CKB, SUI gain big as Bitcoin consolidates ahead of Fed rate decision

With all eyes on the upcoming Federal Reserve rate decision, Bitcoin price experienced a lot of volatility throughout the day but stayed on a downward trajectory.

The altcoin market, closely following the bellwether cryptocurrency did not fare any better with the majority of the top 100 cryptocurrencies in the red.

The top gainers for the day were CKB, and SUI, while the biggest losers were IMX, BRETT, and MKR.

The global cryptocurrency market cap dropped 3.68% in the past 24 hours, with $118.32 million in liquidations. 

While BTC continued to dominate the market, accounting for 54.7% of the total market cap, the ongoing uncertainty in the broader economy kept it trapped in a tight trading range. 

With BTC trading between $59,397.00 – $61,242.97 it was evident that traders were waiting for Fed Chair Jerome Powell‘s moves regarding US interest rates.

At the time of writing, the CME FED Watch tool predicted a 61% probability of a 50 bps rate cut and a 39% probability of a 25 bps reduction. 

According to crypto Youtuber Lark Davis and several other analysts, BTC could see an upward rally if there’s a rate cut, with this speculation based on historical trends.

However, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes argues that Bitcoin’s reaction could be quite the opposite.

Speaking at the Token2049 event in Singapore, Hayes speculated that a rate cut might trigger a short-term price crash due to the narrowing interest rate differential between the US dollar and the Japanese yen.

He recalled the Aug. 5 fiasco where such narrowing led to financial stress, warning that a similar scenario could unfold now.

However, he remains optimistic about a bull market following the initial market drop and also expects Ethereum to benefit from a drop in Treasury yields.

Meanwhile, on X, crypto analyst Satoshi Flipper noted Bitcoin is bouncing between $59,000 and $64,000 in an ascending channel on the 4-hour chart.

Based on his technical setup, a bullish breakout above $64K could send BTC toward the $66K-$68K zone. But if it loses support around $59K, we might see a dip down to $57K or lower.

All eyes are on the Fed’s next move, as a rate cut could shake things up, potentially adding volatility to the market and impacting Bitcoin’s trajectory.

Upon writing, Bitcoin was down 2.5% over the past 24 hours hovering around $59,499.

Top gainers

Nervos Network

Nervos Network (CKB) has become the top daily performer among the top 100 cryptocurrencies, registering a 5.8% increase in its price. Currently, the token is trading at $0.017, marking its highest point since June 8. 

Over the past week, CKB had experienced a bullish rally, surging by 103% in price.

Source: CoinMarketcap

CKB’s daily trading volume was hovering around $783 million with its market cap sitting at $771 million. CKB’s price rally commenced on Sept. 13, following its listing on Upbit, a major Korean crypto exchange.

Sui

Sui (SUI) has sparked an impressive rally over the last day, following the platform’s adoption of native USDC, igniting investor interest.

At the latest count, Sui was trading up by 2.8% over the past day, reaching a price of $1.19. 

SUI’s trajectory over the past week has been equally impressive, vaulting from $0.88 on Sept. 11 to a six-month high of $1.22 earlier today.

Source: CoinMarketcap

This buoyant momentum has catapulted Sui’s market valuation past the $3.1 billion mark, securing its spot as the 30th-largest crypto asset. With a daily trading volume of around $580 million, Sui was trending on CoinGecko.

Top losers

IMX, the native token of Layer-2 scaling solution Immutable X took the biggest hit on Sept. 18 As of the latest tally, the token had dipped by 8%, trading at $1.32 and shaving its market cap down to $2.11 billion.

Brett (BRETT), a meme coin on base blockchain followed next on the top losers list with a 7.9% drop in price bringing it to its lowest weekly levels. Its market cap has now tanked to $713 million.

Rounding out the trio of top decliners, Maker (MKR) also fell 7.7% as it felt the pressure of the broader downturn in the crypto market which dipped by 3.8% over the past day now standing at $2.13 billion.