Crypto Market Hesitates at Threshold of New Highs Ahead of FOMC Decision
Crypto's holding pattern continues as traders await the Fed's next move.
The Waiting Game
Digital assets hover just below all-time highs, caught in a classic pre-FOMC pause. Everyone's watching Jerome Powell like hawks—one wrong word could send markets soaring or crashing.
Institutional players park funds on the sidelines while retail traders chase minor altcoin pumps. The usual volatility's been replaced by nervous sideways action.
The Fed Factor
Interest rate decisions ripple through crypto faster than traditional markets these days. Bitcoin's become the canary in the coal mine for risk appetite—and right now, that canary's looking decidedly uncertain.
Meanwhile, Wall Street fund managers still pretend they understand blockchain while secretly checking Bitcoin prices every five minutes. Some things never change in finance—the suits are always late to the party.
Market overview
The crypto market cap reached $4.09 trillion over the weekend, approaching the peak levels set a month earlier. The initial impetus came from positive dynamics in the US stock market on Friday, thanks to technology sector stocks. However, retail traders used the moment to take profits in BTC and major altcoins, except for Solana, which went down on Monday. As a result, the market level fell back to $4.05 trillion.
Bitcoin ran into resistance at $116K, but the sell-off is drying up as it approaches $114K, turning the 50-day moving average back into a support line. It seems that Bitcoin has found a temporary balance until the FOMC meeting results are announced. A quarter-point cut is already clearly priced in, but the driver will be the tone of comments regarding the Fed's future actions. A willingness to further cut rates in the foreseeable future could inspire BTC to march toward new all-time highs.
News background
According to SoSoValue, net weekly inflows into spot BTC ETFs jumped nearly 10-fold to $2.34 billion, the highest since mid-July. Total inflows since the approval of bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 have increased to $56.83 billion. On Wednesday, the indicator recouped all of the previous week's losses.
Inflows into spot ethereum ETFs in the US resumed last week, amounting to $637.7 million, offsetting 80% of the previous week's outflows. The cumulative net inflow since the ETF's launch in July 2024 has grown to $13.36 billion.
Investors should give up hope of quick profits from their investments in the first cryptocurrency, said BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes. In his opinion, Bitcoin was created to protect against inflation, not to make a profit here and now.
The US SEC has postponed its decision on applications from BlackRock, Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton, which wanted to add a staking feature to their spot Ethereum ETFs until the end of October or November.
According to Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz, the crypto industry has entered the “Solana season." A key factor was Forward Industries' launch of the largest SOL treasury, worth $1.6 billion. Against this background, Galaxy Digital purchased 2.31 million SOL worth $536 million for its reserves.
The Winklevoss brothers' Gemini crypto exchange raised $425 million during its IPO. The event caused a stir among investors, creating more than 20 times oversubscription for the shares.
Tether introduced the USAT stablecoin for the US market. It is backed by dollars and fully compliant with US regulations. The stablecoin will use Tether's Hadron RWA platform technology.
