Bitcoin slipped below $80,000 on Tuesday, trading near $79,700 and down 0.4% since midnight UTC. Ether fell 0.5% during the same period, while the DeFi index posted the largest decline among CoinDesk indices, dropping 1.8%.
Asian tech shares advanced sharply, with South Korea's Kospi rising 3.1%, though the rally failed to lift cryptocurrency markets. U.S. stock index futures edged lower ahead of major technology earnings announcements. Oil prices rose, with U.S. crude approaching $102 a barrel.
The Federal Reserve began a two-day meeting Tuesday, with an interest-rate decision scheduled for Wednesday. Market data from CME's FedWatch tool indicated approximately a 90% probability of no rate change. Traders are monitoring the meeting for guidance on potential rate increases before year-end.
U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs received $110 million in inflows on Monday, reversing two consecutive days of outflows. Crypto futures volume rose 18% to $152 billion over 24 hours, though open interest increased only 0.95%. Liquidations eased 13% to $133 million.
Among altcoins, privacy-focused tokens outperformed broader declines. Dash rose 1.8%, and Zcash added 0.5% after co-founder Sean Bowe proposed eliminating the 8% allocation from newly created coins that funds the network's community grants program, citing the project's treasury of approximately $125 million. DeFi tokens reversed Monday's gains, with Aave falling 3.6% and Sky, the token behind the project formerly called MakerDAO, losing 3.9%.
CoinMarketCap's Altcoin Season index rose to 57/100 from 53 on Monday.
