CZ may return next month Harris: The Federal Reserve should be independent of the president

Headlines

▌Source: CZ may return next month

Sources said that Changpeng Zhao (CZ) may return next month.

▌Harris: The Fed's actions should be independent of the president

US Vice President Harris said that the Fed's actions should be independent of the president. Earlier, Trump said that if elected, he would seek to influence US monetary policy.

Market

As of press time, according to Coingecko data:

BTC's latest transaction price is 60,578.03 US dollars, with a daily increase or decrease of -0.4%;

ETH's latest transaction price is 2,586.87 yuan, with a daily increase or decrease of -2.3%;

BNB's latest transaction price is 508.00 US dollars, with a daily increase or decrease of -0.8%；

SOL's latest transaction price is 155.19 US dollars, and its intraday increase or decrease is -3.7%；

DOGE's latest transaction price is 0.1038 US dollars, and its intraday increase or decrease is -2.6%；

XPR's latest transaction price is 0.5815 US dollars, and its intraday increase or decrease is -4.8%。

Policy

▌Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Summers calls on the SEC to investigate Monday's surge in the VIX volatility index

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Summers called on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and related exchanges to investigate the VIX volatility index (VIX) surge that occurred on Monday (August 5). "My understanding is that the VIX's volatility on Monday was somewhat artificial because of some illiquid tools used in the calculation of the VIX index," Summers said on a TV show on Friday. After the VIX index surged on Monday, experts who measure volatility said the sharp fluctuations in the index could be caused by several technical factors, including an apparent lack of liquidity, some short covering of failed volatility bets, or simply the way volatility is measured.

▌SEC Chairman to Testify Before Senate Banking Committee in September

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler will testify before the Senate Banking Committee in September. The hearing will focus on the SEC's regulatory agenda and Gensler's leadership of the agency.

▌IRS Releases New Draft Crypto Tax Form and Seeks Public Comment

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released an updated draft version of the tax form 1099-DA used by cryptocurrency brokers and investors to report certain trading gains, inviting the industry to participate in the discussion. The public has 30 days to provide the IRS with comments on the proposed 1099-DA. IRS officials said the crypto 1099 form will "bring more convenience and clarity" to those who pay U.S. crypto taxes. The newly released updated version of the 1099-DA is reportedly more streamlined than the first draft of the tax return proposed by the IRS in April. The items for investors to fill in wallet addresses and transaction IDs have been removed (which caused privacy-related controversy when the form was first released). In addition, the form no longer requires the time of the relevant transaction to be filled in, only the date. Drew Hinkes, a cryptocurrency lawyer and partner at K&L Gates law firm in Miami, wrote on X that the updated form is "much improved, less burdensome, and requires much less data reporting."

▌Tether CEO: MiCA regulation poses "systemic risk" to the banking system

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in an interview with Cointelegraph that the EU Crypto-Asset Market (MiCA) regulation poses systemic risks not only to stablecoins but also to the broader banking system. Ardoino said: "My dissatisfaction with MiCA is that instead of making the system safer, it actually creates a huge systemic risk." The MiCA regulation came into effect on June 30 and imposed strict restrictions on stablecoin operations throughout the European Economic Area. Notably, the regulation stipulates that at least 60% of the reserves backing stablecoins must be held in EU bank accounts. Ardoino emphasized that financial institutions practice fractional reserve banking, where only a small portion of deposits are available for withdrawal at any given moment, which makes them vulnerable to bank runs.

▌Regulators Delay Decision on Listing of U.S. 'Altcoin' ETF Launched by Hashdex

U.S. regulators said they need more time to decide whether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) designed as one-stop cryptocurrency portfolios can be listed on the Nasdaq electronic stock exchange, according to a regulatory filing on August 9. The filing was a response to Nasdaq's June request for permission to list the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF on its electronic exchange. If approved, the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF will become the first diversified spot cryptocurrency ETF in the U.S. market. It will also be the first U.S. ETF to hold alternative cryptocurrencies, or "altcoins."

▌The "Bitcoin Office" section has been added to the website of the Santa Monica City Government in the United States

The "Bitcoin Office" section has been added to the website of the Santa Monica City Government in California. It is reported that the section aims to find and promote partnerships in the Bitcoin industry, support the economic recovery of Santa Monica and create new jobs. It is reported that the city of Santa Monica has cooperated with Proof of Workforce to discuss and consider Bitcoin, including mining, investment and education-related content, which should not be regarded as financial or investment advice. In addition, according to Bitcoin Magazine, the city of Santa Monica will hold a Bitcoin Festival in October this year.

