Finance

Wall Street Bets on Final 2024 Rate Cut, Expects Caution from Fed in 2025

Investors largely anticipate that the Federal Reserve will reduce interest rates by a quarter percentage point on Wednesday, marking the third and final rate cut of 2024.

However, the bigger question is whether the central bank is prepared to slow down its planned rate cuts for 2025—and how Chair Jerome Powell will address these concerns during his Wednesday afternoon press conference. "Fed Chair Powell will face the challenge of balancing a 25 basis point rate cut with stronger economic and inflation forecasts and a more gradual easing policy," said Greg Daco, chief economist at EY.

All eyes will be on the "dot plot," a quarterly chart that reflects the individual predictions of each Fed official regarding the future direction of the federal funds rate.

TECH

Tech Entrepreneur Found Guilty in Bob Lee’s Murder Case

A San Francisco jury has convicted tech entrepreneur Nima Momeni of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of Bob Lee, Cash App’s founder. Momeni, 40, faces 15 years to life in prison. Lee, 43, was found with two stab wounds in the Rincon Hill neighborhood on April 4, 2023, and later died in the hospital. Momeni was acquitted of first-degree murder.

The case involved conflicting accounts, with prosecutors claiming Momeni killed Lee over a dispute involving his sister, while Momeni's defense argued he acted in self-defense. Autopsy results showed Lee was under the influence of alcohol, ketamine, and cocaine. Momeni's mother vowed to appeal the conviction.

The incident raised concerns about crime in the Bay Area, with Elon Musk criticizing San Francisco’s safety, while District Attorney Brooke Jenkins pushed back, accusing Musk of misrepresenting the city.

CRYPTO

Introducing Binance Alpha: Uncover the Next Big Crypto Projects

Binance Alpha acts as a pre-listing token pool, designed to improve transparency in the token selection process for Binance Exchange listings.

The tokens featured on Binance Alpha are carefully curated, leveraging Binance's industry expertise and in-depth insights. These tokens are selected based on strong community interest, growing momentum, and alignment with key trends in the crypto space.

While there is no guarantee, some of the tokens highlighted on Binance Alpha may be considered for future listing on Binance Exchange, offering users a preview of projects that could make a significant impact in the blockchain and Web3 ecosystems.

Starting on December 18, 2024, users can explore Binance Alpha and discover new projects through Binance Wallet. Ten tokens will be announced in two batches on that day, followed by another ten on December 19 and December 20, 2024 (subject to change). Further token announcements will follow beyond these dates. For updates, users can follow Binance Wallet’s official X account.

Please note that tokens featured on Binance Alpha will only be officially announced once they are live on Binance Wallet.

About Binance Alpha Binance Alpha is a platform for discovering early-stage projects shaping the future of the crypto ecosystem. Curated using Binance’s expertise, the tokens highlighted on Binance Alpha reflect strong community interest, increasing adoption, and alignment with current market trends.

Key Features:

• Spotlight on Innovation: Discover tokens gaining momentum in Web3 and gain deeper insights into projects shaping the crypto landscape.

• Quick Access: Effortlessly purchase tokens via the Quick Buy feature directly through Binance Wallet. It optimizes the Swap functionality for higher transaction success rates and better pricing compared to other DEXes or trading bots. Features include:

  • Automatic selection of the native chain’s token and the default trading amount based on wallet holdings.

  • Slippage adjustments that retry transactions to improve success rates.

  • An anti-MEV mechanism to mitigate the negative effects of MEV on large transactions, ensuring better prices.

• Educational Insight: Learn about emerging projects, their use cases, and the trends driving their growth within the blockchain ecosystem.

• Expert Curation: Tokens are selected based on Binance’s advanced market analysis, ensuring they reflect current trends and community interests. While there’s no guarantee, some tokens could be considered for listing on Binance Exchange in the future.