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Bitcoin, Ethereum and other large-caps are mostly flat today as geopolitical risks and Fed anticipation weigh on markets.<\/p>\n
Major digital assets were flat or slightly up on Tuesday, Sept. 16, following geopolitical tensions, and just ahead of the Federal Reserve\u2019s policy meeting on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Bitcoin (BTC)<\/a> is trading at $115,287, after failing to break through $116,000 earlier today, but is up 3.2% over the past week. Ethereum (ETH)<\/a> is trading around $4,450, showing similar dynamics to BTC on the daily and weekly timeframes.<\/p>\n Among other large-cap crypto assets, most are flat or slightly up today, with XRP<\/a> holding out just over $3, and Solana (SOL)<\/a> still above $230, up just 1.5% today, but 9% over the past week. <\/p>\n Hyperliquid (HYPE<\/a>), Sui (SUI<\/a>), and Avalanche (AVAX<\/a>) saw more notable gains between 3-5% over the past 24 hours. Hyperliquid validators recently chose<\/a> Native Markets as the issuer for its native stablecoin, USDH, over established stablecoin issuers like Paxos and Ethena. <\/p>\n As The Defiant recently reported, AVAX\u2019s rally is likely driven by institutional inflows, gaming adoption, and other activations across the ecosystem, including Ethena\u2019s deployment on Avalanche<\/a> this week. <\/p>\n The broader total cryptocurrency market capitalization remained flat over the past 24 hours at $4.1 trillion, with Bitcoin dominance at 56% and Ethereum at 13.1%, according to CoinGecko<\/a>.<\/p>\n Over the past 24 hours, nearly $205 million in crypto positions were liquidated, including $156 million in long positions and $48 million in shorts, per Coinglass<\/a>. Ethereum led with over $67 million in liquidations, followed by assorted altcoin at $29 million, and BTC at $15 million.<\/p>\n On Monday, Sept. 15, investors continued to show strong demand for crypto ETFs, injecting $260 million in net inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs, marking the sixth consecutive day of inflows, according to SoSoValue<\/a>.<\/p>\n Spot Ethereum ETFs also recorded robust activity, attracting even more than BTC products, with nearly $360 million in net inflows, representing the fifth straight day of positive flows.<\/p>\n Tuesday\u2019s volatility is being driven partly by geopolitical uncertainty, experts said. On Monday, Sept. 15, President Donald Trump announced that U.S. forces had struck a second boat suspected of carrying drugs from Venezuela.<\/p>\n According to Trump, three people described as \u201cnarcoterrorists\u201d were killed in the latest strike, after an earlier attack that killed 11. The Venezuelan government criticized the action, calling it a \u201cheinous crime,\u201d the New York Times reported.<\/p>\n The operation quickly raised tensions in Latin America, with both international and U.S. observers questioning whether the strike was justified.<\/p>\n \u201cUnexpected geopolitical events raise uncertainty and act as short-term bearish volatility drivers,\u201d Bitunix analysts said in comments shared with The Defiant. \u201cHowever, unless the conflict escalates into a regional war, the impact is likely to remain liquidity-driven rather than fundamentally sustained.\u201d<\/p>\n The market swings also come as investors brace for the Federal Reserve\u2019s rate decision<\/a> on Wednesday, Sept. 17, with the central bank widely expected to cut interest rates.<\/p>\n \u201cThe market currently expects the Fed to decide at least a 25bps rate cut in its FOMC meeting on September 16-17, as labor market risks increasingly overshadow inflation risks,\u201d said Fabian Dori, head of investments at Sygnum Bank, in comments shared with The Defiant.<\/p>\nLiquidations and ETFs<\/h2>\n
Geopolitical Tensions and Fed Meeting<\/h2>\n