Crypto market positioning is 'defensive and thin' after Fed, Marex analysts say

MarketsCrypto market positioning is 'defensive and thin' after Fed, Marex analysts sayWhile the Federal Reserve held interest rates, Chair Kevin Warsh made it clear the U.S. central bank is more worried about inflation than growth.By Omkar Godbole, Shaurya Malwa|Edited by Sheldon Reback Jun 18, 2026, 10:56 a.m. 3 min readMake preferred on ShareShare this articleCopy linkX iconX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailMake preferred on SummaryShowCrypto markets slipped after the Federal Reserve's hawkish tone on interest rates.Derivatives data show risk-off positioning and bearish dominance amid rising demand for short-dated put options as traders hedge against further downside.The crypto market slipped a day after the Federal Reserve raised expectations that U.S. interest rates are headed higher.Bitcoin BTC$64,087.40, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was changing hands near $63,900, down more than 1% over the past 24 hours. Other major tokens, including XRP (XRP), ether (ETH), BNB coin BNB$590.37 and solana (SOL), posted similar losses.The CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) fell more than 1.2% in the same period. The DeFi Select Index (DFX) slid 5%, the largest drop among all the CoinDesk benchmarks.Still, there were pockets of strength. For instance, Provenance Blockchain’s HASH token surged 15%, alongside a gain of almost 10% gain in Stellar’s lumen (XLM)."Sentiment is washed out, the fear gauge has plunged into extreme fear and BTC is now about 48% off its $126k high from last October. Contrarian fuel if you have the patience, but a clear tell that positioning is defensive and conviction is thin," analysts at Marex said.Derivatives positioningCrypto futures bets worth over $440 million have been liquidated across exchanges in the past 24 hours. Most were bullish long positions, indicating that traders had positioned for a recovery rally following Wednesday’s Federal Reserve interest-rate decision.BTC’s futures open interest (OI) has pulled back to 730K BTC fro…

Crypto market positioning is 'defensive and thin' after Fed, Marex analysts say

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