“Bitcoin traded lower alongside most major tokens as investors favored gold and silver ahead of the Federal Reserve decision and a heavy week of Magnificent Seven earnings.”, — write: www.coindesk.com
The largest cryptocurrency traded around $88,400 during Asian hours, modestly lower on the day and down roughly 4% over the past week, according to CoinDesk data. Ether ETH$2,902.29 hovered near $2,940, while solana SOL$123.68XRP XRP$1.8852 and DOGE$0.1218 also posted small declines, extending a cautious tone across major tokens.
Silver (XAU) pulled back from the day’s extremes in late US trading after logging its sharpest jump since 2008, while gold (XAU) slipped off record highs after briefly topping $5,000 an ounce as choppy price action rattled the metals rally.
The white metal still finished Monday up 0.6%, even after a more than 14% intraday surge that briefly pushed it to a record above $117 an ounce — its biggest one-day swing since the global financial crisis.
Crypto, by contrast, has struggled to participate in the broader macro trade. Bitcoin remains well below its October peak, even as falling real yields, a weaker dollar and rising geopolitical uncertainty have fueled gains in equities and precious metals.
The divergence has reinforced the view that crypto is currently trading less as a hedge and more as a high-beta asset sensitive to positioning and liquidity.
“Cryptocurrencies remain a lagging class of risk-sensitive assets, falling short of metals and the strongest global currencies,” Alex Kuptsikevich, FxPro chief market analyst, said in an email.
“The technical bearish picture remains relevant, despite the gains in recent hours. BTC remains below its key moving average lines and has not attempted to break through the support of the last two months,” he added.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady at its policy meeting on Wednesday, while earnings from several Magnificent Seven companies are set to test whether the AI-driven equity rally can extend. Both events are seen as potential catalysts for broader shifts in risk appetite, which can weigh down on crypto markets.
Whether crypto can regain momentum may depend less on crypto-specific news and more on how markets respond to the Fed’s messaging and Big Tech results. Until then, bitcoin appears pinned near current levels, drifting lower as investors wait for clearer direction.
KuCoin captured a record share of centralized exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the broader crypto market.
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per monthmarking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralized exchange volumeas KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumeswhich slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly spliteach exceeding $500 billion for the year, signaling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activityreinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activityindicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
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Polymarket has launched new prediction markets tied to Volmex’s bitcoin and ether 30-day implied volatility indices.
- Polymarket has launched new prediction markets tied to Volmex’s bitcoin and ether 30-day implied volatility indices, allowing users to bet on how high volatility will get in 2026.
- The contracts pay out if volatility indices reach or exceed a preset level by Dec. 31, 2026, letting traders wager on the intensity of price swings rather than market direction.
- Early trading implies roughly a one-in-three chance that bitcoin and ether volatility will nearly double from current levels.
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