In the last week of December, the market trend has shown extreme divergence. The traditional financial sector collectively entered "holiday mode," while the crypto space is boiling with excitement due to Bitcoin's strong performance.

The apparent liveliness of the traditional markets is actually a facade. Major events like the Bank of Japan policy summary, the Federal Reserve meeting minutes, and employment data were all released on the same day, creating a grand spectacle, but the actual trading activity was surprisingly dull. The first trading day after Christmas saw little to no movement in the US stock market, as if the market was dozing off. Additionally, multiple global markets entered holiday mode around New Year’s (US markets closed on January 2nd, EMEA markets closed early), giving the entire traditional market a "Do Not Disturb Before the Holiday" label.

But the crypto market is operating completely differently. Bitcoin surged past the $90,000 mark during Asian trading hours, igniting enthusiasm across the entire ecosystem. Crypto-related concept stocks rose across the board: mining stocks increased by 3%, and shares of well-known exchanges and mining companies followed with gains of 1%-2%, pushing pre-holiday excitement to the max.

The essence of this market movement is simple: while traditional markets are stuck in a boring cycle of "waiting for data, waiting for holidays," the crypto market is being held up solely by Bitcoin. In the coming days, if you want to catch real volatility, don’t rely on those "small ripples" in the traditional markets.

Key logical points are as follows:

**The Role of Bitcoin**
The $90,000 level has become the most important pre-holiday price anchor. Safe-haven demand and chasing the rally are both pointing in this direction, making Bitcoin the "cornerstone" of this wave. Every fluctuation in its price affects the entire market’s nerves.

**Ethereum’s Performance**
As the flagship altcoin, Ethereum tends to follow Bitcoin most closely. Driven by Bitcoin’s rise, Ethereum’s correlation usually happens fastest, and pre-holiday funds won’t bypass it. There are many short-term trading opportunities.

**Investment Logic for Crypto-Related Stocks**

Mining concept stocks directly benefit from Bitcoin’s price increase. The 3% rise so far is just the beginning; the rising demand for hash power before the holiday will continue to push these stocks higher.

Traffic on leading exchange platforms surges with Bitcoin’s popularity, boosting trading activity to its peak. The benefits for such platform stocks often exceed expectations.

Mining companies’ stocks are most tightly correlated with Bitcoin’s price, with the highest volatility. During the pre-holiday period, these stocks tend to see the most significant gains and losses.

**A quick tip**: The pre-holiday market moves fast, so follow Bitcoin’s rhythm closely, but don’t be overly greedy. Take profits when you can; capturing short-term gains is enough. There’s no need to chase the last limit-up.