Recently, why are BTC and ETH both stagnating? Can't go up, can't go down, just trading sideways every day. Many people find it quite frustrating.

Actually, there's a logic behind it— a large number of institutions and big funds share the same mindset: making money is the best, but absolutely avoiding big losses.

What is their strategy? Buying protective put options to insure their positions. But insurance isn't cheap, so they simply sell some of the upside potential (sell calls), using the income from selling calls to offset the insurance costs. Over time, this reduces risk, but also lowers the ceiling.

Here's the problem. Those who buy calls are mainly market makers. Market makers hold a bunch of call contracts. How do they hedge? Very simply—
When prices rise, they have to sell coins in spot or futures markets to push the price down; when prices fall, they have to buy to support the price. The result is that the market gets stuck: it can't go up, can't go down, and swings are as sluggish as sleeping.

But there's a key date—December 26th. Historically, the largest batch of options expires then, totaling over $27 billion. These auto-adjusting hedging structures will temporarily disappear.

If big funds don't immediately renew similar insurance structures, the market loses that "safety rope"—any movement will be aggressive. Whether up or down, volatility will definitely increase.

The market has already signaled in advance: it can stay stable through December, but as we enter early 2026, volatility expectations will clearly heat up. The next question is: after these big funds' options expire, will they renew this "life-saving plan"?

If they continue to renew, sideways trading will persist. If not, get ready for a roller coaster—volatility will definitely rise.

In simple terms, the current market isn't because no one is playing; it's because a group of big money afraid of trouble is forcing it down. Can it stay steady? It all depends on how this "insurance rope" moves tomorrow.