Bitcoin Drops After Powell Says US Cannot Hold a Bitcoin Reserve

Bitcoin

Powell Casts Doubt on Bitcoin Reserve

Bitcoin's price dipped Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank is not looking to hold the digital currency and signaled a more cautious approach to rate cuts in 2025.  

“We’re not allowed to own bitcoin. The Federal Reserve Act says what we can own, and we’re not looking for a law change," Powell said at a Wednesday press conference. “That’s the kind of thing for Congress to consider, but we are not looking for a law change at the Fed.”  

Powell's comments were in response to a question on whether he saw any value in the U.S. building a reserve of bitcoin, an idea floated by President-elect Donald Trump as a way to stay ahead of the competition as other countries embrace crypto. Bitcoin prices fell more than 5% Wednesday afternoon following the press conference.  The price dipped as low as $92,533 but rebounded back to over $97,000 by Friday morning.

While experts have warned of risks associated with volatile cryptocurrencies, bitcoin’s value has soared in recent months as President-elect Donald Trump appears poised to create a more welcoming regulatory environment.

Politics

Government Shutdown Looms for This Weekend

Current government funding expires on Friday night when Congress hopes to adjourn for the holidays. If a funding bill is not passed, then the government will see itself forced to furlough thousands of federal workers and reduce federal services.

Hours before the start of a federal government shutdown, President-elect Donald Trump doubled-down Friday on his insistence that a debt ceiling increase be included in any deal — and if not, let the closures “start now.”

Trump, who is not yet even sworn into the White House, issued his latest demand as House Speaker Mike Johnson arrived early at the Capitol, instantly holing up with some of the most conservative Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus who helped sink Trump’s bill in a spectacular Thursday evening flop. The clock is now racing toward the midnight deadline to fund government operations.

“ff there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now,” Trump posted on social media.

Entertainment

Lil Baby Says Losing $8 Million in One Day Made Him Quit Gambling

Lil Baby loves gambling. Whether that be on betting on himself in his career, cards or rolling dice, the Atlanta rapper is always down to play the odds.

Baby hopped on Lil Yachty’s A Safe Place podcast where he admitted that losing a fortune in less than two days forced him to get his gambling habit under control.

"One day, probably [in] like, 40 hours," the rapper confessed. "40 hours straight, I lost like, $8 million, $9 million. I made myself stop gambling. I had Mike Ruben write a letter to every casino and ban me from the casino, 'cause I just do shit."

He admitted to no longer gambling.

Gambling News

Isle of Man Hands Down Fine Against Prior Licensee

The Isle of Man Gambling Commission has finalised its investigation against BMO Manx and ordered a civil penalty of £1m ($1.26m), which has been subsequently lowered to £700,000.

BMO Manx, a network services company, was licensed by the Commission between 2021 and 2023, but this was not renewed.

The investigation uncovered multiple Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) failures.

These included, but were not limited to, not conducting Enhanced Due Diligence checks or even requiring them by company policy; diluting the Suspicious Activity Reporting chain across Peru and Malta; not implementing Business Risk Assessments; not undertaking a Technology Risk Assessment and not having any policies which included how soon a Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) should report knowledge of suspicion.

BMO was licenced by the Commission pursuant to the Online Gambling Regulation Act 2001 (“OGRA”) between 5th August 2021 and 18th August 2023.

Commencing in May 2023, the Commission conducted an AML/CFT inspection in respect of BMO in accordance with its statutory powers (the “Inspection”). The Inspection, based on a sample of files, identified prima facie contraventions of the Code (the “Contraventions”). The identification of such Contraventions caused the Commission to consider that it was reasonable, necessary and proportionate in all the circumstances to commence a regulatory investigation.

The Investigation identified a range of issues that, when assessed by the Commission against relevant Guidance and legislation established, at all relevant times when formerly licenced. BMO.

The Commission said: “The Commission is satisfied that the imposition of the civil penalty on BMO reflects the serious nature of the non-compliance and issues identified in relation to BMO.

“It was further noted that BMO acknowledged the serious shortcomings in its operational arrangements at an early stage of the commission’s investigation and there upon had entered into settlement discussions with the commission and sought to resolve matters constructively and expeditiously.”