At 2:00 a.m. Beijing time on Thursday, September 19, the Federal Reserve announced a 50 basis point rate cut, lowering the federal funds rate target range to 4.75%-5.00%, marking the first rate cut since March 16, 2020, and the long-awaited policy shift has finally arrived.

With the start of the Federal Reserve's rate cut cycle, risk information has also begun to celebrate. $Bitcoin (BTC.CC)$ Rising above $62,000. $Ethereum (ETH.CC)$ Rising above $2,400.

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• MicroStrategy's Bitcoin holdings have earned over $5.7 billion.

On September 19th, with the price of Bitcoin surpassing $62,000, $MicroStrategy (MSTR.US)$ the floating profit of Bitcoin holdings is approximately $5.737 billion. As of September 12, 2024, MicroStrategy holds a total of 244,800 Bitcoins, with a total purchase cost of approximately $9.45 billion and an average price of approximately $38,585.

• Data: If Bitcoin surpasses $0.064 million, the cumulative liquidation intensity of mainstream CEX short positions will reach $0.54 billion.

According to Coinglass data, if Bitcoin surpasses 0.064 million USD, the accumulated short liquidation intensity of mainstream CEX will reach 0.54 billion. Conversely, if Bitcoin falls below 0.06 million USD, the accumulated long liquidation intensity of mainstream CEX will reach 0.708 billion. Therefore, the liquidation chart shows to what extent the target price will be affected when it reaches a certain position. Higher "liquidation columns" indicate that there will be a stronger reaction due to the liquidity wave after the price reaches that point.

• Bybit's Head of Institutional Business: Interest rate cuts may be a short-term bullish factor for the crypto market, but investors need to remain cautious in the current volatility.

According to Chris Aruliah, Head of Institutional Business at Bybit, the recent 0.5% interest rate cut announced by the Federal Reserve may lead to a flow of funds from banks to the stock market and increased investment in high-risk assets, including cryptocurrencies. Lower interest rates reduce the returns of traditional investment tools, so investors may diversify their portfolio risk by investing in cryptocurrencies. However, the slowing global economy, weak economic indicators, and geopolitical uncertainties still weigh on investor sentiment. While interest rate cuts may benefit the crypto market in the short term, investors need to remain cautious in the current volatility.

• Intense debates arose during the congressional hearing on cryptocurrency regulation in the United States.

According to TheBlock, there was an intense debate on cryptocurrency regulation in a hearing at the U.S. Congress. Despite some companies obtaining licenses from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to legally custody crypto assets, many crypto businesses and lawmakers still criticize the SEC's regulatory approach. Dan Gallagher, Chief Legal Officer of Robinhood, stated that the company had suggested rule adjustments during discussions with the SEC on crypto-related activities, but the communication was interrupted. At the same time, Democratic Congressman Stephen Lynch said that the rules are clear and crypto companies should not selectively comply. The crypto industry accuses the SEC of selective enforcement and claims that its policies harm innovation and U.S. competitiveness.

• Standard Chartered Bank executive: Stablecoins can mitigate the negative impact of the Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts on government bonds and the token market.

Alexander Deschatres, Head of Sponsorship and Corporate Responsibility at Standard Chartered Bank Asia, said that stablecoins can mitigate the negative impact of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve on government bonds and money market tokens. Deschatres stated, "With a stablecoin supply of 170 billion USD, which can be converted into money market tokens and treasury bill tokens, there is the potential for buffering the negative effects of the Fed's interest rate cuts." He believes that according to the Fed Fund futures, the market currently expects a 100 basis point interest rate cut this year, which means that the benchmark borrowing cost will be reduced to 4.5% by the end of the year. However, compared to passive holding of stablecoins, this is an attractive yield.

• Mizuho Bank and Fujitsu cooperate to simplify carbon credit issuance using blockchain.

Mizuho Bank, Fujitsu, and heavy industry company IHI have reached a cooperation agreement to simplify the issuance process of Japan Carbon Credits (J-Credits) using blockchain technology. The issuance of carbon credits requires government certification of greenhouse gas emission reductions, a complex and time-consuming process where the issuer may face the risk of not finding buyers. Mizuho Bank will act as a "preferred buyer" to purchase J-Credits and resell them to customers. The bank is also a market maker for J-Credits on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. This collaboration is expected to support solar power generation in the first half of 2025. Fujitsu's blockchain solution will be used to monitor, report, and verify carbon emission reduction data to ensure data credibility.

