FOMC Meeting and Key Events This Week
It is known that every economic or crypto event affects the crypto market. It’s important to stay up to date on what the market expects next. Here is a list of the main economic and crypto events to watch this week.
Major economic events this week
Mainly, the Federal Reserve is expected to announce a 0.25 basis point interest rate cut on Wednesday, December 18.
Importantly, the final month-on-month index of U.S. GDP growth will be released on Thursday. The index was 1.6% in the first quarter, soared to 3% in the second quarter, and fell slightly to 2.8% last quarter. The index is expected to remain unchanged this time around.
The S&P Global U.S. Services PMI index, which tracks variables such as prices, sales, inventories and employment, will be released today. It rose to 56.1 from 55 in November.
The U.S. Retail Sales Index, which measures total sales of retail goods and services during a specific period, will be released on Tuesday. U.S. retail sales growth rose to 2.8% year-on-year from 2% in October, while U.S. retail sales fell to 0.4% month-on-month from 0.8% in October.
U.S. state existing home sales index will be released on Thursday. An existing home sale occurs when a mortgage loan closes. In the United States, mortgage closing typically occurs 30 to 60 days after the sales contract closes. In September, the number was 3.83 million, a 14-year low. It recovered to 3.96 million in October.
On Friday, at least three important indexes will be released: the US core PCE price index, the US personal income and the US personal spending index. In October, the US core PCE price index remained unchanged at 0.3%. The U.S. personal income month-on-month index rose from 0.3% to 0.6% in October, while the U.S. personal expenditures month-on-month index fell from 0.6% to 0.4%.
Important crypto events this week
Earlier this month, Sonic Labs announced that it would launch Layer-1 blockchain Sonic. The launch is expected to take place this week. The market has grown 10.2% over the past seven days. It’s expected to surge more than 15% in the past 24 hours alone.
Avalanche is preparing to launch one of the most significant upgrades in the blockchain’s history: Avalanche9000. This upgrade mainly aims to improve the way the subnet works, introduce the concept of free monthly subscription, and improve the inter-chain communication framework. The upgrade is expected to launch today. AVAX’s price has increased by more than 1.9% in the past 24 hours.
Stacks plans to release sBTC, a new BTC-backed DeFi asset, tomorrow. In the past 24 hours, the price of Stacks has increased by a staggering 12.6%.
A cryptocurrency expert identified as a DeFi investor on X posted that Cosmos could make three major announcements this week, including one related to the role of ATOM. ATOM price has also surged by around 1.3% in the past 24 hours.
LayerZero, a protocol that promotes interoperability between different blockchains, plans to organize a major vote on Thursday to implement its new fee conversion mechanism. The proposal aims to enable LayerZero to charge fees for verifying and executing cross-chain messages. The price of ZRO has increased significantly by 9.7% in the past 7 days, with a significant increase of around 10.6% in the past 24 hours alone.
All in all, this week has been filled with economic and crypto events that could have a significant impact on the markets. From Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) interest rate cuts to blockchain upgrades, it’s critical to keep a close eye on these developments.
