Crypto

We Got a Rate Cut and QT Pause. Why Did Crypto Markets Fall?

David Hoffman
David Hoffman•Oct 31, 2025

Why It Matters

The selloff shows how sensitive risk assets and crypto are to nuanced Fed signaling: promises of future cuts aren’t enough to sustain rallies if timing and liquidity policy remain unclear. For crypto firms, the environment raises fundraising and valuation risks even as token issuance and institutional product launches accelerate.

Summary

Markets sold off after a dovish-but-ambiguous Fed update this week: Jerome Powell signaled that rate cuts are on the roadmap next year and the Fed hinted at pausing quantitative tightening, but his comments left investors uncertain about timing and pace of easing. Stocks erased earlier gains and crypto reversed a midweek rally, leaving Bitcoin and Ether down on the week. The episode coincided with a flurry of crypto headlines — a massively oversubscribed Mega ETH ICO, new token launches (Monad, Poly Market), a CFTC leadership nomination, JP Morgan modeling a hypothetical Coinbase token, plus Solana wins (a staking ETF and a Western Union stablecoin) and Circle’s new layer-1 testnet — underscoring busy funding and product activity despite the pullback. Hosts also promoted the upcoming Bankless Summit and discussed market narratives like a possible ‘‘gold catch-up’’ trade for Bitcoin.

Original Description

📣BANKLESS SUMMIT 2025 | SPONSORED BY M0
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Markets got the treat they were waiting for with a Fed rate cut and pause on quantitative tightening, but prices still fell. Why? This week, Ryan and David break down why the markets got spooked, what Powell really said about December cuts, and what it means heading into November. We also cover MegaETH’s oversubscribed ICO, Monad’s airdrop, Polymarket’s confirmed token, and JP Morgan’s $34B Base token estimate. Plus Solana’s new ETF, Western Union’s stablecoin, Circle’s controversial L1 launch, the X402 payment boom, and the latest on Consensys and Securitize IPOs.
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BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
🪙FRAXNET | MINT, REDEEM, EARN
🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN
🛞MANTLE | MODULAR L2 NETWORK
🌳KGEN | REQUEST A DEMO
💠BIT DIGITAL ($BTBT) | ETH TREASURY
We’re being compensated by Bit Digital (NASDAQ BTBT) for this segment promoting their company and BTBT. The compensation is paid in cash as a one time payment. You can find additional information about Bit Digital and BTBT on their Investor page at https://bit-digital.com/investors
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TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES
0:00 Intro
5:03 Markets
30:32 3 of the most exciting tokens this year & new valuations! It’s token launch season!
44:36 Circle’s Arc EVM L1 goes to public testnet - RSA triggered
47:00 x402 gets its first signs of traction - 200,000% growth week over week
52:27 Trump names Michael Selig to chair CFTC
53:41 Trump Media is about to launch a prediction market
56:46 Western Union is building exclusively on Solana
1:03:21 3 themes this cycle: Acquisitions, Banks, IPO
1:09:55 Closing & Disclaimers
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:

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