ChainCatcher message, Federal Reserve Governor Cook stated that the scale and timing of interest rate cuts will depend on the upcoming data, economic outlook, and the balance of risks; the policy is not predetermined. The interest rate cuts so far are an important step in easing policy restrictions.

ChainCatcher news, Polymarket data shows that the probability of former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh being appointed as U.S. Treasury Secretary by Trump has risen to 46%, maintaining the top position; the probability of Scott Bessent being appointed has dropped to 27%, while Howard Lutnick's appointment probability has decreased to 9%.The total amount wagered on this event exceeds $2 million.

ChainCatcher news, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda stated that if the economic and price trends align with forecasts, the Bank of Japan will continue to raise policy interest rates and adjust the level of monetary support. The timing of interest rate hikes will depend on the economic, price, and financial outlook. Vigilance must be maintained regarding various risks, including trends in overseas markets. (Jin Ten)

ChainCatcher News, President-elect Trump is considering a new candidate for Treasury Secretary: including former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh and Wall Street billionaire Marc Rowan.Outsiders initially expected Trump to choose Howard Lutnick, CEO of Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald, or Scott Bessent, former fund manager for George Soros.However, Trump has been re-evaluating the top two candidates and has slowed down his selection process, with expectations that he will invite candidates to meet with him at Mar-a-Lago this week.

ChainCatcher news, according to foreign media reports, Trump has chosen North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum to lead the Department of the Interior, a move that puts one of Trump's former main competitors in charge of the department.Governor Burgum of North Dakota became a self-made billionaire after selling his software company, which is a factor that helped him build a relationship with Trump, who has viewed Burgum as a potential opponent in the 2024 campaign.If approved by the Senate, Burgum will manage over 500 million acres of federal land, as well as the fossil fuels and minerals beneath it, making him a key component of Trump's promise to increase oil and gas production.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, Federal Reserve Governor Cook stated that if the progress of inflation decline stalls, it may require the Federal Reserve to pause interest rate cuts. If the labor market shows signs of weakness, gradually lowering interest rates would be appropriate. The labor market has rebalanced, overall cooling down, and inflation has made "considerable progress."

ChainCatcher news, the Governor of the Bank of France, Villeroy, stated that Bitcoin is still a high-risk asset.

ChainCatcher news, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller expressed skepticism about whether the U.S. payment system needs a central bank digital currency (CBDC) during the 2024 Clearinghouse Annual Meeting held on November 12. He questioned whether there are problems within the system that a CBDC could solve.He stated, "In a speech I gave in August 2021, I asked, what problem does a CBDC solve? In other words, what market failures or inefficiencies require this specific intervention? Over three years later, I still have not heard a satisfactory answer regarding CBDCs."Waller advocated for market-driven solutions, emphasizing the benefits of private sector innovation in the payment system through competition.He noted that the private sector, driven by profit and competition, often makes better decisions about which technologies are worth investing in and which may not meet consumer needs.Waller further stated that the government's role should remain supportive rather than directly competing with private payment innovations until there is a clear demand that the private sector cannot meet.

ChainCatcher message, Federal Reserve Governor Waller stated that stablecoins are essentially a synthetic dollar, and stablecoins could bring benefits to the financial system but must be regulated to address the risk of runs.

ChainCatcher news, according to the U.S. political news site Politico, California Governor Newsom convened a legislative meeting to resist the elected President Trump.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Shaktikanta Das, stated that the central bank is not in a hurry to launch the central bank digital currency (CBDC), and there is currently no specific release date. He pointed out that the CBDC project is still in the implementation phase. There is a noticeable increase in market interest in central bank digital currencies (CBDC), especially in the area of cross-border payments.

ChainCatcher news reports that, according to the Digital Fiat Currency Research Society, Lu Lei, the Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China, stated in the preface he wrote for "Monetary Theory" that if central banks can issue currency without limits, then currency is likely to be replaced by other general equivalents—such as digital assets and stablecoins, which are currently experiencing a volatile upward trend in market value. Will this really happen? As someone who has been engaged in research at the central bank for a long time, my instinctive thought is that the urgent issue facing major developed economies is "saving the central bank from the hands of central bankers." Although this idea is by no means the current central bank digital currency (CBDC), as I believe CBDC does not change the institutional implications of monetary increment, is there a digital currency that can overcome the impact of various digital assets, achieve the effects of stablecoins, and maintain the existence of sovereign currency (solving the issue of monetary unity but fiscal decentralization in the euro)?The increasing expense of specific assets (such as digital assets) leads them to their opposite, lacking the liquidity necessary to serve as a general equivalent (i.e., being collected rather than circulated, which is the fate of precious metals exiting currency).In the field of monetary economics prediction and practice, there are two highly respected figures— the recently deceased Robert Mundell and the still unknown Satoshi Nakamoto. The former maintained throughout his life that exchange is a redundant transaction cost concept, experienced the practice of the single currency area theory in the Eurozone, but has not and finds it difficult to realize the utopia of dollarization. The latter has watched helplessly as the Bitcoin he created has evolved into an extremely expensive digital asset; currently, the energy consumed globally each year to mine the last 2 million coins is enough for over a hundred million people to use for more than a year. According to the marginal cost pricing method, the closer Bitcoin gets to being an asset, the further it is from being widely circulated as currency.Currently, digital assets are following the old path of the gold standard, and the concept of stablecoins is merely a "soft version" of the optimal currency area theory's practical proposal; our ideas are not necessarily more brilliant than the White Plan of 1945. It is merely that in the digital age, old wine is being relabeled.

