[News Brief] Apr 22, morning | Fed's Logan Says Rate Hikes Needed to Tackle Inflation

Fed's Logan Says Rate Hikes Needed to Tackle Inflation

Federal Reserve official Logan said interest rate hikes are needed to address elevated inflation.

According to Odaily, Logan said that while the June Consumer Price Index (CPI) suggested a slowdown in price growth, it is still insufficient to be confident that inflation is back on track toward the Fed's 2% target.

She explained that although the inflation outlook has improved somewhat, it remains fragile, and that gradual rate hikes would help balance the outlook and risks.

U.S. Treasury Sanctions Four Wallets Linked to Iran's Central Bank… Tether Freezes $131 Million in USDT

The U.S. Treasury has added four cryptocurrency wallets linked to Iran's central bank to its sanctions list, Odaily reported.

In response, Tether froze $131 million worth of USDT held in those wallets.

With this action, the total amount frozen in related wallets has risen to about $475 million.

Morgan Stanley's E*TRADE Officially Launches Spot Crypto Trading

E*TRADE, the online investment platform owned by Morgan Stanley, has officially launched spot cryptocurrency trading services.

According to Business Wire, eligible E*TRADE customers can directly buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL) on the platform. Spot trading fees are set at 50 basis points.

Asset transfer functionality is expected to be available later this year. Previously, E*TRADE had introduced retirement planning tools, fractional share trading, an upgraded IPO center, and enhanced features for active traders.

U.S. Crypto Market Structure Bill CLARITY Act Nearly Finalized… Senate Vote Possible Next Week

According to Odaily, Blockchain Association CEO and former U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commissioner Summer Mersinger said the main draft language of the digital asset market structure bill, the CLARITY Act, is nearly complete.

Mersinger said that if lawmakers reach agreement on ethics provisions, the Senate could hold a vote as early as next week. The current sticking point is the ethics language, and the White House has reportedly held related meetings with some Republican senators.

Earlier, three Senate Democrats said they would not support the crypto market structure bill without clear ethics provisions. They raised concerns over President Trump's digital asset financial disclosures and potential corruption risks.

Republicans hold only a narrow majority in the Senate, meaning some Democratic support will likely be needed for the bill to pass.

BlackRock Withdraws About $87.29 Million in BTC and ETH From Coinbase Prime

BlackRock withdrew about $87.29 million worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum from Coinbase Prime, according to Odaily.

Odaily reported that BlackRock moved 1,246 BTC (about $80.6 million) and 3,542 ETH (about $6.69 million) from Coinbase Prime. The specific purpose of the withdrawal was not disclosed.

T. Rowe Price Launches First Actively Managed Multi-Token Spot Crypto ETP

According to Bitcoin Magazine, T. Rowe Price, which manages $1.9 trillion in assets, has launched its first actively managed multi-token spot crypto ETP.

Bitcoin accounts for 40.75% of the fund. The launch comes amid a broader trend of expanding institutional access to spot crypto investment products.

BitPay Obtains Crypto Asset Service Provider License From Dutch Financial Markets Authority

According to Odaily, crypto payments firm BitPay has obtained a crypto asset service provider license from the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets.

BitPay said the license allows it to expand cryptocurrency and stablecoin payment services across European Union member states under the MiCA framework.

In the EU, all businesses offering crypto-related services must be brought into the regulatory framework starting July 1. Ripple previously also obtained a crypto asset service provider license from Luxembourg's financial regulator.

South Korea's FSC Moves to Include Crypto Assets in Refund Scope for Telecom Financial Fraud Victims

South Korea's Financial Services Commission is pushing to revise enforcement rules so that crypto assets are included in the refund scope for victims of telecom financial fraud such as voice phishing.

According to PANews, citing Edaily, the FSC released proposed amendments to the Enforcement Decree of the Special Act on the Prevention of Telecommunications Financial Fraud and Refund of Fraud Losses, stating that fraud proceeds transferred into crypto assets will be included in the refund 대상.

Under the proposed amendment, if frozen assets are crypto assets, victims will in principle be reimbursed according to the type and quantity of those assets. If the form of the victim's lost assets differs from the frozen assets, repayment will be based on the form of assets actually existing at the time the account was frozen.

In cases involving both cash and crypto assets, the value of the crypto assets will be assessed based on market prices at the time of the freeze to determine the final payout amount. The FSC expects that clarifying repayment methods and valuation standards will enable faster and fairer refunds even in cases involving multiple victims.

The amendment is scheduled to take effect on October 1, and public comments will be accepted through August 24.

Project Eleven Unveils Post-Quantum Proof Technology for Verifying Bitcoin Wallet Ownership

Security firm Project Eleven has unveiled post-quantum proof technology designed to verify Bitcoin wallet ownership in a scenario where quantum computers could infer private keys, Odaily reported.

Project Eleven CEO Alex Pruden said the technology uses wallet key derivation paths to prove control of a wallet without revealing the parent key. This could help distinguish legitimate owners from attackers.

The technology was jointly developed with Jim Posen, a core maintainer of the open-source zero-knowledge proof system VinEUS. Project Eleven said the prototype has not yet been audited and that blockchain protocol-level support would be required before real-world deployment.

DTCC Pursues Wall Street Tokenization Project on Settlement Infrastructure Handling $4 Quadrillion Annually

A DTCC digital assets executive said the firm is pursuing a Wall Street tokenization project based on settlement infrastructure that processes $4 quadrillion annually.

According to Odaily, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said on X that Nadine Chakar, DTCC's global head of digital assets, made the remarks during the 'Trillions' program.

Chakar explained that DTCC processes about $4 quadrillion in settlements each year and that no blockchain currently exists that can handle that scale.

DTCC is working with partners including Canton and Stellar to build tokenization infrastructure for Wall Street.