Bitcoin Liquidations Surge

On Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell decided to keep rates unchanged at 5.25-5.5% while hinting at the likelihood of a 25 bps rate cut in September if July inflation data are on the expected lines.

Although this development was per the market expectations, it was a sell-the-news event. Along with BTC, altcoins have also faced intense selling pressure, leading to $193 million in market-wide liquidations. BTC and ETH contribute to over 50% of the total liquidations.

According to data from Coinglass, more than $45 million has been in Bitcoin long liquidations, while $10.94 million has been in short liquidations.

Similarly, Ethereum registered $55 million in total liquidations in the last 24 hours, with 80% being long liquidations. The Ethereum price has also crashed 3.3% slipping under $3,200.

Interestingly, crypto exchange Mt. Gox officially announced BTC and BCH repayments on July 31. Over the past month, Mt. Gox has distributed assets to more than 17,000 creditors.

Mt. Gox Transfers 45,511 Bitcoins to Repay Creditors, BTC Selloff Looms

Furthermore, Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff said there's no reason to cheer about a September rate cut this early. He expressed skepticism over Powell's confidence in achieving the 2% inflation target.

Schiff added that if Powell is not confident now, there's no reason he would be satisfied in September.

Schiff suggested that Powell likely knows there is no way inflation is headed back down to 2% and is waiting until September to cut rates to give investors the false impression that it is.

XRP has been making solid gains, with a rally of more than 30% in July as the odds of the Ripple SEC lawsuit settlement increase.