1. Federal Reserve Cuts Interest Rates by 50 Basis Points link

The Federal Reserve announced a rate cut to 5%, lower than the anticipated 5.25%, marking the first rate reduction since March 2020. The median forecast indicates two 25-basis point cuts in 2024, totaling a 100-basis point reduction. Fed Governor Miki Bowman voted against the action, favoring only a 25-basis point cut, making this the first dissent from a board member since 2005.

At the press conference, Jerome Powell stated that the 50-basis point cut would help sustain economic and labor market strength, reflecting the Fed’s confidence that inflation is moving toward the 2% target.

China International Capital Corporation (CICC) remarked that the Fed’s move was more aggressive than expected. The Fed’s focus seems to have shifted from controlling inflation to prioritizing employment. Despite Powell denying victory over inflation, he now appears to be concentrating solely on employment. The Fed’s tolerance for rising unemployment is low, and any rate above 4.4% could trigger further cuts. While rate cuts will support demand expansion, maintaining strong U.S. economic growth, the “loose monetary, expansive fiscal” policy combination may pose inflationary risks in the medium term.

2. Arthur Hayes: Rate Cut May Trigger Short-Term Decline in Risk Assets, Era of Central Banks is Over link

BitMEX founder and Maelstrom CIO Arthur Hayes stated at Token2049 that with the Federal Reserve’s impending rate cuts, risk assets may experience a short-term decline, particularly if the strengthening yen impacts the crypto market. However, as rates approach zero, high-yield assets like Ethereum are poised to benefit. With Ethereum’s current annual staking yield around 4%, it will become increasingly attractive once U.S. Treasury yields fall below that level, potentially triggering a new bull market. Hayes also mentioned that tokens like Ethena’s USDe and Pendle’s BTC staking will profit from this shift.

Hayes further emphasized that the era of central bank dominance is over, with governments set to take control of monetary policy. In this new landscape, crypto assets will emerge as the only globally transferable safe-haven instruments.

3. Trump Buys Burger with Bitcoin at a New York Bar link

On Wednesday, Donald Trump once again reached out to the digital asset community, treating supporters to burgers at a New York bar and paying with Bitcoin. Upon arriving at PubKey, a Bitcoin-themed bar in Greenwich Village near NYU, Trump was met with boos and shouts of “loser.” However, once inside the dimly lit bar, he received a warm reception from Bitcoin enthusiasts and his supporters alike.

In addition, the Trump-affiliated crypto project, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), announced the upcoming launch of its governance token, WLFI. Of the total supply, 63% of WLFI tokens will be sold to the public, 17% will be allocated for user rewards, and 20% will be reserved for the team. World Liberty Financial plans to offer cryptocurrency lending services on the Ethereum blockchain, akin to existing decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. The WLFI token will not undergo a presale and will not have venture capital or early buy-ins. Zak Folkman, the project’s operations lead, emphasized that the WLFI token sale will be regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and all purchasers will undergo the same KYC standards as required by major exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken.

4. Arkham Releases Government Bitcoin Holdings Ranking, US Takes Top Spot link

Arkham has released the latest rankings of government Bitcoin holdings. The data shows that the United States leads the global list, holding Bitcoin worth $12.16 billion. The UK follows in second place with $3.67 billion, while Bhutan ranks third with $782 million. El Salvador, a global pioneer in Bitcoin adoption, ranks fourth with holdings valued at $352 million. Notably, Germany’s Bitcoin holdings have dropped from $3.56 billion to zero.

Unlike most governments, Bhutan’s Bitcoin holdings are not the result of asset seizures by law enforcement but are instead derived from Bitcoin mining operations. Since early 2023, mining activities in Bhutan have surged. Reportedly, Bhutan has built several mining facilities, the largest of which is located at the former site of the now-closed Education City project.

5. Binance Founder CZ Set for Release Next Week link

According to the official website of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ), a 47-year-old Asian man, will be released next week on September 29, 2024, with the registration number 88087–510. Previously, Binance CEO Richard Teng confirmed that CZ would be permanently banned from managing or operating the company. However, CZ remains the largest shareholder and will retain all shareholder rights despite the lifetime management ban.

The Federal Reserve announced a rate cut to 5%, lower than the anticipated 5.25%, marking the first rate reduction since March 2020.

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6. US SEC Tightens Scrutiny on Binance Token Listings and Trading link

The U.S. SEC has subjected Binance’s token listing and trading procedures to a more rigorous examination in its proposed amendment complaint. The SEC questions Binance’s compliance with these procedures, highlighting potential risks of violating securities regulations. The document provides a similar detailed analysis of Binance Simple Earn and ten digital assets (SOL, ADA, MATIC, FIL, ATOM, SAND, MANA, ALGO, AXS, and COTI), alleging that these assets may have been sold as unregistered securities on the Binance platform.

