Headlines
▌The Fed continues to keep interest rates unchanged
The Fed kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4.25%-4.50%, and remained unchanged for the fourth consecutive meeting, in line with market expectations.
▌The UK plans to introduce rules to limit bank exposure to crypto assets before next year
David Bailey, executive director of prudential policy at the Bank of England, said that the UK plans to propose new restrictive regulations on banks holding crypto assets by 2026 to prevent financial stability risks. The plan will refer to the disclosure framework developed by the Basel Committee, which recommends that banks' exposure to crypto assets such as Bitcoin should be limited to 1%.
Market
As of press time, according to CoinGecko data:
BTC price is $104,711, up or down +0.1% in 24 hours;
ETH price is $2,519.84, up or down +0.2% in 24 hours;
BNB price is $643.63, up or down -0.8% in 24 hours;
-1.2%;
DOGE price is 0.1704 US dollars, with a 24-hour increase or decrease of +0.3%;
XRP price is 2.17 US dollars, with a 24-hour increase or decrease of +0.3%.
TRX price is 0.273 US dollars, with a 24-hour increase or decrease of +0.5%.
Policy
▌Trump: The United States is not seeking a ceasefire, but requires "Iran has no nuclear weapons"
On June 18, local time, US President Trump said that the United States is not seeking a ceasefire in the current Iran-Israel conflict, but is seeking a "complete victory", that is, "Iran has no nuclear weapons." In addition, Trump also said that "it is still possible to reach an agreement." Earlier that day, Trump had made a series of remarks on the Iranian issue. Trump said that he had not yet decided whether to take military action against Iran. He also said that Iran wanted to negotiate and had expressed its willingness to come to the White House to talk.
▌Federal Reserve: Uncertainty about the outlook has eased, but it is still at a high level
In the latest policy statement, members of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee acknowledged that uncertainty has eased since May, but they pointed out that the fog has not completely dissipated. In May, officials wrote: "Uncertainty about the economic outlook has increased further." In the June statement, the sentence was revised to: "Uncertainty about the economic outlook has decreased, but remains high." The adjustment may reflect a broader sense that the Trump administration is pursuing a trade deal, while at the same time, several more months of inflation data showed relatively low price increases throughout the spring.
▌Powell: Fed will cut rates when it is confident that inflation is falling
Fed Chairman Powell said that confidence that inflation is falling is needed before starting to cut interest rates. "There is a lot of uncertainty about this, given the tariff policy, so what is needed is confidence that inflation is falling." Between manufacturers, exporters, retailers and consumers, "someone has to pay for the tariffs," he said. "Ultimately consumers will bear some of the responsibility, and we just want to see a little bit of the results before we make premature judgments," Powell said. Without tariffs, service sector inflation would "come down nicely," Powell said, but the Fed needs to know more about tariffs.
▌Powell: Rising tariff expectations make the Fed more cautious about continued rate cuts
Golden Finance reported that Federal Reserve Chairman Powell said that rising tariff expectations have made the Fed more cautious about continued rate cuts; the current monetary policy has been slightly tightened and is still moderately restrictive. He also said that the Federal Reserve's monetary policy must be forward-looking, the labor market does not urgently need to cut interest rates, and the unemployment rate of 4.2% is at the lower end of the sustainable long-term unemployment rate estimate.
Blockchain Applications
▌Crypto.com and Deribit will accept BlackRock's BUIDL fund as collateral
Crypto exchanges Crypto.com and Deribit will accept BlackRock's tokenized fund BUIDL as collateral, allowing institutional clients to use it for spot, margin, derivatives and over-the-counter (OTC) transactions. The move provides a native, blockchain-based version of U.S. Treasuries that generates income, with an annual return of 4.5%. Coinbase launches Coinbase Payments for business platforms Coinbase launches Coinbase Payments, a USDC-based payment solution for business platforms. It has been launched on Shopify. Coinbase Payments aims to reduce the platform's dependence on blockchain technology, help PSPs, market platforms and e-commerce infrastructure quickly access stablecoin payments, support low-cost access, merchants do not need additional deployment, and plans to support programmable incentive functions in the future. Central Financial Commission: Support financial institutions to use blockchain and other technological means to develop supply chain finance The Central Financial Commission issued the "Opinions on Supporting the Acceleration of the Construction of Shanghai International Financial Center", which proposed to strengthen the construction of a unified financing credit service platform and support financial institutions to use blockchain and other technological means to develop supply chain finance. Serve the development of a multi-level and multi-pillar pension insurance system. Build a global fintech center with high quality. Promote financial support for higher-quality integrated development in the Yangtze River Delta.
▌OpenAI starts offering discounts on ChatGPT Enterprise Edition
OpenAI offers discounts on ChatGPT Enterprise Edition to its customers who bundle additional products, ranging from 10% to 20%. OpenAI expects annual revenue from ChatGPT enterprise customers to approach $15 billion by 2030.
