Bitcoin (BTC) remains trapped in a price range between $90,000 and $100,000 for the third week, following a brief surge into six figures on December 5. This lack of decisive movement might discourage traders due to two main factors that are suppressing the price.

Firstly, liquidity inflow into the cryptocurrency market, particularly through vehicles like spot ETFs, has drastically decreased. The market liquidity impulse index, tracking stablecoin movements and cryptocurrency inflows, has dropped from over $15 billion to approximately $7 billion.

"This slowdown in liquidity growth may partially explain why bitcoin is struggling to sustain levels above $100,000," said Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research.

Liquidity impulse versus BTC

The second factor is the deceleration in share prices of chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA). As a key player in AI, NVDA's stocks are often viewed as indicators for the general risk environment. Recent trends indicate a bearish reversal that could further affect bitcoin.

Data shows a 0.6 correlation between BTC and NVDA, a positive connection that highlights how each asset responds to similar psychological pressures from investors.

With the market now operating under a more conservative leverage environment, BTC could see another attempt at breaking through the $100,000 threshold, contingent on liquidity improvements and broader market risk sentiments.