The Federal Reserve held interest rates at 3.50-3.75% on Wednesday, but markets moved before the decision landed. February PPI came in at +0.7% month-over-month against a 0.3% forecast, driven partly by rising oil prices amid escalating conflict involving Iran. Bitcoin dropped from $74,000 to roughly $70,000, gold fell 5% to $4,700, and the Nasdaq closed down 1.5%.
S&P 500 perpetual futures are now live on Hyperliquid after Trade[XYZ] secured a licensing deal with S&P Dow Jones Indices. Contracts settle in USDC and trade around the clock, with leverage potentially exceeding 20x. The HYPE token briefly hit a local high above $43 before retreating to near $41.
The Clarity Act has a firm Senate Banking Committee markup scheduled for the second half of April, according to Sen. Lummis. Sen. Moreno warned that failure to pass the bill by May would stall digital asset legislation indefinitely, with Congress departing for Memorial Day recess on May 21.
Kraken has frozen its IPO plans while awaiting better market conditions, despite confidentially filing a draft S-1 with the SEC in November. Meanwhile, the FTX Recovery Trust will distribute another $2.2 billion to creditors on March 31, its fourth payout under Chapter 11, processed through BitGo, Kraken, and Payoneer.
Originally reported by Decrypt.
