Gold Reaches Fresh Record As Rate-Cut Hopes Draw Investor Demand

Summary:

Gold clinched a fresh all-time high, with traders shrugging off cautious commentary from Federal Reserve officials about the outlook for monetary policy after the US central bank cut interest rates last week.

Bullion edged up to hit $3,749.27 on ounce in Asia on Tuesday, following gains in the previous two sessions which included record highs. Investors have piled into exchange-traded funds — with holdings expanding at the fastest pace in more than three years on Friday — following a brief dip in prices last week as Fed Chair Jerome Powell curbed expectations for rapid easing, after the central bank reduced rates on Wednesday. Lower rates benefit typically benefit non-interest bearing precious metals.

“After pulling back the day after the Fed’s 25 basis-point rate cut — potentially on some perceived caution in Powell’s FOMC comments — new upward momentum has taken root with ETF inflows still the driving force,” BMO Capital Markets analysts including Helen Amos and George Heppel said in a note late Monday. “With a rate-cutting cycle firmly on the table we think risk-reward remains positive for prices into” the fourth quarter.

Powell is due to give a highly anticipated speech on the economic outlook later on Tuesday, after the quarterly rate forecasts that accompanied last week’s rate decision — known as the dot plot — showed a wide dispersion of views. Meanwhile, several Fed officials on Monday reiterated the need for taking a cautious approach to rate decisions moving forward, including St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem who said that he sees limited room for more reductions amid elevated price pressures.

Silver, meanwhile, held a three-day rally near $44 an ounce. The cheaper precious metal has seen possible support from bullish options trades, with the daily volume of IShares Silver Trust options surging to 1.2 million on Friday — the highest since April 2024, with call options also spiking.

Gold and silver have been among the year’s best-performing major commodities on a broad confluence of supportive factors, as the Fed eases monetary policy, central banks bolster their reserve holdings, and lingering geopolitical tensions sustain a bid for havens. Major banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have flagged their expectations for further gains.

Looking ahead, traders will parse incoming data this week, including Friday’s US personal consumption expenditures price index. The Fed’s preferred measure of underlying inflation likely grew at a slower pace last month, which would boost the argument for rate cuts.

“Investment managers and traders can — and are — offsetting their US core equity with long exposures in gold,” Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group Ltd., said in a Tuesday note. “The diversifier of choice is the yellow metal, and this makes sense given its low correlation to other major asset classes and the fact everyone can see it ripping higher.”

Source: Bloomberg Europe

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Samantha Luan

Economic

Cryptocurrency

Forex

Stocks

Key Points:

● Nvidia announces $100 billion AI investment, boosting tech stocks.

● Crypto markets face significant liquidations, impacting BTC, ETH.

● Tech stocks, including Apple and Tesla, surge to record highs.

On September 23, 2025, major U.S. stock indices soared to new record highs, driven by Nvidia's significant $100 billion investment in OpenAI for AI datacenters.This illustrates a tech-driven market upswing, impacting both traditional finance and the cryptocurrency market with notable liquidations as risk capital shifted towards equities.

Nvidia's $100 Billion AI Bet Reshapes Tech Markets

Nvidia's $100 billion investment in OpenAI, announced on September 23, 2025, spurred record highs for major U.S. stock indices. Key industry leaders, including Jensen Huang of Nvidia and Sam Altman of OpenAI, emphasized the importance of this collaboration for AI development. Nvidia's commitment to AI infrastructure alongside prominent firms propelled tech stocks significantly higher, with Apple's robust rise linked to anticipated iPhone demand.Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, stated, “Nvidia’s investment in OpenAI marks the next leap for AI infrastructure, empowering developers worldwide.”

Crypto markets reacted with notable volatility. In contrast to tech sector gains, Bitcoin saw massive liquidations as its price fell below $115,000, with over $1.5 billion in bullish crypto positions liquidated. Financial analyst Raoul Pal described this as "classic late-cycle action," highlighting sector rotations.

