bitcoin ·
Bitcoin drops below $80,000, DeFi index falls 1.8%, Fed meeting begins
Bitcoin dipped below $80,000, trading near $79,700, representing a 0.4% decline since midnight UTC.
2 outlets · CoinDesk · CoinDesk
During this period, Asian technology stocks experienced a rally, with South Korea’s Kospi increasing by 3.1%.
Concurrently, the DeFi index saw a 1.8% decrease, marking the largest drop recorded by any CoinDesk index. The Federal Reserve is commencing a two-day meeting today, with an interest-rate determination scheduled for Wednesday. CME’s FedWatch tool indicates approximately a 90% probability of no rate adjustment.
Ether, the largest altcoin mentioned, declined by 0.5% to $2,490.55. Other altcoins experienced further declines; for instance, Aave (AAVE) fell 3.6% to $157.15, and sky (SKY), the token associated with the project formerly known as MakerDAO, lost 3.9% to $0.07611.
Tokens linked to Artificial Intelligence also saw declines, even as Asian technology shares advanced. Render (RENDER), the GPU computing network, and GRT$0.02495, the blockchain data protocol, each registered losses exceeding 2%.
Celestia (TIA), starknet (STRK$0.05642), and pump.fun (PUMP$0.005148) all fell near 3%. Tokenomist noted that Celestia faces an unlock of 5.58 million TIA on Saturday.
On the institutional side, U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs attracted $110 million on Monday, concluding two consecutive days of capital outflows, according to Farside Investors. Zcash (ZEC) increased by 0.5% following a proposal from co-founder Sean Bowe to eliminate the 8% share of newly created coins funding the network’s community grants program, noting its treasury of about $125 million could sustain spending for years.
The market dynamics suggest that institutional capital flows into spot ETFs are occurring despite broader volatility in DeFi and crypto assets. The upcoming Federal Reserve meeting will likely draw scrutiny from market participants regarding future monetary policy shifts.
Why it matters
This market action shows crypto diverging from traditional tech rallies, suggesting underlying macroeconomic pressures are influencing digital asset valuation. Attention is now focused on the Fed's meeting to determine future monetary policy, which will impact DeFi and L2 capital flows.
