Leveraged liquidations top $1.2 billion as ETH, SOL and major altcoins plummet.
Crypto markets plunged again on Thursday as mixed signals from the Federal Reserve and underwhelming results from the long-awaited meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi dampened investors’ appetite for risky assets.
BTC fell for a fourth straight day, trading as low as $106,800 at the time of writing. Looking at major altcoins, ETH dropped another 6% in the past 24 hours to $3,760, while SOL and XRP lost 7% and 7.5%, respectively, in the same timeframe.
Meanwhile, the total crypto market capitalization dipped 3.5% to $3.7 trillion, with over $1.1 billion of leveraged long positions liquidated over the past day.
Among the Top 100 digital assets by market capitalization, MemeCore (M) is up 13%, making it the only non-stable asset to post gains on the day, according to CoinGecko.
ASTER, Ethena (ENA), and PENGU are today’s biggest losers, dropping by 17%, 15%, and 13%, respectively.
December Rate Cut Odds Drop
The volatility is likely being driven by mixed signals from the Federal Reserve, as the U.S. central bank cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point on Wednesday, but indicated that further cuts aren’t guaranteed.
“A further reduction in the policy rate at the December meeting is not a foregone conclusion, far from it,” said Fed Chair Powell at the press conference following the Fed’s announcement.
The odds of a December cut have since dropped to 73% as of today, down from 91% a week ago, according to CME FedWatch.
Trump Meets Xi
U.S. President Donald Trump finally met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday in South Korea, following weeks of uncertainty surrounding the ongoing trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
While Trump told reporters on Air Force One that the leaders had agreed on “almost everything” and that tariffs on Chinese goods would be reduced by 10%, investors appeared underwhelmed, with stocks and cryptocurrencies turning sharply lower after the news broke.