Ethereum Slides as Hayes Sells Ahead of Fed Meeting
Ethereum fell toward $2,350–$2,380 as BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes reportedly sold ETH and DeFi positions, adding pressure to crypto markets ahead of the Federal Reserve’s October 27–28 meeting. Bitcoin approached $80,500, with analysts warning that a weekly close below $80,000 could signal further weakness. Solana slipped toward $101, Cardano fell to $0.21, and XRP dropped below $1.30. Traders are watching inflation data, Fed rate guidance, oil prices and ETF flows for clues on whether the pullback will deepen or give way to consolidation. Ethereum and Bitcoin price action remains sensitive to risk sentiment and liquidity.
Bearish
The immediate tone is bearish: the article reports selling by Arthur Hayes, declines across several major altcoins, and Bitcoin testing support near $80,500. A weekly Bitcoin close below $80,000 could encourage momentum-driven selling and raise the risk of liquidations, potentially adding pressure to Ethereum and other high-beta tokens. Ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting, uncertainty over inflation and interest rates may also lead traders to reduce leverage and hold more cash.
The move is not necessarily evidence of a lasting market reversal. A high-profile sale can intensify short-term sentiment without establishing the direction of broader fund flows, and the article provides no transaction data to independently verify the reported scale of Hayes’s sales. Similar pre-Fed risk-off periods have sometimes reversed when policy guidance or inflation readings proved less hawkish than feared. Traders may therefore watch Bitcoin’s $80,000 support, Ethereum’s price range, derivatives leverage and funding rates, spot ETF flows, and the Fed’s rate signals. In the short term, downside and volatility risks are elevated; over the longer term, the direction will depend more on macroeconomic conditions and sustained capital flows than on one reported investor’s actions.