Summary of Fed Chair Powell’s Remarks
Inflation Outlook
Powell emphasized that uncertainty surrounding the path of inflation remains high. In particular, increases in goods prices stemming from tariffs are expected to exert upward pressure on inflation over the next few quarters.
- 12-month PCE inflation: Approximately 2.7% as of August.
- Core PCE: 2.3%
Both are above last year’s levels and are related to increases in goods prices. Powell stated that this effect would be “one-off” and relatively short-lived, and that long-term inflation expectations remain consistent with the 2% target.
Employment and the Labor Market
Powell highlighted that risks on the employment side are increasing:
- The labor market is now less dynamic and somewhat softer.
- Downside risks to employment are rising.
Monetary Policy and Tariffs
- Tariff increases will cause some increase in inflation over several quarters.
- However, the Fed will not allow these to turn into persistent inflation.
- He said that there is no “risk-free” policy path ahead for the Fed, but that “the difficult path will be overcome.”
General Economic Outlook
- Economic growth: Moderate, as confirmed by the Beige Book.
- The pace of growth is slow, but the economy is still expanding.
- Disinflation continues in the service sector.
Different Views from FOMC Members
- Bowman: Argues that the Fed should focus more on risks in the labor market and that proactive rate cuts are appropriate.
- Goolsbee: Believes inflation has been above target for too long, so early easing could be risky; but if inflation falls, there is room for cuts.
- Bostic: Highlights the risk of persistent inflation and says he could even support raising the target range to 1.75–2.25% if necessary.
New Regulation in H-1B Visa Lottery
The Trump administration plans to prioritize high-paying and highly skilled applicants in the H-1B visa lottery. Under the new regulation, top-tier applicants will enter the lottery pool 4 times, while lower-tier applicants will enter only once. This change could increase competition among technology companies.
US September PMI Data in Line with Expectations
The preliminary Markit Manufacturing PMI for September in the US was 52, slightly above the expectation of 51.9, while the services PMI data was 53.9, fully in line with forecasts. Compared to the previous period, a limited decline in manufacturing and a more pronounced drop in services were noted. This picture shows that the slowdown in US economic growth is continuing, but the risk of recession is not yet strong.
European PMIs Show Mixed Picture
Preliminary PMI data for September pointed to weakness in manufacturing and recovery in services.
- Eurozone: Manufacturing remained in contraction territory at 49.5, while services stayed in growth territory at 51.4.
- France: Both manufacturing (48.1) and services (48.9) fell short of expectations, signaling weakness.
- Germany: Manufacturing was weak (48.5) but services were strong (52.5).
- UK: Manufacturing signaled contraction at 46.2, while services fell short of expectations at 51.9.
China–US Meeting
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with a US Congressional delegation. The meeting emphasized the importance of communication and stability. While the US delegation raised the issue of rare earth elements, final negotiations were entered into regarding Boeing aircraft orders. A call was also made for China to participate in nuclear arms negotiations.
Michael Saylor: Bitcoin’s Core Narrative is Institutional Accumulation
Strategy founder Michael Saylor emphasized in a CNBC interview that Bitcoin’s core narrative is now accumulation driven by ETFs and institutional companies. He noted that large funds like BlackRock have absorbed the natural supply in the market, and that approximately 180 companies have purchased more BTC than miners have produced. Saylor believes that Bitcoin will rebound by the end of the year as resistance is absorbed and argues that Bitcoin will reach 10 times the scale of gold in the long term.
StablecoinX Continues ENA Purchases
According to on-chain data, StablecoinX, a potential ENA treasury company, purchased 19.23 million ENA ($11.8M) in the last 15 hours. This brings the total accumulated in the multi-signature address to 88.26M ENA. The current market value is approximately $54M.
James Wynn’s ASTER Long, HYPE Short Strategy
According to Lookonchain data, James Wynn switched to an ASTER long – HYPE short strategy after receiving a $8,032 referral reward. Wynn’s positions signal a divergence in short-term market expectations.
FTX Trust Files $1.15 Billion Lawsuit Against Genesis Digital
According to The Block, the FTX Recovery Trust has filed a lawsuit against Bitcoin mining company Genesis Digital Assets over a $1.15 billion investment. Allegedly, former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried made this investment using mixed customer funds, and $550 million was transferred to partners. Additionally, it is alleged that Genesis’ financial statements do not reflect the truth. FTX is seeking to recover the funds through legal proceedings.
CZ: SIGN is in the YZi Labs Portfolio
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao announced that the blockchain technology startup SIGN is a portfolio company of YZi Labs. Zhao stated that he only provided connections and did not write any code. The SIGN token price briefly rose to $0.135 before falling back to $0.105. The 24-hour increase was 22.7%.
Attack on Seedify SFUND Bridge
Meta Alchemist, founder of the Web3 incubator platform Seedify, announced that SFUND’s cross-chain bridge had been hacked. The contract had been operating stably for three years, but the attacker stole funds by minting tokens through the bridge. The company contacted LayerZero and is working with security teams to find the attacker. A reward was offered with a call for help to @zachxbt.
Morgan Stanley – Zero Hash Partnership
According to Bloomberg, Morgan Stanley is partnering with crypto infrastructure provider Zero Hash to offer E*Trade users trading in BTC, ETH, and SOL. The launch will take place in the first half of next year. A fully integrated customer wallet solution is also planned for the future. This move shows that major banks are rapidly entering the crypto space as regulations in the US soften.
Ripple RLUSD: Integrated with BlackRock and VanEck Funds
Ripple and Securitize have integrated the Ripple USD stablecoin (RLUSD) into BlackRock’s BUIDL and VanEck’s VBILL funds. Through smart contracts, token holders of these funds will be able to instantly convert their assets to RLUSD. This process will provide fund investors with easy access to on-chain liquidity.
$104M Net Outflow in Bitcoin Spot ETFs
According to SoSoValue data, there was a total outflow of $104M from Bitcoin spot ETFs on September 23. The largest inflow of the day came from Invesco & Galaxy Digital ETF BTCO, which reached a total net inflow of $161M with an inflow of $10M. The second largest inflow came from BlackRock IBIT, which increased its total net inflow to $60.647B with an inflow of $2.53M. The largest daily outflow was from Fidelity FBTC at $75.55 million, bringing the fund’s total net inflows down to $12.309 billion.
$141 Million Net Outflow in Ethereum Spot ETFs
On the same day, there was also a $141 million outflow from Ethereum spot ETFs. There were no inflows in any of the nine funds. The largest outflow was $63.4 million from Fidelity FETH, bringing the fund’s total net inflows down to $2.777 billion. The second-largest outflow was recorded at $36.36 million from the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust (ETH) fund, bringing the fund’s total net inflows to $1.401 billion.
