The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has begun preparing financial markets for what Chair Michael Selig called “mass tokenization,” as the agency works to adapt existing rules for blockchain, artificial intelligence and onchain finance.

CFTC Chair Michael Selig said during the U.S. Treasury Market Conference on Sept. 22 that regulators need to prepare existing market structures for tokenized real world assets, 24/7 trading and technologies that could operate across traditional financial infrastructure.

Selig described tokenization as one of the technologies that could change how assets and collateral move through financial markets. High quality tokenized collateral, he said, could make liquidity more dynamic while allowing assets to move between clearinghouses, intermediaries and end users in real time.

Blockchain based financial infrastructure could eventually support near instantaneous settlement alongside that movement of collateral, according to Selig. He compared the potential change with the transition from trading through hand signals to electronic markets.

“Just as the transition from hand signals to electronic trading advanced our financial system, I believe tokenization can do the same for all asset classes,” Selig said.

CFTC sees tokenization reaching multiple asset classes

Preparing markets for “mass tokenization” will require regulators to adjust older frameworks so blockchain and AI can be used at scale, Selig said. His remarks covered real world asset tokenization alongside onchain finance and markets that could operate around the clock.

Stablecoins are part of that work. Earlier in 2026, the CFTC expanded the types of eligible tokenized collateral to include certain payment stablecoins issued by national trust banks and published guidance covering the use of crypto assets and blockchain technology by regulated entities.

Selig said the commission plans to continue looking for ways to support stablecoin use by market participants, exchanges and clearinghouses. The agency intends to rely on principles based regulation as tokenization develops, while maintaining its existing market integrity responsibilities.

Around the clock trading is being treated separately depending on the asset involved. Selig said crypto and precious metals may currently be suited to 24/7 markets, while agricultural products, energy contracts and some financial products may not be ready for the same structure.

The CFTC has already sought public feedback on expanding trading hours and issued staff guidance covering 24/7 trading, clearing and settlement. Selig said surveillance systems, margin frameworks and operational safeguards would need to function continuously if markets move toward that model.

The tokenization push is unfolding while the agency is working on a separate regulatory framework for crypto markets using powers it already has.

As crypto.news previously reported, the CFTC submitted its crypto market framework to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on Sept. 17, two days after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act.

The filing, titled “Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets,” remains at the prerule stage. Proposed regulatory text has not been released, and the filing itself does not create new trading or registration requirements.

Selig had already said in August that the agency was prepared to pursue digital asset market rules even if Congress did not complete the CLARITY Act. The proposals under consideration included rules for leveraged or margined crypto transactions through regulated markets and possible regulatory routes for developers building onchain financial products.

CLARITY Act setback leaves agencies working under existing powers

The Senate failed to invoke cloture on the CLARITY Act on Sept. 15 in a 49 to 50 vote, leaving the measure 11 votes short of the 60 required to advance.

The failed procedural vote did not end work on the legislation. Seven Democratic senators who voted against cloture later said negotiations could continue, leaving open the possibility of another attempt if lawmakers reach an agreement on outstanding provisions. Talks over the CLARITY Act resumed after the vote, although no new Senate vote has been scheduled.

While Congress continues negotiations, both the CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission have taken regulatory steps under their current statutory powers.

The CFTC’s Market Participants Division on Sept. 17 issued a no action position covering qualifying passive software providers that connect users with registered derivatives exchanges, brokers and futures commission merchants. Under the relief, staff will not recommend enforcement for certain failures to register as introducing brokers or associated persons when providers meet 10 specified conditions. The conditional registration relief applies only to activities covered by the staff letter.

SEC opens a five year route for tokenized US stocks

The SEC has moved further into tokenized markets through a temporary exemption that gives qualifying platforms a regulatory route for trading digital versions of US listed stocks.

On Sept. 17, the commission granted Tokenized Securities Venues temporary conditional relief from the definition of an exchange under the Securities Exchange Act. The exemption permits eligible venues to use permissioned automated market makers and liquidity pools to facilitate trading in tokenized National Market System stocks.

