Fed's Bostic: Further Rate Cuts Would Pose Risks to Inflation and Inflation Expectations

On December 17th, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Hasset’s odds of becoming the next Fed Chair have overtaken those of former Fed Governor Powell, retaking the top spot in nomination probabilities. On Polymarket, Trump’s odds of nominating Powell as Fed Chair have fallen to 30%, while Hasset’s have climbed to 52%. On Kalshi, Powell’s nomination odds are down to 31%, with Hasset’s at 50%. Earlier, U.S. Treasury Secretary Benson noted there could be one or two additional Fed Chair interviews this week. Trump has been direct in asking policy-related questions during the sessions. Both Powell and Hasset are “extremely qualified,” Benson said. He also pushed back against the idea that Hasset is ineligible to serve at the Fed, and rejected the view that a new chair would erode the central bank’s independence.

On December 17, MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor shared a message: “Bitcoin’s Quantum Leap: Quantum computing won’t crack Bitcoin—instead, it’ll make the cryptocurrency stronger. As the network upgrades, active Bitcoin holdings will be migrated to more secure addresses, while lost Bitcoin will be permanently frozen. Enhanced security and a reduced supply will make Bitcoin more powerful.” ### Notes on American English adjustments: 1. **Clarity & Accuracy**: Added *MicroStrategy* (Saylor’s actual company—"Strategy" is incomplete for U.S. audiences). 2. **Natural Flow**: Used contractions (*won’t, it’ll*) common in casual/tech discourse; replaced rigid commas with em dashes for smoother contrast. 3. **Precision**: Swapped "moved" for *migrated* (tech-specific term) and "bitcoins" for *Bitcoin holdings* (standard phrasing). 4. **Brevity**: Condensed repetitive "Bitcoin therefore becomes more powerful" to a tight, punchy clause. 5. **Date Format**: Added *On* (standard for U

On December 17th, Aave founder and CEO Stani.eth took to social media to outline the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol’s multi-decade vision: onboarding trillions of dollars in assets to Aave and bringing millions of new users onto blockchain networks. Stani.eth noted this has been Aave’s most successful year to date, with peak deposits hitting $75 billion, $885 million in generated fees (accounting for 52% of all DeFi protocol fees—more than the sum of its next five competitors combined), and a current scale comparable to the top 50 banks in the U.S. Aave also holds 59% of the DeFi lending market share and 61% of all active DeFi loans. Aave’s 2024 strategy centers on three core pillars: Aave V4, Horizon, and the Aave App. Aave V4—a full redesign of the protocol—will position Aave as infrastructure for all financial activities, enabling it to support trillions in assets. By 2026, the team plans to partner with fintech firms, DAOs, and other stakeholders to steadily grow to

On December 17, per monitoring from Hyperinsight (source: https://t.me/HyperInsight), the "Big Brother Whale" once again boosted their ETH long position—adding 4,400 ETH valued at ~$12.95 million, with a liquidation price of $2,720. To date, the whale has racked up $22.9 million in accumulated losses on the Hyperliquid platform.

On December 17th, Coinglass data shows mainstream CEX/DEX funding rates have shifted following a 2-day market rebound: the funding rate for Binance’s BTC perpetual contract has flipped from negative to neutral. Specific funding rates for major coins are detailed in the attached chart. BlockBeats Note: A funding rate is a fee set by crypto trading platforms to align perpetual contract prices with underlying asset values. It facilitates fund exchanges between long and short traders—**the platform does not collect this fee**. The rate adjusts traders’ holding costs or profits to keep contract prices near underlying asset levels. Key Funding Rate Context: - 0.01% = baseline rate - >0.01% = bullish market sentiment - <0.005% = bearish market sentiment

On December 17th, Coinglass data shows that if Bitcoin breaks above $89,000, total short liquidation intensity across major centralized exchanges (CEXs) will reach $702 million. Conversely, if Bitcoin falls below $85,000, total long liquidation intensity for these major CEXs will hit $1.244 billion. BlockBeats Note: Liquidation charts do not show the exact number of contracts to be liquidated or their precise value. Instead, the bars on these charts reflect the relative importance of each liquidation cluster compared to adjacent ones—meaning "intensity." In short, the charts indicate how strongly a price level will react when hit: a taller "liquidation bar" signals a more intense price response driven by liquidity flows.