Bitcoin price slid toward the $86,000 level late Sunday as a sharp risk-off move hit crypto markets ahead of this week's Federal Reserve policy decision.
This triggered mass liquidations and pushed sentiment into "Extreme Fear."
Bitcoin briefly dipped below $86,000 before stabilizing near $87,850, down roughly 0.93% over the past 24 hours. Ethereum fell below $2,800, while XRP and Dogecoin also posted notable losses.
According to Coinglass data, more than $600 million in levered long positions were liquidated during the selloff, highlighting a severe positioning imbalance.
Despite the drawdown, Bitcoin open interest edged higher, while nearly 75% of Binance merchants remained net long. This suggests they are still leaning bullish even as downside volatility accelerates.
Market sentiment deteriorated further as the Crypto Fear & Greed Index stayed pinned in "Extreme Fear," with the total crypto market capitalization falling to $2.82 trillion, down nearly 3% on the day.
Macro pressure builds ahead of Fed decision
The crypto decline mirrored weakness across traditional markets. U.S. stock futures slid overnight, while many braced for the Federal Reserve's first policy decision of the year, with CME FedWatch showing a 97% probability of rates holding steady.
At the same time, political uncertainty added pressure. Analysts pointed to rising fears of a potential U.S. government shutdown, with Polymarket odds climbing toward 75%, reinforcing the broader risk-off tone across assets.
Analysts split: breakdown or opportunity?
Widely followed analyst Michaël van de Poppe
"Crypto is preparing for the worst," van de Poppe said, adding that the selloff could create a "generational opportunity" if macro uncertainty peaks.
Veteran Peter Brandt, however,
One Coin Defying the Downturn With a Real Generational Setup
While large-cap assets like Bitcoin and XRP remain tightly tied to macro pressures, some early-stage projects are showing the ability to follow their own trajectories. Minotaurus (MTAUR) is emerging as one of those exceptions.
The token is currently valued at 0.00012646 USDT, having already moved more than 3X higher from earlier levels near 0.00004 USDT over recent months. Unlike many assets that have struggled to hold momentum, MTAUR has continued to attract steady participation even as broader markets pulled back.
Momentum is being reinforced by upcoming exchange availability, with the team preparing for listings on major platforms at levels well above the current valuation. In addition, a major adoption partnership is expected to be disclosed, adding another potential catalyst.
Interest in the project is also reflected in participation figures, with 3,074,908 USDT recorded in deposits to date. At today's level around 0.000126 USDT, an allocation of 50 USDT corresponds to roughly 400,000 tokens. If the token were later valued at 0.01 USDT, that same allocation would equate to approximately 4,000 USDT.
This scenario is achievable given the project's early positioning and relatively small starting valuation of 5.6 million. That low base leaves substantial headroom if the ecosystem expands toward larger valuation thresholds over time.
Minotaurus is also an early-stage opportunity similar to what Bitcoin and XRP represented in their formative phases. Early participants are already seeing meaningful upside as the project develops.
Audited
From a transparency standpoint, the project has undergone verification through Coinsult. According to the Proof of Assets report, the presale wallet "0xc6c…a9F1e" was analyzed on-chain and showed zero outbound transactions across the entire 549-day presale period.
At the time of verification on 18 December 2025 (11:00 GMT+2), total on-chain holdings stood at $2,727,183.89, providing a clear, verifiable reference point for wallet activity.
As volatility continues to dominate large-cap crypto, projects like Minotaurus are drawing attention from those looking to diversify away from established names and position early in assets with asymmetric potential.
Full pre-launch details and participation information are available directly on the official Minotaurus website.