• JPMorgan, UBS, and others join the International Clearing Bank's blockchain-based cross-border payment reform plan.

The International Bank for Settlements has partnered with some of the largest banks and credit card companies globally to launch a blockchain-based project aimed at completely reforming global cross-border payments. JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, UBS Group, Visa Inc., and Mastercard have all joined the Agora project launched in May. The list of private-sector participants includes 41 companies that will work with seven central banks from regions like the USA, Eurozone, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The International Bank for Settlements is exploring the creation of an international platform through Agora (meaning market in Greek) where tokenized assets can be bought and sold using central bank-backed digital currencies, the most important reserve currencies globally. Investors can conduct cross-border transactions on this unified ledger using virtually risk-free central bank currencies. Currently, the only relatively safe currency is cash, which does not exist in digital form.

• Bitcoin's market cap accounts for 58.47%, reaching a new high in nearly three years.

SolanaFloor data disclosed on X platform shows that with the continued downturn in altcoin market, Bitcoin's market cap as a percentage of the overall cryptocurrency market hits a new high. Data indicates that Bitcoin's market cap now represents 58.47% of the total cryptocurrency market, marking the highest level since April 2021.

• Crypto analyst Plan B: Bitcoin's breakthrough of the $0.06 million range is just a matter of time.

Crypto analyst Plan B shared his views on platform X, suggesting that $60,000 is the new $10,000 and hinting at the possibility of Bitcoin's price behavior in the $0.06 million range following a similar pattern as in the $0.01 million range. Plan B shared a long-term price trend chart for Bitcoin which showed a prolonged fluctuation in the $0.01 million range from 2018 to 2020. Currently, Bitcoin's price is displaying similar characteristics in the $0.06 million range. This similarity may indicate the start of a significant upward trend for Bitcoin, similar to the previous breakout from $0.01 million to $0.06 million. Plan B emphasized that the upward breakout for Bitcoin is only a matter of time.

• Binance CEO: Lower interest rates can increase the liquidity of the financial system, thus boosting the demand for assets such as cryptocurrencies.

Binance CEO Richard Teng commented on the interest rate cut expectations, stating that we expect the interest rate cut expectations to have a significant impact on the prices of crypto assets. Lower interest rates increase the liquidity of the financial system, thus boosting the demand for high-yield, high-risk assets, including cryptocurrencies. For example, from February 2020 to February 2022, when interest rates were close to zero, the price of Bitcoin rose by 375%. In addition, lower interest rates may lead to concerns about inflation, prompting some investors to turn to cryptocurrencies to protect their purchasing power; low interest rates can also weaken the dollar, causing more investors to view crypto assets as another way to store value. Bitcoin and other crypto assets have unique functions that may affect their prospects during an interest rate cut period. One of the key factors to consider is the recent Bitcoin halving, which historically has led to a general price increase in the 6-18 months following similar events.

The launch of spot ETFs can also facilitate easier conversion between stocks and cryptocurrencies, thereby channeling the liquidity growth resulting from interest rate cuts into the cryptocurrency market. Furthermore, although September is typically a weak month for crypto assets, prices usually begin to rise from October, and with this rebound, the interest rate cut expectations may provide additional impetus. The impact of the Fed's rate cut on the crypto asset market is still uncertain, but multiple indicators suggest that the policy changes in September may be timely for cryptocurrency investors. Lower borrowing costs and increased liquidity provide a hopeful prospects for crypto assets. Historical trends and unique crypto-specific variables further enhance people's optimistic mood about how these policy changes may foster growth.

• Vitalik: Ethereum's key goal for the next decade is to meet mainstream adoption while maintaining its open-source and decentralized values.

At Token2049 held on September 18th, Ethereum founder Vitalik gave a keynote speech on "What Excites Me About the Next Decade". In his speech, Vitalik stated that the main goals of Ethereum in the next ten years are to meet mainstream adoption while maintaining the values of open source and decentralization. Vitalik also gave 6 examples to illustrate, including: 1. Wallet security; 1.5. User experience of decentralized social media; 2. Payments; 3. Privacy tools; 4. zk social media; 5. Ethereum L1 (Oribit SSF, Verkle Tree/stateless Validation, solving MEV problem, Ethereum L1 ZK-SNARK and light clients).

Editor/Somer