The Fed meeting minutes are approaching, and the market is collectively "holding its breath": BTC has broken down, ETH is weak, and funds are frantically fleeing to safe-haven assets.

The entire market seems to have been hit by the "mute button," with everyone holding their breath waiting for the Fed meeting minutes—before this document even appears, all risk assets seem to have received an early warning and have collectively entered "orderly retreat" mode.

BTC has first broken through the key support level, the 50-day moving average that countless traders have been staring at has completely failed, and this signal couldn't be clearer: the short-term trend may have turned downward. What’s even more concerning is that the trading volume is still increasing; this is not simply profit-taking, it is clearly real money being sold off, and the pressure is visible to the naked eye.

The performance of ETH is even weaker, showing a more obvious downturn than BTC—this is usually a reliable signal that market risk appetite has dropped to the bottom, like a thermometer hitting freezing point, where even the air feels cautious.

Not only the crypto market, but traditional tech stocks in the stock market are also falling in tandem. This is no coincidence; it's a sign that money is voting with its feet: everyone is guessing what the Fed will reveal this time.

What exactly are investors afraid of? The core lies in the wording of the meeting minutes. Although it is known that there will not be an interest rate hike in the near term, how do the committee members discuss inflation? Will they hint that high interest rates need to be maintained for a longer period? Even a tendency expressed in just one sentence could become the last straw that breaks the back of risk assets.

The flow of funds has long indicated everything: high-risk assets such as cryptocurrencies and tech stocks are being withdrawn frantically, with money flooding into traditional "safe havens" like U.S. Treasuries and gold. U.S. Treasury yields are rising, reflecting not only the urgency of everyone seeking safety but also quietly squeezing the valuation space of risk assets – this is a vicious cycle: the more people seek safety, the riskier risk assets become, and the more dangerous it gets, the more people want to flee.

Particularly pay attention to the actions of institutional investors. Retail investors may still be trading emotionally, but institutional sell-offs are never emotional and rely entirely on strict risk management rules: once a certain risk indicator triggers a red line, no matter how lively the market is, they will reduce their positions without hesitation. This wave of sell-offs seems more like institutions executing "risk control" according to established procedures, which is so calm that it sends chills down one's spine.

In the short term, uncertainty will shroud the market like a fog. Before the release of the meeting minutes, it is highly unlikely that large funds will dare to go against the trend and buy the dip—no one wants to be the first to take the risk, what if they get hit by a policy shift and washed up on the shore?

For ordinary investors, this is really not the time to be a hero. It's wiser to appropriately reduce positions, keep some cash on hand, and wait for the minutes to be published and the fog to clear before acting. After all, in this marathon of investing, surviving is much more important than running fast for a moment.