Leading cryptocurrencies remained rock steady on Christmas day, retaining advances made the day before.

What Happened: Bitcoin sailed to a one-week high of $99,800 during overnight trading, narrowly missing the crucial $100,000 milestone. The leading cryptocurrency hit $98,000 just a day earlier on Christmas Eve, defying days of downward price action.

Ethereum witnessed a bumpy trajectory, wobbling between $3,440 and $3,510. Trading volumes for both blue-chip currencies were down significantly.

Over $200 million was liquidated from the market in the last 24 hours, with long liquidations accounting for $115 million.

Bitcoin's Open Interest rose marginally by 0.24% in the last 24 hours. The number of traders placing upside bets on the cryptocurrency declined vis-à-vis those betting against it, according to the Long/Short Ratio.

Funding rates rose on top exchanges, indicating that traders expected Bitcoin's price to rise.

Top Gainers (24-Hours)

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $3.43 trillion, following a decrease of 0.11% in the last 24 hours.

Stock futures were broadly unchanged on Wednesday overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures was down or 0.06%, as of 8:30 p.m. ET.  Futures tied to the S&P 500 gained 0.01%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures added 0.15%.

The stock market was closed for the Christmas holiday. The Japanese market opened higher, with the Nikkei 225 index gaining 0.44%, a day after a report said the country was compiling a record $735 billion budget for the next fiscal year.

Analyst Notes: Well-known cryptocurrency analyst and trader Ali Martinez deemed $97,300 the "most significant support" for Bitcoin, with over 1.5 million wallets accumulating 1.49 million BTCs around the level.

Popular on-chain analytics firm Santiment revealed a positive crowd sentiment after Bitcoin's bullish Christmas rally, with many anticipating the asset to hit $110,000 next.

"Historically, we will see $110,000 Bitcoin only after the crowd doesn't expect it," Santiment cautioned.