#interest

Goldman Sachs, a leading investment firm in the United States, has revised its forecast for the U.S. interest rate in 2024, as reported by Reuters.

U.K. House of Commons Treasury Committee lawmakers, in its recent report, have urged the government to reconsider the regulations for a potential Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Proposed changes include setting a lower limit on individual holdings (up to £3,000) and the option to earn interest on these holdings.

The initial offering of tokenized bonds ALT2611 on Bitfinex Securities, a platform focusing on RWAs, failed to attract the expected interest.

Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has issued guidelines for asset tokenization, addressing the growing market interest.

According to the Federal Reserve's investigation, Silvergate Bank faced significant challenges due to its exposure to high-risk cryptocurrency deposits and ineffective upper-level management. A significant portion of the bank's deposits were sourced from crypto companies, which lacked traditional insurance and failed to generate substantial interest income.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's instant payment system, FedNow, has highlighted Dropp, a micropayments platform built on Hedera Hashgraph, in its Service Provider Showcase. This section connects financial institutions with providers that can assist in implementing instant payment products using FedNow. Dropp offers a digital solution for merchants to accept payments at reduced costs, leveraging DLT and banking tech. While this suggests the Federal Reserve's growing interest in DLTs, FedNow clarifies that the showcase is merely for convenience and doesn't imply endorsement.

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea has announced that by July 2024, investors in digital assets must receive interest on funds held on exchanges.

Asset managers at Chicago Mercantile Exchange have broken the record for open interest in Bitcoin long futures, surpassing the previous November 2021 peak, which coincided with BTC’s highest price point.

The Ergo project recently reported that, in response to a request to update the data on the circulating supply of their tokens on CoinMarketCap (CMC), they were asked to pay $5000. This request came despite the expectation that CMC, as a service, should have a vested interest in providing accurate information.

With the increasing yield of long-term treasury bonds, Jerome Powell of the US Federal Reserve has suggested a potential pause in boosting the interest rate.

The likelihood is high, at 99%, that the interest rate will stay the same. This is because the Federal Reserve is still gauging the effect of the current rate on the economy. Following the decision, there will be a press conference by Jerome Powell 30 minutes later. Given the potential for market shifts from his remarks, traders are advised to hold off on transactions.

Their economists anticipate a reduction in interest rates by late June next year, following a gradual quarterly decrease pattern. “The cuts in our forecast are driven by the desire to normalize the funds rate from a restrictive level once inflation is closer to the target,” says Jan Hatzius, a senior economist at Goldman. Goldman forecasts rate cuts in Q2 2024, expecting 25 basis point reductions per quarter with pace uncertainties. “We expect the funds rate to eventually stabilize at 3-3.25%,” say their economists.