Crypto Market Volatility Follows Nvidia's Investment Unveiling

Did you know? Nvidia's $100 billion AI investment is among the largest in tech history, echoing the 2023 Microsoft-OpenAI partnership that similarly boosted tech stocks and strained crypto markets.

As per CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin (BTC) currently trades at $112,675.71, reflecting a 24-hour decline of 2.36%. The circulating supply is 19,924,828 out of a maximum of 21 million BTC, commanding a market dominance of 57.70%. Recent trends show minor decreases across shorter timelines but an overall upward swing in 90 days.

Bitcoin(BTC), daily chart, screenshot on CoinMarketCap at 00:06 UTC on September 23, 2025. Source: CoinMarketCap

Insights from the Coincu research team suggest that Nvidia's bold move may usher in significant technological advances in AI, potentially redirecting investment flows while regulators might increase oversight on both sectors. Historical patterns of tech announcements attracting traditional capital could continue affecting cryptocurrency volatility.

Source: CryptoSlate

To stay updated on all economic events of today, please check out our Economic calendar

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Samantha Luan

Economic

Forex

Hong Kong hunkered down for Super Typhoon Ragasa on Tuesday, one of the strongest storms in years, shutting schools and some businesses, while most passenger flights from the city's airport are to be suspended later in the day until early on Thursday.Ragasa, packing hurricane-force winds of up to 220km/h (137 mph) is edging closer to the coast of neighbouring southern Guangdong province in China, the Hong Kong Observatory said.Authorities in the financial hub are set to raise the typhoon signal to 8, its third highest, on Tuesday afternoon, which will prompt most businesses and transport services to shut down. About 700 flights have been disrupted.

The observatory said it will assess if it needs to issue a higher warning later on Tuesday or early Wednesday.Ragasa swept through the northern Philippines on Monday, prompting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to order the country's disaster response agency to go on full alert and mobilise all government agencies.The Hong Kong Observatory said hurricane force winds offshore and on high grounds were likely in Hong Kong on Wednesday, with heavy rain expected to lead to a significant storm and sea surge in the densely packed city.

It warned of rising sea levels, which it said would be similar to that seen during Typhoon Hato in 2017 and Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018, both of which caused billions of dollars in damage.Water levels will rise about 2 metres (yards) over Hong Kong's coastal areas and maximum water levels could reach up to 4-5 metres in some areas, the observatory said, urging residents to take appropriate precautions.Local authorities handed out sandbags on Monday for residents to bolster their homes in low-lying areas, while many people stockpiled daily necessities.

Long queues formed at supermarkets, milk sold out and vegetable prices at fresh-produce markets tripled, according to Reuters witnesses on Monday.Hong Kong's Stock Exchange will remain open. It changed its policy late last year to continue trading whatever the weather.Chinese authorities have activated flood control measures in several southern provinces, warning of heavy rain from late on Tuesday.Residents in the world's largest gambling hub of Macau are also bracing for significant impact, with school closures and evacuation plans under way.

Source: TradingView

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Olivia Brooks

Political

U.S. President Donald Trump's "border czar" Tom Homan speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 28, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/ File Photo

WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday that President Donald Trump fully stands by border czar Tom Homan, after Reuters and other media reported Homan accepted a $50,000 payment from an undercover FBI agent last year in a bribery string operation.

Speaking to reporters at a press briefing, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt rejected the reports that Homan had accepted such a payment.

"The White House and the president stand by Tom Homan 100% because he did absolutely nothing wrong," Leavitt said. She said that FBI agents and prosecutors found no evidence of illegal activity or criminal wrongdoing by Homan.

On Sunday, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that Homan accepted a $50,000 bag of cash from an undercover FBI agent last year in a since-closed U.S. Justice Department bribery investigation.

In the alleged scheme, Homan promised immigration-related government contracts when he joined the Trump administration in exchange for the money, the sources said, speaking anonymously to discuss nonpublic investigations.

