LMAX Digital volumes cooled off from robust Tuesday levels but were still healthy overall. Total notional volume for Wednesday came in at $731 million, 9% above 30-day average volume.

Bitcoin volume printed $359 million, 25% above 30-day average volume. Ether volume came in at $214 million, 4% below 30-day average volume.

Looking at average position size over the past 30 days, we’re seeing average bitcoin position size at $12,993 and average position size for ether at $3,445.

Bitcoin volatility has shot up in recent days, while ETH volatility is trending back towards recent peak levels. We’re looking at average daily ranges in bitcoin and ether of $3,812 and $253 respectively.

Bitcoin has been trading with a softer bias in recent sessions, currently oscillating around recent lows while ETH slightly lags on a beta-adjusted basis.

The overall tone however is consolidation rather than capitulation as participants reassess positioning into mid-October.

Flows and leverage set the undercurrent. Spot ETF creations/redemptions look muted, and derivatives markets continue to clean up prior excess; liquidations are lighter, keeping price action two-sided.

Geopolitics are keeping risk appetite cautious. Renewed friction between Washington and Beijing and headline sensitivity around trade policy has crypto trading more like a high-beta risk asset than a haven.

Meanwhile, equities are chopping around, while the rates path and dollar impulse remain the swing factors.

In the absence of decisive growth or inflation data, technicals and flow dominate tape-reading.

Net-net, the market remains confined to a wait-and-see mode: residual leverage and headline risk cap topside, while resilient ETF flows and still-elevated options pricing cushion the downside.

We frame the near-term setup as range-bound and macro-led, with fresh catalysts likely to come from central-bank rhetoric or a shift in the geopolitical temperature.