The Federal Reserve is no longer projected to hike interest rates at the next FOMC meeting later this month, according to forecasts tracked by Polymarket. This comes after quotes from Fed representatives have revealed that there is currently no rush to raise rates again. Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said on Thursday that while he supported the US central bank’s interest rate increase last month, he does not see any urgency to make another move.

“Any future adjustments in policy should be determined by carefully examining trends in the data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks,” Jefferson said in the text of remarks to be delivered before the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. The Federal Reserve last raised its benchmark federal funds rate by 25 basis points to a target range of 3.75%–4.00% at its September 16 meeting.

There were concerns about another interest rate hike raised this week as Mortgage rates continued to rise. Indeed, mortgage rates have reached their highest levels since late 2023, as the global bond selloff wore on. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 7.6% as of Wednesday, according to Mortgage News Daily, up around 15 basis points from a week earlier. Rates haven’t been this high since November 2023. Further, rates have risen by 70 basis points in the last month alone.

Also Read: Congress Considers Expanding Crypto, Stablecoin Rules for Banks

Despite pressure from the Trump administration to continue lowering interest rates, the Fed under Kevin Warsh has remained stalled on making drastic changes to rates, and its plan remains hard to comprehend. Last month’s rate hike was the first of its kind in three years.

Congress is reportedly considering expanding crypto rules to allow banks and credit unions to hold digital assets, issue stablecoins, and use blockchain. According to new information from the Congressional Research Service, Policymakers are currently debating whether activities involving cryptocurrencies and digital assets (crypto) should be considered bank-permissible activities.

According to the report, any new legislation would result in a more durable outcome, reducing the likelihood of frequent regulatory changes. Furthermore, Congress may consider whether a more permanent solution allowing or limiting crypto activities would be preferable. In recent years, the policy debate on permissible activities has focused on crypto. Bank lawmakers have consistently maintained that banks can conduct crypto-related activities only if they are legally permissible and conducted in a safe and sound manner. However, that has changed in recent years, with the arrival of the second Trump administration and the growing popularity of cryptocurrency.

As the crypto clarity continues to be debated in the U.S. Senate, the future of digital assets in traditional finance remains a hot topic. The SEC has already agreed to begin working on clearer crypto regulation and new rules for digital assets to be handled by banks. The GENIUS Act already made stablecoin issuance, custody, and related activities allowed for businesses owned by banks this past summer.

Also Read: Broadcom (AVGO) to lend Anthropic up to $42 billion for AI Chips

Whether any administration seeks to expand or constrain bank participation in crypto, the report suggests the regulatory baseline remains vulnerable to reversal unless Congress acts, and that a permissive stance would raise questions about capital, liquidity, anti-money-laundering compliance, and exposure to crypto-market volatility.

Broadcom (AVGO) is said to be lending Anthropic up to $42 billion to lease the latter’s AI chips, according to a report from Reuters. Citing Anthropic’s prospectus IPO filing, Reuters reports that Anthropic is estimated to spend so much on Broadcom’s technologies that the Claude developer will become the chip designer’s largest compute customer by 2027.

Under the terms of the deal, Broadcom has the option to bring in a financing partner, and the notes could be converted into Anthropic equity. Anthropic said in its filing it does not expect any notes to be sold before it completes its IPO. Anthropic also placed funds in a restricted account held for Broadcom’s benefit in April 2026 and could face obligations to add further amounts depending on the situation, according to Reuters.

This follows a move by the Claude AI developer back in April that saw it team with Broadcom and Google for a deal that would see Google provide its Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) capacity to Anthropic. The supply is coming online in 2027, per a press release. In addition to the AI chip deal, Anthropic is also leaning on Broadcom for equipment leasing and financing, Reuters also reported Thursday.

Anthropic has been the focus of Wall Street for the last several weeks, after delaying its IPO to next year. AI worries and fear of a bubble bursting come and go, but even OpenAI and Anthropic acknowledged the concerns last month, spurring more worries on The Street. Shares in Broadcom (AVGO) are down 1.2% and 1.7% today and in the past week, respectively.

Binance Pay is launching crypto and digital asset payments at millions of PayPay-supported locations across Japan. According to a press release from Binance, Binance Pay will allow eligible overseas users visiting Japan to spend more than 100 cryptocurrencies at the vast majority of PayPay-supported merchants starting today.

PayPay is a Japanese cashless payment service accepted at millions of locations nationwide around Japan. The service is accepted at several major chains, smaller retailers, vending machines, taxis, and public transportation in the country. PayPay lists nine other overseas payment services supported through HIVEX, mainly from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Now, it lists Binance as a supported platform, and issued the following press release about adding Binance: “Users of Binance Pay can now use the feature for dining, shopping, accommodations, entertainment and other expenses at PayPay merchants throughout Japan. PayPay merchants will receive their sales proceeds in Japanese yen.”

The service will run through HIVEX, a payment interoperability framework that connects overseas QR payment services to PayPay-supported merchants in Japan, per Binance, making it the first crypto payment service to access PayPay-supported merchants through HIVEX. Binance Pay uses the Tether USDt stablecoin (USDT) as its backend settlement layer, while HIVEX settles with PayPay and PayPay settles merchants in yen.

Also Read: XRP Price Prediction: Here’s When It Could Hit $3 Again

The move shows a strong leap forward for crypto in Japan, as well as for Binance as a global platform. The latter’s native crypto coin, BNB Coin, rose just over 1.7% following the announcement. Here is how to use the Binance Pay Service in Japan via PayPay:

1. Open the Binance App and tap the [Pay] icon.
2. Tap the [PayPay] icon.
3. There are two options to pay to PayPay merchants:
   • Option 1: Present Your PayPay payment code
     • Show your PayPay payment code in the Binance App.
     • Let the merchant scan the code on your phone to complete the payment.
   • Option 2: Scan the Merchant’s PayPay QR Code
     • Scan the merchant’s PayPay QR code via Binance Pay.
     • Enter the payment amount.
     • Complete the payment and show the result to the merchant.