Lookonchain APP

App Store

Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Report: Plan to Stop Balance Sheet Reduction at Appropriate Time

2025.02.08 00:40:24

February 8th. The Federal Reserve issued its semiannual monetary policy report. It was mentioned in the report that the Fed is continuously and significantly reducing its holdings of U.S. Treasury securities and agency securities in a predictable manner. Since June 2024, the Fed has decreased its holdings of securities by $297 billion, and the total holdings of securities have declined by approximately $2 trillion since the start of the balance sheet reduction. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) expressed its intention to maintain the level of securities holdings at a level that is consistent with the efficient implementation of monetary policy under the ample-reserve regime. In order to ensure a smooth transition, the FOMC slowed down the pace of securities holdings reduction in June 2024 and intends to stop reducing holdings when the reserve balance is slightly above the level that it deems to be consistent with ample reserves. Driven by a strong labor market and rising real wages, consumer spending has been continuously growing vigorously. Meanwhile, real business fixed investment has increased moderately. In the housing market, new home construction has been strong, but existing home sales remain sluggish as mortgage rates remain high. Unlike the GDP situation, manufacturing output has remained relatively stable. This is partly due to the softness in production in interest rate-sensitive industries. The U.S. financial system remains sound and resilient. Valuations in various markets, such as stocks, corporate debt, and residential real estate, are still relatively high compared to fundamentals. The ratio of total household and nonfinancial business debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) continues to decline and is currently at historically low levels compared to the past two decades. The capital levels reported by most banks are still well above regulatory requirements. Although the reliance on uninsured deposits has decreased, some banks still face significant fair value losses on fixed-rate assets. Regarding funding risks, although the 2023-2024 Securities and Exchange Commission reforms to money market funds (MMFs) have partially alleviated the vulnerability of major MMFs, other lightly regulated short-term investment instruments still remain susceptible to shocks and lack transparency. At the same time, the asset size of these instruments continues to grow. Meanwhile, hedge funds seem to have high and concentrated leverage ratios. (Jinse)
Relevant content

Chair of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee: SEC and CFTC’s crypto regulatory actions remain insufficient, and he hopes the CLARITY Act will be passed after the midterm elections.

U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill stated that while the SEC and CFTC have taken steps to advance crypto regulation, these actions still fall short of the long-term stability congressional legislation can deliver. After the Senate failed to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act last month, the two regulators unveiled related rulemaking plans, but Hill argues permanent legislative changes are still needed to ensure the U.S. retains its leadership in digital assets and blockchain technology. In an interview with Fox Business, Hill said he remains hopeful Congress will pass the CLARITY Act during the post-midterm election lame-duck session. Between the November election and the swearing-in of the new 2027 Congress, the Senate will only have 22 legislative days. Election results could sway lawmakers’ voting stances on the bill. The two regulators currently have a combined seven vacant commissioner seats: after Hester Peirce announced her resignation last week, the SEC is left with only Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioner Mark Uyeda, while CFTC Chairman Michael Selig is the agency’s sole serving commissioner.

6 minutes ago

HyperLabs has completed the unstaking redemption of 3.75 million HYPE, equivalent to approximately $332 million.

According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin’s monitoring, the 3.75 million HYPE tokens (valued at $332 million) that HyperLabs, the development team behind Hyperliquid, applied to unstake seven days ago have been successfully redeemed just two minutes ago.

6 minutes ago

Escalating tensions in the Middle East boost safe-haven demand, with the US Dollar Index approaching its year-to-date high.

Against the backdrop of rising oil prices and further escalating tensions in the Middle East, investors flocked to safe-haven assets, leading to a notable strengthening of the U.S. dollar on Wednesday. Following an increase in Iranian attacks targeting vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) rose as much as 0.5%, moving in lockstep with oil prices and now approaching its year-to-date high. Among G10 currencies, nearly all have fallen against the U.S. dollar, with the euro posting the weakest performance, underperforming other major currencies. Catherine Brooks, head of research at XTB, said in a report: "The U.S. dollar is acting as a counter-cyclical asset, attracting safe-haven inflows as other asset classes are sold off." (Jinshi)

6 minutes ago

Coinbase will list PONS for spot trading.

Coinbase will launch spot trading for Pons (PONS) on October 7. Should liquidity conditions be met and trading be supported in relevant regions, the PONS-USD trading pair will open today.

6 minutes ago

New York Fed: U.S. one-year inflation expectations rise to 3.9%, hitting a new high in over three years.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Wednesday survey shows that U.S. consumers’ one-year ahead inflation expectations rose sharply in September, hitting their highest level in over three years, while households’ views on both current and future financial conditions deteriorated. Respondents projected a 3.9% inflation rate one year from now, up from 3.6% in August, marking the highest reading since May 2023. Three-year inflation expectations climbed from 3.2% to 3.3%, while five-year inflation expectations held steady at 3%. The NY Fed survey also noted that in September, households downgraded their assessments of current and future financial situations and perceived that accessing credit had become more difficult. However, households’ concerns about failing to repay debts on time actually eased. Labor market expectations saw some improvement: compared with August, respondents viewed the probability of a one-year ahead unemployment rate rise as lower, their worries about involuntary unemployment over the next year weakened, and their confidence in securing a new job if they lost their current role increased.

6 minutes ago

Hunter Biden blamed market makers for the sharp drop in the LAPTOP token following its launch, and denied that his team had cashed out.

Hunter Biden, son of former US President Joe Biden, published a post revealing independent investigation findings into the LAPTOP token launch, stating he has hired forensics firm Groom Lake to review all transactions on the token’s launch day. He denied his team engaged in insider selling, noting founder tokens remain in the same wallet and have not moved since launch; his personal tokens are locked for six months, then will vest over two years. Citing the investigation, he said Market Maker 1 held $500,000 in startup capital but only deployed roughly $5,200 and fewer than 30,000 tokens to the liquidity pool—just 0.003% of total supply. The extremely low liquidity pushed the token’s price from $0.05 to around $317 in under two minutes, before plunging 98% within an hour. 84 seconds after the price peaked, Market Maker 1 withdrew its funds during the sell-off, draining on-chain liquidity available to absorb sales at near-current prices from $16,157 to zero. He claimed Market Maker 1 earned roughly $686,000 from its DEX position, while Market Maker 2 netted over $2.1 million from related DEX trades, and argued the market makers responsible for the launch issues should repurchase and burn the tokens. He said he takes full ultimate responsibility, will not exit the project, and plans to burn most unclaimed tokens from the initial airdrop next week—this airdrop made up 10% of the total token supply.

6 minutes ago

Popular tokens

BitcoinEthereumHyperliquidSolanaTRONBNBTetherAaveXRPPepeFartcoinOndoJupiterUniswapBonkPendleEthenaArbitrumAvalancheLidoChainlinkPolygonDogecoinCardano