The FOMC meeting on December 9–10 is garnering significant attention as traders anticipate a 25 bps interest rate cut, which could lead to liquidity returning to risk assets in the short term. The crypto market is moving cautiously, declining by about 1.1% before the announcement. However, some crypto whales have begun analyzing early on.

There are only a few tokens that have seen clear accumulation by whales, some of which have recovery or breakout structures on the charts. This article will discuss three of them.

Astro (ASTER)

Aster is showing accumulation signals from the strongest crypto whales in the last 24 hours. The token is down 4% today and more than 10% in the past month, but the whale network increased its holdings by 11.61% to 44.76 million ASTER at an approximate price of $0.93, meaning they added about 4.67 million tokens, valued at nearly $4.34 million at the current price.

Accumulation during a market downturn is often a sign that whales anticipate a change in market conditions when the results of the FOMC meeting are known.

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The price chart of ASTER includes some explanatory sections.

Between November 3 and December 7, the price of Aster has created higher lows, while the RSI (Relative Strength Index), which tracks momentum, printed lower lows, creating a hidden bullish divergence. This structure often indicates continuation of the trend and a decrease in selling pressure.

The same pattern appeared between November 3 and November 29, followed by an increase of Aster by approximately 22%. Crypto whales may be betting ahead of a similar reaction if market sentiment shifts towards risk after the interest rate decision.

The price of ASTER is also moving within a narrowing triangle pattern, which often reflects hesitation between buyers and sellers before a larger movement. The first level to hold is at $1.01. Breaking through that zone will pave the way to $1.08, and a stronger movement may push the token towards $1.40.

But this structure will fail if Aster loses USD 0.89, which will expose USD 0.84 and invalidate the ongoing setup of the trend that whales are watching.

Pippin (PIPPIN)

Pippin is the second token to see clear accumulation from major investors ahead of the December FOMC meeting. Investors expanded their holdings by 18.2% in the past seven days, bringing total holdings to 350.03 million PIPPIN, meaning they have added approximately 53.9 million PIPPIN, valued at about USD 9.75 million at current prices.

The top 100 addresses (major investors) have also increased their positions, raising their holdings by 3.96%. When both major investors and key holders accumulate during a pause, it often indicates confidence that a new movement may occur soon.

The price movement of PIPPIN supports this view.

Pippin is up 3.06% in the last 24 hours after a quiet week and remains over 400% up in the last month. The current structure resembles a bull flag, which is a continuation pattern that appears when upward momentum temporarily halts. Major investors entering this accumulation phase indicate that they expect volatility to increase after the FOMC decision.

Pippin must reclaim USD 0.21 and USD 0.26 to confirm a breakout from the strong flag. The breakout must move above USD 0.34, which has acted as solid resistance since Pippin surged. Currently, the price of PIPPIN has broken through the upper resistance line of the flag, but a clean daily candle close above USD 0.21 is needed for confirmation.

If PIPPIN drops below $0.14, the structure will weaken, and falling below $0.10 could fully break the flag pattern, exposing deeper support near $0.08. However, right now, whales seem to view this consolidation as an opportunity, not exhaustion.

Chainlink (LINK)

Chainlink is the third token to see continued interest from crypto whales ahead of the December FOMC meeting and is expected to reduce rates. Last week, LINK whales increased their holdings by 28.93%, bringing it to 3.78 million LINK at current prices. This position is valued at approximately 11.5 million USD.

The top addresses ranked in the top 1-100 also increased their holdings by 0.62% while the market exchange balance decreased by 3.09%, which often indicates rising demand from both whales and retail investors.

Whale commitment aligns with what the 12-hour chart shows. LINK is up 12.5% this week, indicating a short-term bullish trend. Between December 7 and 9, prices created lower lows, while the RSI made lower lows, indicating a hidden bullish divergence. Hidden bullish divergence often indicates continuation as it shows that selling pressure is weakening even though prices remain high.

For this structure to succeed, LINK must clearly break above $13.72 along with a strong 12-hour close. The more significant obstacle is at $14.19, which rejected LINK earlier this week. If this level breaks, LINK may extend to $14.95, and beyond that, the next major resistance is near $16.25.

If the market shifts to risk after the FOMC meeting, the first support signal to watch for is $12.97 at the Fibonacci 0.618 zone. Losing this level will expose $11.75, which has acted as a solid floor since December 1.

The whale group is continuously increasing its investment while LINK shows a hidden bullish divergence, which could prepare for an upward trend if there is a slight increase in market liquidity from the FOMC results.