U.S. Senator: If Powell Is Fired by Trump, It Will Trigger a Market Collapse

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expects Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda to "do the right thing" on monetary policy. When asked whether the Bank of Japan should consider consecutive interest rate hikes to address the yen's weakness, Bessent stated, "I won't tell them what to do. What I will say is that I do believe we may have reached the end of Abenomics. Abenomics is a policy designed to drive reflation." Bessent is expected to meet with Kazuo Ueda during the two-day G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, starting Monday. The remarks come as the yen fell below 160 against the U.S. dollar for the first time since Japan intervened in the foreign exchange market a month ago to prop up the yen. The U.S. also participated in that intervention, marking the first coordinated action by the U.S. and Japan to support the yen since 1998.

According to Citrini analyst Jukan, SK Hynix is working to diversify its foundry suppliers for base chips used in high-bandwidth memory (HBM), which are constructed by vertically stacking multiple memory chips. The company is reportedly considering outsourcing production of some base chips for its 7th-generation HBM, HBM4E, to Intel’s foundry. Until now, SK Hynix has relied entirely on TSMC for outsourced base chip manufacturing. This move is viewed as an effort to build a multi-supplier foundry strategy, reduce supply chain concentration on TSMC, and strengthen SK Hynix’s pricing bargaining power. According to industry sources as of August 31, SK Hynix is advancing a plan to potentially have HBM4E base chips manufactured jointly by TSMC and Intel, starting as early as the HBM4E generation. As the market expects the cost burden of HBM4E base chips to rise further, and since HBM products are largely covered by long-term supply agreements (LTAs), SK Hynix cannot immediately pass higher foundry costs to customers through price increases. Therefore, industry observers argue that if Intel ultimately joins SK Hynix’s base chip supply chain, the company will gain more options in cost competitiveness and supply stability.

According to CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost, despite Bitcoin’s 30% rally in August, combined centralized exchange (CEX) spot trading data shows that Bitcoin spot demand remains at historically low levels, comparable to the levels seen in September 2023. Taking Binance as an example, this leading CEX still boasts the highest spot trading volume in the industry, though its figure has fallen from $198 billion to $44 billion. Notably, this number is $1.6 billion higher than in July, marking the first emerging sign of stabilization. Darkfost notes that if trading volume rises in tandem with price, it will act as a strong signal indicating the start of a new Bitcoin bull market cycle.

Japan’s 10-year government bond yield rose 2.5 basis points to 2.950%, marking its highest level since September 1996.

SemiAnalysis has released a new podcast episode, noting that SK Hynix and Micron have long faced challenges in achieving the highest HBM4 speeds. In particular, SK Hynix was forced to redesign its base chips, resulting in delays in delivering HBM4 for NVIDIA’s Rubin platform. Samsung currently boasts the best HBM4 technology. Broadcom has traditionally relied heavily on Samsung for its HBM supplies. Samsung underperformed in the HBM3E generation, which put Broadcom at a disadvantage for its ASIC products. However, Samsung is now leading its competitors with HBM4, and this same supply chain dynamic has become an advantage for Jalape?o.

According to HTX market data, after a sharp morning sell-off, the crypto market has stabilized following its earlier decline. Bitcoin is now trading at $77,992.90, with a 0.47% rebound in the past hour, while Ethereum stands at $2,432.38, up 0.71% over the same period.