26 July 2026 PM: Crypto drifts into Fed week as volume thins

Crypto markets moved into Sunday afternoon without finding much urgency, with Bitcoin holding near $64,380, volume fading back, and traders still treating the 28 to 29 July Federal Reserve meeting as the next event that could shift the mood in either direction.

The broad market still looks stable on the surface, but the underlying tone is one of patience rather than confidence. CoinGecko data showed total crypto market capitalisation at about $2.29T on Sunday afternoon, up roughly 0.6% over the past day, while Bitcoin dominance stood near 56.4%. That mix matters because it suggests the market is not falling apart, but it is also not rotating aggressively into smaller tokens in search of risk. Alternative.me’s Fear and Greed Index remained at 26, in Fear territory, a sentiment reading built from volatility, momentum and broader market behaviour rather than a tool that predicts the next price move.

Bitcoin was trading at about $64,380, or roughly £48,335, up around 0.5% over 24 hours, and that near-flat result tells you most of what you need to know about this session. The market has not lost the morning floor, but neither has it found the kind of follow-through that would make a higher close feel convincing. The more notable figure on Sunday afternoon was turnover. Total crypto trading volume was running near $36.6B, down about 28.5% over the previous 24-hour comparison window, which points to softer participation rather than a market leaning hard in one direction.

That matters heading into the Fed because thin volume can make prices look calmer than conviction really is. A market can hold a level simply because nobody feels strongly enough to push it elsewhere. That is different from a market attracting determined buying. Readers who want the policy backdrop behind this cautious posture can compare it with Cristoniq’s guide to the UK crypto regulation timeline, because confidence in crypto still depends on rules and institutional trust as much as intraday price action.

So what: Bitcoin is doing enough to steady the tape, but the lack of volume means that stability still looks provisional rather than decisive.

Ethereum kept a modest edge over Bitcoin, rising to around $1,883, or about £1,414, up roughly 1.2% on the day, while Solana added about 1.1% to trade near $74.75. That is not the kind of move that changes the market story on its own, but it does show that traders are still willing to take selective risk beyond Bitcoin when conditions are calm enough. In plain English, the market is not hiding entirely in the biggest asset, yet it is still behaving cautiously enough that small gains in Ethereum and Solana look more like measured positioning than broad enthusiasm.

Ethereum’s slightly firmer tone also fits the current stage of the cycle. When traders are not ready to make a big directional call on Bitcoin, Ether often becomes a cleaner way to express a guardedly constructive view on crypto without moving too far down the risk curve. Solana’s smaller gain says something similar. It has not broken away on a fresh narrative, but it has stayed firm enough to show that the afternoon has been orderly rather than defensive. Readers who want a plainer guide to how market plumbing shapes that confidence can also read Cristoniq’s explainer on proof of reserves, because market trust is rarely just about price alone.

Elsewhere, XRP and BNB were little changed, while Dogecoin’s stronger bounce to about $0.073073 stood out more for its contrast than for any wider signal. XRP was near $1.096 and BNB near $569.95, both up only around half a percent, which reinforces the broader picture of a market that is holding together but not accelerating. Dogecoin’s roughly 4.6% rise is the livelier headline within the majors, yet it would be a mistake to read too much into that alone when the rest of the market is still trading in a restrained range.

This is often how a low-conviction session looks: one or two names move enough to draw the eye, but the broader structure stays largely unchanged. That matters for readers because a mixed tape can create the impression of a stronger recovery than the market is actually delivering. Sunday afternoon still looks more like a pause with pockets of movement than a reset in sentiment.

The contract’s reviewed watchlist item sat in the background rather than driving prices. A Google News crypto catalyst scan surfaced a Cryptonews report about Coinbase preparing for the longer-term risk that quantum computing could one day challenge current crypto security standards. That is a legitimate infrastructure theme to watch, but it is not the reason Bitcoin has spent Sunday afternoon near the same level. It belongs in the category of market structure context rather than today’s catalyst, and that distinction matters because Crypto Daily should explain what is moving the market now, not inflate every headline into a cause.

The more immediate force remains macro timing. The next Fed meeting on 28 to 29 July is close enough that traders know the calendar can matter more than weekend noise. When that happens, the market often becomes harder to read from price alone. Stability can reflect discipline, caution, or simply a lack of participation. Sunday afternoon’s softer volume suggests the last of those is a meaningful part of the story.

What to watch next is whether crypto can carry this holding pattern into the new week without losing support, and whether participation improves once markets are fully open again. If Bitcoin can stay around the mid-$64,s while volume picks up, the market would at least be showing that buyers are prepared to defend current levels in fuller conditions. If volume returns but price starts to slip, that would tell a different story, one where the afternoon calm was more fragile than it looked.

The other thing to monitor is sentiment. Fear at 26 is not panic, but it is still a reminder that confidence has not really healed. Until that changes, the more realistic reading is that crypto is entering Fed week stable, cautious and still waiting for a stronger reason to commit.

Crypto Daily is Cristoniq’s afternoon update on cryptocurrency markets, published every weekday for informational purposes only. Nothing here is financial advice. Always do your own research before making any investment decisions.