Inside JP Morgan’s ‘and’ strategy for a trillion-dollar crypto future

The post Here’s How Consumers May Benefit From Lower Interest Rates appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Topline The Federal Reserve on Wednesday opted to ease interest rates for the first time in months, leading the way for potentially lower mortgage rates, bond yields and a likely boost to cryptocurrency over the coming weeks. Average long-term mortgage rates dropped to their lowest levels in months ahead of the central bank’s policy shift. Copyright{2018} The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Key Facts The central bank’s policymaking panel voted this week to lower interest rates, which have sat between 4.25% and 4.5% since December, to a new range of 4% and 4.25%. How Will Lower Interest Rates Impact Mortgage Rates? Mortgage rates tend to fall before and during a period of interest rate cuts: The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 6.35% from 6.5% last week, the lowest level since October 2024, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported. Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages also dropped to 5.5% from 5.6% as they neared the year-ago rate of 5.27%. When the Federal Reserve lowered the funds rate to between 0% and 0.25% during the pandemic, 30-year mortgage rates hit record lows between 2.7% and 3% by the end of 2020, according to data published by Freddie Mac. Consumers who refinanced their mortgages in 2020 saved about $5.3 billion annually as rates dropped, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Similarly, mortgage rates spiked around 7% as interest rates were hiked in 2022 and 2023, though mortgage rates appeared to react within weeks of the Fed opting to cut or raise rates. How Do Treasury Bonds Respond To Lower Interest Rates? Long-term Treasury yields are more directly influenced by interest rates, as lower rates tend to result in lower yields. When the Fed pushed rates to near zero during the pandemic, 10-year Treasury yields fell to an all-time low of 0.5%. As…

The post CME Group to launch options on XRP and SOL futures appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. CME Group will offer options based on the derivative markets on Solana (SOL) and XRP. The new markets will open on October 13, after regulatory approval.  CME Group will expand its crypto products with options on the futures markets of Solana (SOL) and XRP. The futures market will start on October 13, after regulatory review and approval.  The options will allow the trading of MicroSol, XRP, and MicroXRP futures, with expiry dates available every business day, monthly, and quarterly. The new products will be added to the existing BTC and ETH options markets. ‘The launch of these options contracts builds on the significant growth and increasing liquidity we have seen across our suite of Solana and XRP futures,’ said Giovanni Vicioso, CME Group Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products. The options contracts will have two main sizes, tracking the futures contracts. The new market will be suitable for sophisticated institutional traders, as well as active individual traders. The addition of options markets singles out XRP and SOL as liquid enough to offer the potential to bet on a market direction.  The options on futures arrive a few months after the launch of SOL futures. Both SOL and XRP had peak volumes in August, though XRP activity has slowed down in September. XRP and SOL options to tap both institutions and active traders Crypto options are one of the indicators of market attitudes, with XRP and SOL receiving a new way to gauge sentiment. The contracts will be supported by the Cumberland team.  ‘As one of the biggest liquidity providers in the ecosystem, the Cumberland team is excited to support CME Group’s continued expansion of crypto offerings,’ said Roman Makarov, Head of Cumberland Options Trading at DRW. ‘The launch of options on Solana and XRP futures is the latest example of the…

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