The Federal Open Markets Committee is about to announce its initial interest-rate decision under the leadership of Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, who will subsequently address reporters.
By Omkar Godbole, Shaurya Malwa|Edited by Sheldon Reback Jun 17, 2026, 10:36 a.m. 3 min readMake preferred on ShareShare this articleCopy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailMake preferred on Kevin Warsh is sworn in as Fed chair. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)SummaryShow- Bitcoin has fallen below $65,000, and the wider cryptocurrency market has softened as traders look to the first FOMC decision under new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, focusing on his inflation outlook rather than immediate rate adjustments.
- Market metrics indicate calm, with declines in futures volumes, open interest, and liquidations, while bitcoin's 30-day implied volatility remains around multiweek lows.
- Uniswap's UNI has continued its week-long increase, driven by a positive forecast from Standard Chartered and its deflationary tokenomics.
Bitcoin BTC$64,711.19 is experiencing pressure to sell ahead of today's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) interest-rate decision at its first meeting under the new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh.
The leading cryptocurrency dropped below $65,000 after nearly hitting $67,000 just a day before, as reported by CoinDesk data. The broader CoinDesk 20 Index (CD200) has seen a decrease of 1.2% since midnight UTC, with nearly all tokens showing declines except for four.
“The primary focus this week is the FOMC meeting under new leadership, with market expectations of interest rate increases already factored in through 2027,” noted Laser Digital in its weekly analysis.
The market anticipates no changes to the fed funds rate in this meeting, with attention shifting to Warsh's press conference for insights on his inflation perspective. Warsh has previously critiqued the Fed's frequent press briefings and detailed forecasts, which may lead to inquiries about his views.
Among notable performers, Uniswap's UNI token surged another 20% over the past 24 hours, supported by Standard Chartered's positive prediction of $100 by 2030. Conversely, NEAR, INJ, and various stablecoin-related assets saw declines of up to 8%.
Derivatives Positioning
- The market remains tranquil ahead of the Fed's decision. Activity has diminished, with crypto futures volume down 20% in the last 24 hours to $165 billion and open interest falling 2.3% to $110 billion. Liquidations have decreased to approximately $310 million, down 44%.
- This calm is reflected in BVIV, bitcoin's 30-day implied volatility index, which was around an annualized 39% at the time of writing — a level not seen since June 2, just prior to a spike to nearly 59% shortly thereafter. Ether's volatility index shows similar stability.
- Cardano's ADA stands out among altcoins, with open interest rising to 2.26 billion tokens, close to the record of 2.32 billion set on June 6 and recovering from a low of 2 billion on June 13.
- This rebound indicates renewed capital investment in leveraged ADA markets, although the price has recently dipped from over 18 cents to under 17 cents in two days, accompanied by a negative 24-hour cumulative volume delta. This combination appears bearish, suggesting aggressive trading at market orders instead of passive limit orders.
- ZEC and SUI are other notable gainers in open interest over the past day, while NEAR and BCH led the declines.
- NEAR has fallen more than 9%, and the drop in open interest indicates that traders are unwinding leverage during this sell-off rather than entering new short positions.
- Most major tokens, except for TRX and CC, are showing negative 24-hour cumulative volume deltas, indicating a prevailing bearish trend in trade flows.
- In options markets, BTC puts continue to dominate the volume rankings for the past 24 hours, although the $80,000 call set to expire on March 26 next year also saw significant activity. For ether, calls are leading in volume rankings.
Token Insights
- UNI has now risen for seven consecutive days, marking its longest winning streak since August 2023, when it achieved eight days of increases. The token is trading around $2.75, recovering from its losses in June after a more than 10% increase earlier in the week.
- The catalyst for this rise was a note from Standard Chartered. The bank's head of digital assets, Geoff Kendrick, began coverage on June 15 with a price target of $100 for 2030, approximately 40 times the current value. He argues that tokenized real-world assets, such as stocks and bonds issued on-chain, will significantly enter DeFi, positioning Uniswap to capture this flow as core market infrastructure. He anticipates a trajectory through $6.50 by year-end.
- Two key fundamentals support this prediction. Uniswap's fee switch, operational since late 2025, directs a portion of trading fees towards buying back and burning UNI tokens, resulting in the removal of approximately 106 million tokens, over 10% of the total supply, thus transforming it from a purely governance token into a deflationary one.
- In addition, tokenized stocks launched on the protocol earlier this month have already facilitated over $9.1 billion in swaps through its real-world asset pools.
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CEX Volumes Fall to Lowest Since September 2024 as RWA Perpetuals Hit Record High
CEX Volumes Fall to Lowest Since September 2024 as RWA Perpetuals Hit Record High
In May, overall exchange volumes decreased by 3.45% to $4.41 trillion, the lowest level since September 2024. Conversely, RWA perpetual futures volumes increased by 10.4% against this trend, achieving a new all-time high.
By CoinDesk ResearchJun 15, 2026In May, overall exchange volumes decreased by 3.45% to $4.41 trillion, the lowest level since September 2024. Conversely, RWA perpetual futures volumes increased by 10.4% against this trend, achieving a new all-time high.
Why it matters:
In May, overall exchange volumes decreased by 3.45% to $4.41 trillion, the lowest level since September 2024. Conversely, RWA perpetual futures volumes increased by 10.4% against this trend, achieving a new all-time high.
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