Source: Reuters

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Olivia Brooks

Political

The Trump administration plans to allocate the roughly $2.4 billion that was stripped from California’s embattled high-speed rail to other transit projects.

US Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday that the funds are a part of a $5 billion package for the National Railroad Partnership Program, which would provide money to intercity passenger rail projects that emphasize safety and critical infrastructure upgrades.

The announcement comes after the federal government moved to slash roughly $4 billion of aid from the state’s high-speed rail project, which has been plagued with significant cost overruns and delays since its approval in 2008. President Donald Trump and Duffy have been long-time critics of that project, arguing that the effort has wasted taxpayer dollars.

“Our new National Railroad Partnership Program will emphasize safety – our number one priority,” said Duffy in a press release.

States, public transit agencies and national passenger railroad Amtrak are among eligible applicants to compete for the aid, according to the press release. The funds would be directed to projects that align with the administration’s “focus on the American family and ensuring a more seamless travel experience,” the release said.

The redirecting of money from California comes as Duffy sharpens his nationwide crackdown on crime in transit systems. He’s threatened to pull funding from agencies that fail to comply and show that they have taken actions to reduce crime.

Earlier this month, the DOT launched an investigation of North Carolina’s light rail system following the Aug. 22 stabbing of Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, on the Lynx Blue Line light rail in Charlotte.

The administration has been targeting Democratic strongholds since Trump took office, deploying the National Guard to Los Angeles and Washington, DC, while threatening to send troops to Chicago and Baltimore.

Duffy has sent letters to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority outlining concerns about safety and security on those systems earlier this year.

Last week, Duffy called on the Chicago Transit Authority and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to summarize all sources of funds for fiscal years 2025 and 2026 related to security, safety, funds from federal agencies and the Department of Homeland Security or risk losing government support.

Source: Bloomberg Europe

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Manuel

Cryptocurrency

Forex

MetaMask’s mUSD, the European Union’s digital euro initiative, and Hong Kong’s offshore yuan token AxCNH set up a three-way contest for on-chain payments.

The prize is not trading volume or speculative flows, it is the share of real-world settlement that could reach $2 to $4 trillion annually if 1 to 2 percent of global cross-border payments move to tokenized rails.

According to the IMF and industry research, such as McKinsey, the addressable base for cross-border activity ranges in the hundreds of trillions of dollars, depending on scope, making even low single-digit penetration material on a one-year to two-year horizon.

US dollar holds significant stablecoin advantage

Dollar rails have the immediate advantage because distribution is already embedded in retail and developer workflows. mUSD ships inside MetaMask, is issued through Stripe’s Bridge, and uses M0 for on-chain mechanics. Reserves are structured for 1:1 backing and reporting.

The product launched in mid-September 2025 on Ethereum and Linea with wallet-level issuance and redemption that connects to existing card and merchant pathways.

The combination puts issuance, spend, and on and off-ramps in the same user interface and developer stack, a configuration that can compress settlement steps without introducing new front ends.

The United States also now has a federal rulebook. The GENIUS Act, enacted in 2025, requires fiat-referenced tokens to hold liquid reserves with monthly disclosures and may be issued by banks or licensed nonbanks. This creates a path for payment companies to distribute stablecoins within existing merchant networks.

Europe is building a different strategy. The digital euro aims to reduce dependence on foreign card networks for retail payments, and finance ministers are moving legislation toward early 2026.

Per Reuters, policymakers are working through privacy, holding limits, and bank funding risk, and the European Central Bank has signaled a multi-year implementation plan after the enabling law. MiCA already shaped the competitive field before any central bank token existed.

According to professional guidance summarizing MiCA’s payment usage thresholds, non-euro stablecoins used for everyday payments inside the bloc face usage ceilings of 1 million transactions or 200 million euros per day on a quarterly average, which nudges point of sale activity toward euro-denominated instruments and, eventually, a digital euro scheme once live.

