🌳 Le Pen's Far-Right Party Leads French Elections; SEC Sues Consensys Over Alleged Securities Violations

Macro & TradFi

Marine Le Pen (https://www.ft.com/content/581cde6f-fc6d-4618-a505-8070c699edc0)'s far-right party has surpassed President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance in the first round of France's snap parliamentary elections, signaling a potential shift towards a nationalist government that could disrupt the European project. The Rassemblement National (RN) party secured 33.2% of the vote, followed by the leftwing Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) with 28.1%, while Macron's Ensemble alliance garnered 21%, according to Ipsos projections. The RN is poised to win the most seats and possibly an outright majority in the National Assembly, leading to a potential cohabitation government. This scenario has prompted intense negotiations among leftwing and centrist parties to block the RN in the final round of voting on July 7. However, the Euro rose on concerns that Marine Le Pen's far-right party would be unable to win an absolute majority. Le Pen’s National Rally won the first round of the French elections with a smaller-than-anticipated margin.

Elsewhere, the core personal consumption expenditures (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-28/fed-s-favored-price-gauge-rises-at-slowest-pace-in-six-months) (PCE) price index decelerated in May, reinforcing the argument for potential interest rate cuts later this year. The core PCE price index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose by only 0.08%, the smallest increase since late 2020. Meanwhile, consumer spending rebounded by 0.3% in May, driven by strong income growth. This combination of slowing inflation and robust spending suggests that the Fed might achieve its goal of reducing inflation without significantly harming consumer demand. Treasury yields declined, and stocks rose in response to the data, reflecting increased market expectations for rate cuts. This report provides optimism for the Fed, but officials will seek additional consistent data before making definitive policy changes.

Last Friday, US stocks experienced slight declines as traders processed new economic data indicating slowing inflation. Despite hitting record highs in early trading, the Nasdaq Composite ended down 0.54%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.12%, and the S&P 500 fell 0.4%. Markets reacted to former President Trump's perceived victory in the first presidential debate (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-28/dollar-edges-up-as-markets-view-trump-leading-election-debate?embedded-checkout=true) of the 2024 elections, where he reiterated his pledge to impose a 10% tariff on all imports if elected, potentially increasing inflationary pressures. Investors are now closely watching US jobs data, with the JOLTs Job Openings report due on Tuesday, 22:00 SGT.

DeFi & CeFi

   •   SEC files lawsuit against Consensys for its Swaps and Staking product

   •   SEC returns S-1 forms to ETH ETF applicants with comments

   •   Vitalik Buterin condemns US approach to utility tokens

   •   Kraken Co-Founder Jesse Donates $1M of ETH to Trump

   •   Sony acquires Amber Japan to enter into the crypto field

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against Consensys (https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/06/28/sec-sues-consensys-over-metamask-staking-broker-allegations/), targeting its MetaMask service for allegedly acting as an unregistered securities broker and violating federal securities laws with its Swaps and Staking products. The SEC's enforcement action also encompassed Ethereum staking services provided by Lido and Rocket Pool, specifically referencing their liquid staking tokens as unregistered securities. Consensys, led by Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin, has previously contested the SEC's regulatory stance through legal action and maintains that the SEC's pursuit represents regulatory overreach aimed at redefining established legal standards in the crypto space.

🌳 Le Pen's Far-Right Party Leads French Elections; SEC Sues Consensys Over Alleged Securities Violations

Macro & TradFi

Marine Le Pen (https://www.ft.com/content/581cde6f-fc6d-4618-a505-8070c699edc0)'s far-right party has surpassed President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance in the first round of France's snap parliamentary elections, signaling a potential shift towards a nationalist government that could disrupt the European project. The Rassemblement National (RN) party secured 33.2% of the vote, followed by the leftwing Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) with 28.1%, while Macron's Ensemble alliance garnered 21%, according to Ipsos projections. The RN is poised to win the most seats and possibly an outright majority in the National Assembly, leading to a potential cohabitation government. This scenario has prompted intense negotiations among leftwing and centrist parties to block the RN in the final round of voting on July 7. However, the Euro rose on concerns that Marine Le Pen's far-right party would be unable to win an absolute majority. Le Pen’s National Rally won the first round of the French elections with a smaller-than-anticipated margin.

Elsewhere, the core personal consumption expenditures (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-28/fed-s-favored-price-gauge-rises-at-slowest-pace-in-six-months) (PCE) price index decelerated in May, reinforcing the argument for potential interest rate cuts later this year. The core PCE price index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose by only 0.08%, the smallest increase since late 2020. Meanwhile, consumer spending rebounded by 0.3% in May, driven by strong income growth. This combination of slowing inflation and robust spending suggests that the Fed might achieve its goal of reducing inflation without significantly harming consumer demand. Treasury yields declined, and stocks rose in response to the data, reflecting increased market expectations for rate cuts. This report provides optimism for the Fed, but officials will seek additional consistent data before making definitive policy changes.

Last Friday, US stocks experienced slight declines as traders processed new economic data indicating slowing inflation. Despite hitting record highs in early trading, the Nasdaq Composite ended down 0.54%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.12%, and the S&P 500 fell 0.4%. Markets reacted to former President Trump's perceived victory in the first presidential debate (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-28/dollar-edges-up-as-markets-view-trump-leading-election-debate?embedded-checkout=true) of the 2024 elections, where he reiterated his pledge to impose a 10% tariff on all imports if elected, potentially increasing inflationary pressures. Investors are now closely watching US jobs data, with the JOLTs Job Openings report due on Tuesday, 22:00 SGT.

DeFi & CeFi

   •   SEC files lawsuit against Consensys for its Swaps and Staking product

   •   SEC returns S-1 forms to ETH ETF applicants with comments

   •   Vitalik Buterin condemns US approach to utility tokens

   •   Kraken Co-Founder Jesse Donates $1M of ETH to Trump

   •   Sony acquires Amber Japan to enter into the crypto field

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against Consensys (https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/06/28/sec-sues-consensys-over-metamask-staking-broker-allegations/), targeting its MetaMask service for allegedly acting as an unregistered securities broker and violating federal securities laws with its Swaps and Staking products. The SEC's enforcement action also encompassed Ethereum staking services provided by Lido and Rocket Pool, specifically referencing their liquid staking tokens as unregistered securities. Consensys, led by Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin, has previously contested the SEC's regulatory stance through legal action and maintains that the SEC's pursuit represents regulatory overreach aimed at redefining established legal standards in the crypto space.