Fed Rate Hold Sparks $122M in Crypto Liquidations, Morgan Stanley Enters ETH ETF Race

The FOMC meeting chaired by Kevin Warsh had a significant impact on crypto markets. The Fed held rates at 3.5%-3.75%, but removed language from policy statements that signaled a bias toward future rate cuts. This shift in expectations led to $122M in BTC and ETH liquidations as leveraged traders got caught on the wrong side of the hawkish signal.

Morgan Stanley filed for a spot Ethereum ETF with built-in staking at a 0.14% management fee, undercutting BlackRock's iShares staked Ethereum product. This filing arrives at an interesting moment for Ethereum, which faces a funding crisis as core developers warn they have only 3-9 months of runway left.

Ethereum's Glamsterdam upgrade entered final devnet testing, featuring ePBS and potential gas limit increase to 200 million. The upgrade bundles two headline proposals that could fundamentally alter the economics of using the network.