News Roundup — Fed Slashes Rates 50 bp in First Easing Since Pandemic

Major news stories this week;

1. Fed slashes rates 50 bp in first easing since pandemic
2. SEC approves options for BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF
3. Bitcoin miner wallets awaken after over 15 years
4. Vitalik Buterin Outlines Ethereum’s Next Decade at Token2049 Singapore
5. Trump Buys Burgers With Bitcoin at NYC Crypto Hangout PubKey

Story Summaries;

1. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by half of a percentage point on Wednesday, kicking off what is expected to be a steady easing of monetary policy with a larger-than-usual reduction in borrowing costs that followed growing unease about the health of the job market. The Fed's new Summary of Economic Projections showed policymakers see the Fed's benchmark rate, now at 4.75%-5.0%, falling by another half of a percentage point by the end of this year, another full percentage point in 2025, and by a final half of a percentage point in 2026 to end in a 2.75%-3.00% range. In a post-meeting press conference Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank forecasts for the path of interest rate cuts don't imply an urgent process and that he doesn't think it waited too long to begin easing.
2. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gave Nasdaq the go-ahead to list and trade shares of options for BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, or ETF. In a Sept. 20 notice, the SEC approved options trading for the iShares Bitcoin Trust under the ticker symbol IBIT on Nasdaq. According to Nasdaq, the exchange will allow trading for options on the Bitcoin ETF “in the same manner” as other ETF options, subject to the same rules. “Options on IBIT will be physically settled with American-style exercise,” said the SEC notice. “The Exchange stated that options on IBIT will be subject to the Exchange’s respective initial and continued listing standards. The Exchange’s initial listing standards require, among other things, that the security underlying a listed option be ‘characterized by a substantial number of outstanding shares that are widely held and actively traded.’”
3. Wallets belonging to early Bitcoin miners who received coins as rewards shortly after the blockchain’s launch by its pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, have recently been observed moving their BTC. On Sept. 20, five miner wallets that received 50 Bitcoin. On Sept. 20, five miner wallets that received 50 Bitcoin each as block rewards in 2009 started to move their funds. Blockchain data shows that one wallet received the mining reward on Jan. 29, 2009, while three received block rewards on Jan. 31, 2009. The last wallet received a block reward on Feb. 2, 2009. The Bitcoin blockchain went live on Jan. 3, 2009, when Nakamoto mined the genesis block and embedded a message referencing a headline published by The Times newspaper in the United Kingdom. On Jan. 9, 2009, the Bitcoin creator explained the protocol’s basics, including how to mine and send coins.
4. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin delivered a keynote speech on Wednesday at TOKEN2049 in Singapore, outlining his vision for the cryptocurrency’s future. Buterin was optimistic about Ethereum’s progress and its potential to achieve mainstream adoption in the coming decade. He also acknowledged that the crypto space has had its limitations in the past. He pointed out that high transaction fees and poor user experiences had slowed widespread adoption. However, Buterin highlighted the significant strides Ethereum has made in overcoming these challenges. Transaction fees have dropped significantly. Confirmation times have been drastically reduced. The user experience of on-chain applications has also greatly improved. Given the BTC was mined only weeks after the launch of the Bitcoin blockchain, the wallets likely belonged to people present at its inception.
5. Former U.S. President Donald Trump continued his overtures to the cryptocurrency industry Wednesday when he sent a Bitcoin transaction during a stop at PubKey, a crypto-themed bar in New York. Trump made the stop at the Manhattan bar ahead of his rally in Long Island on Wednesday. A Fox News video shows the Republican nominee entering the pub and then, with PubKey staff's assistance, completing a transaction, becoming the first U.S. president, sitting or former, to publicly use the Bitcoin network. Trump bought burgers at the bar, according to a PubKey social media post. Trump, who is running for president a third time, has sought the crypto industry's support over the past few months, speaking at an industry conference and promising to make the U.S. the "crypto capital of the planet."

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And that’s all for last week’s news! Wishing you a great week ahead!

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