S&P Global agreed to acquire smart contract security firm OpenZeppelin, expanding its digital asset business into the technology underpinning tokenized finance. On Sept. 17, the financial data and ratings company said that OpenZeppelin will continue operating under its own name as a separate business unit. Chief Executive Demian Brener will remain in charge and report
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points on Friday, lifting it to 1.25%, the highest level in 31 years, as it battles sticky inflation and a chronically weak yen. The move marks the central bank’s second hike in three months and comes weeks after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott
“We must be confident that underlying inflation is moving to our objective clearly and at sufficient speed,” Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh said at his press conference on Wednesday, after the central bank raised its benchmark rate by a quarter point to a range of 3.75% to 4%, its first increase since July 2023. “Today,
Q4 is just around the corner, and the crypto market is already discussing whether it will be bullish or bearish. Notably, the bears have quite a compelling case. The market has started reacting to the recent 25 bps hike by the Federal Reserve. Goldman Sachs has already priced in another rate hike at the October
The Senate blocked the crypto industry’s market structure bill on Tuesday. On Thursday the Securities and Exchange Commission did a piece of the job itself. An order from the agency lets tokenized versions of U.S. stocks trade on blockchain liquidity pools for the next five years, provided the venue running the pool is American, checks
The Federal Reserve hiked interest rates for the first time since 2023 on Wednesday and it sent the bitcoin price — briefly — all over the place. But then it settled and currently sits a modest 1% higher over a 24-hour period. And according to asset manager Grayscale’s crypto research team, bitcoin is unlikely to
The hawkish messages from the US Federal Reserve (FED) at its September meeting have begun to shift Wall Street’s expectations regarding the interest rate path. While many major banks expect at least one more rate hike from the FED following the 25 basis point increase in September, some institutions are reducing the number of rate
In its latest analysis evaluating the outlook for the cryptocurrency market in the coming years, The DeFi Report argued that Bitcoin may be entering the early stages of a new bull cycle. The platform, which divides the market cycle into four phases – “early bull,” “wealth creation,” “wealth distribution,” and “wealth destruction” – stated that
QuantusNetwork has officially announced the launch of its post-quantum asset, $QTC, on the $NEAR Protocol. This launch is particularly significant as it introduces a quantum-secure, cross-chain asset that promises confidentiality from day one. The announcement was made via a tweet from $NEAR Protocol, highlighting the security advancements that $QTC represents in the evolving blockchain landscape.
Bitcoin is experiencing a surge in interest in the ETF space, particularly as Eric Balchunas notes the generational shift favoring cryptocurrencies over traditional investments like gold. This observation highlights how Bitcoin’s appeal is growing among younger investors, with implications for future market dynamics. For more details, see Balchunas’ analysis on Twitter. What Happened The crypto