Bitcoin Holds Steady at $118K as FOMC Looms – BONK Crashes 30% in Brutal Memecoin Reckoning

Bitcoin traders brace for volatility as the Fed's policy decision approaches—while one meme token gets mercilessly dumped.

FOMC Jitters Freeze BTC Action

The crypto market holds its breath ahead of Powell's remarks, leaving BTC oddly calm at $118K. Meanwhile, leveraged positions hit record highs—because nothing says 'prudent investing' like gambling with Fed speeches.

BONK's Spectacular Implosion

The so-called 'people's memecoin' nosedives 30% as traders flee speculative trash. Even by crypto standards, this is a masterclass in bagholder creation.

As institutional BTC bids stack up, one thing's clear: the market's finally separating the wheat from the vaporware. Whether that lasts post-FOMC is anyone's guess.

BTC Anticipates FOMC Meeting

The primary cryptocurrency nosedived at the end of the previous business week, dropping from over $119,500 to a 14-day low of $114,500 within hours as Galaxy Digital was selling off 80,000 BTC for a third party. The asset bounced during the weekend and returned above $117,000 as the sale was completed.

It started the new week on the right foot, surging to $120,000. However, as it has happened after each such breakout attempt for the last two weeks, the bears quickly reemerged and didn’t allow a more decisive surge toward BTC’s all-time high.

Just the opposite, as Bitcoin started to lose value rapidly and dropped below $117,500 on a couple of occasions on Monday and Tuesday. It has managed to rebound so far and now trades around $118,000. More volatility is expected later today as the US Federal Reserve will announce whether it will change interest rates, although this is unlikely.

For now, BTC’s market cap remains close to $2.350 trillion, while its dominance over the alts has risen to 59.6% on CG.

Alts Back in Retreat Mode

Most altcoins have turned red on a daily scale. ethereum was rejected at $3,900 and is close to breaking below $3,800 after a 1.6% daily drop. XRP has slipped toward $3.1 after a 2% decline. BNB, SOL, DOGE, ADA, HYPE, XLM, and LINK have marked even more substantial losses.

The situation with SUI, HBAR, and AVAX is even more painful as all of those are down by over 5% in the past day. ENA, TAO, and ICP are with similar losses.

BONK has dumped the most over the past 24 hours, losing 13% of value, followed by TIA (-9%) and SPX (-9%).

The total crypto market cap has declined by $60 billion overnight and is down to $3.940 trillion on CG.