Here’s what you’ll find in today’s edition:

• ETF issuers test the SEC’s limits with more crypto fund proposals.

• The FOMC says unemployment and labor conditions look good, so they’re holding interest rates. 

• The crypto payments landscape may be due for a big 2025.

Questions remain amid crypto ETF frenzy

I know it’s a Fed rate decision day, but let’s also take a moment to go over the latest crypto ETF filings.

Solana and XRP ETF proposals appeared not long after the milestone US spot bitcoin and ether ETF launches of 2024.

Movement on a litecoin fund plan preceded REX Shares and Osprey last week proposing ETFs that would hold assets including DOGE, BONK and Trump’s memecoin. Tuttle Capital Management — further testing the limits — more recently floated leveraged ETFs linked to 10 different crypto assets. 

And just yesterday, Bitwise filed its S-1 for a dogecoin ETF. Cboe also re-filed its 19b-4s for solana ETFs from Bitwise, 21Shares, VanEck and Canary Capital. The Gensler-led agency was reportedly not interested in considering those.

Some have theorized that Elon Musk’s backing of DOGE could help fast-track approval of Bitwise’s latest proposal, for example. 

A person close to the filings told me it remains to be seen how the SEC will approach the so-called “Winklevoss standard.” The name reflects the agency’s interpretation of the Exchange Act when it rejected the Winklevoss twins’ bitcoin ETF proposal in 2018 — requiring the existence of “a regulated market of significant size.”

The SEC has historically wanted to see such a regulated futures market in particular, for which only BTC and ETH currently exist. Whether CME Group will soon launch SOL and XRP futures contracts is up in the air.  

“How the SEC changes, or doesn't change, its view on this specific interpretation is the key for these new filings,” the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity amid issuer conversations with regulators. 

The SEC has not yet publicly signaled whether or not it’s open to changing its stance on this matter. But the person pointed out that SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce — now leading a crypto task force — “notably” dissented to the SEC’s interpretation in the first order that established this requirement.

Mark Uyeda is serving as acting SEC chair after Gary Gensler’s departure. The senate must still confirm Trump’s nominee to lead the agency: Paul Atkins. 

Adrienne Gurley, an ex-SEC senior counsel and partner at Venable LLP, labeled Atkins as “pro-innovation” and “not in favor of onerous requirements that are cost-prohibitive for companies.”  

Ultimately, she expects there will be “a case by case evaluation” of the proposed crypto products. 

“Further, the SEC will have to coordinate with the CFTC on certain guidelines,” Gurley told me. “So I don’t expect an overnight response to this, [but] rather a slow rollout of approvals.”

— Ben Strack

The regulatory landscape is shifting. As the US explores a strategic digital asset reserve, the implications for markets, monetary policy, and investment strategies are enormous.

At DAS NYC, join the leaders shaping this transformation — from BlackRock’s perspective on institutional adoption to Ripple and Solana’s insights on blockchain’s expanding role in finance.

Explore how these changes are shaping portfolios, shaping markets, and influencing the global financial system. If you’re navigating this evolving landscape, you can’t afford to miss these conversations.

📅 March 18-20 | NYC

The amount of bitcoin Metaplanet intends to accumulate by the end of 2026 — up from the 1,761 BTC it held at 2024’s end.

“This would solidify the company’s position as one of the largest corporate bitcoin holders globally,” Metaplanet said Tuesday.

Growing corporate adoption remains a key piece of BTC bullishness as firms beyond MicroStrategy and bitcoin miners continue to consider such investments.

The FOMC today, as expected, held interest rates steady. 

The unemployment rate has “stabilized” and the labor market is “solid,” officials said. Inflation, on the other hand, “remains somewhat elevated.” 

“The committee judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are roughly in balance,” the statement read. “The economic outlook is uncertain, and the committee is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate.” 

Today’s pause comes after three consecutive interest rate cuts at the end of last year. In the committee’s most recent projection materials, the majority of participants expected to end 2025 in the 3.75%-4% range. The current target range is 4.25%-4.5%. 

Whether or not we see two 25-basis point cuts in 2025, though, is anyone’s guess at this point. 

President Trump’s policy plans — mainly on tariffs and mass deportations — are expected to have significant impacts on inflation and the labor market, potentially undercutting the central bank’s mandate of reaching maximum employment with stable prices. Trump last week said he knows “interest rates much better” than FOMC members. 

Markets are largely expecting the FOMC to continue this pause through March, calling for only a 28% chance of a pause, according to data from CME Group. 

Equities were little changed in the moments after the decision. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite remained in the red, trading 0.7% and 1% lower, respectively, as of 2:10 pm ET.

— Casey Wagner

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan last week said that the US banking industry will have to adapt their businesses to allow for crypto payments, should regulations progress. 

“If the rules come in and make it a real thing that you can actually do business with, you’ll find that the banking system will come in hard on the transactional side of it,” Moynihan told CNBC at the World Economic Forum. 

Crypto exchange Kraken today launched a new payments platform — Kraken Pay, which allows customers to transfer assets directly from their exchange accounts. Kraken Pay supports more than 300 fiat currencies and crypto tokens. Sending assets is free, but converting assets from one currency to another when making a transfer will come with fees. 

​​“Crypto isn’t just the future of finance — it’s the now,” Kraken global head of consumer Mark Greenberg said. “We’re eliminating the barriers of slow payments and outrageous fees while bringing real-world utility to your fingertips.” 

Kraken Pay is only the latest product in the growing crypto payments landscape. 

Payment service Venmo dipped its toe in the crypto pool back in 2021. Ripple says its payments product is getting a facelift this year. 

The payments space, from cross-border and remittances to peer-to-peer transactions, has long been an area crypto fans insist is ripe for disruption. 

With more crypto-friendly federal regulators in charge and increased retail and institutional investor interest, 2025 just may be the year we really start to see this sector of crypto take off. 

— Casey Wagner

• Bitcoin and ether had traded roughly flat over the last 24 hours, as of 2 pm ET — hovering at $101,800 and $3,080, respectively.  

• Trump Media and Technology Group said a portion of $250 million its board has cleared to be custodied by Charles Schwab could go toward “bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies or crypto-related securities.” The funds could also be put toward customized SMAs, ETFs and other traditional investment vehicles, the company noted. 

• You can expect more macroeconomic insights tomorrow when Felix Jauvin contributes to the Forward Guidance newsletter.