ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, Nomura Securities' global foreign exchange strategy team stated in a research report that the US dollar may strengthen in 2025. The team indicated that the main themes entering next year include the Federal Reserve potentially having difficulty cutting interest rates due to persistently high core inflation in the United States, as well as the tariff policies of President-elect Trump.The team added that currencies that may perform poorly in the first half of 2025 could include the South Korean won, Thai baht, Singapore dollar, Swiss franc, and Swedish krona, while the Indonesian rupiah, Japanese yen, and Norwegian krone may see slightly better performance.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, Nomura Securities no longer expects the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates at the December policy meeting. This makes it the first global brokerage to suggest a rate-cutting cycle by the Federal Reserve after Trump's election victory. Nomura Securities now anticipates that the Federal Reserve will only cut rates twice more in March and June 2025, each by 25 basis points. The brokerage maintains its forecast for the Federal Funds Rate at 4.125% until next year. Nomura Securities expects that after a possible rate cut in June next year, the Federal Reserve will pause rate cuts for an extended period until March 2026.The Federal Reserve's benchmark overnight rate is currently in the range of 4.50%-4.75%, having been lowered by 75 basis points so far this year. Meanwhile, other global brokerages, including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, still expect the Federal Reserve to cut rates by 25 basis points next month.

ChainCatcher message, due to the non-farm payroll data released on Friday exceeding expectations, the market has largely ruled out the possibility of a continued 50 basis point rate cut, and economists have expressed their views.Aichi Aemiya, an international analyst at Nomura Securities, stated that the Federal Reserve may reduce the rate cut to 25 basis points in the policy meetings in November and December.Aemiya noted that Federal Reserve Chairman Powell also demonstrated his "significant influence in the decision-making process of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)." He mentioned that Powell's speech at Jackson Hole at the end of August was relatively dovish, and subsequently, the FOMC further cut rates by 50 basis points in the September meeting, "Powell's opinion dominated the committee."

ChainCatcher News: Japanese AI startup Sakana AI has raised approximately 30 billion yen (about 214 million USD) in Series A funding, with a company valuation reaching 1.5 billion USD. Founded just a year ago by former Google researchers in July 2023, Sakana AI's funding round included investors such as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Mizuho Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Nomura Holdings, as well as well-known companies like NEC, Itochu Corporation, KDDI, and Fujitsu.Sakana AI has secured processing time on Japan's supercomputers and is collaborating with multiple organizations to strengthen Japan's AI ecosystem. This aligns with NVIDIA's recent initiative aimed at supporting Japan's sovereign AI projects.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, following the launch of the Ethereum cryptocurrency ETF, Nomura's digital asset division plans to offer a higher-yield alternative that includes key components that U.S. issuers may have overlooked in order to gain regulatory approval.These Ethereum ETFs do not include staking, which is the process by which investors earn passive income by temporarily providing their tokens to the Ethereum network to help validate transactions.Nomura's cryptocurrency division, Laser Digital, plans to launch the fund before early September, supported by Galaxy Digital and the crypto startup Dinero. The fund will be open to so-called qualified investors, such as hedge funds and private investment offices, rather than retail buyers.Laser Digital views the fund as an alternative to the Ethereum ETF, providing institutional investors with the opportunity to access the "yield component" of Ethereum.Dinero provides the software technology behind the fund to generate yield. A spokesperson for Galaxy Digital stated that Galaxy Digital is finalizing an agreement to potentially operate as the sole validator operator, running and maintaining the computers that help ensure and verify Ethereum transactions. The fund will not immediately list in the U.S. after its launch.

ChainCatcher news, JPMorgan economist Ayako Fujita stated in a report that the Bank of Japan may raise the policy interest rate by 15 basis points to 0.25% at next week's meeting.Fujita said, "The Bank of Japan has long hinted at adopting a rate hike policy in response to rising confidence. We believe that the recent momentum in wage growth and signs of consumption recovery since this spring will meet these conditions." She noted that at next week's meeting, the Bank of Japan is also expected to announce the future path for purchasing Japanese government bonds. The current core market view is that over the next two years, the monthly purchase scale of Japanese government bonds will decrease from 6 trillion yen to 3 trillion yen.

ChainCatcher news, Nomura's cryptocurrency division Laser Digital Limited has obtained a brokerage license for traditional and digital assets in the Abu Dhabi region.The new license will enable Laser Digital to provide brokerage services for digital and traditional assets, as well as asset and fund management services in the region.

ChainCatcher news, according to Ledger Insights, Nomura Securities announced that its digital asset subsidiary Laser Digital is collaborating with GMO Internet, the parent company of stablecoin issuer GMO-Z. The two parties plan to jointly explore the issuance of USD and JPY stablecoins in Japan and provide stablecoin-as-a-service solutions in the Japanese market.It is reported that GMO-Z holds a trust license from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), and its stablecoins GYEN and ZUSD are available on the Ethereum, Solana, and Stellar blockchains.

