Fed Liquidity Moves May Shift Crypto Market Conditions in 2026

• Fed expected to begin $25 billion monthly purchases starting early 2026 for six months.
• Raoul Pal says crypto trading is like a stressed funding vehicle, showing a broken market.
• Treasury seeks liquidity control while the Fed considers supplementary leverage changes.

Market analysts anticipate the Federal Reserve will implement liquidity measures that could change cryptocurrency markets in 2026. The chief market strategist at Wellington Altus, James E. Thorne, projects the Fed will begin purchases of approximately $25 billion per month, likely starting early 2026 and maintaining this pace for at least six months to stabilize reserve balances.

“Don’t call it QE,” the strategist noted. He distinguished the anticipated measures from traditional quantitative easing programs. The purchases aim to address funding pressures emerging in financial markets as year-end approaches.

Funding Crisis Concerns Intensify

Macro investor Raoul Pal suggests the Fed’s hand will be forced this week to adjust market plumbing to avoid month-end and year-end funding crises. “Crypto is currently trading like a stressed funding vehicle reflecting the broken plumbing, while stocks are cushioned by buybacks and performance chasing for now,” Pal stated.

The investor warned that stocks risk repeating 2018-2019 conditions if the situation is not resolved immediately. The Fed has met with banks and the New York Fed to understand why the Standing Repo Facility is not being utilized sufficiently to resolve funding pressures. “The fear from markets and the Fed is rising,” Pal noted.

A larger battle involves the Treasury seeking control over liquidity via banks to increase lending to Main Street, competing with the Fed’s quantitative easing approaches. This allows fiscal and monetary policy alignment under the goal of targeting stimulus to Main Street while Wall Street benefits from debasement, increasing collateral values.

“QE doesn’t leak into Main St. Liquidity management is now a political game, not a monetary policy game. In the end, it’s all down to The Everything Code and the economic gravity of financing the debts but politically in a way that doesn’t hurt Main St as much,” Pal explained. 

Technical Fixes Under Consideration

Pal identified changes to the supplementary leverage ratio as the major fix, becoming more urgent as the key source for financing deficits and driving future liquidity. While timing for ramping up communications on eSLR changes remains unclear, an interim fix via repo or Standing Repo Facility appears imminent.

“You can hear the cowbell in the distance getting rapidly louder and closer. That will usher in the 2026 cycle extension as $7trn of interest payments need to get serviced,” Pal stated.

The analyst expects volatility until funding pressures are addressed. Cryptocurrency markets have traded with heightened sensitivity to these liquidity conditions, behaving more like stressed funding vehicles than risk assets during this period. Whether the Fed’s anticipated liquidity measures will stabilize cryptocurrency markets or create new distortions depends on implementation details and market reception. 

Related: https://coinedition.com/bitcoin-price-test-volatile-week-macro-breakdown-vs-on-chain-accumulation/