EddieJayonCrypto
15 Jun 23
1. If this was the Sweet 16, Fed Chair Powell wrecked everybody's brackets. We got the pause we wanted, but instead of allowing us to be happy and see some light at the end of the tunnel, Powell does 2 things. The first was to say they are forecasting 2 more rate hikes. The second was to release the...
1. If this was the Sweet 16, Fed Chair Powell wrecked everybody's brackets. We got the pause we wanted, but instead of allowing us to be happy and see some light at the end of the tunnel, Powell does 2 things. The first was to say they are forecasting 2 more rate hikes. The second was to release the poll of the voting members. That poll showed 4 governors in favor of 1 rate hike, 9 in favor of 2, and 3 in favor of 3 rate hikes. They are saying the core CPI levels are not coming down as fast as they had hoped. OK. Then why even bother with the pause at all? 2. The SEC is creating even more swirl as they approves Prometheum becoming a broker-dealer as FINRA also approves. This is being met with huge rancor from the crypto community. Why? Because there are a number of former NYSE and SEC staff now working at the firm. This is raising all kinds of insider accusations from the crypto community. Not to mention, one of the co-founders, Aaron Kaplan, of the firm supports the SEC's stance on crypto enforcement. The firm does not offer trading in the top two cryptos, Bitcoin and Ethereum and that in what has everyone on scratching their heads. 3. Apple is still contemplating dropping self-custody wallet Damus backed by Jack Dorsey. This was following denial of Zeus to the app store. This is due to a tipping feature in the wallet that allows people to send very small amounts of Bitcoin to their favorite creators as a sort of "tip". The feature is very similar to Twitter's tipping feature. I guess that's why Elon is running around saying Apple should allow the wallet. Twitter has the feature and could face the same issue. 4. Something that caught my attention was an article on CoinGeek saying US credit unions are backing an anti-CBDC bill. The bill cites the absence of clear regulatory guidelines. The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) is against the Federal Reserves' plan to experiment with a CBDC. The association says the only way a CBDC can work is through consultation with Congress, banks (which are not doing all that well as an industry), credit unions and other stakeholders. Which is not happening as of yet. 5. Meanwhile, India is widening it's experimentation with their own digital rupee. They have set a lofty goal of reaching 1M users by the end of June. They also plan to expand their experiments to more cities. 6. Something is afoot in Hong Kong. There is almost too much of a push to get banks on board with servicing crypto investors. Banks like HSBC and Standard Chartered are citing possible prosecution risks. Hong Kong is, indeed, pushing forward with trying to become a crypto hub, but are not really being forthcoming with regulations around the move. If you cannot set clear guidelines around regulations, you are not going to truly convince financial institutions to join in. That clearly leads to pressure and not necessarily true government backing.