Standard Chartered: Bitcoin and Ethereum custody services to be launched in Hong Kong next year

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…

Tunisia’s Tunis–Carthage airport expansion is set to transform the country’s aviation capacity as authorities plan a $1 billion investment to significantly increase

PANews reported on September 18th that, according to Decrypt, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has granted a regulatory exemption to stablecoin intermediaries, allowing them to distribute cryptocurrencies issued by licensed Australian institutions without having to hold a separate financial services license. The exemption, published Thursday, states that intermediaries distributing stablecoins issued by Australian Financial Services (AFS) licensed issuers no longer need to apply for separate AFS, market, or clearing facility licenses. This measure, effective upon registration of federal legislation, is a significant step forward in addressing Australia's regulatory challenges in the stablecoin market. Blockchain APAC CEO Steve Vallas stated that this move is a temporary transition before broader reforms and is consistent with financial services law. The exemption does not change the determination of whether stablecoins are financial products, but simply "suspends the secondary licensing requirement for distributors of licensed issuers," allowing distribution through licensed channels while maintaining issuer liability and requiring intermediaries to provide product disclosure statements to ensure transparency.