ChainCatcher news, according to Blockworks, Nomura Securities' digital asset subsidiary Laser Digital has announced the launch of a new fund, the Polygon Adoption Fund, aimed at providing investors with investment opportunities in the Polygon native token MATIC. It is reported that the fund will hold TruMATIC, which is the liquid staking token received when MATIC is deposited into the TruStake vault.In addition, the Polygon Adoption Fund utilizes Polygon AggLayer, which aims to connect layer 1 or layer 2 blockchains supported by zero-knowledge technology, enabling almost instantaneous cross-chain transactions.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, informed sources revealed that U.S. authorities are investigating the investment bank B. Riley Financial Inc. for its transactions with a significant client related to securities fraud, as well as the use of that client's assets to help the investment bank secure loans from Nomura Holdings Inc.A spokesperson for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission declined to comment, noting that the investigation is still in its early stages. The agency's review does not necessarily imply that anyone has engaged in any wrongdoing, nor does it guarantee that legal action will be taken, and Nomura Securities is not the focus of the investigation. A spokesperson for B. Riley stated in an email that they have not received any information from the SEC regarding this matter and that they will fully cooperate if the SEC conducts an investigation.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, Nomura Securities' digital asset subsidiary Laser Digital has partnered with WebN Group to launch the Libre protocol, which is an institutional Web3 protocol powered by Polygon technology. Libre utilizes asset tokenization and smart contracts, aiming to achieve compliant issuance and management of alternative investments. The protocol is built using the Polygon Chain Development Kit (CDK) and can develop dedicated, zero-knowledge driven L2 blockchains on Ethereum.It is reported that Laser Digital is the cryptocurrency division of Nomura Securities, while WebN Group is a fintech and Web3 innovation incubation center supported by Laser Digital and Brevan Howard co-founder Alan Howard.

ChainCatcher news, Nomura Securities' digital asset subsidiary Laser Digital has launched an Ethereum Adoption Fund aimed at institutional investors. The fund invests in long spot positions in Ethereum and also deploys yield enhancement strategies by staking the Ethereum held by the fund.Previously in September, Laser Digital under Nomura Securities launched a Bitcoin Adoption Fund for institutions.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, Nomura Securities' digital asset subsidiary Laser Digital has expanded its business to Japan and opened a new office in Tokyo.It is reported that Hideaki Kudo has been appointed as the representative director and head of the new office in Japan, having previously served as a senior portfolio manager at Nomura Asset Management.

ChainCatcher news, according to Ledger Insights, Laser Digital, a digital asset company under Nomura Holdings, has obtained a principle license from the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and can obtain a license as a broker-dealer for cryptocurrencies and traditional assets, subject to meeting all conditions.According to previous news from ChainCatcher, in August 2023, Laser Digital obtained a cryptocurrency license in Dubai, allowing it to provide virtual asset brokerage and investment management services locally.

ChainCatcher news, Nomura Securities' digital asset subsidiary Laser Digital has launched a Bitcoin Adoption Fund aimed at institutional investors. This is a long-term mutual fund based in the Cayman Islands, with Komainu responsible for digital asset custody.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, Nomura's digital asset subsidiary Laser Digital, based in Dubai, has obtained a cryptocurrency license in Dubai, allowing it to provide virtual asset brokerage and investment management services locally. Laser Digital stated that it plans to launch over-the-counter trading services and digital asset investment products for institutional investors in the coming months.

ChainCatcher News, Japan's financial services giant Nomura's cryptocurrency subsidiary Laser Digital has invested in the incubator Webn, supported by Alan Howard, to seek to provide more cryptocurrency-related services to mature financial institutions.The company announced today that as part of the collaboration, Laser Digital CEO Jez Mohideen will join the Webn board as a non-executive director. Laser Digital and Webn did not disclose the scale of the investment.It is reported that Webn was established at the end of 2021 and has already incubated several Web3 companies, including the cryptographic research institution Geometry, the DeFi protocol Trufin, and the non-custodial staking provider Twinstake.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, Nomura's digital asset subsidiary Laser Digital has appointed industry veteran Florent Jouanneau as the new partner for its venture capital business. Despite the low funding levels across the industry, Laser Digital plans to make 10 more investments in early-stage web3 startups this year.It is reported that Jouanneau joined Laser Digital from White Star Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in web3 and DeFi startups. He previously served as a structured credit and ABS trader at Bank of America and held sales and trading positions at UBS and Natixis, a subsidiary of BPCE Group. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, Nomura Securities' digital asset company Laser Digital has acquired the digital asset trading firm Elysium Technology Group. Through this acquisition, both companies intend to provide better post-trade products for institutional investors.Elysium focuses on providing over-the-counter and post-trade solutions for foreign exchange and digital assets through its RiskDB and MatchHub services. RiskDB minimizes trading costs by streamlining post-trade workflows, while the MatchHub software can match, coordinate, and settle real-time trades. (The Block)