Samuel Sabbah

It's the start of a new cycle everyone waited for: the interest rates cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve. In this article, I discuss this theme with some takeaways from this year.
A relief for investors
The figures of the inflation are coming close to the target range of 2%, leading to a soft landing. As a consequence, central banks are cutting their interest rates. The most watched institution is the Federal Reserve. Earlier in the month, the U.S. Fed cut its interest rates by half a point, as analysts expected a quarter. This move means a more aggressive tone from the Fed.
This move changes many things for investors. The banking institutions can lend with lower interest rates. The real estate sector, moving more on this kind of cycle, will be more attractive. As for the financial products, risk-on assets are more attractive too such as growth stocks like tech and, of course, crypto.
This relief is shadowed by the fear of an incoming recession, as the confidence of investors is down below 100 earlier in the week. The recession issue is on the table, as the decreased interest rate from the Fed should was expected by the market: is this move from the Fed too late or too early?
The ETFs: a market switching hands
In my last article, I put on the table two catalysts: the halving of Bitcoin and the approvals by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commissions (SEC) of Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs changed the story of the investing books. Grayscale dominated the leader board as the most attractive institutional product for Bitcoin, now it is the Spot Bitcoin ETF of Blackrock.
To go further, Blackrock has invested massively in the blockchain sector since its Spot Bitcoin ETF was approved with a tokenized platform named BUIDL and favorable says about crypto from its CEO Larry Fink.
Blackrock has boosted the process of approvals of the Spot Bitcoin ETFs, changing the expectations, and the position of the institutional investors in the retail market of the Bitcoin holders, as Microstrategy and ARK Invest were seen as nerds.
This marks a change of a retail market into a more institutionalized one. Now, here it is.
What is next?
The next step is coming close day by day. It is the Presidential election in the United States of America. As Donald Trump spoke at the Bitcoin conference in Nashville, he voiced pro-crypto policies such as the right of self-custody like owning a cold wallet (maybe a tax cut for this use of ownership). As for Kamala Harris, Anthony Scaramucci, former Donald Trump's White House communications director, said recently he is helping the Democratic nominee to have a platform on this issue. Lastly, Kamala Harris talked about the crypto market as an 'opportunity economy' which she will let thrive if elected.
Another theme has emerged: Artificial Intelligence. We know some crypto assets such as FET which gained success through this wave. Binance dedicates an entire category on the theme. But the compliance is always on the track as disruptive success is ongoing. The project Worldcoin is an illustration.
Conclusion
As 2024 is going, many themes, expectations, events, disruptions moved on. We all wait for a bull run which shakes our wallet, but the road is long as a new American administration with promises is waited and a more mature market dominated by institutional investors took over the crypto market with the ETFs.
The crypto market never sleeps, but plays by the rules of its peers now as this year shows this clearly.

It is a 'hello world' and a 'happy new year' article to introduce myself and to start my content creating on Binance.What to expect for 2024? Let's watch the trends and events awaiting us on this year. Macro trendsFirst of all, this year will be marked by a likely pullback of inflation to 2% in the United States of America and Europe. The central banks, to reduce the inflation toward this target range of 2%, need to consider a pause, already done by the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, then a quantitative tightening.In France, the country where I live, banks have reduced the barriers for a mortgage, as interest rates are forecast to fall. Bitcoin could benefit from the quantitative tightening, stocks too, as bonds become unattractive. The 'soft landing' of the inflation can benefit Bitcoin and crypto assets.The halving and its catalysts As four years came to an end, Bitcoin's halving is near and the crypto market is pushed by a catalyst: the Spot Bitcoin ETF approval in the United States of America. These two events can push the entry of the institutional investors further into the crypto market.The 2020 halving saw Coinbase's IPO. This time, USDC-issuer Circle is said to make an IPO. Another catalyst on this next awaiting bull run. Bitcoin halving is when the reward for bitcoin mining is cut in half, and takes place every four years. The halving policy was written into bitcoin's mining algorithm to counteract inflation by maintaining scarcity.Source: ForbesThis expected incoming Bitcoin halving is a moment of opportunity to push the market farther. First, the institutional investors are coming in with an awaited IPO and a new financial product. Then, this moment is the occasion to push the boundaries of blockchain farther with the rise of projects unknown before but benefiting by the bull run, such as Layer-2 like Arbitrum and Skale, and new fresh projects introduced during the halving. An event: Bitcoin halving. A market and a technological catalyst, as a consequence.Conclusion As a conclusion, the pullback of inflation with its 'soft landing' and the Bitcoin halving are the most awaited events on this year as new all-time-high and a new price discovery of Bitcoin can push the crypto market farther: on one side, a market catalyst and, on another one, a technological catalyst. Happy New Year and Hello World!