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On September 10th, European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde emphasized the uncertainty of the outlook at her post-policy press conference. Following Thursdays hawkish statement, financial markets are now almost evenly divided on whether the ECB will raise interest rates again next month. The ECB raised rates by 25 basis points to 2.5% on Thursday, in line with expectations. However, according to LSEG data, the probability of a rate hike on October 29th is currently 49%; if not, the probability of a hike before December 17th is 89%, and the probability of the deposit rate reaching 3% before Christmas is 36%. ECB staff raised their inflation forecasts for 2027 and 2028, citing inflationary pressures from the Middle East conflict, and also raised their GDP growth forecasts for 2026 and 2027, citing "the eurozone economys resilience exceeding expectations." The ECB stated that the outlook remains highly uncertain, a point Lagarde attempted to convey at her post-policy press conference. She said the uncertainty is so great that the situation could change overnight—for example, with rising diesel prices. "We simply cannot predict what will happen next," Lagarde said.U.S. existing home sales totaled 3.98 million units annualized in August, in line with expectations and down from 4.06 million units in the previous month.US existing home sales fell 2% month-over-month in August, compared with a previous reading of -1.70%.U.S. wholesale sales rose 0.8% month-on-month in July, with the previous figure revised from -3.00% to -2.9%.Gold prices fell more than 1% on Thursday as strong U.S. inflation data and rising oil prices increased market bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike next week. Kyle Rodda, senior financial markets analyst at Capital.com, said the producer price index data tells us that underlying inflation in the U.S. economy is picking up, partly due to rising energy costs. U.S. producer price increases in August were largely in line with expectations, but energy prices rebounded. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, traders now expect a 70% probability of a rate hike next week, up from 62% before the data release. However, most economists surveyed by Reuters expect the Fed to keep rates unchanged at its September 15-16 meeting and for the remainder of the year. A stronger dollar makes dollar-denominated gold more expensive for holders of other currencies, while rising yields on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds further pressured gold prices. Rodda added that higher bond yields reflect more persistent and higher inflationary pressures from rising oil prices, which also contributed to the decline in gold prices. Rising bond yields typically increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets, thus putting downward pressure on gold.

California’s DFPI Investigating Multiple Crypto Lending Companies

Jul 14, 2022 14:28

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The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI), which regulates the activities of state-licensed financial institutions such as banks and premium finance businesses, has announced that it is investigating whether businesses that suspended customer withdrawals and transfers broke any laws.


More specifically, the government is looking at a number of cryptocurrency businesses with U.S. headquarters after some reputable lenders permanently stopped allowing transfers and withdrawals between user accounts.

Accounts for crypto assets that pay interest

In particular, the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation is concentrating on "multiple companies" that provide customers with interest-bearing crypto asset accounts, also known as crypto-interest accounts, as well as service providers who "may not have adequately disclosed risks customers face when they deposit crypto-assets onto [lenders'] platforms."


To ascertain if they are breaking any laws that fall within the purview of the Department is the main goal of the inquiry.


The DFPI previously emphasized that providers of crypto-interest accounts are not subject to the same regulations and safeguards as banks and credit unions, which is particularly concerning in light of some platforms' restrictions on customers' ability to withdraw money from and transfer funds among their accounts.


Because of this, the agency has advised customers to proceed with "great care" before answering any inquiries about investments or financial services.


Also pointing to two cease and desist orders it recently sent to BlockFi and Voyager Digital to suspend their sales in California, DFPI has shown how certain crypto-interest account providers have been promoting unregistered securities.

securing customer property

Following Voyager Digital, the second well-known cryptocurrency business to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in recent weeks, DFPI made its statement. The Toronto-based company calculates that it has between $1 and $10 billion in assets, over 100,000 creditors, and liabilities of the same amount.


According to Voyager Digital, the action is a part of a "Plan of Reorganization" that intends to provide customers access to their accounts once again. Customers will have the option of receiving cryptocurrency, money recovered from Three Arrows Capital, common shares in the newly reorganized business, and Voyager tokens.


Due to worries about liquidity, Celsius (CEL) has stopped withdrawals and transfers since June 12. There are rumors that the management of the firm has been discussing Chapter 11 bankruptcy with attorneys.


As it faces with the potential of bankruptcy, the business is presently seeking restructuring guidance from the advising firm Alvarez & Marsal.


Additionally, the turbulent market circumstances last week caused the Singapore-based cryptocurrency platform Vauld to stop operations. The business instantly halted all trading, deposits, and withdrawals, and said that, up until further notice, it would only accept client deposits for its collateralized loans product.


Currently, numerous platforms have had client money frozen for many weeks while the future of their depositors' assets is still unknown.