Tom here.

The US economy is gaining steam, and that’s bullish for Bitcoin.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell did much to assuage market fears on Wednesday, saying he had no intention of raising interest rates again despite worrying inflation numbers.

And the plunging Japanese yen, which was scaring investors, seems to be recovering — possibly off the back of an intervention from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong launched its own Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs.

Some investors were disappointed with the inflows, but analysts insist that on a relative basis, these ETFs are almost as successful as the ones launched in the US.

It’s another sign that demand for Bitcoin is strong — even if the US ETFs themselves have experienced a lull in inflows.

There’s a huge pool of untapped capital that will soon have access to the Bitcoin ETFs: retirees. And once pensions set up their buy orders, they just keep on buying forever, a former metals trader at Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse told DL News.

And what’s good for Bitcoin is good for the rest of crypto — especially Solana. The network is prized by memecoin traders, institutions, and hedge funds alike, and there are reasons to believe it could soon reach an all-time high if Bitcoin keeps trending upwards.

One project that isn’t doing well? Algorand. The blockchain was lauded by Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler while he was teaching at MIT, but 90% of its token holders are now underwater.

Interpol official vows Binance exec who escaped Nigerian custody will be ‘smoked out’

Osato delivered again this week with another superb story about Binance’s Nigerian woes.

Convicted CZ owns 100% of Binance France. Now all of EU access is under threat

French regulators might not hand Binance the necessary licence to operate within the European Union because of Zhao’s guilty plea. Great scoop from Inbar.

Karak says its $7m post-Terra funds aren’t a ‘scam or rug-pull.’ Others aren’t so sure

The firm behind DeFi protocol Karak is accused of swiping $7 million from the Terra ecosystem back in 2022. Tim lays the case out in this thorough investigation.

Post of the week

Changpeng Zhao’s sentence — four months of imprisonment — was followed by a deluge of memes from the crypto community. The number has long been used jokingly by Zhao as a shorthand for “don’t cede to fear, uncertainty, and doubt.”

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