The Federal Reserve voted on July 29 to keep the discount rate unchanged at 3.75%, even as the federal funds rate decision showed a 9-3 split. Beth Hammack, Neel Kashkari and Lorie Logan supported a 25 basis point hike, citing inflation that remains above the Fed’s 2% target. Chair Kevin Warsh said in the meeting minutes that tighter monetary policy may be needed if inflation does not ease. The split decision highlights a cautious stance on the discount rate and deeper debate over the policy path ahead. Markets are now watching the next meeting, set for Sept. 15-16, for any increase in support for a rate hike.

A White House crypto gathering set the tone for the day’s market and policy headlines. U.S. President Donald Trump urged Congress to move the CLARITY Act forward, calling it a powerful market-structure bill, while saying Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig is working to bring Hyperliquid into the U.S. in a fully compliant way. HYPE rose more than 20% over 24 hours following those remarks. The event came ahead of the first meeting of the CFTC’s Innovation Advisory Committee, which is scheduled to cover crypto regulation, AI in trading and compliance, and prediction markets. At the same time, Coinbase said it has integrated Hyperliquid into Base App to offer perpetual futures trading to eligible users with up to 50x leverage in supported jurisdictions. Outside the policy story, VanEck said Bitcoin has triggered eight of its 12 capitulation indicators, suggesting the market is approaching historical bear-market bottom zones, though not necessarily a confirmed bottom. PANews’ daily roundup also highlighted Unitree’s launch of a 7-axis bionic robotic arm starting at 9,900 yuan, fresh ETF flow data, new funding deals across AI infrastructure, and several project updates spanning Berachain, Nethermind, Aligned, Linera and Flop Labs.

The U.S. Treasury jolted markets by doubling liquidity buybacks for 10- to 30-year Treasurys from a maximum of $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation, a move that helped pull long-dated yields lower after a sharp bond selloff. The 30-year yield fell by more than 9 basis points on the day, while the 10-year yield slipped back toward 4.64%. The dollar index dropped 0.86% to 98.69, spot gold surged through $4,500 an ounce, and Bitcoin briefly climbed to $70,064, its highest level since June 2, according to OKX data. At the same time, minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July meeting struck a hawkish tone. Rates were left unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75%, but three voters — Logan, Hammack and Kashkari — dissented in favor of an immediate 25-basis-point hike. The minutes also showed officials discussing AI-driven inflation pressure in chips, steel, power and data-center materials, while warning that aggressive borrowing and overly optimistic profit assumptions could leave AI valuations vulnerable. Equity leadership shifted sharply. A successful Phase 3 personalized mRNA cancer vaccine trial from Moderna and Merck ignited a rally in drugmakers and biotech, while semiconductor, storage and optical-networking names tied to AI momentum selling continued to weaken. Crypto-linked stocks also jumped, helped by stronger Bitcoin prices and comments tied to Hyperliquid’s possible compliant U.S. entry.

A dense 24-hour stretch across crypto and macro markets brought a mix of token airdrops, policy signals, whale liquidations, and AI-related capital flows. Binance Alpha opened the third round of its STABLE airdrop, while Berachain rebranded its stablecoin HONEY to Bera USD, with no contract change but a required re-signing for some permits because of EIP-712 domain separation. In macro markets, the U.S. Treasury said it will at least double the size of liquidity-support buybacks for long-dated nominal coupon securities, lifting the cap per operation from $2 billion to at least $4 billion starting Sept. 9, 2026. After the announcement, Bitcoin briefly rose to $69,749, its highest level since June 2, even as Bitfinex said the rally still lacks stablecoin support. On the regulatory side, the CFTC secured supplemental consent orders against former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang, while also scheduling the first meeting of its Innovation Advisory Committee and seeking public comment on computing-power derivatives contracts. In markets, major leveraged positions were wiped out across BTC and ETH, including a 1,800 BTC short that was fully liquidated. Hyperliquid’s HYPE token climbed more than 20% after President Donald Trump said CFTC Chair Michael S. Selig was working to bring the platform into the U.S. in a fully compliant way, even as FalconX and Multicoin Capital moved large amounts of HYPE to exchanges.

Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting showed that several officials leaned toward raising interest rates last month, with many policymakers saying tighter monetary policy could be needed if inflation fails to move lower. The discussion took place around the July 28-29 meeting, where uncertainty remained a central concern for officials. The minutes said participants reiterated that their reading of incoming data would remain an important part of policy deliberations. The document also showed dissent within the committee. Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari voted against the decision and favored a 25-basis-point rate increase. Kansas City Fed President Schmid and St. Louis Fed President Musalem, who did not have voting rights in July, said they would have supported a hike if they had been able to vote. Most of the policy debate centered on competing inflation outlooks. While most participants expected inflation to gradually ease through the rest of the year as the effects of tariffs and higher energy prices faded, many also said inflation could remain elevated for longer. Officials described the inflation outlook as highly uncertain and said the renewed escalation of the Iran war had made that outlook less clear. They also said the labor market remained stable, supply and demand were broadly balanced, and economic growth stayed robust, with strong capital investment and productivity gains.

Minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s July meeting showed that several officials leaned toward raising interest rates last month, while many said policy may need to be tightened further if inflation does not move lower. The Federal Open Market Committee, or FOMC, voted 9-3 to keep the benchmark rate unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75% at the July meeting. Logan, Hammack and Kashkari dissented and preferred a 25 basis point increase. Two regional Fed presidents who were not voting members in July, Schmid and Musalem, later said they also would have supported a hike had they been able to vote. The minutes said uncertainty continued to weigh heavily on officials’ judgment, and participants repeated that their reading of incoming data would remain a key part of policy discussions. Much of the meeting’s debate focused on differing views over the path of inflation. According to the minutes, most participants expected inflation to ease gradually over the rest of the year as the effects of tariffs and earlier energy price increases fade, though many also said the risk of inflation staying elevated remained present.

The week of Aug. 17-23 is packed with events that could draw close attention from crypto traders, policymakers, and market infrastructure operators. On Aug. 19, President Donald Trump is expected to attend a White House gathering of crypto and prediction-market executives, with CEOs from Coinbase, Ripple, Gemini, Robinhood, Polymarket, and Kalshi also set to join, according to CoinDesk. The event is expected to warm up the first formal meeting of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s newly formed Innovation Advisory Committee. A day later, the Federal Reserve will release minutes from its July policy meeting, where the Federal Open Market Committee voted 9-3 to keep the federal funds rate at 3.5% to 3.75%. Markets will be looking for clues on how many officials saw a case for a rate hike and what evidence could shift the broader committee. Elsewhere, South Korea will roll out tighter rules for single-stock leveraged products and expand review standards for crypto operator registration. The same week also includes a series of exchange and network updates, including Binance delistings and precision changes, Coinbase product launches and support changes, Upbit service suspensions, a planned bitcoin eCash hard fork, and Manus data migration steps tied to its return as an independent company.

Fresh U.S. inflation readings have weakened the case made by hawkish Federal Reserve officials that rates must rise to bring prices under control, making a September hold appear increasingly likely. Since taking over the Fed in May, Warsh has been navigating a difficult policy setting, and the latest macro data may give the central bank more room to wait. The U.S. Labor Department said on Thursday that the July Producer Price Index was unexpectedly flat month over month. Data released a day earlier also showed that the July Consumer Price Index rose only slightly after declining in June. Cleveland Fed President Hammack, one of three policymakers who dissented when the Fed held rates unchanged last month, reiterated on Thursday that action should be taken now to return inflation to the 2% target faster than the current path implies. At the same time, political pressure from the White House has continued, with Trump calling for sharp rate cuts and blaming Warsh’s “hostile” colleagues for blocking them. Even so, CME FedWatch pricing still shows investors see the odds of a policy rate increase by year-end at above 90%.