Total notional volume at LMAX Digital cooled off in the previous week. Total notional volume from last Monday through Friday came in at $1.7 billion, 35% lower than the week earlier.

Breaking it down per coin, Bitcoin volume came in at $1 billion in the previous week, 25% lower than the week earlier. Ether volume came in at $376 million, 50% lower than the week earlier.

Total notional volume over the past 30 days comes in at $12.1 billion.

Looking at average position size over the past 30 days, we’re seeing average bitcoin position size at $7,615 and average position size for ether at $2,844.

Volatility has come back down after recently trading up to yearly high levels. We’re looking at average daily ranges in bitcoin and ether of $817 and $57 respectively.

We’re caught in some tight sideways trade right now and the lack of activity has most certainly had an effect on volumes. As per the above section in this report, volumes have come off in the previous week, largely on account of the super tight trading ranges.

The good news is that whenever you get a contraction in volatility the way we’re seeing, it’s often a great warning sign of a surge in volatility on the horizon. Technically speaking, we’ve identified bitcoin $27,680 and $25,810 as the key levels to watch above and below.

Fundamentally, a lot of the attention this past week was around US yields and the debt ceiling drama. Meanwhile, comments from Treasury Secretary Yellen that more bank mergers could be necessary, helped to support crypto assets on the positive narrative around crypto as a compelling alternative to the traditional banking sector.

Perhaps also supporting crypto were comments from the Fed Chair, who sounded a little less hawkish after saying the central bank had expected further tightening until recently. This has opened some broad based selling of the US Dollar.

Looking ahead, market participants will want to continue to pay attention to updates around the US debt ceiling, comments around the outlook for monetary policy, and any regulatory headlines around crypto.