Despite broad market caution and a sharp slowdown in trading, derivatives data indicates that investor confidence held firm in December. Overall market activity dropped roughly 40%, yet total derivatives open interest still grew by about $2 billion, with Bitcoin and Ethereum futures accounting for a notable portion. This pushed combined exposure in these two cryptocurrencies from $35 billion to $38 billion and reflected a moderate increase in leverage. The trend suggests that, rather than panic selling, experienced traders…