Bitcoin and Ethereum drop as $256M in liquidations hit markets, while spot Bitcoin ETFs record inflows.
Major digital assets slipped on Thursday, Sept. 4, after two days of gains, as markets weighed President Donald Trump’s latest request that the Supreme Court overturn a ruling striking down many of his trade tariffs.
Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 2.4% over the past 24 hours to $109,500, bringing its weekly losses to 3.2%. Ethereum (ETH) is down 4% on the day to $4,309, now down 6% over the week.
Gadi Chait, Head of Investment at Xapo Bank, said in comments shared with The Defiant that “Red September” has also historically “posed a stumbling block for Bitcoin.” The term refers to September’s reputation as a weaker month for both the stock market and cryptocurrencies.
XRP is down over 2% to $2.81, while Solana (SOL) dipped 3.4% to $204.
Bucking the trend in the altcoin space is pumpfun’s PUMP token, which has surged 12% on the day. The rally comes two days after token buybacks exceeded 5% of PUMP’s total supply.
The broader total cryptocurrency market capitalization dropped 2.2% over the past 24 hours to $3.87 trillion, with Bitcoin dominance at 56.4% and Ethereum at 13.4%, according to CoinGecko.
Liquidations and ETFs
Over the past 24 hours, nearly $256 million in crypto positions were liquidated, including $202 million of long positions and $53 million of shorts, per CoinGlass. Ethereum led with over $79 million in liquidations, followed by Bitcoin at $44 million.
Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) drew $301 million in net inflows on Wednesday, Sept. 3, marking their second consecutive day of gains, according to SoSoValue.
“As institutional capital continues to pour in and ETFs draw in around $300 million worth of inflows, Bitcoin’s trajectory remains strong,” Chait said. “This resilience in the face of external shocks is an encouraging sign of [Bitcoin’s] maturity as an asset class.”
By contrast, spot Ethereum ETFs posted a third consecutive day of outflows, with more than $38 million withdrawn on Sept. 3.
Tariff Drama
The market uncertainty came as investor confidence was dampened by Trump’s feud with a federal appeals court after it ruled that several of his tariffs were unlawful, which raised concerns over the future of U.S. trade policy.
In response, Trump’s administration asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday evening to urgently review the president’s authority to impose them under a 1977 emergency powers law.
“Today, a Highly Partisan Appeals Court incorrectly said that our Tariffs should be removed, but they know the United States of America will win in the end,” Trump said on Truth Social, following the appeals court decision on Friday. “If these Tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the Country. It would make us financially weak, and we have to be strong.”
Still, one macro factor supporting digital assets is the Federal Reserve’s upcoming Sept. 17 meeting, with the odds of a rate cut now at 97% – up from 91% just a day earlier, according to MacroMicro.
“The Federal Reserve’s September meeting is a dominant macro catalyst – with a potential US rate cut on the horizon, liquidity conditions could ease, increasing demand for risk assets and potentially boosting Bitcoin by 5-10%,” Chait said.
