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Top 10 News of the Week
1. Powell: If inflation tests meet targets, the Fed may cut interest rates as early as September
Fed Chairman Powell said that if inflation tests meet the target, a rate cut could be made as early as September. Powell pointed out: "The question is whether the overall picture of the data, the changing outlook, and the balance of risks are consistent with increased confidence in inflation and maintaining a stable labor market. If this condition is met, a rate cut may be considered as early as the next meeting in September." Powell emphasized that the decision to cut interest rates will not be affected by the upcoming presidential election and the Fed will remain absolutely neutral. Powell made it clear that a 50 basis point rate cut is not currently under consideration.
Earlier, the Federal Reserve announced that it would keep interest rates unchanged at 5.25-5.5%, in line with market expectations. According to the FOMC statement: Recent indicators show that economic activity continues to expand at a steady pace. Job growth has slowed and the unemployment rate has risen but remains low. Inflation has eased over the past year, but it is still somewhat high. In recent months, the Federal Reserve has made some further progress in achieving its 2% inflation target. The Federal Reserve seeks to achieve maximum employment and 2% inflation in the long term. The Federal Reserve believes that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are gradually becoming balanced. The economic outlook is uncertain, and the Federal Reserve is concerned about the risks of its dual mission.
2. The Bank of England cuts interest rates for the first time in more than four years
The Bank of England announced its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Thursday, lowering the benchmark rate to 5%. Policymakers ultimately voted 5 to 4 in favor of the rate cut. The Bank of England will hold its next meeting on September 19 to discuss policy measures, and will hold two more meetings in November and December this year.
3. Bank of Japan raises interest rates
At the monetary policy meeting on the 31st, the Bank of Japan decided to further raise the policy interest rate used to control prices and economic conditions. The induction target of the "unsecured overnight lending rate" as the policy interest rate was raised from around 0-0.1% to around 0.25%. Regarding the possibility of another rate hike this year, Bank of Japan Governor Ueda said "it will depend on the data", expressing the policy of further raising interest rates if price trends meet expectations.
4. Trump : If elected, Gensler will be fired Bitcoin may surpass gold
Trump said at the Bitcoin Conference: If elected in November, he will fire Gary Gensler, chairman of the US SEC , and prevent the United States from selling its Bitcoin holdings, establish a "strategic Bitcoin reserve", reduce the sentence of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, and prevent the US government from further developing CBDC. Trump also praised the development of stablecoins and support for the Bitcoin mining industry in the United States. Trump said that he hopes Bitcoin will be mined, minted and manufactured in the United States, and put forward comprehensive encryption policies covering everything from stablecoin regulation to Bitcoin self-custody rights. Trump said that it would be a disaster for cryptocurrencies if the Democrats continued to control the White House, and he would appoint a Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Advisory Committee after taking office. He said that cryptocurrency was the steel industry 100 years ago, and it is still in its infancy, and one day it may surpass gold.
In addition, Trump raised $21 million during the 2024 Bitcoin Conference. The funds mainly came from a fundraising event after Trump's speech on Saturday, which was organized by Republican Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee and attended by about 100 people, making it Trump's "second highest fundraising event". A "roundtable meeting" with Trump costs $844,600 per person, and a photo costs at least $60,000. Participants include Gemini co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, etc. Previously, Trump reported that he personally owned $100,000 to $250,000 in cryptocurrency in 2022. At present, his campaign has raised a total of $221 million and has a cash reserve of $128 million.
5. Fortune: Harris campaign contacts key figures in the crypto industry
Vice President Harris' campaign team has contacted key figures in the crypto industry, including Coinbase , Circle and Ripple Labs, aiming to build relationships to develop future regulatory frameworks. Sources revealed that Harris hopes to convey the Democratic Party's "support for responsible business" message. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that the Democratic Party's anti-crypto stance failed to win votes, while the Republican Party benefited from encouraging innovation. He remains open to the Harris team's contact for the time being.
6. US senators plan to introduce legislation to purchase 1 million Bitcoins in five years
Republican U.S. Senator Cynthia Loomis plans to introduce legislation calling for a "strategic bitcoin reserve" to reduce the U.S. national debt by purchasing 1 million bitcoins over five years. She said the bitcoins would be kept for at least 20 years. "This is the solution. This is the answer. This is our Louisiana Purchase moment," the Wyoming senator said on stage after former President Donald Trump spoke in support of the idea of a bitcoin reserve. At current prices, 1 million bitcoins are worth about $68 billion.