The five year tokenized stock exemption carries several conditions. Tokens traded under the framework must give holders the same rights and privileges as the corresponding traditional shares, while synthetic products that provide only price exposure do not qualify.

Venues must give the underlying company notice and an opportunity to object when an unaffiliated third party tokenizes its shares. Smart contracts used by participating venues must be public and auditable, while trading in a tokenized stock must stop when trading in the underlying stock is halted on its primary exchange.

The SEC placed limits on the number of symbols and trading volume permitted under the framework. Qualifying venues are required to disclose information about their operations and trading activity, while certain liquidity providers can receive temporary conditional relief from the Exchange Act’s dealer definition.

The exemption is scheduled to expire five years after publication, with the commission requesting public feedback while it considers longer term rules for onchain securities markets. SEC Chair Paul Atkins described the framework as an interim measure that would allow tokenized stock trading in a permissioned environment while regulators evaluate further changes.

US regulators prepare existing market rules for onchain finance

SEC Division of Trading and Markets Director Jamie Selway has said tokenization and crypto have become politically contentious even though he does not view market technology as inherently political. He said US development of the technology should be capable of drawing support across party lines.

The SEC’s September order puts part of that approach into practice by letting qualifying venues experiment with tokenized listed stocks without removing the underlying securities from federal securities law.

Commissioner Mark Uyeda said tokenization could be used across issuance, trading, transfer, settlement and ownership records. Under the temporary framework, regulators will be able to observe trading venues and market participants while considering permanent rules, he said.

CFTC policy is developing along a parallel track in derivatives markets. Selig said the agency expects blockchain, tokenized assets and continuous trading to become a larger part of financial infrastructure, but he rejected a single approach for every market.

The commission has instead tied potential 24/7 trading to the characteristics of individual asset classes. Selig said its role would include ensuring surveillance, margin systems and operational safeguards can work continuously where markets adopt round the clock trading.

For tokenized collateral, the agency has already permitted certain payment stablecoins issued by national trust banks to qualify under its collateral framework. Selig said the CFTC plans to continue examining additional uses for stablecoins across regulated market participants, exchanges and clearinghouses.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has withdrawn several civil enforcement actions targeting cryptocurrency companies that were initiated under the prior administration, SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda said. Speaking at a Wednesday panel at the Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy’s Financial Markets Quality Conference, Uyeda framed the decision as part of a broader shift in how the agency plans to approach rulemaking and litigation.

Uyeda, who served as acting SEC chair from January to April 2025 before Paul Atkins’s confirmation, said the SEC dropped cases brought earlier in 2025 because pursuing them could conflict with the agency’s impending policy direction. He also suggested that keeping litigators committed to arguments made under the earlier framework would undermine the SEC’s credibility if the commission’s positions effectively changed.

Key takeaways

• SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda said the agency stopped crypto-related civil cases in early 2025 to avoid credibility problems tied to forthcoming rulemaking changes.
• Uyeda argued it would be damaging for SEC litigators to defend interpretations in court that would later be reversed through a “180-degree” policy shift.
• The withdrawn matters included actions involving Kraken, Ripple Labs, Coinbase, and others, according to earlier coverage referenced by Uyeda.
• The SEC’s leadership structure is expected to narrow further after Commissioner Hester Peirce’s planned departure in November, leaving fewer members to shape enforcement priorities.

Why the SEC moved to drop crypto cases

On the Psaros Center panel, Uyeda described the decision as a response to an expected policy turnaround. He said the SEC was preparing a “180-degree change” in rulemaking, making it strategically and reputationally risky to continue pursuing cases that would require the agency to argue positions that the commission planned to abandon.

Uyeda said the SEC could not justify asking its legal team to stand in court on arguments authorized under the prior administration while the agency simultaneously issued a fundamentally different interpretation. In his remarks, he linked the move directly to institutional credibility—arguing that the commission’s effectiveness depends on consistency between litigation positions and the SEC’s evolving stance.

