BTC traders caught in two major liquidation zones ahead of FOMC decision

BTC is facing a decision, as the price hovers almost perfectly between two liquidation zones. Positions have accrued at the $115,000 and $118,000 levels, with traders left to decide which positions to attack. 

BTC may go through added volatility in the next few hours based on accrued short and long positions. BTC traded at $116,353, while leveraged positions above and below could cause a more significant price move. 

A hike to the $118,000 level would liquidate $123.74M on Binance if the traders do not close the positions on time. 

A downward move would liquidate $131.54M with a move under $115,000. The almost perfect build-up of liquidity opens BTC to volatility within the range of a few thousand dollars. 

More extreme downward moves see BTC slide as low as $104,000 or even under $100,000 based on the CME futures map. However, the upcoming price moves may first go through the available liquidity on Binance, which carries over $13.5B of the derivative open interest as of September 17.

Which direction will BTC take? 

In the past day, the market does not indicate a clear direction, and the short-term price move may track the upcoming Fed FOMC decision on the interest rate. 

BTC open interest remained above $40B, though with some unwinding in the past few days. For the past 24 hours, BTC tended to move in for short liquidations, wiping out over $32B. For now, BTC is not threatened by capitulation and continues the current bull market with relatively small drawdowns. 

The ratio of long to short positions is slightly shifting toward longing BTC, but for now, most traders remain cautious. The crypto fear and greed index settled at 57 points, at a neutral level. 

BTC dominance is back above 56.1%, as some of the attention is diverted toward the altcoin season. However, whale accumulation and institutional buying continues, in addition to expanding corporate treasuries. 

Will BTC end September in the green? 

BTC is closely watched for its performance in September. The month has shown different trends over the years. For BTC, ending September in the green has translated into an even bigger year-end rally. 

So far, the BTC performance in September is the best in 13 years. With two more weeks to go, BTC may set the pace for the end of the year. 

Historically, September FOMC meetings have also coincided with significant BTC rallies, regardless of the direction of the interest rate. A rate cut will also not guarantee a bull run. 

On Hyperliquid, long positions make up over 58% of trades. The biggest long position has a notional value of $102M, while the biggest short position is valued at $311.6M. Based on sentiment metrics, both crowd money and smart traders tend to be more bearish.

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