LMAX Digital volume cooled off a bit on Wednesday after a very healthy start to the week. Total notional volume for Wednesday came in at $466 million, 14% below 30-day average volume.

Bitcoin volume printed $278 million on Wednesday, 10% below 30-day average volume. Ether volume came in at $141 million, 17% below 30-day average volume.

Looking at average position size over the past 30 days, we’re seeing average bitcoin position size at $11,969 and average position size for ether at 6,613.

Volatility has been consolidating at the low end of the range in 2022. We’re now looking at average daily ranges in bitcoin and ether of $1,692 and $141 respectively.

No major updates in crypto as we head into the latter half of the week. There were a number of positive developments in the space over the past few days, including the Central African Republic adopting bitcoin as a payment currency, Australia announcing plans for its own bitcoin ETF, and Fidelity announcing clients would be able to invest bitcoin in their 401(k) retirement account.

But for the most part, it continues to be about crypto assets trading alongside direction in equities markets. Downside pressure in stocks has translated to downside pressure on crypto, and this latest minor recovery in stocks into Thursday has translated to renewed demand for crypto.

There was some concern around a report showing institutional outflows in the space, with investors withdrawing capital from crypto funds in recent weeks. But the numbers are so small that we hardly believe this should be reflective of any meaningful downtick in crypto sentiment from institutional investors. Instead this is more a function of the bigger picture shift in overall sentiment.

Technically speaking, we’re really neither here nor there with respect to price action in bitcoin and ether. Both markets have been under pressure over the past several weeks, but at the same time, both markets are confined within familiar ranges and more consolidating than anything else.