Crypto Markets Rally After Fed Rate Cut, Analysts Cautious on Sustainability

Major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC $115,778), Ether (ETH), XRP ($3.00), Solana (SOL $237.21), and others, gained momentum following Wednesday’s interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

Despite the rally, some analysts remain cautious. “The Fed rate cut gave crypto a near-term lift, but the rally is not yet clean,” said Timothy Misir, head of research at BRN. “Institutional flows are supportive overall, yet exchange inflows and a single-day ETF outflow signal distribution into strength.” Misir suggested traders use a $115,000–$115,500 bitcoin price band for tactical risk management.

Derivatives and Futures Trends
BNB, AVAX, and DOT saw double-digit gains in futures open interest (OI) over the past 24 hours, aligning with their 5–9% price increases. In contrast, BTC’s cumulative OI in USD and USDT-denominated perpetual futures continues to decline, signaling that derivative traders may not be fully participating in the rally.

Other tokens, including BCH, TRX, BNB, XMR, AVAX, and SUI, show a positive open interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta, reflecting strong buying pressure. Even smaller speculative tokens show no signs of overheating, with annualized funding rates hovering around 10%.

On the CME, Ether futures OI approaches 2 million ETH, while BTC futures positioning remains light. Annualized three-month basis for both BTC and ETH remains below 10%, offering lower yields than SOL’s 17% return. On Deribit, 25-delta risk reversals suggest a neutral-to-bearish bias in BTC options through March, while ETH options remain bullish across all tenors. OTC network Paradigm saw block flows for the $116K BTC call (Sept. 19) and $100K put (Oct. 31).

Altcoins and Market Movements
Altcoins staged a strong rebound after oversold RSI readings, with several posting gains exceeding 10%. Ether.fi (ETHFI) led the charge, up 12% to $1.64, the highest level since January. BNB broke the $1,000 milestone for the first time, fueled by accelerating momentum toward fresh highs.

Bitcoin continues consolidating above critical support at $110,000, creeping toward $117,300. Bitcoin dominance fell to 56%, its lowest since early January, signaling growing investor appetite for speculative altcoins.

The DeFi sector benefited significantly from the move, with total value locked (TVL) across protocols reaching $170 billion, the highest since April 2022. Hyperliquid’s Layer-1 blockchain hit a record $2.77 billion TVL, up 3.88% in 24 hours, while Sui’s TVL rose 3% to $2.1 billion.