Major digital assets traded slightly lower on Wednesday afternoon after the Federal Reserve delivered a widely expected 25 basis point rate cut, its first of the year.
Bitcoin (BTC) is hovering around $115,300, down nearly 1% over the past 24 hours. Ethereum (ETH) is relatively unchanged on the day at $4,450.
XRP and Solana (SOL) are both down 1% at $3.02 and $235, respectively, while BNB is flat at $954.
Overall, the total crypto market capitalization shed 0.8% over the past day, reaching $4.1 trillion, with Bitcoin dominance at 56.1% and Ethereum at 13.2%, according to CoinGecko.
Liquidations and ETFs
Over the past 24 hours, nearly $175 million in crypto positions were liquidated, including nearly $79 million in long positions and $90 million in shorts, per Coinglass. Ethereum led with over $42 million in liquidations, followed by assorted altcoins at $29 million, and BTC at $29 million.
On Sept. 16, spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted $292 million – the seventh straight day of inflows, totaling nearly $2.9 billion. Spot Ethereum ETFs, however, recorded outflows of $61.7 million, ending a five-day inflow streak that had totaled $1.09 billion, according to SoSoValue.
Fed Decision
Today’s muted market activity comes as traders digest the Fed’s interest rate decision and future policy outlook. The central bank signaled today that two more cuts are expected this year.
“A 25 basis point cut is most likely, and if that happens, we could see a brief pullback because that outcome is already priced into the market,” said Kyle Chassé, CEO of MV Global & Founder of PAID, in comments shared with The Defiant.
The combination of slowing job growth and still-high inflation in certain sectors has left Fed officials divided on the size of a rate cut.
Pressure has also been coming from President Donald Trump, who has been calling for substantial rate cuts for months. Moreover, recent shakeups at the Fed have only been adding to the uncertainty.
