Cryptocurrencies Steady as Investors Await Fed Chair Powell's Insights on Rate Cuts
Leading cryptocurrencies held steady on Sunday. Investors were eagerly awaiting Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech about potential interest rate cuts in the coming months.
Cryptocurrency Gains
Price (as of 9:45 p.m. EDT)
- Bitcoin (BTC/USD): -0.53% - $65,364.81
- Ethereum (ETH/USD): -0.95% - $2,642.44
- Dogecoin (DOGE/USD): -3.30% - $0.1235
Bitcoin briefly spiked above $66,000 during the afternoon. However, it began to drop later, reaching as low as $65,121 overnight. Ethereum also showed some ups and downs, hovering around the $2,600 mark.
In September, Bitcoin saw a gain of over 10%. This marked its best monthly performance in a period that usually averages a loss of 3.47%. The recent surge was largely driven by the Federal Reserve's 0.5% rate cut earlier this month.
Total liquidations in the cryptocurrency market exceeded $108 million in the past 24 hours. Long liquidations accounted for 60% of this total. The Long/Short Ratio showed a significant increase in bearish positions compared to bullish bets. Meanwhile, market sentiment remained in the "Greed" category, according to the Cryptocurrency Fear & Greed Index.
Top Gainers (24-Hours)
Price (as of 9:30 p.m. EDT)
- FTX token (FTT): +60.08% - $2.24
- Mina (MINA): +12.07% - $0.6071
- Popcat (POPCAT): +7.43% - $0.9885
The overall cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at about $2.29 trillion over the last 24 hours, reflecting a slight decrease of 0.77%.
In stock markets, futures showed little movement overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures increased by 0.06% at 9:15 p.m. EDT. S&P 500 futures rose by 0.12%, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.15%.
Blue-chip indices reached new highs on Friday, setting the stage for a positive end to September. The Dow was up 1.8% month-to-date, while the S&P 500 saw a 1.25% gain.
Investors are expected to closely monitor the unemployment data for September, which will be released on Friday. Additionally, Fed Chair Jerome Powell's upcoming speech on Monday is anticipated to provide insights into monetary easing policies.
Analyst Notes: On-chain analyst Ali Martinez offered an optimistic long-term price forecast for Bitcoin.
"Current price action is just noise! If Bitcoin is forming a cup-and-handle pattern, the long-term bullish target could range between $194,000 and $352,000!" said the cryptocurrency expert.
Martinez previously pointed out that the last quarter often sees higher gains if Bitcoin finishes September positively. As of now, BTC has risen over 10% this month.
On-chain analytics firm Santiment suggested that market expectations for Bitcoin reaching new highs should be moderated.
"There are currently 1.8 bullish posts for BTC for every 1 bearish post. Historically, markets tend to move against the prevailing crowd expectations," the firm noted.