He emphasized that there were “significant concerns” about whether the earlier crypto company cases were truly defensible under law, particularly given how the agency’s approach was expected to change. The implication for market participants is that enforcement risk may be as much about where the SEC’s policy is heading as it is about individual company conduct.

Link to earlier enforcement and the political context

The SEC’s decision follows a period when crypto firms were repeatedly targeted through civil cases associated with the prior leadership. Under Uyeda’s acting chairmanship, the SEC dropped cases filed against Kraken, Ripple Labs, Coinbase and others, according to earlier reporting cited in the article describing his comments.

That earlier reporting characterized the withdrawals as reflecting broader tensions between the crypto industry and the SEC during the prior administration. It also tied the enforcement push to the general environment surrounding U.S. political leadership changes, including former SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s resignation after President Donald Trump took office.

Notably, the shift described by Uyeda is not presented as a narrow case-by-case retreat, but rather as a decision shaped by the SEC’s planned regulatory pivot. For investors and compliance teams, that distinction matters: a litigation strategy driven by anticipated rulemaking changes may affect how future enforcement decisions are evaluated, even for companies not directly covered by the withdrawn suits.

What “rulemaking change” could mean for crypto policy

Uyeda’s remarks connect litigation strategy to a planned transformation in how the SEC intends to develop and apply rules. By describing a “180-degree change,” he signaled that the SEC’s future stance may not simply refine the agency’s current arguments—it could overturn core assumptions underpinning the earlier cases.

While he did not specify the precise contours of the forthcoming approach in the remarks summarized here, the practical takeaway is that the SEC is attempting to align courtroom positions with policy direction. That alignment can influence how quickly regulated firms expect clarity, and it can also affect the perceived durability of legal theories used previously in enforcement actions.

For market participants, the key watch point is whether the agency’s changed posture results in new regulatory frameworks, revised interpretations of existing statutes, or both. Until those details are established, the SEC’s broader enforcement stance may remain difficult to predict—especially for companies whose compliance strategies were built around litigation risk tied to the previous administration’s approach.

Leadership reshuffle and the SEC’s enforcement calculus

Uyeda’s comments came as the SEC’s internal composition is expected to change again. Uyeda has been a commissioner since 2022 and currently serves in leadership alongside Paul Atkins and Commissioner Hester Peirce. However, Peirce’s departure is expected in November, leaving only two of the SEC’s five members on the leadership panel at that time.

The SEC has not announced nominations for replacements, according to the context provided alongside Uyeda’s remarks. A smaller leadership group can affect institutional priorities, since fewer commissioners may be responsible for setting the direction of enforcement and policy initiatives during the transition period.

In practice, leadership concentration can accelerate strategic shifts—either by enabling faster decision-making or by increasing the impact of a narrower set of views on whether and how to bring future cases. Combined with Uyeda’s stated rationale for dropping earlier matters, the leadership transition could further shape how crypto-related enforcement risk is assessed over the coming months.

What to watch next

Investors and builders should watch for how the SEC translates Uyeda’s stated rulemaking pivot into concrete policy signals—whether through new proposals, updated guidance, or further enforcement decisions that reflect the agency’s changing litigation posture. The next developments will reveal how far the shift goes and whether it produces clearer standards for crypto companies or simply changes the SEC’s enforcement tactics.

MoonPay, a crypto payments company, agreed to acquire private-markets infrastructure provider North Capital, expanding into regulated US securities infrastructure as it builds out services for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs).

The acquisition would allow MoonPay to expand into the issuance, custody and secondary trading of private securities, including tokenized securities, the company said in an announcement shared with Cointelegraph on Wednesday.

MoonPay’s all-stock deal to acquire North Capital is worth more than $60 million, a person familiar with the matter told Cointelegraph. MoonPay CEO Ivan Soto-Wright said the acquisition would help the company connect parts of the financial system through “modern, programmable infrastructure.”

The Midvale, Utah company last raised money in October 2021, in a $2.18 million seed round at an unspecified valuation, according to data compiled by Traxcn. Investors include Karlani Capital and Fiduciary Trust International. MoonPay is currently valued at $3.4 billion, according to Traxcn.

