Fed Holds at 3.75%, Warsh Turns Hawkish; Odyssey AI Raises $310M

Crypto News

The Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate at 3.50%-3.75% on June 17, marking a fourth consecutive hold approved unanimously by all twelve FOMC members. The committee said the US economy continues to expand at a solid pace despite uncertainty tied to the Middle East conflict, citing strong productivity gains and capital investment. Policymakers described the labor market as stable, with job growth keeping pace with workforce expansion and the unemployment rate little changed. The statement reaffirmed that inflation remains above the 2% target, noting that supply shocks in energy and other sectors pushed prices higher, and pledged continued commitment to price stability and ample bank reserves.

The decision marked Kevin Warsh’s first meeting as Fed chair, and his debut carried a sharply hawkish surprise. The official statement stripped out prior references to additional rate adjustments, shifting to a purely data-dependent, neutral stance as inflation hovers near 4.2% year over year. Nine of eighteen FOMC participants now project at least one rate hike in 2026, a dramatic reversal from earlier projections that leaned toward cuts. Treasury yields climbed on the news, with the two-year yield rising nearly 11 basis points to 4.153%, while equities sold off and the dollar strengthened. Warsh signaled a preference for a quieter Fed with reduced forward guidance.

Controversial influencer Andrew Tate was liquidated for the 108th time on Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetual futures exchange popular with aggressive retail traders. On-chain data shows Tate opened a 40x long position on Bitcoin worth $3.75 million that was wiped out when the price dipped to roughly $64,500, with cumulative losses reaching about $890,000. He immediately flipped to a 40x short already sitting in the red. Separately, Romanian prosecutors announced an expanded investigation into Tate, who already faces charges including human trafficking, adding allegations tied to a 2017 case—an episode underscoring how high-leverage speculation and mounting legal jeopardy now overlap.

Elsewhere, artificial intelligence drew fresh capital as Odyssey, a research lab building so-called world models, raised $310 million in a Series B round that valued the company at $1.45 billion. The financing was led by Natural Capital, with participation from Amazon, AMD Ventures, GV, EQT and others. Alongside the raise, Odyssey disclosed a new agreement under which Amazon Web Services becomes its preferred cloud provider and grants access to AWS’s custom Trainium AI chips. World models aim to simulate physical reality—learning physics, causality and the passage of time—positioning them as core infrastructure for robotics, autonomous driving and physical AI agents.

Among major altcoins, XRP failed to clear the $1.25 resistance level and slipped back toward $1.21, extending a short-term downtrend. Twenty-four-hour trading volume fell 41.5% to $1.56 billion, signaling that buyers lacked the conviction to sustain a rebound. The token has carved out a pattern of lower highs since pulling back from its early-2025 record near its all-time high, though analysts note the longer-term structure of higher highs and higher lows remains intact. The $1.19 support level now stands as the decisive near-term pivot; a confirmed break below could open the door to a deeper correction toward $1.11.

In South Korea, the Financial Services Commission designated three new offerings as innovative financial services, including a Nonghyup system that uses MyData to help borrowers exercise their right to request lower loan rates. The service automatically monitors changes in a customer’s creditworthiness—from employment to income gains—and prompts a rate-reduction request at the optimal moment, addressing a process consumers often missed when filing manually. Regulators also greenlit an SK Planet and Jeonbuk Bank partnership account and a KB Asset Management robo-advisory pension service. Officials said cumulative innovative-service designations have now reached 1,075, underscoring a steady push toward data-driven financial deregulation.

Taken together, the day’s headlines trace a single thread: capital is repricing around tighter policy and proven fundamentals rather than speculation. With the Fed signaling a hawkish hold and yields rising, risk appetite has thinned. COINOTAG’s aggregate data shows the Fear & Greed Index at 22, deep in extreme fear, while Bitcoin trades near $66,000, dominance holds at 69.9% and total crypto market capitalization sits near $1.88 trillion. That defensive posture, reinforced by a prolonged bear market drawdown, is squeezing leveraged traders and weaker venues alike even as AI and regulated finance attract fresh investment. Our derivatives signals point to continued caution until inflation and rate uncertainty resolve.