Crypto Market Rallies Ahead of Fed Meeting

The cryptocurrency market rallied on Tuesday, Dec. 9, ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting, where the central bank is widely expected to cut interest rates for the third time this year.

Bitcoin (BTC) is up 5% on the day to $94,200, while Ethereum (ETH) jumped 9% to $3,390. Among other large-cap altcoins, XRP surged 5% to $2.17, BNB went up 3.5% to $926, and Solana (SOL) increased 6% to $144.

The day’s biggest winner among the top 100 crypto tokens is Provenance Blockchain (HASH), which surged 12.1% to $0.031. Polkadot (DOT) followed with a 9.8% increase to $2.35, while Ondo (ONDO) also saw notable gains, rising 9.2% to $0.52.

On the downside, Hyperliquid (HYPE) led the losses, falling 2.9% to $29.02. LEO Token (LEO) slipped 1.1% to $9.64, while TRON (TRX) edged down 0.3% to $0.28.

The total crypto market capitalization surged 5% to $3.32 trillion. Trading volumes reached $135 billion on the day, with Bitcoin's dominance standing at 56.8%, and Ethereum’s at 12.3%.

Liquidations and ETF flows

Crypto markets recorded over $392 million in liquidations in the past 24 hours, according to Coinglass. Long positions accounted for $82 million, while short positions made up nearly $311 million.

Bitcoin led the sell-offs, with $158 million liquidated, followed by Ethereum at $119 million, and other altcoins totaling $21 million.

In the exchange-traded fund (ETF) space, Bitcoin ETFs saw over $60 million in outflows. Meanwhile, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana ETFs recorded inflows of $35 million, $38 million, and $1 million, respectively, according to SoSoValue data.

FOMC Meeting and Macro Data

Market sentiment improved ahead of the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting, which starts today and continues tomorrow. While a 25 basis point rate cut is expected, it is not guaranteed, experts said. If approved, it would mark the Fed’s third rate cut this year.

“Powell’s communication will likely play a central role in setting expectations for the early-2026 policy path,” Iliya Kalchev, a Nexo Dispatch analyst, said in comments shared with The Defiant.

This also comes as today's U.S. JOLTS report showed steady job openings, which only added to investor optimism that the labor market is holding strong. More specifically, the number of job openings rose slightly from 7.658 million at the end of September to 7.67 million in October, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Looking ahead this week, investors are awaiting Thursday’s U.S. jobless claims, which will “set the macro tone into the weekend and determine how much of any Fed-driven momentum crypto can carry into year-end,” Kalchev said.