U.S. Treasury Secretary: Fed Under Powell to Watch AI Impact on Jobs Closely

On February 11, per CME’s FedWatch data, the probability the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by 25 basis points in March is currently 21.6%, while the chance rates remain unchanged stands at 78.4%.

Feb. 11 — Federal Reserve official Harker noted that the Fed’s interest rate policy could stay on hold for quite some time. (Xinhua Finance)

February 11th — Per Coinglass data, Bitcoin’s downturn has stabilized, with the token reclaiming the $69,000 level. However, current funding rates across major centralized (CEX) and decentralized (DEX) exchanges indicate the market remains predominantly bearish (see attached chart). **BlockBeats Note**: Funding rates are fees set by crypto exchanges to align perpetual contract prices with the underlying asset’s spot price. They function as a transfer between long and short traders—exchanges do not collect this fee. The mechanism adjusts costs or profits for position holders to keep contract prices closely tied to the underlying asset. A 0.01% funding rate is the baseline. Rates above 0.01% signal generally bullish sentiment; rates below 0.005% indicate bearish sentiment.

On February 11th: Per Bitcoin Magazine, Harvard University’s holdings of Bitcoin ETFs have surpassed the market value of its shares in Alphabet, Google’s parent company.

**February 11 Update** Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) told the All-In podcast in an interview that AI could emerge as a key cryptocurrency user in the future. Millions of AI agents might run in the background to handle tasks like funding transactions—including paying for podcasts, booking restaurants, and reserving hotels. Traditional banking systems, he noted, can’t support the high-frequency, high-value transactions these agents may execute. AI agents could also manage investment and trading activities, he added. As for a viable payment system for these agents, CZ said the space is still in its early stages, and he declined to speculate on specific crypto projects. Separately, Bitcoin and most cryptocurrencies lack privacy features, as blockchain transactions are traceable. While the crypto industry needs to prioritize enhancing privacy, privacy-focused coins currently have smaller market capitalizations overall.

On February 11, Coinbase announced in an official statement that it will launch spot trading for RaveDAO (RAVE), DeepBook (DEEP), and Walrus (WAL) on February 11, 2026.