The Cboe Volatility Index closed at 17.20 on September 15 2026 and traded near 17.6 to 18.1 during the September 16 Fed session, up from 16.44 on September 9. Both readings sit above the 15 the melt-up-completion invalidation leg requires and well below the 25 of the vol-expansion leg, so neither fires. Level via WebSearch because Massive index aggregates (I:VIX) are not authorised on the current plan.