ChainCatcher news, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das reiterated a cautious stance on cryptocurrencies, stating that they have the potential to undermine the stability of the financial system.Das recently spoke at the Peterson Institute for International Economics' 2024 Macro Week, where he mentioned that the creation of cryptocurrencies is intended to bypass the traditional financial system. The fundamental issue is whether authorities or governments are willing to accept privately issued cryptocurrencies that possess all the characteristics of money.He believes that issuing currency is traditionally a sovereign function. Allowing cryptocurrencies to flourish could detach parts of the economy from central bank control, a shift that could lead to monetary instability.He further elaborated on the risks, particularly how cryptocurrencies could weaken the central bank's ability to manage the money supply, which is crucial for controlling inflation and managing economic cycles. "If the central bank loses control over the money supply in the economy... how can banks check the available liquidity in the system?" Das emphasized that if cryptocurrencies become prevalent, the financial and monetary systems could face chaos.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, as concerns grow that the Bank of England's digital currency (CBDC) Britcoin will replace cash, Bank of England (BOE) Governor Andrew Bailey stated, "The evidence shows that people do indeed want cash, so we will continue to provide it."Bailey's remarks reiterated what senior Bank of England official Sarah Breeden said last year during a Treasury Committee inquiry. She stated:"We will ensure that cash is available as long as there is demand. We will ensure that the cash infrastructure in the financial system exists as long as there is demand—cash and digital currency are both options." Since the idea of CBDC was first proposed a few years ago, lawmakers and citizens have been divided over its pros and cons. Supporters of Britcoin argue that it has the potential to reduce costs and risks. However, opponents worry that it could empower the government to monitor people's spending and replace cash.The Bank of England began designing a digital version of the pound in January this year. However, the Bank of England has not yet decided whether to actually launch it. Bailey stated that he supports the issuance of wholesale CBDC but is cautious about issuing retail CBDC. He added that in terms of retail CBDC, "it's hard to see central bank money playing a anchoring role." However, wholesale CBDC could play a "special role" in "wholesale high-value payments and settlement of payment systems for central bank money."Bailey further added that the Bank of England is establishing retail CBDC for innovation purposes. He believes that CBDC innovation should be open to the private sector, which will ensure that commercial banks modernize their digital payment systems. He also pointed out that banks lack the incentive to improve efficiency in certain areas, such as cross-border payments, which "stifles innovation." Therefore, in the "cross-border payments space, modernization progress remains slow," Bailey stated, and better digital systems are needed, "there is no sufficient reason for arbitrary decision-making on this issue."

ChainCatcher message, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher J. Waller delivered a speech discussing whether DeFi (Decentralized Finance) is an alternative or a complement to traditional finance. He concluded that the two are complementary and made positive remarks about tokenization and stablecoins.Waller mentioned the benefits of stablecoins, believing that they can reduce the need for intermediaries and lower payment costs. Although stablecoins carry the risk of runs, this can be addressed through regulatory measures, making them "safe assets" on various new trading platforms.However, he also pointed out that centralized finance is still needed, as most cryptocurrency customers still keep their assets in cryptocurrency exchanges.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller stated at the 19th Vienna Macroeconomic Workshop held in Vienna, Austria, that technological advancements can "drive improvements in financial efficiency." DeFi will not replace centralized finance, partly because intermediaries are still needed. "While some services emerging through DeFi are not provided by centralized finance, the technological innovations brought by DeFi largely complement centralized finance." "They have the potential to improve centralized finance, thereby enhancing the significant value provided by financial intermediaries and centralized financial markets."Christopher Waller is one of the seven members of the Federal Reserve Board, nominated to the position by former President Donald Trump in 2020.Previously, Christopher Waller compared cryptocurrencies to baseball cards, showing a preference for innovations in stablecoins rather than central bank digital currencies. Christopher Waller also believes that privately issued stablecoins will strengthen the dollar rather than weaken it.

ChainCatcher news, Federal Reserve Governor Waller stated that recent economic data suggests that policymakers can approach the issue of subsequent interest rate cuts with less urgency than during last month's meeting. Waller said in a prepared speech at a meeting held at the Hoover Institution in Stanford, California on Monday, "I think the overall data suggests that monetary policy should be more cautious in the pace of rate cuts than it was during the September meeting." He added that if the current economic conditions persist, "we can gradually shift policy to a neutral stance." The neutral policy interest rate refers to a rate that neither stimulates nor suppresses economic growth. Waller also noted that recent data—including upward revisions to economic growth and an increase in job vacancies—indicates that the extent of the economic slowdown may not be as severe as expected. At the same time, Waller stated that his baseline expectation is to gradually lower interest rates next year.The Federal Reserve will make its next interest rate decision at the conclusion of the FOMC meeting on November 6-7. During the Q&A session following his speech, Waller declined to provide details on the "gradual" pace of rate cuts.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, Federal Reserve Governor Bowman reiterated previous comments on monetary policy, stating that the core inflation rate remains uncomfortably high above the 2% target.

ChainCatcher news, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a controversial artificial intelligence bill SB 1047, stating that the bill would hinder innovation and fail to protect the public from the "real" threats posed by this technology.The bill, titled the "Frontier Artificial Intelligence Model Safety and Innovation Act," faced strong opposition from Silicon Valley. It proposed mandatory safety testing for AI models and other safeguards, which tech companies feared would stifle innovation.In a statement on September 29, Newsom said, "While the intentions are good," it could impose unnecessary restrictions on California's emerging AI companies. The bill focuses too much on regulating existing top AI companies without protecting the public from the "real" threats of new technologies. "On the contrary, the bill even adopts strict standards for the most basic functionalities—whenever a large system deploys it. I don't think this is the best way to protect the public from the real threats posed by this technology."