The Federal Reserve maintains the benchmark interest rate unchanged. Tether issues 1 billion USDT

Headline

▌The Fed maintains the benchmark interest rate unchanged, in line with market expectations

The Fed announced that it would maintain the target range of the federal funds rate between 4.25% and 4.50%, in line with market expectations. This is the third time since January this year that the Fed has kept interest rates unchanged. The minutes showed that the uncertainty of the US economic outlook has further increased, and the committee judged that the risks of rising unemployment and inflation have intensified.

▌Tether issued 1 billion USDT on the Tron network

According to whale Alert monitoring, Tether issued 1 billion USDT on the Tron network at 23:25 Beijing time.

Market

As of press time, according to Coingecko data:

BTC's latest transaction price is $97,045.18, with a daily increase or decrease of +0.1%;

ETH's latest transaction price is $1,812.92, with a daily increase or decrease of -0.3%;

BNB's latest transaction price is $602.93, with a daily increase or decrease of -0.1%;

SOL's latest transaction price is $147.25, with a daily increase or decrease of +0.3%；

DOGE's latest transaction price is 0.1722 US dollars, and its intraday change is -0.1%；

XPR's latest transaction price is 2.13 US dollars, and its intraday change is -1.3%.

Policy

▌US OCC: Banks can buy and sell crypto assets in custody of customers and outsource related services

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued an interpretative letter on Wednesday, making it clear that banks can "buy and sell crypto assets in custody at the request of customers." The OCC also pointed out that banks "can outsource cryptocurrency-related activities to third parties, including custody and execution services." The new policy continues the agency's shift from previous policies since March, which no longer requires banks to obtain regulatory approval before advancing crypto business.

▌The U.S. Treasury Department will hold several crypto industry roundtables next week

Jacquelyn Melinek, a former Tech Crunch reporter, posted on social media that the U.S. Treasury Department will hold a series of private roundtables with members of the crypto industry next week to discuss ecosystem issues covering different fields such as DeFi, banking, and cybersecurity.

▌U.S. Treasury Secretary: The United States should be the preferred destination for digital assets

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant recently said that the United States "should be the preferred destination for digital assets." This statement comes as lawmakers are fiercely debating the development of a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.  

Bessant was asked why the United States needs to stay ahead in the crypto field during a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday. "We firmly believe that the United States should be the preferred destination for digital assets," Bessant responded, "as this committee and my colleagues in the Senate are working hard to achieve - to establish a sound market structure - so that American industry standards become a global model."

Blockchain Applications

▌Stripe Launches Stablecoin Account Service in More Than 100 Countries Around the World

Stripe announced the launch of a new feature on May 7 that allows platform customers to "send, receive and hold US dollar stablecoin account balances, similar to how traditional fiat bank accounts operate." The account supports Circle's USDC and Bridge's USDB, which was acquired by Stripe in October 2024. The service will cover more than 100 countries, including Argentina, Chile, Turkey, Colombia and Peru.

▌Robinhood plans to launch a blockchain-based platform to support European users in trading U.S. stocks

According to Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources, Robinhood is planning to launch a blockchain-based platform that will enable European users to trade U.S. securities. The plan "may be launched in partnership with a digital asset company," and "Layer 2 blockchain Arbitrum is being considered as a potential partner for this collaboration." Robinhood has provided cryptocurrency trading services in Europe since 2023, but has not yet opened U.S. stock trading.

Cryptocurrency

▌Binance releases a new round of reserve proof, BTC reserve ratio is 102.06%

Binance releases a new round of reserve proof (snapshot date May 1), user BTC assets are 604,411, Binance wallet balance is 616,886.378, reserve ratio is 102.06%; user USDT assets are 29.05 billion, Binance wallet balance is 29.66 billion, reserve ratio is 102.07%; user ETH assets are 5.281 million, Binance wallet balance is 5.29 million, reserve ratio is 100.16%.

▌DeFi Development approves 7-for-1 stock split, continues to bet on Solana

The board of directors of DeFi Development Corp. has approved a 7-for-1 stock split for its issued common stock. The split will increase the company's outstanding shares from approximately 2 million to 14 million shares, but the authorized share capital remains unchanged. The company said: "The stock split is designed to increase liquidity and make the stock more accessible to a wider group of investors. The company will continue to implement a corporate treasury strategy centered on accumulating SOL and infrastructure ownership." Each shareholder will receive an additional six shares on May 19, and if Nasdaq approves, trading will resume on May 20 after the stock split is adjusted.

