- The Fed raised rates 25 basis points to a 3.75% to 4.00% target range, its first hike since 2023, on an unanimous vote; Chair Kevin Warsh said the economy is resilient and the labor market strong but inflation is too high. Odds of two more hikes by end-2026 jumped to 40% from 10% a week earlier.
- Bitcoin traded at $76,300 after touching $75,700 immediately post-decision; ETH was $2,430, SOL $100 and HYPE $80. Alt leaders led the rebound: ZEC +12% to a new high of $1,350, NEAR +15%, LIT +12% and VVV +12%.
- Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $295M in net outflows and ETH ETFs $224M of outflows on Wednesday, the same session the Fed hiked.
- The House Financial Services Committee advanced the American Reserve Modernization Act 28 to 21 on a party-line vote, giving Treasury 180 days to stand up a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, locking deposited bitcoin for 20 years and granting no purchase authority.
- One day after the Clarity Act died in the Senate, the House Ways and Means Committee advanced the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act 38 to 5, exempting network fees of $10 or less, extending wash-sale rules to crypto and setting treatment for stablecoins, lending, mining and staking.
- SEC Chair Atkins and CFTC Chair Selig said they will write crypto rules without Congress after the Clarity Act was blocked, with Selig saying the CFTC is ready to ship.
- Crypto VC deployed $5.68 billion across 384 deals in Q2, up 31% quarter over quarter, though later-stage rounds took 78% of the dollars and only five new funds closed, the fewest since 2019.
- Broader risk markets took the hike in stride: stock futures rose pre-market with the Dow +0.8% and Nasdaq +1.1%, oil fell 3% to $100 and gold slipped 0.4% to $4,370 after the 10-year yield hit 5.02%.
Quotes
“Crypto just absorbed its first rate hike in three years without flinching, which sounds like strength and mostly means the pain was taken in advance.”
“the economy is resilient, the labor market is strong, but inflation is too high and has been for too long”
“The crypto market is no longer going down on bad news.”