LMAX Digital volumes continue to impress this week, getting back to more robust levels. Total notional volume for Wednesday came in at $1.6 billion, 176% above 30-day average volume.

Bitcoin volume printed $1.1 billion on Wednesday, jumping 200% above 30-day average volume. Ether volume printed $299 million on Wednesday, 129% above 30-day average volume.

Looking at average position size over the past 30 days, we’re seeing average bitcoin position size at $7,265 and average position size for ether at 2,836.

There have also been signs of a pickup in volatility in recent days. We’re now looking at average daily ranges in bitcoin and ether of $1,847 and $143 respectively.

The declines in the crypto market this week have been discouraging, though at the same time, there have been some bright spots along the way. Volumes have been robust all week, and we also finally saw a day of impressive volume on Wednesday that was accompanied by some constructive price action.

Of course, we’re far from out of the woods and in many ways, we would have been feeling a lot more confident in the prospect for meaningful recovery from here had bitcoin actually broken down below the 20k barrier. The fact that we haven’t, leaves the door open for a breach of this level, as it’s quite often the case that major barriers are broken before the market actually reverses course.

Fundamentally, crypto markets have been weighed down by all things global macro. Sentiment in traditional markets has been heading south on account of an outlook that features higher inflation and slower growth. We’ve also been contending with fallout at Celsius and 3AC this week, which hasn’t helped matters.

On the bright side, investors have been trying to make the best of the latest Fed decision in which the central bank opted to raise rates by 75 basis points. It seems the drawback of a more aggressive rate hike has been more than offset by the comfort in knowing that the Fed is doing what it needs to help make for better overall conditions.

Technically speaking, we continue to spotlight critical support for bitcoin in the $14,000 to $20,000 area. So while we still most certainly won’t rule out a breakdown below $20,000, we also believe bitcoin should be very well supported in the $14,000 to $20,000 zone.