Updated The US Federal Reserve delivered the expected 0.25% interest rate cut late Wednesday, lowering the policy rate to 4.00–4.25%, and eventually sent cryptocurrencies into more positive territory.
BTC, ETH, SOL Jump on US Fed Cut as Meme Tokens Outperform
19 September 2025 - 10:18 CEST
While the decision had been widely anticipated, crypto assets reacted positively the following day: Bitcoin (BTC) gained nearly 2%, Ether (ETH) rose 3.2% and Solana (SOL) 6.5%. BNB jumped as much as 5.7% to its all-time high before retracing through Friday.
Derivative calm
Derivatives positioning showed little stress around the event. According to CoinMetrics data, liquidations remained muted: Bitcoin saw roughly $11.6 million in buy-side and $11.2 million in sell-side liquidations, while Ethereum posted about $23.3 million on each side. Solana registered roughly $8.9 million in buy liquidations versus $3.4 million in sell-side. The balanced flows suggest investors had not borrowed to excess ahead of the Fed FOMC announcement, limiting the potential for exchanges to step in and forcibly liquidate positions.
Penguins on the march
Performance was more pronounced in high-beta corners of the market – those that may gain or slide the most. Memecoins led the move, with Pudgy Penguins (PENGU), SPX6900 (SPX), and Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) among the strongest gainers over the following 24 hours.
Meanwhile, CoinMarketCap’s Alt Season Index climbed to 71, its highest reading since December 2024, indicating broad altcoin outperformance relative to Bitcoin over the past 90 days. Historically, such elevated levels have coincided with subsequent corrections, highlighting stretched positioning. Whether this resolves through alts lagging BTC on the upside or leading to the downside remains unclear, but the signal argues for caution across Alts.