North Capital’s businesses include broker-dealers, an alternative trading system (ATS), a transfer agent and an investment adviser, all registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The company has supported more than $8.7 billion in primary and secondary transaction volume, according to the announcement.

North Capital will become a wholly owned MoonPay subsidiary after the transaction closes. Both companies’ boards approved the acquisition, which remains subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

The acquisition is the latest in MoonPay’s buying spree this year as the company expands beyond crypto payments. Earlier purchases included key management company Sodot, trading infrastructure platform DFlow and AI finance operations platform Entendre, adding capabilities across institutional custody, onchain trading and financial operations.

Related: Robinhood takes stakes in Crypto.com, OG.com in prediction markets deal

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

“Tokenization is coming to America,” said Robinhood chief executive Vlad Tenev after the SEC announced its Innovation Exemption last week — and it seems the markets looked kindly on the development.

BTC and ETH soared over 10%, and Uniswap’s UNI token — a protocol that looks as it if could become prime real estate for tokenized stock trading — gained more than 30% in the days that followed.

While the Securities and Exchange Commission has indeed greenlit tokenized stocks in America, most of the existing stock tokens fall outside of the new rules.

The commission’s new five-year Innovation Exemption creates a path for certain venues to trade tokenized National Market System (NMS) stocks onchain without registering as a securities exchange, and for third parties to tokenize stocks — but only under a specific set of conditions.

Tokens must give holders the same “rights and privileges” as the underlying shares and trading venues need to permission users and pools.

Related: Kraken brings DeFi yield to tokenized stocks and ETFs

Not all tokenized stocks are created equal. A token can look like a share and track the price of a share without providing the shareholder rights of a share. Under the new rules that’s classified as a synthetic stock and it’s not compliant.

UNI gained over 30% after the SEC announcement. Source: Coingecko

That means some of the industry’s biggest players may already have a head start, while others will have to play catch-up. As Ondo Finance’s head of global regulatory affairs, Peter Curley, tells Magazine:

“Not everything we do will fit, and that’s fine. What matters is that the SEC acted instead of waiting on Congress to finish the job.”

The SEC’s tokenization lane is narrow

The SEC’s Sept. 17 order gives certain venues temporary relief from having to register as exchanges when they trade tokenized NMS stocks through permissioned AMM liquidity pools.

In other words, the agency has opened a lane for onchain stock trading, but it’s a fairly specific one, and the token itself becomes just as important as the venue.

To qualify, a tokenized stock must give holders the same dividends and voting rights as the underlying security.

While a third party can tokenize a stock without being affiliated with the issuer, the issuer gets a chance to nix the token before it can be traded.

That rules out synthetic exposure which is bad news for Robinhood’s Stock Tokens and Kraken’s xStocks in their current forms.

Commissioner Hester Peirce stressed that the exemption covers one particular model rather than every possible way of trading tokenized securities, although she said the SEC is open to other models outside the TSV structure.

The products closest to the SEC’s model

Coinbase’s stock tokens are in the ballpark.

On Sept. 14, chief executive Brian Armstrong said the company had “set the standard” with its tokenized stocks, as they are not synthetic or debt instruments, but are “real fully-backed securities, redeemable for the underlying shares, with dividends integrated,” and voting rights “coming soon.”

Related: Robinhood chain to generate $160M in annual fees by 2028: Bernstein

However, Coinbase’s current tokenized stock offering is for non-US customers, and its exchange infrastructure is built around a central limit order book. The SEC’s exemption is built around TSVs providing permissioned AMM liquidity pools. Coinbase operates the Base network however, so it has options in that regard.

Ondo launched tokenized US securities in June, with the underlying shares held in traditional custody and the token representing the investor’s entitlement onchain.

SEC issues Innovation Exemption. Source: SEC

It also acquired Oasis Pro, which includes an SEC-registered broker-dealer, ATS and transfer agent, with infrastructure across the traditional and onchain sides of the market.

Curley says the SEC’s exemption favors “exactly the model we’ve already proven out: custodial, entitlement-based, with real shareholder rights and corporate actions passing through to the holder.” However, he adds, “we’re not assuming anything clears automatically.”

