$250 Mln In Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) Liquidated, Is 100 bps Rate Hike Certain?

The crypto market loses last week’s gains as Bitcoin and Ethereum prices fail to sustain key support levels ahead of the FOMC meeting on July 27. The crypto market saw over $250 million in total liquidations, with nearly 80,000 traders liquidated in the last 24 hours.

The rising FUD this week pushes the probability of a 100 bps rate hike by the Federal Reserve higher. The probability of a 75 bps interest rate hike has come down to 75% from over 80% last week.

While economists expect a 50-75 bps rate hike, the Fed hints at slowing rate hikes after a 75-100 rate hike this month.

Bitcoin and Ethereum Liquidations Rise Ahead of Fed Rate Hike

The Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) prices have fallen lower to $20,895 and $1,380 today, breaking below the key psychological levels of $22.8k and $1500 levels.

As per data by Coinglass, nearly 80,000 traders were liquidated in the last 24 hours, with total liquidations of almost $250 million. Among the top cryptocurrencies, Ethereum recorded the highest liquidations of over $109 million. Bitcoin (BTC) follows Ethereum with over $56 million in liquidations.

Ethereum Classic (ETC), Solana (SOL), Polygon (MATIC), Ripple’s XRP, Avalanche (AVAX), Cardano (ADA), ApeCoin (APE), Optimism (OP), Stepn (GMT), and Dogecoin (DOGE) are among the top crypto liquidated in the last 24 hours.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) saw $46.69 million in long positions and $9.80 million in short positions liquidated across crypto exchanges. Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH) witnessed $91.69 million in longs and $18.36 million shorts liquidated in the last 24 hours. Okex, Binance, and FTX recorded the most liquidations.

BTC and ETH Trend After 100 bps Fed Rate Hike

Weak crypto and global stock markets indicate the U.S. Federal Reserve could surprise the markets with a more aggressive rate hike as the energy and food prices continue to rise.

According to CME FedWatch Tool, the probability of a 75 bps rate hike is 76%. Whereas,  the probability of a 100 bps rate hike is 24%. The Fed will likely look into energy, food, and housing prices to decide its monetary policy.

Crypto analysts expect Bitcoin and Ethereum prices will keep above the $20k and $1200 levels despite the interest rate hike.