Blockchain Applications

▌Ripple: Stablecoin RLUSD testing has been launched on XRP Ledger and Ethereum mainnet

Ripple announced on the X platform that the stablecoin Ripple USD (RLUSD) is now in Beta testing on XRP Ledger and Ethereum mainnet, but RLUSD has not yet been approved by regulators, so it cannot be purchased or traded. The community needs to be wary of fraudsters who claim to own or can distribute Ripple USD. Ripple said that RLUSD is valued at a 1:1 ratio with the US dollar (USD) and is 100% backed by US dollar deposits, short-term US government treasury bonds and other cash equivalents. These reserve assets will be audited by a third-party accounting firm, and Ripple will issue certificates every month.

Cryptocurrency

▌Tether freezes three Tron on-chain addresses, involving 16.5 million USDT

According to Solid Intel on the X platform, Tether has frozen three Tron on-chain addresses, which hold more than $16.5 million in USDT, and these addresses may be controlled by a single entity.

▌ZhuSu: The sentiment in the crypto market is similar to that in 2019 in many ways

ZhuSu, the former founder of Three Arrows Capital, wrote that the sentiment in the crypto market is similar to that in 2019 in many ways. Bitcoin's dominance is high, and people question whether everything needs tokens, and some of the previous major narratives seem to have been overturned. Builders are turning to other areas. "Some say things are worse now than in 2019, but that's absolutely not true. In 2019, people generally believed that blockchains were useless, not just tokens. That's why you can buy L1 for free. And the ETH/BTC exchange rate is 0.02. I think even the biggest pessimists today don't think blockchains are useless, in fact, they are mostly taken for granted. This is a sign of actual adoption."

▌Grayscale SUI Asset Trust Open to Qualified Investors

Grayscale announced that its Grayscale Sui Trust is now open to qualified investors. As of August 8, 2024, the net asset value per share of Grayscale Sui Trust is US$11.42 and the management fee is 2.50%.

▌Founder of CryptoQuant: Most Bitcoin on-chain indicators have returned to bull market levels

Ki Young Ju, founder and CEO of CryptoQuant, posted on the X platform that most of the Bitcoin on-chain indicators that had previously hovered at the border have now returned to bull market levels. It is worth mentioning that Bitcoin's current low lasted only about three days.

Important Economic Dynamics

▌The three major U.S. stock indexes closed up collectively, and most of the popular technology stocks rose

The three major U.S. stock indexes closed up collectively, with the Dow up 0.13%, down 0.6% this week; the Nasdaq up 0.51%, down 0.18% this week; and the S&P 500 up 0.47%, down 0.04% this week. Most of the popular technology stocks rose, with Apple and Meta up more than 1%.

▌Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Summers opposes political interference with the Federal Reserve and expects a 50 basis point rate cut in September

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers warned against allowing the president to interfere in monetary policy making, otherwise it would only hurt the economy over time. As for the Fed's policy decisions, the former Treasury secretary said any emergency rate cut was untenable "on the facts at hand" given that market volatility and stock market sell-offs have eased since Monday's turmoil. Still, Summers said "a 50 basis point cut would probably be appropriate" at the September policy meeting.

▌BoA clients sell dollars as Fed rate cut looms

The percentage of investors who believe the dollar will weaken has almost tripled in the past month as markets brace for a rate cut from the Federal Reserve, a Bank of America survey showed. About 23% of respondents to the bank's monthly sentiment survey said their most confident trade was shorting the dollar, the highest percentage so far this year and up from 8% in July. The dollar has outperformed most G10 currencies this year, but its rally has fizzled out in the past month as data showed the U.S. economy was losing momentum, prompting traders to bet on aggressive U.S. interest rate cuts.

▌BlackRock Strategist: Trump risks challenging Fed independence

Wei Li, BlackRock's global chief investment strategist, said Treasury investors should consider the possibility of a Trump presidency after Trump said he would seek to influence U.S. monetary policy if elected. "There is that risk when we think about what could happen," Li added, adding that fiscal issues would also affect demand for long-term Treasury bonds. Trump said on Thursday that the president should have some say in setting interest rates. Trump's challenge to the independence of the Federal Reserve, both during his presidency and more recently in the 2024 campaign, has broken the long-standing norm that the president does not influence the decisions of Fed policymakers. Li said, "No matter who enters the White House, all this suggests that we need to think more carefully about portfolio construction around U.S. Treasuries in the future."

Golden Encyclopedia

▌What is an inverse futures contract?

An inverse futures contract is a financial arrangement that requires the seller to pay the buyer the difference between the agreed price and the current price when the contract expires. Unlike traditional futures, the seller benefits from a drop in price. The nature of inverse futures contracts is nonlinear. When a trader goes long on a BTC/USD inverse futures contract, they are shorting the U.S. dollar. Because the contract is inverse, the trader's position is worth less in Bitcoin, and the higher the value of Bitcoin, the higher its value relative to the U.S. dollar.

Disclaimer: As a blockchain information platform, Golden Finance publishes articles for information reference only and is not intended as actual investment advice. Please establish a correct investment philosophy and be sure to raise your risk awareness.