Asia focuses on policy over market cap

China-aligned rails add a third vector focusing on corridors, not global share. AxCNH, an offshore yuan stablecoin, has launched from Hong Kong with a licensing path under the city’s stablecoin regime and messaging oriented to Belt and Road settlement.

Hong Kong’s stablecoin regime provides the compliance venue while convertibility and mainland policy remain the swing factors for scaling CNH tokens across trade platforms, custodians, and exchanges.

Mainland caution over tokenization has also surfaced, with the securities regulator reportedly asking some brokers to pause RWA activity in Hong Kong.

The bloc approach already appears in sanctioned markets. Recent ruble stablecoin activity demonstrates that policy-linked tokens can move value in specific ways even if aggregate market capitalization remains far below the dollar supply.

Market capitalization, not transactional flow, is the scoreboard for the next phase because it captures durable float.

The current baseline, per DeFiLlama, shows dollar pegged stablecoins at about $291.7 billion with Tether at roughly 59 percent share, euro pegged supply at about $480 million with EURC near half the total, and other pegs still small by comparison.

The share mix has shifted during the last two months as USDT’s dominance fell below 60 percent while USDC regained ground and new entrants began to seed supply.

The key test for mUSD is whether embedded distribution accelerates float growth faster than exchange-led minting models, and whether Stripe’s merchant network shortens the distance from wallet to receipt. East vs West Stablecoin Cold war Emerges in Battle for the First Trillion Dollar Stablecoin_1

East vs West Stablecoin Cold war Emerges in Battle for the First Trillion Dollar Stablecoin_1

Race to $1 trillion market cap

A 12 to 24-month framing clarifies what it takes to reach the first $1 trillion in market cap.

From a starting point near $292 billion, reaching $1 trillion in 24 months requires roughly 85 percent annualized growth, in 18 months about 127 percent, and in 12 months above 240 percent.

Those rates don’t pass judgment on feasibility but represent the hurdle rates implied by the math and set the bar for product distribution and compliance readiness.

The most credible catalysts line up in the United States because the GENIUS Act lowers policy risk for payment companies, card partners, and banks that want to issue or distribute stablecoins, while yield on short-term Treasurys continues to make fully reserved tokens economical to hold for working capital and treasury operations.

If payment processors route settlement into stablecoins at the edge, inventory will migrate from exchanges toward wallets with direct merchant links.

Europe’s path centers on domestic retail. If non-Euro tokens run into MiCA usage ceilings inside the bloc, merchants will emphasize Euro instruments for day-to-day transactions, and the digital euro could become the default rail after live launch.

That outcome would not immediately raise the euro stablecoin market cap to the dollar scale because cross-border and offshore flows would still prefer the deepest liquidity pools. Still, it would shape the point of sale mix in the single market.

The implementation clock also matters

Legislation in early 2026 would still leave two and a half to three years for buildout, testing, and rulebook finalization, which places mass availability closer to 2027 or 2028.

AxCNH and other state-aligned tokens point to a corridor strategy rather than a global capture strategy. The question is not whether CNH can replace dollar liquidity, it is whether licensed offshore issuance in Hong Kong plus trade finance platforms can sustain settlement volumes in defined routes.

Issuance scale will depend on convertibility mechanics, bank participation, and China’s stance toward private tokenization experiments. Local licensing, anti-money laundering requirements, and supervision can solve compliance at the venue level, while currency controls and onshore policy will govern depth and velocity.

The macro base case behind the $2 to $4 trillion payments figure remains intact.

According to the IMF and payments industry analysis, cross-border value processed annually is measured in the hundreds of trillions of dollars, and the mix is migrating to ISO 20022 and data-rich formats that pair well with programmable settlement.

Stablecoins provide instant finality at the edge and predictable redemption into bank money, which is why payment companies are moving from card-linked crypto rewards toward direct stablecoin settlement in merchant flows.

