Point of View: The Federal Reserve Has Over-Eased, with a 65% Chance of Stagflation in the United States

Robinhood chain issuance platform Long.xyz stated in a post that its tokenized stock trading volume on Robinhood Chain has exceeded $1 billion, reaching a new milestone. Since Robinhood Chain went live, it has accounted for 15% of the total trading volume of tokenized stock decentralized exchanges (DEX) on the chain. Meanwhile, despite Robinhood Chain’s Total Value Locked (TVL) having grown 10-fold, Long.xyz still makes up 10% of the total tokenized stock TVL on the chain.

As Hunter Biden, son of former US President Joe Biden, prepares to launch the meme coin LAPTOP, some crypto traders are questioning his personal background and motives for issuing the token. In 2024, Hunter Biden was convicted on three felony gun charges and pleaded guilty to nine tax offenses, before receiving a full pardon from his father, former US President Joe Biden. He also testified under oath that he owed approximately $17 million to his former law firm Winston & Strawn. The firm sued him last year over unpaid legal fees, and his lawyer stated in April this year that Hunter lives overseas and is "unable to pay". Some traders have linked this financial situation to his timing of launching the meme coin. Hunter himself has previously said he entered the crypto industry because he is interested in the technology and "wanted to make some money". Hunter Biden has recently publicly supported the crypto sector multiple times, stating that "decentralized digital currencies and blockchain are an inevitable future", and when asked about his views on cryptocurrency, he directly replied "Hyperliquid". He also said he hopes to put his artworks on-chain and accept Bitcoin payments, adding that Andreas Antonopoulos' book *The Internet of Money* "opened his eyes". The performance of LAPTOP after its launch remains uncertain. TRUMP has fallen from a January 2025 high of $74.34 to $2.27, while MELANIA has dropped 94% to $0.11. Additionally, Hunter Biden has recently stated he has not decided whether to run in the 2028 US presidential election, but said he "might have to run" if he receives support from billionaire John Catsimatidis.

Hunter Biden, son of former US President Joe Biden, confirmed he will launch the meme coin LAPTOP on the Base blockchain on September 9. He shared the token code and a 31-second Fox News clip on X, which has garnered over 1.7 million views. However, the crypto community’s reaction has been largely mocking and skeptical. Some users point to a contradiction: Hunter Biden previously criticized Trump-linked crypto projects, yet he is now launching his own meme coin. Traders have suffered losses from numerous political and celebrity meme coins before—for example, the TRUMP and MELANIA coins have both seen their market caps drop by over 90% since launch. While LAPTOP plans to allocate 20% of its total supply to airdrops to compensate some TRUMP coin holders, this has not eased market concerns. The timing of the launch has also become a point of contention. Some traders argue that releasing LAPTOP’s code two days in advance gives automated trading bots and front-running traders time to prepare, putting regular users at a disadvantage. Within minutes of Hunter Biden’s post, multiple fake tokens with the same name emerged across networks. Other traders view the launch as Base’s move to compete for meme coin trading volume, questioning that it is chasing market hype rather than listing based on project quality. Kraken briefly posted a promotion for LAPTOP’s launch before deleting it, a move welcomed by some community users; Pump.fun, meanwhile, continues to promote the token, advertising a 0.1% trading fee. Political and celebrity-themed tokens often attract initial buying, but their ability to sustain funding afterward is highly uncertain.

According to The Wall Street Journal, smart ring maker Oura has listed Robinhood as an underwriter in its IPO filings, marking Robinhood’s first formal participation in IPO underwriting. Oura’s upcoming IPO is expected to command a valuation exceeding $11 billion. Joint lead underwriters include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Allen & Co., and Jefferies, with Robinhood ranking last among the 18 underwriting institutions. Robinhood obtained regulatory approval for its underwriting business in June this year. As an underwriter, Robinhood is expected to gain greater influence over how many shares Oura ultimately allocates to its clients. Currently, hot IPOs typically prioritize allocations to institutional investors, leaving retail investors with smaller share allocations than their actual demand through brokerages. The two firms already have existing ties: Oura has invited former Robinhood finance chief Jason Warnick to join its board, while Robinhood’s closed-end fund launched in March this year has invested in Oura, which accounts for 3.64% of the fund’s assets. However, Georgetown University finance professor Reena Aggarwal believes Robinhood’s initial influence in the IPO underwriting market may still be limited.

U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 162,000 in August, far exceeding the market consensus forecast of 55,000, marking the largest gain since March, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%. Following the data release, market pricing pushed the probability of a 25-basis-point rate hike by the Federal Reserve in September to around 60%. UBS noted that for investment portfolios, it is more critical to consider whether rate hikes stem from economic strength or inflationary pressures than the hikes themselves. The Swiss bank remains bullish on global equities, advising investors to buy the dips amid volatility while earnings outlooks stay robust, and favoring themes including AI, power and resources, and longevity. On bonds, UBS no longer recommends locking in yields on short- and medium-term bonds as cash substitutes, but views rising yields on high-quality long-term bonds as an allocation opportunity. The bank added that tightening policy amid a strong economy could extend the U.S. dollar’s bull cycle via capital inflows and relative economic performance, advising investors to reduce excess dollar positions when the currency strengthens. Gold may face near-term pressure from rising real interest rates and a stronger U.S. dollar, but remains a long-term hedge and diversification tool; investors can wait for a pullback in gold prices to build positions. (Jinshi)

Bitcoin treasury firm Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich issued a statement addressing controversies over the company’s executive compensation plan and its ties with shareholder MMXX Ventures, admitting the firm failed to sufficiently explain the 10th new share subscription rights incentive plan and MMXX’s organizational structure. He noted that he is a significant but non-controlling shareholder of MMXX’s parent company and did not participate in the parent’s transaction decisions. The incentive plan was launched in December 2022, with an incentive pool equal to 20% of Metaplanet’s fully diluted share capital. After the company shifted to a Bitcoin treasury strategy in April 2024, each new stock issuance to purchase BTC diluted existing shareholders while expanding the subscription rights available to Gerovich. In August, Metaplanet fixed the incentive pool at 319.464 million shares and imposed a five-year lock-up period, but did not restore the pool’s size to its level at the time of the Bitcoin strategy’s launch. On August 28, Gerovich exercised 92,000 subscription rights to acquire 64 million new shares, bringing his total holdings to 79.5875 million shares, or roughly 6.2% of the company’s total share capital. Some shareholders still demand disclosure of MMXX’s owners and the cancellation of the additional 273 million share incentive quota. Metaplanet’s stock dropped 7% on Monday, with its year-to-date decline reaching 43%, while the Nikkei 225 index rose 31% over the same period.