Leading cryptocurrencies stayed muted on Tuesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's last policy decision of 2024.

What Happened: Bitcoin made a new all-time high of $108,000 in early trading hours before falling sharply to $105,000 shortly thereafter. Volatility persisted throughout the day, with the leading coin bouncing around and below $107,000.

Ethereum's decline was steeper, as it dropped below $4,000 to a low of $3,800.

The total cryptocurrency liquidations surpassed $316 million in the last 24 hours, with long liquidations accounting for an overwhelming share.

Bitcoin's Open Interest rose despite the price weakness, suggesting the opening of new short positions. Nearly 60% of Binance futures traders were betting against Bitcoin, according to the Long/Short Ratio.

Market sentiment remained in the "Extreme Greed" region, per the Cryptocurrency Fear & Greed Index.

Top Gainers (24-Hours)

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $3.78 trillion, following an increase of 2.43% over the last 24 hours.

Major stock indexes closed in the red on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for the ninth consecutive day, dropping 267.58 points, or 0.61%, to close at 43,449.90. The S&P 500 lost 0.39%, ending at 6,050.61, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite reversed from its record highs, falling 0.32% to 20,109.06.

Investors are now preparing for the final monetary policy decision on Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to enact a 0.25% cut, with traders pricing in a 97% possibility of such a scenario, as per the CME FedWatch tool.

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Analyst Notes: Widely followed cryptocurrency analyst Rekt Capital said that this was only the start of Bitcoin's parabolic phase, drawing parallels with historical price action.

"Historically, this phase has lasted on average ~300 days Bitcoin is only on day 41 of its parabolic phase," the analyst stated.

Cryptocurrency influencer Quinten Francois said that the Bitcoin cycle was being pushed by institutional investors and not retail.

"BTC is knocking at its ATH while there is no hype or euphoria. Why? Retail is in alts," Francois added.

Data fetched from Google Trends also showed that search interest for Bitcoin has dwindled sharply from its peak just after Donald Trump's win last month.

Photo by Avi Rozen on Shutterstock

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