Global TradFi & Macroeconomics

US stock market investors faced volatility last week as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates and AI safety concerns resurfaced. The Dow fell 1.7%, marking its third consecutive losing week, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.08% and the Nasdaq gained 0.7%. The Fed raised rates by a quarter

President Donald Trump signed sweeping Russia sanctions on Sept. 18, targeting the country's energy sector and adding supply shock risks to an oil market already above $100. The White House confirmed Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, expanding sanctions, tar

Spot gold climbed to a one-week high on Friday after gaining more than 2% in the previous session. The rebound followed Wednesday's initial selloff, when gold dropped more than 1% after the Fed raised its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4.00% and signaled that additional tightening

The White House confirmed on Sept. 18 that President Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, expanding sanctions and prohibitions targeting Russia's energy sector and shadow fleet of tankers. The new law arrives as Russian crude prices climb sharply: ESPO Blend

On Friday, spot gold climbed to a one-week high, gaining over 2% in the previous session despite the Federal Reserve raising its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4.00% on Wednesday. The initial selloff triggered by the rate hike was quickly reversed as crude oil prices declined for a

Derive, the onchain derivatives platform formerly known as Lyra Finance, listed two new perpetual futures contracts with 5x leverage for its native governance token $DRV and for $F. The expansion occurred days after Derive announced its V3 migration on September 14. Derive is a self-custodial platfo

US investment-grade corporate bond issuers are avoiding long-dated debt even as institutional buyers drive record demand for these securities. Long-dated bond sales with maturities beyond 30 years comprised just 5% of all corporate issuance as of mid-September, the lowest proportion since at

France is experiencing a fuel shortage affecting 11% of its gas stations, which are out of stock of either gasoline or diesel. The shortage stems from retail distribution challenges rather than crude oil supply problems. Diesel prices have reached record highs, while gasoline prices are

On September 19, Saudi Arabia activated an air alert in Riyadh after explosions and fires were reported near King Khalid International Airport, the kingdom's main airport hub. The incident, attributed to Houthi rebel attacks, caused significant disruption to air traffic, with flight-tracking data

According to Crypto Briefing, Derive, the onchain derivatives platform formerly known as Lyra Finance, listed two new perpetual futures contracts in mid-September: one for its governance token DRV and another tracking Ford Motor Company stock (ticker F), each offering up to 5x leverage. The

France is currently grappling with a significant fuel shortage, with 11% of its gas stations reporting being out of stock of either gasoline or diesel as of September 2026. Diesel prices have hit record highs while gasoline prices are nearing previous peaks. The shortage reflects a retail

Vice Premier He Liheng will lead a delegation to the United States from September 19 to 23 for economic and trade consultations. The escalating Middle East conflict has disrupted global energy flows, with over one billion barrels of crude oil transiting the Strait of Hormuz in the past two months, a

According to an SEC filing, Grayscale's Zcash ETF (ZCSH) will execute a 3-for-1 forward share split, with shareholders of record at the close of trading on Sept. 28 receiving two additional shares for each share held. New shares will be distributed on Sept. 29, with split-adjusted trading

Cathie Wood defended Bitcoin on X Friday, telling investor Jason Calacanis that Bitcoin is 'not a dead cat' and 'has many lives ahead'. Wood's comments came in response to Calacanis calling Bitcoin a 'boring store of value' that was 'no longer capturing the public's imagination', sharing a chart

Cathie Wood told investor Jason Calacanis on Friday that Bitcoin is "not a dead cat" and "has many lives ahead." The comment comes days after ARK sold more than 1.5 million shares of its ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) on Monday, valued at approximately $40 million. Bitcoin was trading at $81,312 on

According to ChainCatcher, SpaceX's weighting in the Nasdaq 100 index was confirmed at 2.82% in the latest index rebalancing.

Coinbase Derivatives filed with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday seeking approval to launch perpetual futures contracts tied to individual U.S. stocks, including Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, and Nvidia. The filing extends a derivatives structure already established in cryptocurrency

Coinbase Derivatives filed with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday, September 18, to seek regulatory approval for single-stock perpetual futures, extending crypto-style derivatives to major U.S. equities including Apple, Microsoft, Tesla and Nvidia. The proposed contracts would

According to ZeroHedge data, approximately $96 million in call options flowed into SanDisk (SNDKV-US), Micron Technology (MU-US), Intel (INTC-US), and Marvell Technology (MRVL-US) on Friday, September 18. SanDisk shares rose as much as 11% during trading. The call options, expiring October 2,

According to ChainCatcher, the SEC yesterday (September 17) released a five-year innovation exemption enabling on-chain secondary trading of tokenized stocks. The exemption runs through September 17, 2031, and applies to specific tokenized securities trading venues offering licensed automated