▌Stablecoin issuer Paxos establishes new startup Paxos Labs
Stablecoin issuer Paxos announced the establishment of a new startup called Paxos Labs, which aims to help institutions introduce decentralized finance and on-chain products directly into their applications and platforms. It is reported that Paxos Labs has been incubated within Paxos for the past six months. The company will help companies connect with DeFi markets and real-world asset opportunities. Paxos Labs' initial products include issuing customized branded stablecoins, deploying tokenized income strategies, and tools for managing structured digital assets.
▌Cryptocurrency broker FalconX is in early talks for an IPO
According to people familiar with the matter, cryptocurrency prime broker FalconX is in early talks for an initial public offering (IPO) in 2025 and may submit an application as early as this year. The company received $150 million in financing in 2022 and is valued at $8 billion.
▌OpenPayd and Circle announced cooperation to integrate stablecoins with fiat currencies
According to The Fintech Times, financial infrastructure provider OpenPayd has reached a cooperation with Circle. OpenPayd will use the infrastructure of Circle Wallets to provide a unified fiat currency and stablecoin infrastructure layer for global enterprises. This means that its corporate customers will be able to transfer and manage funds globally through traditional banking channels and blockchain-based networks.
▌JD Coin Chain CEO: Negotiating with global compliant exchanges to cooperate in launching JD Stablecoin
JD Coin Chain Technology CEO Liu Peng recently accepted an exclusive interview with Bloomberg Businessweek/Chinese Edition and revealed that as of early June, we mainly tested the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin, and will later test other fiat stablecoins. The second phase focuses on testing the use of stablecoins in three practical scenarios: cross-border payments, investment transactions, and retail payments.
Cryptocurrency
▌Tether minted 1 billion USDT on the Ethereum network
According to Whale Alert monitoring, Tether Treasury minted 1 billion USDT on the Ethereum network at 16:40:47 Beijing time on the 18th.
▌The U.S. Secret Service intends to confiscate $225 million in crypto assets, setting a record for the highest amount of single recovery
The U.S. Department of Justice's District of Columbia Attorney's Office filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit in federal court, seeking to confiscate more than $225.3 million worth of cryptocurrencies. The indictment shows that this batch of cryptocurrencies is related to theft and money laundering activities of cryptocurrency investment fraud cases such as "pig killing". The indictment alleges that the cryptocurrency addresses involved in the case constitute a complex on-chain money laundering network that has executed hundreds of thousands of transactions specifically used to conceal the source and flow of fraud proceeds. Scammers dispersed funds through a large number of cryptocurrency addresses and accounts, creating a financial fog. The investigation has confirmed that dozens of victims across the United States were deceived by false investment platforms, and there are more than 400 suspected victims worldwide, with a single case loss of millions of dollars. The San Francisco branch of the Secret Service pointed out that this case set a record for the highest amount of cryptocurrency recovery in the agency's 160-year history.
▌Bitdeer has completed the issuance of $330 million convertible bonds
Bitdeer has completed the issuance of $330 million convertible bonds, with a coupon rate of 4.875% and due in 2031. This is the third time that the Bitcoin mining company has raised funds through convertible bonds in the past year. The funds will be used for the development of SEALMINER mining machines and the expansion of data centers. This private placement is aimed at qualified institutional investors, and the scale exceeds the original target of $300 million, and includes a $45 million over-allotment option.
Important Economic Dynamics
▌Fed officials still expect a 50 basis point rate cut in 2025
Fed officials still expect a 50 basis point rate cut in 2025, but only a 25 basis point cut in 2026, compared with the previous forecast of a 50 basis point cut.
▌The Fed lowered its GDP forecast for 2025 to 1.4%, while raising its inflation forecast to 3%
The Fed lowered its GDP forecast for 2025 to 1.4%, while raising its inflation forecast to 3%.
▌US stocks closed: three major stock indexes rose and fell, Circle soared 34%
US stocks closed on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average initially closed down 0.1%, the S&P 500 fell 0.03%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.13%. Circle (CRCL.N) closed up 34.2%, and Coinbase (COIN.O) rose 16%.
Golden Encyclopedia
▌How does quantitative easing work and affect encryption?
Quantitative easing (QE) is an unconventional monetary policy tool used by central banks, especially when interest rates are already low and cannot be lowered further. It became popular during the global financial crisis in 2008, when traditional monetary tools such as lowering interest rates were not enough to stimulate economic growth. Quantitative easing policies affect not only traditional financial markets, but also cryptocurrency markets. When central banks pump more money into the economy, some of that money flows into alternative assets like Bitcoin and altcoins, pushing up their prices. With more money available for investment, the surge in liquidity typically pushes up all asset prices, including cryptocurrencies. Additionally, during QE, fiat currencies can lose value due to the increased money supply, leading some investors to seek cryptocurrencies as a hedge against inflation or currency devaluation. Bitcoin, in particular, is often viewed as a store of value similar to gold. Cryptocurrencies may suffer after QE ends. When central banks end QE or start raising interest rates (tightening), liquidity decreases and borrowing costs rise. This can lead to a pullback in risky assets, including cryptocurrencies.
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