Headline
Fed Minutes: "Almost All" Participants Agreed to Pause Rate Hikes in June
The minutes of the Federal Reserve's meeting showed that Fed officials unanimously agreed to keep interest rates unchanged at the June meeting in order to buy time and assess the need for further rate hikes, although most members expected the need for eventual tightening of policy.
Due to slow progress in curbing inflation, "some participants" wanted to raise rates in June, but "almost all participants" believed that maintaining the current federal funds rate of 5% to 5.25% was appropriate or acceptable.
"Most participants thought that keeping the target range unchanged at this meeting would enable them to have more time to assess economic developments," towards the goal of moving inflation back to the target of 2% from its current level of over twice that. (Jin10)
Industry News
Fed Policymakers Still Struggling with Moderately Improving Inflation Data
The minutes of the Federal Reserve's meeting showed that although Fed staff still expected a "moderate slowdown" later this year, policymakers are still grappling with tight labor markets and only modestly improving inflation data. Officials are also trying to reconcile overall data indicating continued economic strength with evidence that the economy may be softening. Forecasts released after the June meeting showed that only 2 out of 18 Fed officials believed that further rate hikes are no longer needed. (Jin10)
Fed Minutes: No Evidence that Inflation Will Gradually Return to the 2% Target
Fed Minutes: Supporters of rate hikes noted that the labor market is extremely tight, economic momentum is exceeding expectations, and there is no evidence that inflation will gradually return to the 2% target. All participants unanimously agreed that maintaining a tightening stance is appropriate. (Jin10)
Valkyrie Reapplies for Spot Bitcoin ETF, Coinbase as Supervising Shared Trust Agreement Partner
Valkyrie filed an application for a spot Bitcoin ETF with the SEC on June 21, and this Wednesday (July 5) they submitted a new 19b-4 filing, stating that Coinbase will serve as a partner for the surveillance sharing agreement aimed at preventing market manipulation. (CoinDesk)
CEX trading volume in June increased by 14% to $2.71 trillion, the first growth since March
With multiple large institutions filing applications for spot Bitcoin ETFs, there is optimism in the market, and cryptocurrency trading volume has seen the first monthly increase in three months in June. According to CCData's report, the spot and derivative trading volume on centralized exchanges (CEX) increased by 14% to $2.71 trillion. This is the first monthly growth since March.
UK FCA: From October 8, crypto companies will only have four legal ways to promote crypto assets
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom announced that all cryptocurrency companies marketing to users in the country must comply with its financial promotions regime by October 2023.
The FCA stated in a letter on July 4th that starting from October 8th, companies operating in the UK will only have four legal avenues to promote cryptocurrency assets in order to comply with the FCA's regulations. These legal avenues include obtaining authorization or communicating promotional activities with an authorized person, creating promotional activities through a company registered with the FCA, or conducting promotional activities exempted under the Financial Services and Markets Act in the UK.
According to the FCA, promotional activities include "websites, mobile applications, social media posts, and online advertisements" that "have an effect in the UK" and are not limited to companies headquartered in the UK. Jayson Probin, the Head of Cryptoasset Promotions at the FCA, stated in a LinkedIn post on July 4th that companies failing to comply with the regulations may face criminal charges. (Cointelegraph)
Market News
Grayscale GBTC surges to $20.34, up over 48.76% in the past month
According to market data, Grayscale GBTC has surged to $20.34, up over 48.76% in the past month.
Project News
1inch team sells 11,000 ETH for DAI, converts into interest-bearing token CHAI
DeBank data shows that the address starting with 0x225d has been marked as 1inch: Investment Fund, and two Uniswap V3 LP transactions were removed from it approximately 4 hours ago, receiving about 11,000 ETH. Subsequently, the ETH was converted into WETH and then exchanged for DAI in several transactions. All the exchanged DAI was then converted into CHAI, the interest-bearing token previously launched by MakerDAO. Currently, there are approximately 26.78 million CHAI tokens held.
Blur V2 is launched, introducing the new feature of Trait bidding
Blur announces the official launch of Blur V2, with important updates including a 50% reduction in Gas fees and the introduction of the "Trait bidding" feature.
MakerDAO announced on Twitter that its lending protocol, Spark Protocol, will be expanded to multiple chains, and also shared the steps and processes for deploying Spark Protocol on specific domains (i.e., blockchain networks, including sidechains and L2 solutions).
If you are interested in deploying Spark Protocol in a new domain, you need to create a post on the Maker forum under the SubDAO TWO category (providing background information, technical information, collateral information, liquidity information, etc.). Phoenix Labs will then evaluate the submitted proposals and provide recommendations to MakerDAO regarding the new domains and collateral information to be included. Block Analitica will perform collateral assessments and propose risk parameters for Spark's collateral in the new domain.
The domain and collateral assessments will be published on the Maker forum. These assessments will provide valuable insights for MKR holders when deciding to deploy Spark in a new domain.
Sounds from Personalities
Former CFTC Chairman, Timothy Massad, suggested creating a self-regulatory organization (SRO) to address the whole debate around "enforcement regulation" and "registration" in cryptocurrency regulation. This organization would be subject to SEC and CFTC oversight and establish a set of common investor protection standards for cryptocurrency intermediaries and the digital assets traded on them.
Massad added that he is not concerned about other jurisdictions surpassing the US and noted that implementing new laws such as the European Union's Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regime would be more complex than people imagine. (Fortune)
CZ: Binance considers listing projects primarily based on whether they have a genuine user base
Binance founder CZ stated in a Twitter Space that the most important factor for listing on Binance is whether the project has a real user base and real application scenarios. If not, then the team and history will be considered. Binance does not want projects that rely solely on Binance users as seed users, as this carries a high risk. In addition, CZ also mentioned that instead of focusing on how to get listed on Binance, it is better to invest energy in long-term product development.
Binance founder CZ stated in a Twitter Space that Binance and traditional asset management companies applying for spot ETFs are not in competition and will not be threatened. New platforms like EDX Markets are dedicated to serving local compliance agencies in the United States and operate in a different business domain than Binance.
NFT
Nansen data shows that the current on-chain royalty income of BAYC has exceeded 58 million US dollars, Otherdeed for Otherside over 52 million US dollars, Azuki over 43 million US dollars, and Pudgy Penguins over 7.2 million US dollars.
