes a breakout once regular market participants return from vacation mode.

Meanwhile, crypto chart analyst Ali Martinez is watching Ethereum closely as it approaches $1,700. He calls this a strong buy zone with favorable risk-reward characteristics if support holds at that level.

DonWedge flagged Solana (SOL) breaking out of a falling wedge pattern, a technical setup that often signals a trend reversal. A move back above $133 would confirm the breakout, with $206 as the next liquidity target and $300 representing a more ambitious upside objective.

Current Crypto Prices

Memecoins Feel The Pain

The broader memecoin market fell 5.7% over the past 24 hours to a total market value of $40.5 billion. That's a steeper drop than major cryptocurrencies experienced.

BitGuru noted that Dogecoin (DOGE) has completed what looks like a deep correction and is now sitting near a key demand zone between $0.12 and $0.13. Liquidity in this range has already been swept, which sometimes sets up for a bounce.

A break above $0.15–$0.16 could open the door to a recovery toward $0.18 or higher. But if support fails to hold, traders might be stuck in prolonged consolidation instead.