Headline: Bitcoin rallies for a bullish Christmas — but Stellar’s XLM is struggling as derivatives point to rising bearish pressure The crypto market is enjoying a festive uptick, with Bitcoin trading back above $87,000 after a brief dip under $86,000. Yet not all tokens are joining the rally: several major altcoins remain muted or in the red, and Stellar’s XLM is among the underperformers. XLM snapshot - Price: trading below $0.22 (around $0.21 at press time) - Recent action: failed to close above a key resistance earlier this week and has slid lower since Derivatives and on-chain signals turn sour Derivatives activity appears to be the main driver behind XLM’s weakness. CoinGlass data shows futures Open Interest (OI) for XLM surged to about $112 million in the past 24 hours, up sharply from roughly $30 million the day prior. That jump in OI hasn’t translated into price support — XLM remains beneath a meaningful support level. CoinGlass’s long-to-short ratio for XLM sits at 0.91, its highest reading in nearly a month. That suggests long exposure is increasing relative to shorts, but the ratio still sits below 1.0, meaning shorts retain the edge and market bias remains cautious to bearish. Technical outlook — downside risks ahead On the XLM/USD 4-hour chart, momentum favors the bears: - Current price: ~ $0.21 - Near-term support to watch: $0.20 (Dec. 18 low). A close below this psychological level could open the door toward the year low near $0.16 (Oct. 10). - Indicators: 4-hour RSI is around 43 — under the neutral 50 line — signaling growing bearish traction. MACD lines are converging, reflecting trader indecision. Bull case If buyers reassert themselves, XLM could bounce back toward the immediate resistance at $0.22 in the coming hours. For any meaningful recovery, traders will want to see sustained buying alongside declining OI or a decisive shift in the long/short balance. What to watch - Futures Open Interest and long/short ratio changes (to gauge whether leveraged flows are adding to selling pressure) - Price reaction around $0.20 (key support) and $0.22 (near-term resistance) - Broader market momentum — a sustained rally in Bitcoin/altcoins could help XLM recover, while renewed risk-off flows would likely pressure it further Bottom line: despite a bullish crypto backdrop led by Bitcoin, XLM’s derivatives dynamics and technicals suggest downside risk remains elevated unless buyers step in to defend $0.20 and reverse the recent bearish bias. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

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