Recently, the liquidity in the blockchain has been continuously drained, primarily due to the tightening of the global macroeconomic environment. In November 2025, the U.S. government shutdown led to the Treasury General Account (TGA) balance approaching $1 trillion, with these funds locked and unable to flow into the market, causing liquidity pressures. The quantitative tightening (QT) implemented by the Federal Reserve since 2022 has removed trillions of dollars from the system, further exacerbating this issue. High interest rates and a strong dollar have prompted investors to shift to a 'risk-averse' mode, steering clear of highly volatile crypto assets. This has caused mainstream coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum to erase their gains, with trading volumes plummeting and DeFi protocols facing capital outflows.
Moreover, geopolitical uncertainties such as U.S.-China trade tensions have amplified market panic, leading to disruptions in global capital flows. The crypto market, being a high-beta asset, is highly sensitive to macro liquidity; when central bank policies shift towards tightening, the blockchain ecosystem bears the brunt. Analysts predict that once the shutdown ends, liquidity may rebound, but in the short term, funds will still prefer safe assets like government bonds rather than crypto. This highlights the vulnerability of the blockchain's dependence on global financial conditions, and investors need to be wary of macro signals to avoid blindly chasing highs. Overall, this draining is not an inherent problem of crypto but rather a reflection of external economic cycles.