Seven major central banks, including the Federal Reserve, will issue rate decisions next week just as war-driven oil price spikes raise fresh concerns about global inflation.
The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
The Bank Policy Institute is reportedly weighing a lawsuit against the OCC over national trust charters for crypto and fintech firms.
Tokenized securities can qualify as financial collateral under existing rules if they meet certain requirements like traditional securities.
The Federal Reserve and other banking regulators clarified that the capital tally in banks needs identical treatment whether securities are tokenized or not.
The Kansas City Fed may term this "Tier 3" access, but Kraken's entry into the vaunted Fed payments system has riled bankers and raised crypto hopes.
Banks are expected to object and potentially pursue litigation, but TD Cowen argues they lack the power to stop such approvals.
The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
Some crypto advocates argue the decision could open the door to payment-focused financial institutions that operate without traditional deposit-lending models.
The approval lets Kraken speed up deposits and withdrawals for large traders and institutional clients, but is limited.
The proposal would cut the risk factor from Fed oversight and bar supervisors from pushing banks to cut off disfavored businesses, including in crypto.
The Fed has opened a comment period on removing "reputation risk" from bank supervision, aiming to address debanking concerns.
The Bitcoin’s recent pullback may look concerning on the surface, but according to Brian Armstrong, the move has more to do with the market psychology than with any deterioration in fundamentals. After a period of strong performance, shifting sentiment and broader market uncertainty are playing a larger role in BTC’s price movement than structural weaknesses within the network or its long-term value proposition. Why Bitcoin’s Core Strengths Remain Intact A crypto expert known as Walter Bloomberg on X has revealed that the Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong believes Bitcoin’s recent slide is temporary and is driven primarily by market psychology rather than weakening fundamentals. Related Reading: Standard Chartered Lowers Bitcoin Forecast: Predicts Price Dive To $50,000 Before Rebound Speaking to the Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) at the World Liberty Forum in Florida, Armstrong pushed back against the speculation linking the decline to potential Federal Reserve (Fed) leadership changes or emerging risks such as quantum computing. Instead, Armstrong explained that the move reflects investors locking in profits and reacting to what they believe others are thinking. He described the downturn as likely temporary, noting that Coinbase is repurchasing shares and buying more BTC at a lower price. Armstrong emphasized that crypto market cycles are normal, reiterating that BTC remains the best-performing asset of the past decade and that the company continues to focus on long-term growth. Is This The Early Stage Of Another Supply Shock? Bitcoin whales have accumulated more than 200,000 BTC despite the ongoing selling pressure. Analyst Darkfost highlighted that while whale inflows to exchanges have increased recently, their overall holdings have continued to grow. Thus, inflows typically reflect short-term behaviour and can generate immediate selling pressure. Related Reading: Bitcoin Whales Flood Binance As Correction Deepens: On-Chain Data Shows The chart below provides a medium-term perspective by tracking the evolution of the whale-held supply on a monthly average basis. After a sharp drop in this average to nearly -7% on December 15, whale behaviour appears to have shifted over the past month, with their holdings increasing by 3.4%. During this period, the BTC supply by whales grew from 2.9 million BTC to over 3.1 million BTC, representing an accumulation of more than 200,000 BTC. Meanwhile, the last time whale accumulation of this magnitude occurred was during the April 2025 market correction. At that time, this wave of accumulation had helped absorb selling pressure and supported the rally that pushed BTC from $76,000 to $126,000. However, with BTC still consolidating around 46% below its recent all-time high, the current level may be viewed as an attractive accumulation zone. Darkfost noted that it is not surprising to see some whales taking advantage of this opportunity. As selling pressure remains significant, this whale demand may not yet be sufficient on its own to fully counterbalance the broader market. Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com
A deep look at predictions on Kalshi called such platforms valuable to policymakers and researchers, according to a new Fed paper.
The Minneapolis Fed president said stablecoins don’t beat Venmo and argued crypto fails basic real-world tests.
The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
The ABA urged the OCC to confirm that resolution tools are sufficient for uninsured crypto banks before approving further charters.
Fed. Governor Christopher Waller said the central bank plans to roll out its "skinny master account" proposal before the end of the year.
Nearly 30 letters were filed in response to the Fed's proposed "skinny master account" that would give certain institutions limited access.
The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent came under intense scrutiny from lawmakers during a contentious House hearing Wednesday.
Hougan said institutional ETF and digital asset treasury flows masked the severity of losses across much of the crypto market last year.
The firm argues institutional flows, U.S. policy, and sovereign-asset considerations could set the stage for the 'most consequential' cycle.
United States President Donald Trump has unveiled former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh as his pick for the next chair of the US central bank. This move confirms the circulating rumors after the former Fed governor reportedly met with Trump at the White House on Thursday, January 29. Trump Pushes Warsh To Senate For Fed Chair Position On Friday, January 30, Trump, via his social media platform Truth Social, announced his nomination of ex-Fed official Kevin Warsh as the successor of Jerome Powell as the Federal Reserve chairman. Prior to this announcement, prediction platforms had heavily tipped Warsh as Trump’s likely pick. Related Reading: Why Litecoin Price Going To $2,000 Is Not A Fantasy, But Market Cap Math Warsh previously served on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors from 2006 to 2011 and held senior roles at the White House National Economic Council during former President George Bush’s administration. The former Morgan Stanley banker was considered for the Fed chair job in 2017 before Powell was eventually appointed. Trump said in his announcement: I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best. On top of everything else, he is “central casting,” and he will never let you down. Congratulations Kevin! Warsh has been a vocal critic of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy long before Powell became chair. Unsurprisingly, his recent stance appears to align with Trump’s agenda of lowering interest rates. In fact, the former Wall Street executive said in an interview last July that President Trump was right to push the Fed to cut rates. Trump’s nomination of Warsh as the Fed chair still needs to be confirmed by the US Senate, with many commentators expecting a battle between the executive and legislative arms. While Trump seeks a Fed chair that listens to the White House, a homage that Powell has refused to pay, the Senate believes the Federal Reserve should function independently. What Does Warsh’s Selection Mean For Crypto? Warsh and Powell seem to be on opposite sides of the divide when it comes to the cryptocurrency industry and Bitcoin. While the current Federal Reserve chair has consistently played down BTC’s relevance in the greater US economy, Warsh has been fairly positive about the world’s largest cryptocurrency. In a recent conversation hosted by the Hoover Institution, Warsh said that Bitcoin is an important asset that doesn’t trouble him, and he doesn’t view the coin as a substitute for the dollar. “Bitcoin can help inform policymakers when they are doing things right or wrong,’ the former Morgan Stanley banker said. Related Reading: Bitcoin Needs Deeper Liquidity Before A Real Recovery Takes Shape: Analysts Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView
It seems like ages ago, but bitcoin rose to just shy of $91,000 on Wednesday. Then the U.S. dollar started to strengthen.
The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
The former Federal Reserve governor has invested in crypto firms, criticized bitcoin’s role as money and argued for a U.S. digital dollar.
The conventional wisdom on Trump's pick for Fed chair says he's a hawk. Stanley Druckenmiller, who made billions fading conventional wisdom, suggests that's not necessarily so.
President Trump announced Kevin Warsh as his pick for Federal Reserve chair following a sharp surge in prediction market odds overnight.
The president confirmed his pick on Friday to replace the incumbent Jerome Powell when his term ends in May.