June 21 (Cointime) - Former Barclays CEO Bob Diamond has called for the cryptocurrency industry to embrace regulation in order to fully realize the potential benefits of digitalization and cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin remained below $25,000 on June 15 after a reaction to changes in US economic policy led to three-month lows. The US Federal Reserve paused interest rate hikes, but Fed chair Jerome Powell suggested that fresh hikes may be necessary in the future to control inflation. Markets placed more than a 70% chance of a hike at the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting in July. Keith Alan, co-founder of monitoring resource Material Indicators, described Powell as "all bark, no bite".

Bitcoin has reached its lowest price point since mid-March, but it has still maintained its store of value properties and has outperformed gold by a significant margin this year.

June 15 (Cointime) - The Federal Open Market Committee has decided to maintain the federal funds rate between 5% and 5.25% at its June meeting, marking a pause in the trend of rate hikes. The decision will become effective on June 15th.

Bitcoin briefly responded positively to the news of lower inflation reflected in the May Consumer Price Index, but has since remained stagnant below $26,000 as investors await the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision. The SEC lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase have provided some certainty to the market and may lead to fresh investment in crypto assets.

British financial watchdog the FCA has proposed a ban on cryptocurrencies as a marketing tool to fend off inflation, drawing support from members of the U.K. digital assets sector. While some argue that cryptocurrencies with a limited supply like Bitcoin are inflation-proof, this claim can mislead investors due to the lack of data and the volatility of crypto assets. The FCA issued strict rules governing the promotion of cryptocurrency material in the UK, including banning free non-fungible token (NFT) giveaways and airdrops, and accused stablecoin issuers of defrauding consumers using terms such as “anti-inflation.” The new rules will come into effect on October 8.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has stated that the US economy is strong, with robust consumer spending, but some areas are slowing down. She expects continued progress in bringing inflation down over the next two years with a strong labor market. Yellen also believes that banks should generally be able to withstand any strain, although they may struggle with commercial real estate and face some consolidation. She supports the Federal Reserve's efforts to bring down inflation and believes that additional regulation on crypto assets would be appropriate.

Former Bitmex CEO Arthur Hayes predicts a bitcoin bull market in the last two quarters of 2023. Hayes believes that the U.S. Federal Reserve will be unable to control inflation, causing the national debt to lose its appeal for foreign investors due to sanctions. This will lead to a surge in interest rates and a rise in bitcoin's value. Hayes also predicts a shift in deposits from small and medium-sized financial institutions to larger banks and money market funds.

Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, is concerned about inflation and believes it is better to be aggressive in bringing it down. However, some Fed officials, including Kashkari, are worried that their hawkish outlook on interest rates may inadvertently lead to the next market crisis and undercut the bank's policy tightening to fight inflation. Raghuram Rajan, former Indian central bank governor and finance professor at Chicago Booth, believes the Fed is in a difficult situation and the probability of a soft landing is very small. The Fed's attempts to guide the economy to a "soft landing" while preserving financial stability may instead increase the odds of a crash landing or a longer, more turbulent glide path to the ground. The Fed's monetary policy and financial stability tools are "working well together," according to Chairman Jay Powell, but several people in the market believe multiple risks to financial stability remain.

Blackrock’s CEO, Larry Fink, stated in an interview on Friday that he does not anticipate a “big recession” in the United States.