Morning Post - October 14

headlines

▌The U.S. CPI rose by 8.2% year-on-year in September, surpassing 8 for seven consecutive months

The last CPI data before the mid-term elections in the United States was released. In September, the CPI rose by 8.2% year-on-year.

policy

▌U.S. Senator Calls on SEC Chairman Gensler to Regulate Digital Assets

U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper called on Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, to participate and initiate a formal regulatory process for digital assets. Hickenlooper asked Gensler’s committee to clarify which digital assets are securities and clarify disclosure and registration rules to protect investors. Hickenlooper called on Gensler to “engage” by gathering public input and proposing new rules to determine which crypto tokens are securities or commodities.

cryptocurrency

▌Uniswap Labs completed a financing of US$165 million at a valuation of US$1.66 billion, led by Polychain Capital

Uniswap Labs announced the completion of Series B financing of US$165 million at a valuation of US$1.66 billion, led by Polychain Capital, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Paradigm, SV Angel, and Variant. Founder Hayden Adams said that Uniswap Labs is currently not profitable, but the company intends to use Series B funds to expand its product offerings and achieve financial sustainability in the next few years, which will include building an NFT aggregator that will "Unlocking New Interactions Between Tokens and NFTs".

important economic developments

▌The U.S. core CPI annual rate was 6.6% in September, the highest since August 1982

The latest data show that the U.S. CPI annual rate fell slightly to 8.2% in September without seasonal adjustment, the smallest increase since February 2022. The core CPI annual rate in September was 6.6%, the highest since August 1982.

▌Fed Bowman: If inflation does not cool, "significant" interest rate hikes are still possible

Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said on Wednesday she would continue to support aggressive interest rate increases if high inflation doesn't start to abate. "Inflation is too high, and I firmly believe that bringing inflation back to our target is a necessary condition for achieving price stability and achieving the goal of maximum employment on a sustainable basis," she said. What happens to the inflation will determine what the Fed does next. My view remains that decent growth within the target range for the fed funds rate should still be on the table if we see no signs of lower inflation. But she also said it would be appropriate to slow down the pace of rate hikes if inflation starts to cool. In addition, Bowman said that to bring inflation down in a sustained and durable manner, the federal funds rate would need to rise to a restrictive level and remain there for some time.