Rising US Inflation Expectations, Deteriorating Job Prospects Could Deter Fed Rate Move This Month

January 9—Citing French media, Cryptopolitan reports a former French tax official may have misused her position to leak data on cryptocurrency holders, raising the risk of physical attacks against this group. The ex-official, Ghalia C., was convicted of aiding organized crime and is currently appealing the sentence. Investigators found she accessed a confidential tax database to collect information on potential targets—including crypto investors—and may have disclosed their locations and capital gains data. While there’s no evidence yet that she planned actual attacks on crypto holders, the case underscores the risk of tax systems becoming a source of data breaches. As European tax authorities step up oversight of crypto assets, such leaks could expose holders to greater security threats.

On January 9th, Blockstream Capital Partners (BCP) announced it has struck a deal to acquire the digital asset trading and investment arm of Numeus Group. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Upon completion, BCP plans to develop a targeted Bitcoin derivatives trading strategy focused on revenue generation—aimed at meeting institutional clients’ rising demand for crypto derivatives and volatility trading services.

**Key U.S. Economic & Policy Updates (Jan. 9)** - **8:30 a.m. ET (21:30 Beijing time):** The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will release December’s unemployment rate and non-farm payroll data. This release — a critical read on the U.S. economy — will heavily influence the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision. - **10:00 a.m. ET:** The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on the legality of Trump-era tariffs. Earlier analysis notes a ruling against the tariffs would trigger massive refunds, though these typically require years of case-by-case litigation, resulting in no immediate cash flow impact. - **12:45 p.m. ET:** U.S. Treasury Secretary Besent will deliver remarks. - **9:00 p.m. ET:** Former President Trump is scheduled to speak. ### Notes on U.S. Language Habits Adjustments: 1. **Conciseness:** Used bullet points + time stamps (standard for U.S. news briefs) instead of long paragraphs. 2. **Terminology:** Swapped "Trump's tariffs" for "Trump-era tariffs"

On January 9, per Onchain Lens monitoring, a BlackRock ETF address transferred 24,760 ETH (≈$76.6M) and 2,400 BTC (≈$217M) to Coinbase, with a total value of roughly $294M.

On January 9, stablecoin firm Rain announced a $2.5 billion funding round at a $19.5 billion valuation, per Bloomberg. The round was led by ICONIQ, with participation from Sapphire Ventures, Dragonfly, Bessemer, Lightspeed and Galaxy Ventures. To date, the company has raised more than $338 million total. Rain helps clients launch stablecoin cards on the Visa network. It plans to use the capital to expand its footprint across North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa, and also adapt to the fast-changing global regulatory landscape.

On January 9, Fund Analyst Mark Newton—who reports to Tom Lee—sent an email report noting the S&P 500 Index is poised for a "choppy" 2026. While the index’s year-end target could reach 7,300, the market may enter a consolidation phase before hitting that mark, potentially triggering a decline starting this spring. Newton projected the current rebound will continue for another 6–8 weeks before the stock market hits resistance. “This is expected to be a year of consolidation and volatility, likely kicking off in late February or early March,” he said. “At that point, we’ll start seeing stock market pressure—which may persist through the end of May. The main catalyst for this volatility is a pullback in the tech sector: leading firms like Nvidia and Microsoft are showing signs of growth stagnation after three years of extraordinary gains.” Notably, following last year’s internal viewpoint dispute at Tom Lee’s firm, Lee and his analysts have aligned closely this year. All agree the m