▌A whale added 1.8 million USDC to short HYPE with 5x leverage, and the current floating loss is 1.24 million US dollars

According to Spot On Chain, a crypto whale once again injected 1.8 million US dollars of USDC into the Hyperliquid platform to increase its short position on HYPE tokens. The whale has invested a total of 10.36 million US dollars in a week to establish a 5x leverage position, which is currently worth 29.1 million US dollars, with a floating loss of 1.24 million US dollars and a liquidation price of 25.01 US dollars.

Important economic dynamics

▌Powell: Tariffs are "far beyond expectations", and the Fed's progress in achieving its goals may be delayed until next year

Federal Reserve Chairman Powell said at a press conference that the tariffs implemented by US President Trump on April 2 local time were "far beyond expectations". The current level of tariffs may lead to a slowdown in economic growth and may lead to higher long-term inflation. "If the significantly increased tariffs that have been announced continue, inflation and unemployment could rise and economic growth could slow. The impact on inflation could be short-lived, reflected in a one-time change in the price level, but it could also be more persistent," Powell said. Powell said that given the scope and scale of the tariffs, the risk of rising inflation and unemployment is certainly increasing. If tariffs ultimately remain at their current levels, the Fed's progress in achieving its goals could be delayed until next year.

▌Trump: The U.S. economy is doing well and is about to take off in an unprecedented way

Trump posted on his social media TruthSocial that we have made great progress in advancing that "big, beautiful bill." Our economy is doing well, but it's about to take off in an unprecedented way. We will achieve: tax exemption for tips, tax exemption for social security benefits for the elderly, tax exemption for overtime income, and more preferential measures. This will be the largest tax cut for middle-class and working-class Americans to date. It's time for ordinary people to win once.

▌The three major U.S. stock indexes closed up collectively

The U.S. stock market rose rapidly in the late trading, and the three major indexes closed up collectively, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.7%, the S&P 500 up 0.43%, the Nasdaq up 0.27%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up 1.74%. Google fell more than 7%, and Apple fell more than 1%, after Apple said it plans to add AI search functions to its browser. Nvidia rose more than 3%, Amazon rose 2%, Meta, Netflix, and Intel rose more than 1%, and Microsoft and Tesla rose slightly.

▌Summary of the key points of the Federal Reserve FOMC statement and Powell's speech: The Federal Reserve's policy is moderately restrictive

The Federal Reserve announced that it would maintain the target range of the federal funds rate between 4.25% and 4.50%. This is the third consecutive time since January this year that the Federal Reserve has kept interest rates unchanged.  

FOMC statement shows: The committee judges that the risks of rising unemployment and inflation have intensified. Inflation remains at a slightly elevated level. Uncertainty about the outlook for the U.S. economy has further increased. Economic activity continues to expand at a steady pace.  

Powell said: The Fed does not need to rush to adjust interest rates. The Fed's policy is moderately restrictive. Trump's call for a rate cut has no impact on the Fed's work. Inflation has fallen sharply. Short-term inflation expectations have risen, and long-term inflation expectations are consistent with the target. Survey respondents pointed out that tariffs are the main factor driving inflation expectations. The impact of tariffs has been much greater than expected so far.

▌Powell: The Fed does not need to rush to adjust interest rates

Fed Chairman Powell said that the underlying inflation situation is good, the Fed does not need to rush to adjust interest rates, the cost of waiting is quite low, and the Fed's policy is moderately restrictive. In some cases, it is appropriate to cut interest rates this year, and in some cases, it is not appropriate to cut interest rates. It is not possible to confidently say that we know the appropriate interest rate path. And said that if there is a contradiction between the dual goals, the distance between the goals and the time to bridge the gap should be considered. As the situation develops, the Fed can act quickly if the time is right.

Golden Encyclopedia

▌What is General Artificial Intelligence

Unlike narrow artificial intelligence (ANI) (using artificial intelligence to solve a single problem), general artificial intelligence (AGI) refers to artificial intelligence that can understand, learn, and apply knowledge in a way that is indistinguishable from human cognition. AGI is still in the theoretical stage, but the prospect of artificial intelligence being able to completely replace human input and judgment has naturally attracted widespread attention, and researchers, technical experts and scholars are working hard to turn the concept of AGI into reality.

Disclaimer: As a blockchain information platform, Golden Finance publishes articles for information reference only and is not intended as actual investment advice. Please establish the correct investment concept and be sure to increase risk awareness.