The Federal Reserve’s January minutes revealed a more hawkish tilt than markets expected, with “several” participants favoring language that leaves the door open to raising rates if inflation proves persistent. The release sparked a quick risk-off move, including a dip in crypto and a firmer dollar, as traders reassessed the timing and depth of policy easing. With core services still elevated and a strong labor market backdrop, the Fed signaled it needs more evidence of sustained disinflation before cutting.
Source: FinanceFeeds
U.S. trade deficit widened to $901B in 2025
The U.S. trade gap swelled to $901 billion last year, highlighting the resilience of import demand and the limits of tariff measures in reshaping trade balances. The deficit underscores ongoing structural pressures—strong consumer demand, a strong dollar for much of the period, and supply-chain normalization—that kept imports elevated despite a mixed global outlook.
Source: Seeking Alpha
CME Group to offer 24/7 trading for Bitcoin and Ether futures and options from May 29
In a major market-structure shift, CME will move its crypto derivatives to round-the-clock trading, aligning regulated futures with the always-on spot crypto market. The change, pending final regulatory review, aims to eliminate weekend gaps, improve hedging flexibility, and attract more institutional flow to cleared, transparent venues. CME reported record crypto derivatives activity in 2025 and rising demand for continuous risk management.
Source: FinanceFeeds
Tradeweb takes stake in Kalshi to bring prediction markets into institutional workflows
Tradeweb invested in and partnered with Kalshi to integrate real-time event probabilities into its rates and credit platforms, with plans to co-develop analytics and explore an institutional portal for event contracts. The tie-up could make traded event outcomes—like macro data releases or policy decisions—a standard input in pricing, risk, and allocation decisions for asset managers and dealers.
Source: FinanceFeeds
Standard Chartered consolidates market data with LSEG in multi-year deal
Standard Chartered will adopt London Stock Exchange Group’s multi-asset data, news, and analytics across its corporate and investment bank, replacing fragmented vendor setups with centralized governance and entitlements. The enterprise agreement reflects banks’ push for tighter data lineage, auditability, and cost transparency, while deepening LSEG’s post-Refinitiv footprint inside client infrastructure.
Source: FinanceFeeds
Kraken plugs into ICE Chat to streamline institutional OTC crypto access
Kraken integrated its OTC desk with Intercontinental Exchange’s ICE Chat, a compliant messaging platform used by 120,000+ finance professionals, giving institutions a direct line to crypto liquidity within their existing communications stack. The move reduces workflow friction and brings digital assets closer to legacy trading, compliance, and record-keeping processes that institutions already rely on.
Source: FinanceFeeds
Binance’s stablecoin reserves top $45B, cementing liquidity dominance
On-chain data show Binance now holds over $45 billion in stablecoins—approximately 65% of all CEX stablecoin reserves—underscoring its role as the industry’s primary liquidity hub. Concentrated dollar liquidity can stabilize execution and spreads for large flows, but also raises competitive and regulatory questions as market share consolidates around a few large platforms.
Source: FinanceFeeds
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