Cautious crypto market awaits US Fed policy outcome amid rising ETF inflows

After a brief attempt by bulls to push higher, bears have kept Bitcoin (BTC) below key resistance levels as investors await clarity on US Federal Reserve policy. The flagship cryptocurrency remains range-bound following a failed breakout above $116,500 and is consolidating around $115,000. The cautious sentiment has extended to Ethereum and other altcoins as well.

 

While short-term positioning remains cautious, analysts believe institutional demand through spot ETFs is lending support to the upside. Over the past six trading days, spot Bitcoin ETFs have recorded more than $2 billion in inflows.

 

At last check, Bitcoin was trading at $115,683.02, down 0.35 per cent with a 24-hour trading volume of $49.75 billion. The cryptocurrency traded in a narrow range between $114,461 and $116,747 during the session, according to CoinMarketCap. Its market capitalisation held steady at $2.3 trillion, solidifying its position as the world’s largest digital asset.

 

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Crypto traders, Shivam Thakral, CEO of BuyUcoin, said, are on edge ahead of the Fed’s call. A quarter-point cut won’t shock anyone — that’s already baked in. "What really matters is Powell’s tone. If he hints at more rate cuts down the road, Bitcoin could punch through $116,500 and aim for $120,000. But if he plays it safe, expect a quick ‘sell the news’ drop back toward $114,000," said Thakral.

Ethereum finds support at $4500

Ethereum (ETH), which enjoys the position of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, has also seen pullbacks and failed to hold above the $4600 mark. ETH pulled back to test support near $4,500 before finding stability.  At last check, ETH was trading at $4,530.83, down 2.26 per cent in the past 24 hours. Ethereum’s price fluctuated between $4,469 and $4,670 during the day.

 

According to the CoinSwitch Markets Desk, the Ethereum price is now consolidating slightly above this level, with $4,600 emerging as the threshold for upside momentum, while $4,500 remains the key support to hold.

Altcoin market trades sideways

In the altcoin space, Ethena (ENA), Fartcoin (FARTCOIN), Curve DAO Token (CRV), Flare (FLR), Optimism (OP), Pudgy Penguins (PENGU), SPX6900 (SPX), Pepe (PEPE), FLOKI (FLOKI), Jupiter (JUP), Lido DAO (LDO), Sei (SEI), Four (FORM), Arbitrum (ARB), Gala (GALA), Worldcoin (WLD), POL (POL), Celestia (TIA), Theta Network (THETA), Bonk (BONK), Filecoin (FIL), dogwifhat (WIF), Raydium (RAY), Sui (SUI), Injective (INJ), and Pyth Network (PYTH) were the top laggards, falling in the range of 5–9 per cent today.

 

Conversely, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), Aethir (ATH), Pump.fun (PUMP), MemeCore (M), Aerodrome Finance (AERO), Monero (XMR), Pi (PI), MYX Finance (MYX), PAX Gold (PAXG), Tether Gold (XAUt), Bitget Token (BGB), and Nexo (NEXO) were the top gainers for the day on CoinMarketCap, rising up to 5 per cent.

 

In the broader developments, the global stablecoin supply has surged to an all-time high of over $280 billion, suggesting enough liquidity within the market, according to the CoinDCX Research Team. Besides, Ripple announced a $25 million commitment in RLUSD to support American small businesses.  In the meantime, Michael Saylor and other executives are meeting with lawmakers in Washington to push for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Bill. Elsewhere, Bitwise filed to launch a spot Avalanche (AVAX) ETF with the SEC, while MetaMask launched its own stablecoin, MetaMask USD (mUSD). On the other hand, Trump proposed companies report every six months instead of quarterly, pending SEC approval.