Barclays: Fed Seen Cutting Rates Next in March

Jan 2nd — Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, predicts former President Trump would shift U.S. tariffs from a barrier to a bargaining chip, driving the economy to post growth above 3% via tariff cuts paired with a surge in tax refunds. Inflationary pressure will act as the catalyst pushing the Trump administration to pivot from protectionism to trade moderation, leveraging already negotiated deals to lower tariffs. With that strategic goal met, the White House is now poised to ease inflation by cutting tariffs. Treasury Secretary Benson also signaled tariffs are growing less effective. Yardeni additionally warned that major geopolitical shocks — such as a worsening European situation — would render all economic forecasts obsolete. (Fx678)

Per DefiLlama data as of January 2nd, Hyperliquid’s December revenue totaled $61.24 million—down 32.4% from November’s $90.60 million.

**Jan 2nd, 2024** — Per data from The Block, spot trading volume on centralized cryptocurrency exchanges (CEX) fell to $1.13 trillion in December, marking a new low since September 2024. The figure is down 32% from November’s $1.66 trillion and 49% from October’s $2.23 trillion. Binance dominated CEX trading volume last month with $367.35 billion, followed by ByBit, HTX, Gate, and Coinbase. Analysts attribute the decline to seasonal market sentiment, reduced volatility, and year-end position adjustments. Decentralized exchange (DEX) activity also dipped slightly, with total volume dropping to $245 billion — 20% lower than November’s $306 billion and 46% down from October’s $451.2 billion. Uniswap remains the DEX leader, posting $60 billion in monthly volume.

On January 2, Onchain Lens data indicates a whale withdrew 800 BTC (valued at $70.9 million) from Bitfinex in the past 24 hours. Over the past six days, this whale has accumulated 1,000 BTC, totaling $89.04 million in value.

On January 2nd, on-chain analyst Ai Auntie (@ai_9684xtpa) reported that whale address 0x218 has boosted its ETH short position to 18,875.18 coins over the past 30 minutes—valued at $57.32 million. The whale’s average entry price for the position is $3,011.83. While it currently holds an unrealized loss of $476,000, it has already earned $537,000 in funding fees.

**Hong Kong Influencer Master Chu Charged with 3 Money Laundering Counts in JPEX Fraud Case** Per Hong Kong’s *Wen Wei Po* on January 2, unlicensed virtual asset trading platform JPEX was exposed in a 2023 fraud scandal involving celebrities and influencers, leading to investor losses. In the latest update, Chu Ka-fai—known online as “Master Chu”—has been charged with three counts of money laundering and granted an extension of bail. Reports show that between November 25, 2020, and August 30, 2023, he processed four transactions totaling over HK$18.8 million (roughly US$2.4 million) through accounts at four Hong Kong banks: ZhongAn Bank, Mox Bank, Livi Bank, and WeLab Bank. ### Notes on U.S. language adaptation: 1. **Conciseness**: Short, punchy structure (no unnecessary formality). 2. **Common terminology**: Used *influencer* (U.S. preferred for “internet celebrity”) and *scandal* (clearer than “fraud exposure”). 3. **Contextual clarity**: Added USD conversion (rele