Both Coinbase and Ondo have pieces of the infrastructure the SEC seems to want. Neither can assume its existing setup qualifies without some finessing, but they may have less to rebuild.

Uniswap’s permissioned pools could open the door

The SEC exemption is specifically designed around permissioned AMM liquidity pools, which looks like being good news for Uniswap.

The protocol introduced Permissioned Pools for v4 in July, allowing regulated assets to trade through AMMs with compliance enforced directly onchain.

While that doesn’t make Uniswap itself a TSV, its v4 infrastructure could be used by operators building one, as Permissioned Pools let issuers control who can trade or provide liquidity, which is consistent with the SEC’s requirements.

Permissioned access requires Know Your Customer (KYC) verification, record keeping, public notices and transaction transparency.

If that infrastructure can be connected to the shareholder rights and regulatory infrastructure required for US securities trading, Uniswap potentially has a framework that could be adapted to the SEC’s model.

Robinhood has the users, but not the right product

Robinhood already has around 200 stock tokens trading on Robinhood Chain, which Tenev has described as one-to-one backed and fully DeFi composable.

But the head of research at Four Pillars, Jaewon Kim, pointed out that the SEC’s order excludes synthetic exposure, which rules out products like Stock Tokens and Kraken’s xStocks.

Robinhood’s Stock Tokens are tokenized debt securities issued by Robinhood Assets (Jersey) Limited. That means they provide economic exposure to the underlying stocks but don’t give holders legal or beneficial rights. They’re also not registered under US securities laws and not available to US persons.

Chairman Paul Atkins says the period will allow the market to “develop.” Source: SEC

But while Robinhood’s existing product doesn’t fit the SEC’s rules, its distribution and blockchain infrastructure could give it a big advantage if it can adapt its model to the new requirements.

Kraken’s xStocks are fully backed by underlying equities but they also don’t give holders the same rights as conventional shares. And being backed by shares is not enough to qualify for this exemption.

Bryan Choe, head of research and operations at RWA.xyz, a market intelligence platform for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), says most existing tokenized equity products are currently third-party sponsored, but he expects that to change in the next 12 months.

He tells Magazine, “We expect most of the products to shift to issuer-sponsored models.” He says the exemption “aligns the token issuers with the stock issuers,” and could bring more balance between different issuance models.

Five years to prove tokenized stocks are actually better

The SEC describes the exemption as temporary, and chairman Paul Atkins says the five-year-long period will allow the market to “develop” while the commission “evaluates future rulemaking.”

Beyond which company gets the first compliant venue, the real test is whether tokenized stocks will take off in the first place.

As Curley says, investors need to end up with something “faster, cheaper, or more useful than a conventional brokerage position.” Questions have already been raised over whether the fragmented liquidity for stock tokens will provide good prices or a decent user experience.

The exemption could enable 24/7 trading, fractional ownership, faster settlement, onchain composability and shareholder rights. But at the end of the day, those advantages only matter if investors actually care.

Related: Is there any chance left to save the CLARITY Act?

Bitcoin price fell below $85,000 on Sep. 23 after briefly trading above $87,000, as a rally driven partly by short liquidations lost momentum. The daily chart showed BTC near $84,344, down 2.16% for the session.

Bitcoin price pulls back after testing $87K

The daily chart shows Bitcoin (BTC) price reaching $87,278.54 before falling to about $84,344. The move took price back below the chart’s $85,743.69 upper Bollinger Band after a sharp climb from mid-September lows near $75,000.

The 4-hour chart captures the latest pullback more clearly. Its current candle fell from an open near $85,650 to roughly $84,329, with a low around $83,864. Price remained above the 4-hour Supertrend line at $83,592.86, though the drop brought that level back into view.

Bitcoin’s daily relative strength index, or RSI, stood at 65.31. A reading above 50 shows that recent gains still outweigh recent losses, but the indicator had eased after approaching the 70 level earlier in the rally. On the 4-hour chart, the Chaikin Money Flow indicator remained positive at 0.12, suggesting buying pressure had not fully disappeared as price pulled back.

