The cryptocurrency market faced a notable downturn in early Wednesday trading, with an overall liquidation of positions totaling approximately $607.18 million, as investors eagerly awaited new macroeconomic data. Of this total, $541.14 million was from long positions, while short positions accounted for $66.22 million.
XRP Long Positions Hit Hard
XRP was among the major digital assets that suffered under the market’s selling pressure, dropping by 3.48% in the last 24 hours to settle at $1.44. Major tokens such as Ethereum, Dogecoin, Cardano, Uniswap, and Shiba Inu faced even steeper declines, with losses ranging between 6% and 11%.
In XRP trading, a total liquidation of $12.5 million was observed over the past day, with $11.96 million coming from long positions compared to just $540,210 from short positions. This led to a striking imbalance of 2,213% between the liquidations.
“The 2,213% liquidation disparity in XRP underscores how leveraged long positions were swiftly closed amidst the onset of the selling wave.”
This situation indicates that the market was positioned for an upward movement before the decline. As the sell-off gained momentum, the bullish trades faced compulsory closures, exacerbating the loss pressure on XRP.
All Eyes on Fed Minutes
Another focal point for the markets is the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary policy outlook. Investors are keenly monitoring the release of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes on Wednesday. The FOMC is the body responsible for setting interest rates within the Federal Reserve. These minutes are expected to offer new insights into officials’ approach to monetary policy.
Mini Dictionary: The FOMC, or Federal Open Market Committee, is the Federal Reserve’s arm for setting key policies, such as interest rates and balance sheet maneuvers.
During its September meeting, Federal policymakers voted for an interest rate hike for the first time since 2023. According to futures market pricing, there is a 78% probability that the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting.
“Futures market pricing indicates a 78% probability that the Fed will maintain rates at their current level in the next meeting.”
XRP Ledger Updates Imminent
Meanwhile, three updates in the XRP Ledger are expected to go live this week. The updates, named Permissions Delegation, Batch, and fixBatchV1_2, will be implemented if validator support remains consistently above 80%.
According to the schedule, the Permissions Delegation update is expected on October 8th, while the fixBatchV1_2 and BatchV1_1 updates are slated for October 9th. These are merely the earliest possible dates for activation. If validator support dips to 80% or lower at any point during the process, the related update will be revoked, restarting the 14-day countdown.
