Tax Deadline Tests Bitcoin Liquidity Ahead of Fed Meeting
Bitcoin's liquidity is set to face a challenge on Tuesday as US taxpayers face a deadline for estimated tax payments. The transfer of cash from commercial banks' reserve accounts into the Treasury's account could tighten dollar funding and limit risk-taking ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting on September 15-16.
The IRS calendar sets September 15, 2026, as the third installment deadline for individuals and corporations subject to estimated-tax payments. This coincides with the opening day of the Fed meeting, putting a scheduled cash movement alongside the policy decision due the following day.
Bank reserves, which support payments and funding rather than measuring traders' available cash, have shown an improvement in recent weeks. The Fed's September 10 balance-sheet release showed weekly-average bank reserves rose $96.779 billion to about $2.991 trillion in the week ended September 9.