The charts therefore show a pause in a strong advance, with the immediate test shifting from whether Bitcoin can extend its breakout to whether buyers defend the levels gained this week.

Short covering helped drive the rally

Alice Liu, head of research at CoinMarketCap, noted that the climb toward $87,000 reflected traders closing bearish positions. She said Monday’s forced short covering was roughly ten times the value of long liquidations, while total liquidations had fallen to half their 30-day average by Tuesday.

“Bitcoin’s move to $87,000 was not a wave of new buying, it was the unwinding of bearish positioning. The fuel is behind us, not ahead.”

Liu’s assessment points to a question for the next leg of the move: whether spot buyers can sustain prices once forced purchases from closing short positions subside. A CryptoQuant chart shows futures demand improving while its measure of spot demand remains below zero. The chart supports a distinction between stronger derivatives activity and confirmed spot buying; it does not, on its own, establish where price will go next.

The one-week CoinGlass liquidation heatmap shows a bright band around $84,500 to $85,000 near the latest price action. Another concentration lies around $82,500 to $83,000, with a separate band near $87,000 to $87,500 above. Those bands mark estimated areas of leveraged positions that could face liquidation if price reaches them, rather than firm support or resistance.

Bitcoin’s $83,600 support faces a short-term test

The 4-hour Supertrend at about $83,593 is the closest marked technical level below price. Holding above it would leave Bitcoin within the recent upward 4-hour trend. A sustained move below it would put the $82,500 to $83,000 area shown on the CoinGlass heatmap in focus.

Ardi, an analyst, said Bitcoin had lost the $85,000 base of a 4-hour bull flag and identified $81,000 to $83,000 as the next liquidity area. The daily chart places its 20-day Bollinger Band midpoint lower, near $79,528, showing how far Bitcoin has moved above its recent daily average.

$BTC spent weeks building short liquidity above $83K, then cleared most of it within a few days.

Now the market is turning its attention to the longs left behind.

The 4H bull flag has lost its $85K base, putting the liquidity between $81K and $83K back in play.

We’re now… https://t.co/mKMjDjRwu3 pic.twitter.com/KtWPohZ6sE

— Ardi (@ArdiNSC) September 23, 2026

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On the upside, buyers would first need to reclaim $85,000 and then the recent high near $87,279. The CoinGlass heatmap shows estimated liquidation liquidity around $87,000 to $87,500, close to that high. A move through the area would need to hold to establish whether the rally has regained momentum.

Neither the heatmap nor the indicators guarantee a move toward any particular level. They identify where the current pullback may test the trend and where leveraged positions appear concentrated.

Analysts differ on Bitcoin’s staying power

Tony Dicarlo, director of institutional propositions at RootstockLabs, told crypto.news that Bitcoin had moved back above its 50-week and 200-week moving averages and risen about 29% over 35 days. He linked the broader recovery to US policy developments, macro conditions and demand through spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Dicarlo said the SEC’s tokenized securities proposal and a House committee’s progress on the American Reserve Modernization Act had helped confidence. The House Financial Services Committee voted 28–21 on Sep. 16 to advance the reserve bill; it would still need to pass both chambers before becoming law.

“Looking ahead, I’m not calling winter over outright, but with the bad news now largely priced in, a confluence of good news, regulatory, legislative and macro, is helping bitcoin build higher.”

Liu’s shorter-term reading is more cautious. Her liquidation figures suggest that a source of automatic buying has faded, even as Dicarlo sees support from policy developments and fund flows. The two views turn on different evidence: what powered the move to $87,000 and what could support Bitcoin after the squeeze.

US ETF inflows provide a test of spot demand

US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $999 million in net inflows on Sep. 21, according to Farside Investors. The figure measures demand for the funds on that trading day; it should not be treated as the Sep. 23 flow or as proof that buyers will defend the current price.

For US investors, the next ETF reports offer a way to check whether fund demand continues as Bitcoin pulls back. The nearer price test is $83,593 on the 4-hour chart. A hold there would keep the recent rise intact on that indicator, while a break would bring the lower liquidity band into view.

