Bitcoin Slips Toward $70,000, Ether Drops to $2,160 as Fed Pauses Cuts and Energy Shock Lifts Oil

Bitcoin fell back to around $70,000 and Ethereum slid to $2,160, keeping the broader crypto market under pressure, ChainCatcher reported citing CoinDesk. Macro headwinds intensified on two fronts. The Federal Reserve left rates unchanged, keeping the federal funds rate range at 3.5% to 3.75%. The pause in its rate-cut cycle boosted the U.S. dollar and weighed on risk assets. Separately, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East drove a sharp move in energy markets. After Israel struck Iran's South Pars gas field, Iran targeted key energy infrastructure in the Gulf. Brent crude rose to $114 and Oman crude to $150, while European natural gas futures jumped about 25% to above $78 per MWh. In crypto derivatives, nearly $600 million in leveraged positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, dominated by long liquidations, suggesting the overnight drop caught bullish traders off guard. Total open interest across futures fell 5.6% to $106.9 billion, with Ethereum futures open interest down 9%. Funding rates for major tokens including BTC, ETH, BNB and SOL turned negative, pointing to renewed demand for short exposure. Bitcoin's 30-day implied volatility index (BVIV) climbed more than 5% to 58.36, reversing last week's decline. On Deribit, put-call skew strengthened for both Bitcoin and Ethereum, underscoring rising concern about further downside.