7. Vitalik delivered a keynote speech on Ethereum's next decade, saying that Ethereum will focus on building applications
Vitalik delivered a keynote speech on Ethereum's future ten years at the Tokyo EDCON2024 conference, saying that Ethereum will focus on building applications. The categories that have been relatively successful so far include DeFi , DID (ENS), DAO, and NFT. He also highlighted the prediction market Polymarket, the social media aggregator Firefly under Mask Network, the wallet Daimo, and the voting tool Rarimo. Vitalik also proposed several ideas, including trying to encrypt the private key directly in the chip of the mobile phone, so that the mobile phone is the wallet; putting part of the private key in a compliant custodian; and using ZK technology to link personal KYC information with the wallet.
8. Musk : No plans to promote any cryptocurrency
Elon Musk answered questions about his current views on Bitcoin, Dogecoin and cryptocurrencies in the "X Takeover" podcast. He said that Bitcoin and some other cryptocurrencies are valuable. He has a preference for the original MEME coin Dogecoin because he likes "dogs and memes." Musk made it clear that he does not intend to promote any cryptocurrency. At most, he will do it in a "joking way." If anyone sees a video of him promoting cryptocurrency, it must be a deep fake.
9. Snowden: Bitcoin transactions are not anonymous and can be traced back to individuals
Renowned whistleblower Edward Snowden delivered a keynote speech at the Bitcoin 2024 conference, highlighting the pitfalls of political allegiances and concerns about Bitcoin privacy. Snowden called on people to vote but warned against blindly following political ideologies. "Vote, but don't join a cult," he stressed. Snowden pointed out that Bitcoin transactions are not anonymous and can be traced back to individuals, which poses a risk to personal privacy. He explained that most transactions can be linked through various entry points (such as exchanges that comply with regulatory requirements), exposing information about users' lives and relationships. Snowden warned that governments and companies could use artificial intelligence to analyze this data and create detailed personal profiles without consent. He called for vigilance and strengthening the security of Bitcoin transactions to protect user privacy in an increasingly digital and surveilled world.
10. MicroStrategy's net loss in the second quarter was $102.6 million, and its Bitcoin holdings rose to 226,500
MicroStrategy reported second-quarter earnings, with a net loss of $102.6 million in the second quarter. Total revenue for the second quarter of 2024 was $111.4 million, with a loss of $200 million, compared with a loss of $26.7 million in the same period last year. MicroStrategy said it acquired an additional 169 BTC in July for $11.4 million, bringing its total Bitcoin holdings to 226,500 BTC, worth approximately $14.7 billion. MicroStrategy said the average purchase price per Bitcoin was $36,821. Since the beginning of the second quarter of 2024, MicroStrategy said it has acquired 12,222 Bitcoins for $805.2 million.
Key financing events
Decentralized lending protocol Morpho announces completion of $50 million in strategic financing
DePIN project Daylight announced the completion of $9 million in Series A financing, led by a16z Crypto
Binance Labs announces investment in Monad ecosystem project aPriori
Binance Labs Announces Investment in Particle Network
Arthur Hayes invests in Bitcoin ecosystem wallet Oyl and launches Airheads Ordinals series
Layer2 Financial announces $10.7 million Series A funding
Bitcoin scaling network Mezo receives $7.5 million in new funding
NFT startup Mintify announces completion of a new round of $3.4 million in financing
UGA Launch Platform We.Rich Announces $2 Million Seed Round
Icebreaker announces $5 million seed round
JokeRace, an on-chain competition platform, has raised $3 million in funding led by Maven 11
Crypto proprietary trading firm Breakout completes $4.5 million seed round
Transaction Agreement Pichi Finance announces completion of $2.5 million seed round of financing
MetaDAO, a governance project on Solana, announced the completion of $2.2 million in financing
Bitcoin-denominated trading service platform Roxom completes $4.3 million Pre-Seed round of financing
Blonkfi, a long-tail asset liquidity solution, completes Pre-Seed financing round, led by UOB Venture Management and Signum Capital
For more industry financing events, please visit crypto-fundraising.info.
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