Recently, Binance has introduced a large number of TON ecosystem games and memecoins, sparking significant controversy within the community, including concerns about market manipulation. Binance co-founder He Yi stated: “Binance has no intention of shifting focus towards memes. Currently, there are roughly three types of projects in the market: 1) Small TG games with numerous tokens; 2) A multitude of infrastructure projects issuing high-valuation VC tokens; 3) The market is currently buzzing with Memecoins, with previous contracts following trends like NEIRO, and community feedback indicating Meme coins are becoming increasingly speculative. Therefore, we have spent some time searching for projects with relatively low market caps and dispersed holdings to test the waters; 4) For other types of projects, we remain observant and welcome recommendations for any tokens that users find particularly promising. Binance is a trading platform that strives to offer a wide range of tokens to meet market demand, but investing carries risks, and we encourage everyone to conduct their own research before buying or selling.”

7. JPMorgan CEO: JPMorgan is One of the Largest Blockchain Users link

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, remarked at the Financial Market Quality Conference on Tuesday that JPMorgan Chase, as the largest bank in the United States, might be one of the largest users of blockchain technology. However, Dimon noted that blockchain is merely an efficient means of data sharing and maintained his skeptical stance on cryptocurrencies. In 2020, JPMorgan Chase forked an Ethereum version to create a private permissioned network named Onyx, which has processed transactions exceeding $700 billion.

8. Tether’s Q2 2024 Audit Reveals $118.4 Billion in Reserves link

In its Q2 2024 audit, Tether revealed that its reserves amounted to $118.4 billion, surpassing its liabilities of $5.3 billion, with over $97.6 billion held in U.S. Treasury securities. This positions Tether as the 18th largest holder of U.S. Treasuries globally, exceeding nations such as Germany, the UAE, and Australia. Additionally, Tether has actively collaborated with 180 institutions across 45 jurisdictions, freezing approximately 1,850 implicated wallets and assisting in the recovery of over $113 million in assets.

9. Circle Announces Global Headquarters Relocation to New York City link

Circle has announced the relocation of its global headquarters to New York City, where it will construct a flagship space on the top floor of One World Trade Center. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire stated that since its establishment 11 years ago, USDC has supported trillions of dollars in on-chain transactions. 2025 is anticipated to be the year when stablecoins enter the mainstream, with plans to open its new headquarters globally in early 2025.

Circle’s stablecoin USDC has now launched in Brazil and Mexico, allowing for the direct conversion of Brazilian Reais (BRL) and Mexican Pesos (MXN) into USDC without the need to exchange the fiat currencies into U.S. dollars first. Circle notes that businesses can obtain USDC from local financial institutions for their own uses or offer the stablecoin to retail customers. Circle now supports local bank transfers via PIX and SPEI, Brazil and Mexico’s respective national real-time payment systems.

10. Vitalik: DAO Insurance Models are Underestimated, Symmetric Models Can Lead to Fairer Incentives link

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin tweeted that insurance DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) are significantly undervalued. Insurance DAOs allow multiple participants facing similar risks to pool funds together and agree to provide coverage to any member affected by a risk. This symmetrical model ensures a balanced incentive mechanism. Vitalik noted that while DAOs can still employ professional claims assessors, the impartiality of these assessors is motivated by the fact that no participant knows if they will be the next beneficiary. He also mentioned that similar models have existed in the past and still persist in some places today.

Fundraising

• Binance Labs has announced an investment in the modular blockchain network Hemi Labs. link

• Bitget and Foresight Ventures have revealed a strategic investment of $30 million in the TON blockchain. link

• Decentralized finance platform Drift Labs has completed a $25 million Series B funding round. link

• Solana developer platform Helius has secured $21.75 million in funding. link

• Decentralized clearing network Yellow Network has raised $10 million in seed funding. link

• Cryptocurrency infrastructure network Pipe has completed a $10 million funding round, led by Multicoin. link

• Web3 startup Vana, specializing in data pool networks, has announced an additional $5 million in funding, with Coinbase Ventures leading the round. link

• a16z CSX’s portfolio company MagicBlock has completed a $3 million pre-seed funding round. link

• Gamified full-chain liquidity aggregation protocol 0xAstra has secured $3 million in seed funding. link

• Fermah has closed a $5.2 million seed funding round, led by a16z’s CSX and Lemniscap. link

• On-chain perpetual DEX LogX has announced a $4 million strategic funding round. link

• RISE has completed a $3.2 million seed funding round, with Finality Capital leading the investment. link

• Grass Network, a project in the AI and data field, has secured a new round of funding led by Hack VC. link

• Ore has established Regolith Labs and completed a $3 million seed funding round. link

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