Exchange Exodus

Taper Tantrum. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes released on Wednesday confirm that tapering is likely to start as early as this fall, despite split views on the durability of faster inflation and key areas of policymaking. However, the balance sheet will continue to grow as the Fed reinvests proceeds. The stock markets were largely weighed down by the prospects of the Fed withdrawing its financial support. Bitcoin dipped below its $45k support as an immediate response to the looming tapering, before staging yet another upside correction. On the bright side, crypto made its debut during the Fed’s closed-door meeting in July, another sign of becoming a force to be reckoned with, following its role in holding up the infrastructure bill in Congress.