rewrite this title Crypto’s next test just arrived

Plus: Hester Peirce threw a curveball on memecoins

GM. We’re the juicer of crypto – squeezing out the insights so you don’t have to do the heavy lifting.

⚖️ Hester Peirce says that memecoins don’t fall under the jurisdiction of the SEC.

🍋 News drops: OpenSea’s NFT airdrop rumors, Jerome Powell’s statement on CBDCs + more

🍍 Market flavor today

Ay, red is also a cute color, right?… Right?…

😃 … 🙂 … 😐.

Everyone’s panicking over the latest US inflation data:

Basically, although inflation ain’t a torch, it surely is on fire. Matter of fact, this is the hottest inflation report since 2023.

In case you’ve no clue what any of that means:

CPI is essentially a way to measure how much everyday costs – groceries, rent, gas, healthcare, etc etc – are rising. If CPI goes up by 3.0%, it means that, on average, the total cost of all those items has increased by 3.0% compared to a year ago;

Core CPI is the same thing minus food and energy (because those prices tend to bounce around due to random factors like bad weather or political events). By excluding them, Core CPI provides a clearer picture of inflation trends without the short-term noise.

Now, here’s the problem: core CPI is higher than overall CPI. This suggests that inflation is more deeply embedded in the economy, rather than being driven by temporary spikes in things like gas prices.

And the Fed doesn’t like that. Soo, if you were hoping for interest rate cuts anytime soon… Imma hold your hand when I say this – it’s super unlikely.

Quick sidenote just in case: rate cuts generally pump more money into the system, which can make riskier investments – like crypto – more attractive.

And don’t you worry, it gets worse 😍 There’s also uncertainty surrounding Trump’s proposed tariffs, which could push prices higher – this would make it even harder for the Fed to justify cutting interest rates.

If you’re wiping your tears rn – I’m sorry. Here’s a little something to lighten the mood: Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, Matt Hougan, noted that professional investors and everyday traders seem to be living in completely different realities when it comes to crypto.

Retail sentiment is at rock bottom, but institutions? They’re ridiculously bullish.

Exhibit A: Goldman Sachs increased their spot Ether ETF holdings by 2,000% and Bitcoin ETF holdings by 114% in Q4 of 2024.

Exhibit B: Trump’s blockchain platform, World Liberty Financial, launched a strategic reserve fund, Macro Strategy, focused on Bitcoin, Ether, and other cryptos “at the forefront of reshaping global finance.”

So, while the mere mortals are panicking, institutions are loading up – and they tend to seize opportunities the average investor might overlook.

Maybe there’s something to that 👀

🥝 Memecoin harvest

Imagine explaining to your future grandkids that you got rich off whatever these are:

Data as of 06:15 AM EST.

Check out these memecoins and plenty more here.

Yesterday, we talked about why the CFTC and the SEC might start acting a bit friendlier towards crypto under the Trump administration.

If you didn’t read that edition, what the hell 😔 Let’s fix that – here’s the link to catch up.

Done? Perfect – now, onto the fresh tea.

Hester Peirce, aka Crypto Mom, is now in charge of the SEC’s new Crypto Task Force, which was created to figure out how the US government should regulate crypto (so we can stop playing the “Is it a security, a commodity, or… idk, something?” guessing game).

She dropped by Bloomberg for a little chat about how that’s been goin’ on… and dropped one interesting take.

Memecoins aren’t really the SEC’s problem.

Her reasoning? It depends on the details, but if a memecoin isn’t tied to an investment contract, the SEC has no reason to regulate it. Peirce said that if anyone’s gonna step in, it’ll be the CFTC or even Congress if they ever decide to get involved.

Why does this matter? Well, under Biden, the SEC (led by Gary Gensler) treated crypto like a giant lawsuit waiting to happen – suing companies left and right for selling “unregistered securities.”

Peirce has never been a fan of that approach. So now, she’s working to decide which cryptos really should be considered securities.

And that’s the real W here: crypto doesn’t need a free-for-all – it needs the right kind of regulation.

Now you’re in the know. But think about your friends – they probably have no idea. I wonder who could fix that… 😃🫵

Spread the word and be the hero you know you are!

🍋 News drops

🤫 Rumors about an OpenSea NFT airdrop started going around – but the OpenSea Foundation confirmed they were all fake.

👎 The US and UK refused to sign a global AI agreement. US VP JD Vance warned that restrictions would stall progress, while the UK decided to stick to its own rules.

🙅‍♂️ Jerome Powell made it clear that there’ll be no CBDC on his watch. And since he’s sticking around until May 2026, it’s not happening for at least one more year.

🤖 An AI engineer resigned from xAI after refusing to delete a post ranking AI models, including the upcoming Grok 3. xAI allegedly told him to take it down or get fired, to which he responded, “After reviewing everything and thinking a lot, I’ve decided that I’m not going to delete the post — which is very clearly a harmless personal opinion.”

💸 Trying to figure out what Binance charges for trading, deposits, and withdrawals? We’ve broken it all down so you don’t get hit with surprise fees – check it out in our guide.

🍌 Juicy memes