Crypto Market Pauses Ahead of Fed Minutes Bitcoin Eyes $100K Breakout

Major cryptocurrencies struggled to gain momentum on Tuesday as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of the Federal Reserve's September meeting minutes. Bitcoin's price hovered between $85,000 and $86,000, while Ethereum fluctuated between the high $2,600s and early $2,700s. The market saw a cooling off after a strong rally on Sunday. Cryptocurrency-related stocks also dipped, with Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN) and Bitmine Immersion Technologies Inc. (NYSE: BMNR) closing down 1.32% and 2.20%, respectively. According to Coinglass data, 59,852 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours, totaling $142.50 million in liquidations across long and short positions.

Despite the stagnation, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index indicated a prevailing 'Greed' sentiment in the market. Bitcoin’s open interest rose 0.42% over the last 24 hours, with the majority of top trading accounts on Binance remaining long on BTC. The stock market, meanwhile, extended its gains, with the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite all closing at record highs. Traders are eagerly awaiting Wednesday’s release of the Federal Reserve’s September meeting minutes for insights into future interest rate policy.

Analyst Ali Martinez noted that Bitcoin is building a significant support zone at $83,300, $84,600, with $86,700 as the breakout point. Martinez suggested that if buyers defend support and clear the top of the range, $100,000 could come back into focus. On-chain analytics firm Santiment highlighted Bitcoin's largest single-day exodus from exchanges in seven months, with exchange supply falling to roughly 6.50% of the total BTC supply. Santiment stated that while outflows alone guarantee nothing, falling exchange supply strengthens the bullish setup.