Fed's Harker: Rates Can Come Down, But Not Looking to Make Big Preemptive Cuts Before Seeing Inflation Easing

February 27 – The People's Bank of China (PBOC) announced that starting March 2, 2026, it will cut the foreign exchange risk reserve ratio for forward forex sales from 20% to 0. The move aims to promote foreign exchange market development and support businesses in managing exchange rate risks. Going forward, the PBOC will continue guiding financial institutions to optimize exchange rate risk hedging services for enterprises and maintain the RMB exchange rate’s basic stability at a reasonable and balanced level.

Onchain Lens data shows that on February 27, a large OTC whale transferred 23,500 ETH to FalconX—this move is tied to selling activity and loan repayment, with the ETH valued at roughly $47.47 million. As of now, the whale’s holdings include: - 4,000 cbBTC (worth ~$269 million) - 120,380 stETH (~$243.27 million) - 29,727 WETH (~$60.16 million) Additionally, the whale has borrowed 97.26 million USDT from Aave.

Feb. 27 — Semafor, an American financial outlet, reported Tuesday citing people familiar with the matter that PayPal is not currently in talks to sell itself to Stripe or any other company. The payments giant has also been working with investment banks for months to prepare for potential activist shareholder campaigns or hostile takeover bids, the sources added. The move follows a steep drop in PayPal’s stock price, which has management concerned the company could become vulnerable to such threats, the sources said. Investment bankers first began advising PayPal during the tenure of former CEO Alex Chriss, who was dismissed earlier this year.

On February 27, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Federal Reserve is secretly mounting a legal challenge in response to two subpoenas issued by U.S. prosecutor Jeanine Pirro as part of her criminal investigation into Jerome Powell. Pirro, a long-time ally of former President Donald Trump, launched the probe to review Powell’s alleged false statements to Congress last summer regarding the Fed’s renovation project. This prompted Powell to issue an unprecedented public response: in a January 11 video address, he said the investigation was a pretext for Trump’s ongoing pressure on the Fed to cut interest rates and undermine the central bank’s independence. In the confidential proceeding, the Fed is seeking a judge to quash the subpoenas to reduce or eliminate its obligation to respond. Specific legal arguments have not been disclosed. It is not uncommon in high-profile investigations for subpoena recipients to challenge the scope of a prosecutor’s requests or whether privileg

February 27 — Blockspace-cited sources report Magic Eden will close its Bitcoin and EVM markets and cease support for its multi-chain wallet. The platform is expected to announce a phased withdrawal of these services as early as Friday, with the Bitcoin and EVM markets shutting down in the first week of March. Shortly after, Magic Eden plans to discontinue its cross-chain wallet service: the wallet will shift to asset-export-only mode in mid-March before fully closing in early April. Notably, Magic Eden will continue supporting NFTs and assets on Solana, sources clarified.

On February 27, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) posted on social media, noting that one of the biggest challenges facing cryptocurrency is whether artificial intelligence (AI) will adopt it. He posed a key question: If a ChatGPT or Claude instance needs additional computing power, will it pay via bank transfer, credit card, or cryptocurrency? The traditional financial system has a natural barrier for AI payments: AI lacks a passport, address, Social Security number, or even a name, so it cannot complete the KYC (Know Your Customer) process. By contrast, cryptocurrency is inherently digital and permissionless—AI can directly access the blockchain, making it a more suitable payment method for AI. Another possibility is the "agency model," where each AI is treated as a human agent: the human completes KYC and is liable for the AI’s actions. This model also raises legal challenges, namely who is responsible for the AI’s conduct. Either way, integrating AI with transaction a