Inflation Stagnates as Fed Faces Tough Rate Cut Decision

The Breakdown First Five - Thursday, September 12, 2024

Welcome back to The Breakdown First Five — the 5 most interesting and/or important stories in bitcoin, crypto, and markets to start your day.

5. India Leads Crypto Adoption

According to Chainalysis data, India led the world in “grassroots crypto adoption” for the second year in a row. Their index attempts to normalize for population size and purchasing power to form a view of which countries are adopting crypto at above average rates. Nigeria, Indonesia and Vietnam also ranked highly for retail adoption while the US led the way in sheer volume.  

4. Binance US x Fireblocks

Binance US have partnered with Fireblocks to upgrade their custody and scale staking services. The American based subsidiary has been languishing since their settlement with US authorities and having questionable business practices come to light. The partnership was explicitly noted as making sure the exchange is “fully aligned with what regulators are asking for.”  

3. The Third Property 

The UK parliament has introduced a bill that would formally define crypto as a new type of property. Rather than lumping crypto with tangible assets, like a bar of gold, or intangible assets, like stocks and bonds; crypto could become a third type of property. Currently, crypto owners lack property rights under UK law so can struggle to deal with the courts if their assets are interfered with. 

2. Cleanspark Buying Spree

Bitcoin miner Cleanspark has announced a $27.5M purchase of seven facilities across Tennessee. They anticipate the acquisition will raise their hashrate by over 22%. In June, Cleanspark acquired GRIID for $155M, beginning their expansion from Georgia into Tennessee. The firm has set aggressive targets to get 400MW worth of mining equipment operational by 2026. 

1. Inflation Stalls Out

The August CPI print failed to give the Fed license to cut hard. Headline inflation fell to 2.5% but failed to show further cooling. Core CPI came in slightly above expectations and remains stuck at 3.2%. Further progress would have cleared the way for a 50 basis point cut at next week’s Fed meeting. The stagnant data makes the start of the cutting cycle much more of an executive decision based on guessing how the economy will develop. Powell is behind the 8-ball.