If even one percent of the conservative $200 trillion base settles on token rails, annual on-chain payments would reach $2 trillion, and at two percent, $4 trillion, with float requirements and working capital buffers driving market capitalization above transactional averages.

Three operational questions will separate winners.

First is distribution, which means how quickly mUSD, USDC, and peers bind issuance to checkout, invoicing, and payroll with settlement that converts into bank depositories without manual steps.

Second is rulebooks, which means whether U.S. licensing produces bank-grade programs and whether MiCA’s daily caps push EU retail toward euro instruments before the digital euro arrives.

Third is corridors, which means whether Hong Kong’s licensing, custody, and exchange infrastructure can lift CNH tokens into trade settlement without policy whiplash.

Key facts

USDT’s share is below 60 percent, and the rise of alternatives gives the market headroom to reallocate float as new rails become available. mUSD’s wallet native issuance creates a direct line from user to merchant.

The digital euro legislative plan puts law in 2026 and multi-year build-out thereafter.

AxCNH has gone live with a compliance path focused on offshore yuan.

mUSD is live inside a distribution channel, the digital euro legislation is targeted for early 2026, and AxCNH has launched in Hong Kong.

Given that Tether’s USDT currently has a higher market cap than all other stablecoins combined, it is easy to assume the first $1 trillion stablecoin will be pegged to the dollar.

However, institutional adoption into traditional payment rails outside the US could realistically create a ‘Tortoise and the Hare’ race in which the encumbrance loses out.

Source: Cryptoslate

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Manuel

Political

Cryptocurrency

Nine House Financial Services Committee members sent a letter to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins on Sept. 22, urging swift implementation of President Donald Trump’s Aug. 7 executive order enabling cryptocurrency investments in 401(k) retirement plans.

The bipartisan coalition expressed support for expanding access to alternative assets to help 90 million Americans secure dignified retirement outcomes.

The Sept. 22 letter, led by Committee Chairman French Hill and Subcommittee on Capital Markets Chairman Ann Wagner, applauds the executive order’s policy:

“Every American preparing for retirement should have access to funds that include investments in alternative assets when the relevant plan fiduciary determines that such access provides an appropriate opportunity to enhance the net risk-adjusted returns.”

Congressional push for regulatory clarity

The lawmakers encouraged the SEC to swiftly assist the Department of Labor and make necessary revisions to current regulations and guidance regarding alternative asset access in participant-directed defined-contribution retirement savings plans.

The letter specifically requests the SEC review of bipartisan legislation concerning accredited investors advanced in the 119th Congress.

Trump’s executive order directs the Secretary of Labor to consult with the SEC to determine necessary parallel regulatory changes.

The order also instructs the SEC to facilitate alternative asset access by revising applicable regulations and guidance, potentially including consideration of accredited investor and qualified purchaser status modifications.

As of March 31, the defined-contribution market had assets of $12.2 trillion, with $8.7 trillion in 401(k) plans. Even modest default allocations could generate substantial crypto demand through systematic payroll contributions and employer matches.

A 0.1% default allocation across 10% of plans would produce $1.22 billion in crypto investment flows. Meanwhile, broader adoption scenarios suggest potential ranges from $15.3 billion at 0.5% defaults across 25% of plans to $61 billion if 1% defaults were implemented across half the market.

Implementation mechanics

The executive order builds on the Labor Department’s May 28 rescission of its 2022 crypto compliance release, which warned fiduciaries to exercise “extreme care” regarding crypto menu design.

Distribution will likely run through target date funds and collective investment trusts, where most participant dollars flow automatically.

The signatories include Representatives Frank Lucas, Warren Davidson, Marlin Stutzman, Andrew Garbarino, Michael Lawler, Troy Downing, and Mike Haridopolos. The letter was copied to Ranking Member Maxine Waters and Subcommittee Ranking Member Brad Sherman.

Implementation now depends on agency guidance, product filings, and recordkeeper integrations before plan committees can update investment policy statements to include cryptocurrency allocations.