Crypto Markets Drop Lower with Traders in Wait-and-See Mode

Crypto markets shed 3.4% today, Oct. 9, with total market capitalization dropping below $4.2 trillion, as traders wait for fresh macroeconomic cues from U.S. data later this week.

Bitcoin (BTC) lost nearly 3% over the past 24 hours and is trading around $120,300, bringing its weekly gains to just 0.4%.

Ethereum (ETH) is down over 5%, slipping to near $4,300. Commenting on ETH’s price, Shawn Young, chief analyst of MEXC Research, told The Defiant that at current levels, renewed accumulation “is likely,” adding that if there’s momentum to happen and liquidity tailwinds kick into the market, bulls may push ETH to attempt another breakout “towards the $5,000 and $5,200 range.”

Beyond BTC and ETH, all of the remaining top-10 assets are solidly in the red today, with Solana (SOL), XRP, and BNB all down 4-6%. Despite the retracement, BNB’s recent rally has kept it above the $1,000 level, and its weekly gains are currently over 17%.

Within the top-100 assets by market cap, Zcash (ZEC) is holding onto its place as the top daily gainer, up over 14% today, continuing its multi-day rally. Meanwhile, today’s biggest loser among the top-100 is perpetual futures DEX Aster’s ASTER, down 17% on the day. Like yesterday, pumpfun’s PUMP and Plasma’s XPL are also among the biggest losers, down 16% and 14.5% respectively.

Analysts at Glassnode noted in a Thursday X post that Bitcoin still continues to trade “well above the short-term holder cost basis,” adding that the rally remains “below the heated zone, suggesting momentum is high but approaching short-term risk conditions.”

Analysts at QCP Capital said in an Oct. 8 research note that, historically, government shutdowns “tend to be market non-events beyond headline noise and data delays,” adding that the core signal remains intact: “fade USD strength, expect gold to outperform, and treat headline-driven corrections in BTC and risk assets as buyable while staying alert to tariff and data-gap volatility in the near term.”

Liquidations, ETFs, and Macro

In the past 24 hours, over $680 million in leveraged positions were liquidated, with $526 million in long positions, according to Coinglass. ETH saw $180 million, while BTC liquidations were a slightly higher $193 million.

Yesterday, spot ETH ETFs saw over $69 million in net inflows, according to SoSoValue, the eighth consecutive trading day of net inflows for the products. Spot Bitcoin ETFs continue to outpace ETH products, also continuing their eight-day streak with over $440 million in net inflows yesterday.

On the macroeconomic front, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq pulled back a bit on Thursday after hitting new intraday highs. Both ended the day down 0.1%, even though they were up earlier, while the Dow fell 97 points, or 0.2%, per CNBC.

With no major economic data out because of the government shutdown, investors are now keeping an eye on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks at a community bank conference today, along with talks from Fed officials Michelle Bowman and Mary Daly, looking for hints on where monetary policy might go next.