Bitcoin reversed its early-week rebound on Tuesday, slipping back toward the $90,000 level as traders positioned ahead of Wednesday’s Federal Reserve interest-rate decision.

The broader crypto market also lost traction, giving back gains from the start of the week. Bitcoin was recently changing hands near $90,150, down from Monday’s peak of $92,350, while the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) fell 2.1% over the past 24 hours with every constituent in the red.

This pattern echoes last week’s trading, when bitcoin surged from $86,300 to $93,200 between Sunday and Tuesday before fading to $88,000 in the days that followed.

This time around, the looming Fed meeting adds a new wrinkle. Markets overwhelmingly expect a 25-basis-point rate cut — typically supportive for risk assets such as crypto because lower rates reduce the appeal of holding dollars. But with expectations already elevated for weeks, traders warn the move may be fully priced in. If so, risk assets could sell off on the announcement as the market digests the lack of fresh bullish catalysts heading into year-end.

Derivatives positioning

Volatility gauges showed little sign of anxiety ahead of the Fed outcome, with 30-day implied volatility indexes for bitcoin (BVIV) and ether (EVIV) holding steady.

On Deribit, traders were active in June-dated puts with strikes as low as $20,000 and calls above $200,000 — flows that point more to bullish volatility bets than explicit directional wagers.

Overall, BTC and ETH puts remain more expensive than calls, with recent block activity dominated by risk reversals and put-diagonal spreads in bitcoin. Ether flows included call spreads and risk-reversal structures.

In futures, open interest has slipped across most major tokens, including BTC and ETH. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) saw an 8% drop in OI, while Zcash (ZEC) bucked the trend with a 16% rise to 2.30 million ZEC, nearing its Dec. 4 record of 2.32 million.

Token talk

Altcoins continued to lag as investor appetite for speculative assets sank to new cycle lows. HYPE tumbled 8.6% over the past 24 hours, while STRK, QNT and KAS fell between 5.7% and 6.3%.

CoinMarketCap’s “altcoin season” index is now sitting at 18/100 — a steep decline from its Sept. 20 reading of 78/100.

Bitcoin has dropped roughly 20% over the past 90 days, but the altcoin drawdown has been far deeper: more than half of the top-100 tokens by market cap are down over 40% during the same period.