Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned that the central bank will continue to use the “tools forcefully” to bring down inflation, which is close to its highest level in 40 years. He cautioned that the restrictive policy may remain for some time and warned that it could “bring some pain to households and businesses.” The United States equities markets reacted negatively to Powell’s comments with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping more than 600 points. The cryptocurrency markets also witnessed sharp selling with Bitcoin (BTC) and most altcoins threatening to break below their immediate support levels. Along with a not-so-supportive …

A $750 pump on Aug. 26 took Bitcoin (BTC) from $21,120 to $21,870 in less than 2 hours. However, the movement was completely erased after comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated the bank’s commitment to contain inflation by tightening the economy. Following Powell’s speech, BTC price dropped as low as $20,700. At Jackson Hole, Powell specifically mentioned that "the historical record cautions strongly against prematurely loosening policy." Right after those remarks, the U.S. stock market indexes reacted negatively, with the S&P 500 dropping 2.2% within the hour. On the Bitcoin chart, the affable “Bart candle,” a reference …

In a cease-and-desist letter to fast-growing crypto exchange FTX, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) shed light on a now-deleted tweet from the exchange’s president, Brett Harrison, and issued a stark warning over the company’s messaging. Harrison’s original tweet said, “Direct deposits from employers to FTX US are stored in individually FDIC-insured bank accounts in the users’ names.” He added, “Stocks are held in FDIC-insured and SIPC [Security Investor Protection Corporation]-insured brokerage accounts.” Although Harrison stewarded FTX to its best-ever year in 2021, increasing revenue by 1,000%, the firm now faces the unenviable prospect of running afoul of a powerful …

XRP price saw a major spike on Aug. 26, hinting at a possible effect from some big traders. Large XRP transfers, Ripple Swell Global event Notably, XRP's price jumped 6% to $0.37, a two-week high, during the early London hours. The token's upside move occurred hours after its network processed three massive transfers worth $51 million involving crypto exchanges Bitso and FTX, as highlighted by Whale Alert. XRP's gains also came as a part of a broader upside move that started on Aug. 25, a day after Ripple announced its flagship event, "Ripple Swell Global," to be held in London …

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has started taking measures to prepare for new cryptocurrency regulations addressing the ongoing liquidity crisis and withdrawal issues. Singapore’s central bank has sent detailed questionnaires to some applicants and holders of the MAS’ Digital Payment Token licenses, Bloomberg reported on Friday. Sent over the last month, the questionnaires were reportedly seeking “highly granular information” about business activity and holdings by examined crypto firms. The checks were focused on firms’ financial stability and interconnection, with questions including top tokens owned, top lending and borrowing counterparties, the amount loaned and top tokens staked via decentralized finance …

Major Indian crypto exchange CoinSwitch Kuber had five of its premises searched by anti-money laundering agents on Thursday over alleged violations of forex laws. According to an Aug. 25 report from Bloomberg, India’s Enforcement Directorate searched CoinSwitch Kuber’s offices as well as the residences of its directors and CEO Ashish Singhal. A source told the publication the crypto exchange is under suspicion of acquiring shares worth more than $250 million in contravention of forex laws, as well as being non-compliant with certain know-your-customer (KYC) requirements. The Directorate of Enforcement is a federal enforcement and intelligence agency operating under the Ministry …

Coinbase, a crypto exchange whose chief executive officer previously said doesn’t “advocate for any particular causes or candidates internally that are unrelated to our mission,” has launched a voter registration portal as part of a crypto policy education initiative. In a Thursday blog post, Coinbase chief policy officer Faryar Shirzad said the crypto exchange will offer users the opportunity to register to vote in the United States through a Capitol Canary website. According to the policy head, the voter registration tool was part of an initiative aimed at giving the crypto community “tools to participate in the critical policy discussions …

Police have closed down at least 16 cryptocurrency exchanges in the Herat province of western Afghanistan in the last week, according to a report in Ariana News, an independent news outlet in that country. The report quotes a local police official as saying arrests were made during the closures. The closures were carried out in response to a ban on crypto trading that had been in place for about three months, according to the report. It was apparently referring to a ban imposed on online foreign exchange trading by the central bank Da Afghanistan Bank in June. A central bank …

Thailand’s oldest bank has scrapped plans it first announced in November 2021 to become the majority shareholder of crypto exchange Bitkub. In a Thursday announcement, Siam Commercial Bank’s SCB X Group said it would no longer be paying 17,850 million Baht — roughly $536 million in November and $497 million at the time of publication — to acquire a 51% stake in the Thailand-based crypto exchange. The bank cited concerns with Bitkub “resolving various issues” according to recommendations from the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission without a definite timeline. According to the SCB, the company conducted a due diligence exercise …

Coinbase has launched a new asset in which Ether tokens are staked and wrapped through the crypto exchange. In a Wednesday announcement, Coinbase said it will be listing Coinbase Wrapped Staked ETH (cbETH) on the Ethereum network as an ERC-20 token, allowing customers to use their staked Ether (ETH) while earning rewards on the exchange. According to its website, users can withdraw the tokens to Coinbase, stake them, and then wrap the ETH2 into cbETH, with the new wrapped staked token balance visible on their accounts. The tokens are expected to be available for trading on Aug. 25 “if liquidity …

Since failing to close above the $2,000 mark, Ether (ETH) price has faced a steep 16.8% correction, but this was not enough to give bears an edge in the August $1.27 billion monthly options expiry. Currently there are mixed feelings about the network’s upcoming change to a proof of stake (PoS) consensus network and analysts like @DWhitmanBTC, believe the potential benefits of PoS do not supercede the absence of a supply cap and multiple changes in the monetary policy over time. uLtRaSoUnD mOnEy Is #Ethereum even money? If so, what’s the supply limit? What’s the monetary policy? How can anyone …

Bitcoin (BTC) and several major cryptocurrencies have been trading sideways as traders avoid taking large bets before the United States Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, which begins on Aug. 25. The volatility is likely to soar as investors get some clarity on the Fed's stance in the next few days. On Aug. 23, a team led by Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius said that Fed Chair Jerome Powell could sound dovish when he speaks on Aug. 26, reiterating that the central bank may move at a slower pace in future meetings. The analysts expect the Fed to raise …