Ethereum price fell below $2,700 on Sep. 23 after a rally toward $2,800 stalled. The reversal brought the day’s $2,648 low into focus, while US spot Ethereum ETFs had recorded two consecutive days of net inflows before the pullback.

Ethereum price $2,800 breakout runs out of steam

The daily chart showed ETH price near $2,675 at 15:07 UTC on Sep. 23. It had opened around $2,754, reached approximately $2,789, and fallen as low as $2,648. The decline stood at 2.84% for the session when the chart was captured.

The reversal followed a rally from around $2,400 in mid-September. ETH moved through the former $2,550 resistance area and approached $2,800 before turning lower. The daily chart marks a nearby level at $2,809.68, which remains above the latest high.

The 4-hour chart shows how quickly the sell-off developed. A candle with a high near $2,730 dropped to roughly $2,648, taking ETH below its 20-period simple moving average at $2,709.81. The loss of that short-term average leaves $2,700 as the first level buyers would need to regain.

ETH was still above the 4-hour 50-, 100- and 200-period moving averages at $2,586.27, $2,540.4,9 and $2,499.93, respectively. The gap between the current price and those averages shows how far the rally had carried ETH before the latest retreat.

ETF inflows continue as ETH pulls back

The rejection near $2,800 came after a steep advance, making the recent gains a possible source of selling pressure. Price action alone, however, does not establish whether profit-taking, new short positions, or another factor drove the decline.

US spot Ethereum ETF data show that fund demand had strengthened ahead of the reversal. Farside Investors recorded $270 million in net inflows on Sep. 21 and another $162.2 million on Sep. 22. The two sessions brought in a combined $432.2 million.

The next flow report will show whether US ETF investors continued buying as ETH retreated from $2,800. Fund flows and exchange trading measure different activity, so the prior inflows do not settle whether buyers will defend the current price area.

US interest rates also remain part of the market backdrop. The Federal Reserve raised its target range by 25 basis points to 3.75%–4.00% on Sep. 16. The decision preceded ETH’s latest rally and pullback; the price charts do not establish a direct link between the rate decision and the Sep. 23 reversal.

A break below $2,648 could expose lower liquidity bands

The day’s low near $2,648 is ETH’s nearest observed downside level. A move below it would put the lower bands on CoinGlass’s three-day liquidation heatmap in focus, including areas around $2,650 and $2,630.

The heatmap also shows a concentration near $2,700, close to the level ETH lost during the decline. Liquidation bands mark prices where leveraged positions may face pressure if reached. They can change as traders open and close positions, and they do not guarantee that price will move toward them.

For a recovery, ETH would first need to regain $2,700 and its 7-hour 20-period average near $2,710. The next tests would be the recent $2,789 high and the daily chart’s marked level near $2,810. Holding above those levels would provide stronger evidence that buyers had overcome the rejection near $2,800.

Daily momentum readings still reflect the earlier rise. MACD stood above its signal line, at 96.80 versus 83.87, and its histogram remained positive at 12.94. Aroon Up was 85.71%, compared with Aroon Down at 42.86%. The latest daily decline shows that those broader readings have yet to produce a sustained move above $2,800.

Trader points to $2,550, but nearer levels come first

Crypto trader Ted Pillows identified $2,550 as ETH’s largest liquidity cluster and said the token could revisit that level before another move higher. His forecast puts a deeper pullback in view, beyond the nearer bands around $2,650 and $2,630.

The $2,550 area sits close to ETH’s 4-hour 100-period moving average at $2,540.49 and the daily chart’s 0.786 retracement level at $2,531.99. Those nearby readings make the area one to watch if the sell-off extends, though ETH would first have to fall through the Sep. 23 low.

For now, $2,648 and $2,710 frame the immediate setup. Holding above the low would keep a short-term recovery possible; reclaiming the moving average would put the recent high back in view. A break below $2,648 would shift attention to the lower liquidation bands and, if selling continued, the $2,532–$2,550 area.