LMAX Digital volumes cooled off on Tuesday after a robust Monday performance. Total notional volume for Tuesday came in at $315 million, 8% below 30-day average volume.

Bitcoin volume printed $172 million on Tuesday, 10% below 30-day average volume. Ether volume came in at $87 million, 11% below 30-day average volume.

Looking at average position size over the past 30 days, we’re seeing average bitcoin position size at $8,630 and average position size for ether at $3,983.

Market volatility has picked back up in recent weeks. We’re looking at average daily ranges in bitcoin and ether of $2,327 and $138 respectively.

We haven’t seen all that much movement in bitcoin and ether this week, with both markets caught in consolidation. However, we suspect volatility could pick up in the sessions ahead as the economic calendar heats up.

Today, there will be plenty of focus on the Fed decision. There is no change expected on rates, which should lessen the price impact. At the same time, investors will be looking for any hints around the direction in monetary policy.

On Friday, the market will take in the monthly employment report out of the US.

It’s also worth noting we could see added volatility today on month end flow related activity. Bitcoin is set to close out the month in positive territory, while ether will be trying to get out of the red and do the same.

With the month coming to a close, we do think it’s worth highlighting the fact that most of the driving forces behind crypto in July were on crypto specific fundamentals, be it Grayscale repayments, the ETH ETF launch, or US political updates.

We believe this is significant as it reflects a maturing asset class doing a better job of proving itself as an attractive alternative option for portfolio diversification.

As a reminder, August performance since 2017 has been positive for bitcoin, with the crypto asset averaging gains of 6% on the month.