Halving in less than 20 days
Blackrock BUIDL fund supercharged the RWA run
Here are 3 factors that sounds too good to be true 👇🧵
Macro Pulse Update 30.03.2024, covering the following topics:
1️⃣ Macro events for the week
2️⃣ Bitcoin Buzz Indicator
3️⃣ Market overview
4️⃣ Key Economic Metrics
5️⃣ China Spotlight
1️⃣ Macro events for the week
Previous Week
Next Week
2️⃣ Bitcoin Buzz Indicator
Banking and Regulatory Updates
Judge Denies Coinbase's Motion Against SEC
KuCoin's Legal Challenges and User Reassurance
Global Legal Challenges Mount for Binance
The Fallout from Sam Bankman-Fried's Sentencing
ETF and Investment Products
Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs Attract Significant Interest
Tokenization and Real-World Assets
Tokenization of Traditional Assets Expands
Meme Coins and Community Engagement
The Rising Influence of Meme Coins
Decentralized AI Ecosystems
The Formation of the Superintelligence Collective
Legal Battles and Regulatory Demands
SEC's Billion-Dollar Demand from Ripple
Platform Security and Governance
Recovering Funds and Ensuring Platform Security
Blockchain and Anime Integration
AnimeChain's Initiative for Anime Fans
NFT Projects and Innovations
Pixelmon Aims for a Resurgence with Fractionalized NFTs
Metaplex Core: Solana's NFT Standard Revolution
Altcoins
Binance Labs invested in StakeStone, marking a new phase in omnichain liquidity.
A $16 million exploit impacted the Curio ecosystem, with 1 billion CGT tokens minted illegally.
ParaSwap resolved a vulnerability in a new smart contract, returning crypto assets to users.
DED memecoin faced community outrage due to reduced airdrop allocation.
Avalanche and Chainlink collaborated on Australasian on-chain asset settlement.
Do Kwon was released from Montenegrin prison on bail as Terraform Labs' civil trial began in NYC.
WAX signed a deal with Amazon Web Services.
A DeFi fund and Texas apparel company sued to defend an airdrop against the SEC.
The Portuguese data regulator banned Worldcoin operations for 90 days.
0G Labs raised $35M for data availability, heating up competition.
El Salvador's BTC holdings reached 5,700, netting nearly $80M in profit.
Optimism set aside $3B for grants to blockchain builders.
OKX quietly settled regulatory issues with the Malta Financial Services Authority.
ETHFI surged nearly 3,000% in 10 days, dominating the staking narrative.
Internet Computer users pledged $80M to decentralize its project ecosystem.
21Shares listed an ETP for staking the Telegram-endorsed token TON.
The Near Foundation introduced chain signatures and multichain transactions.
Sui and Revolut launched a global partnership.
VeChain joined the tokenization scene with MaaS launch.
Indonesia will require crypto products to pass through a regulatory sandbox.
Ethena announced a token airdrop following USDe stablecoin success.
Prisma Finance suffered an $11.6M hack, shaking up liquid staking, and moved to mitigate fallout.
DEGEN launched an L3 on Arbitrum Orbit, leveraging base.
Bybit expanded to Europe, launching the Dutch platform Bybit.nl.
3️⃣ Market overview
A cautious approach by the Federal Reserve amidst inflation concerns, significant currency movements with the Japanese yen's decline, and a positive trend in the US stock market. The interplay between inflation data, central bank policies, and market performance remains crucial for future economic and financial market dynamics.
Federal Reserve's Caution on Interest Rates: Nnot rushing to cut interest rates due to mixed inflation signals, keeping them at a high level to manage inflation effectively.
Japanese Yen Weakness: The yen hit a 34-year low against the dollar, facing pressure due to Japan's negative interest rate policy aimed at fighting deflation, contrasting with the U.S.'s higher rates.
U.S. Stock Market Uptick: U.S. stocks, led by the Dow Jones and S&P 500, rose, driven by optimism in sectors like pharmaceuticals and anticipation of future Federal Reserve decisions based on inflation data.
Sector Performance: Utilities and real estate sectors benefited from lower bond yields, indicating positive market sentiment and potential strong quarterly performances.
4️⃣ Key Economic Metrics
🟡 The Federal Reserve recently held the Federal Funds rate steady at 5.25% to 5.5%, with updated forecasts suggesting a cautious approach to future rate adjustments:
Rates Unchanged: The Fed keeps interest rates steady, signaling no immediate rate cuts despite revising economic and policy predictions.
Inflation Outlook: Chair Powell is not overly concerned about inflation's recent uptick, attributing it to seasonal variations and expecting a continued gradual decline, especially in housing costs.
Economic Forecasts Adjusted: Economic growth for 2024 is now expected to be higher (2.1% up from 1.4%), indicating optimism about the U.S. economy's resilience but also pointing to potential inflationary pressures. Unemployment is expected to stay low, maintaining wage pressure.
Future Rate Expectations: While the forecast for the Federal Funds rate by the end of 2024 remains at 4.6%, suggesting potential rate cuts in the latter half of the year, expectations for the end of 2025 rose to 3.9%, implying a more gradual monetary policy easing.
Quantitative Tightening: The Fed discussed slowing the pace of asset sales, which might reduce bond yields and borrowing costs, indicating a potential shift in its tightening policy.
Market Reaction: Following the announcement, there was modest optimism among investors, evidenced by rising equity prices, falling bond yields, and a depreciation in the dollar value.
🟢 BOJ will stop its yield curve control policy, allowing bond yields to move freely, and will gradually cease purchasing certain assets while maintaining government bond purchases without targeting yields. This change moves the BOJ towards more conventional monetary policy practices, aiming to remain "accommodative" but less so than before.
Interest Rate Hike: The BOJ increased its benchmark rate, marking a departure from negative rates, aiming for normal monetary policy operations based on economic and price conditions.
Policy Adjustments: It is ending yield curve control and will allow for more natural bond yield movements, scaling back on asset purchases.
Future Policy Direction: The BOJ remains open to adjusting rates in response to economic shifts, indicating a readiness to cut rates if the economy weakens or to increase them if inflation rises undesirably.
Impact on the Yen: Despite the policy tightening, the yen fell, likely due to market anticipation of the move and a potential adjustment in expectations for U.S. Federal Reserve policies.
Wage Inflation Concerns: The decision was influenced by accelerating wages in Japan, with recent negotiations resulting in significant wage increases, suggesting comfort with slight monetary tightening amid ongoing low inflation compared to other major economies.
Global Implications: The change could disrupt the lucrative Japanese carry trade, affecting global financial markets and trade flows, especially as the interest rate gap between Japan and other countries narrows. This might lead to a stronger yen, affecting Japanese export competitiveness and potentially benefiting China's export sector.
5️⃣ China Spotlight 🟢
China's economic dynamics, with robust industrial and investment activity in certain areas sees significant weaknesses in the property sector and retail sales, pointing to broader economic challenges and cautious consumer behavior.
Industrial Strength: Industrial production rose by 7.0% year-over-year, the quickest in almost two years, led by significant gains in tech and auto sectors.
Investment Growth: Fixed asset investment increased by 4.2%, driven by substantial infrastructure spending, while property investment declined by 9.0%, indicating ongoing real estate sector challenges.
Consumer Spending Cools: Retail sales growth slowed to 5.5%, the slowest since August 2023, affected by weaker property prices and cautious consumer saving behaviors.
Infrastructure and Debt Concerns: Heavy reliance on infrastructure spending, funded by local government debt, raises concerns about sustainable investment amid efforts to curb new borrowing.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/arndxt_xo/status/1774133109187088452