So it's finally happened. The Federal Reserve Board warned member banks that it intends to presumptively prohibit a large portion of cryptocurrency banking activity, as the demand for more guidance over digital assets has grown following rampant instances of fraud. The regulator issued a new policy largely prohibiting digital assets from the regulated banking environment, primarily due to security concerns.

In this episode of The Higher Standard, Chris and Saied examine this news and try to determine what effect it will have on the crypto space.

They discuss a recent Gallup poll indicating that half of Americans say they are financially worse off now than they were a year ago, the highest share since 2009. About 61% of those with a household income of less than $40,000 reported they were worse off, compared to 49% and 43% for middle- and high-income households respectively.

Chris and Saied look at a report from Zillow stating that the amount of time it would take to save enough to put 10% down on a typical home in Austin rose from eight years in 2019 to 13 years in 2022.

They also offer some thoughts on Affirm Holdings Inc. seeking new sponsor banks to diversify the sources of loan originations, as the buy-now, pay-later platform comes under pressure to improve earnings after a slowdown in growth.

Join Chris and Saied for this fascinating and informative conversation.

Enjoy!

What You’ll Learn in this Show:

• The concept of centralized cryptocurrency exchanges and how they work.
• What’s happening in the commercial real estate market in terms of lagging responses.
• Why banks have an ongoing due diligence requirement for commercial loans.
• The reasons why more San Francisco homes are selling below the asking price in LA.
• And so much more...

Resources:

"Two More ‘Shoes To Drop’ In The Real Estate Market" (article from Forbes)

"Morgan Stanley says the stock market is ‘disconnected from reality’ and it’s going to hit bottom this Spring" (article from Fortune)

"Half of Americans say they're worse off than they were a year ago" (Bloomberg Business via Instagram)

"Federal Reserve Issues New Restrictions on Crypto Banking" (article from NextGov)

"More San Francisco homes selling below asking price. Could that trend come to L.A.?" (article from the Los Angeles Times)

"It now takes roughly 13 years to save for a down payment in New York and Austin" (Bloomberg Business via Instagram)

"Fed’s Neel Kashkari says central bank has not made enough progress, keeping his rate outlook" (article from CNBC)

"Zoom to lay off 1,300 employees, or about 15% of its workforce" (article from CNBC)

“Yahoo to lay off more than 20% of staff” (article from Yahoo! Finance)

"Affirm seeks new sponsor banks as it shifts to interest-bearing loans" (article from S&P Global)

"LA landlords must pay to relocate tenants facing hefty rent hikes" (TheRealDeal via Instagram)

"There’s a new inflation warning for consumers coming from the supply chain" (article from CNBC)

"Stablecoin issuer Paxos ordered to halt creation for Binance USD" (article from Yahoo!)