The Bank of England is expected to keep interest rates unchanged at 3.75% for a sixth consecutive meeting on Thursday, even as UK inflation accelerated to 3.1% in August from 2.9% in July, according to BBC. Policymakers on the nine-member Monetary Policy Committee have been weighing higher global energy prices, the Middle East conflict and recent rate rises by the European Central Bank and US Federal Reserve. The Bank rate is due to be announced at 12:00 BST. BBC reported that governor Andrew Bailey previously said rates may need to rise further if the conflict continues and oil prices stay above $100 a barrel. Major lenders have already raised new fixed-rate mortgage costs, with Moneyfacts saying the average two-year fixed residential mortgage rate is 5.77% and the average five-year rate is 5.83%.

Japan and South Korea stocks opened higher. According to Sina Finance, the Nikkei 225 opened at 64,643.58, up 1.13%, while South Korea's KOSPI opened up 0.9% at 6,779.02.

Vitalik Buterin said about 90% of his net worth is held in cryptocurrency and that network security will increasingly favor defenders as related capabilities mature. According to Odaily, he said AI can verify "program security" as a mathematical theorem, but security definitions must cover risks involving keys, servers, devices, operating systems, databases, networks, and cache layers. He added that safety-critical components should verify the entire program, and said Ethereum will move in this direction over the next few years. Buterin also said blockchains, especially those combining scalability and privacy, need software security.

Gold held its decline after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in three years and signaled another increase was likely before year-end, according to Bloomberg.

According to RTHK, HKET and HKEX, Asian index-futures night sessions were mixed after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate by 25 basis points, with the dot plot pointing to one more increase this year; former Fed chair Kevin Warsh said inflation remained too high, making the hike a clear and prudent decision. Wall Street fell for a third session, Treasury yields rose and the dollar index climbed back above 100. Nikkei 225 index futures firmed overnight on the Osaka Exchange. The December 2026 contract settled its night session at 64,250, up 410 points, trading between a low of 63,470 and a high of 64,720 on volume of 11,278 lots. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index futures eased in the after-hours session, with the September contract closing 287 points lower at 24,401. The China Enterprises-linked index reading fell 0.55% to 5,734. In U.S. ADR trading, HSBC ADRs fell about 1.7% to an HK$158.21 equivalent, Tencent ADRs dropped 1.42% to HK$427.23, Meituan ADRs slipped 1.16% to HK$73.58 and Alibaba's U.S. shares eased 0.95% to HK$105.19. Taiwan's TAIEX futures advanced in the night session. The October 2026 contract closed at 46,382, up 322 points or 0.70%, opening at 46,153 and moving between 46,056 and 46,626 on volume of 32,283 lots.

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to a range of 3.75%-4.00%, its first hike in three years and the first under Chair Kevin Warsh, according to Sina Finance. Warsh said he and his fellow policymakers were dissatisfied with the current pace of inflation, stating that price stability is their main focus and that inflation is too high and has been too high for too long. US stocks opened higher but closed lower, with the Dow down 1.21%, the S&P 500 down 0.44% and the Nasdaq down 0.01%. Intel rose 4.03%, Ciena rose 1.91%, Coherent Corp gained 6.81%, Lumentum Holdings Inc. climbed 9.59% and CoreWeave rose 3.00%. Among the "Magnificent Seven," Meta Platforms rose 0.46%, Google fell 0.61%, Nvidia rose 0.82%, Apple gained 0.32%, Tesla rose 0.42%, Amazon fell 0.99% and Microsoft dropped 1.37%. US August Consumer Price Index (CPI) eased on a year-over-year basis, falling below the recent high of 4.2%. Monthly CPI rose 0.4%, in line with market expectations, while core CPI, excluding volatile food and energy, rose 0.3% month over month, above expectations. Oil prices fell sharply on September 16: NYMEX light crude for October delivery fell $3.40 to settle at $102.43 a barrel, down 3.21%, while Brent crude for November delivery in London fell $2.92 to settle at $105.83 a barrel, down 2.69%. On strategist outlooks, Jefferies projected the S&P 500 will surge to 8,000 by year-end and reach 9,000 in 2027, driven by the AI investment boom and better-than-expected corporate earnings, though it flagged two key risks: a substantial slowdown in AI-related earnings growth and a continued rise in the 10-year Treasury yield. Wells Fargo chief equity strategist Ohsung Kwon cut the year-end S&P 500 target to 7,700 from 7,950 and lowered the technology sector to equal weight from overweight, citing the upcoming midterm elections as a growing risk, particularly amid rising opposition to data center development. Ed Yardeni cut his year-end S&P 500 target to 7,900 from 8,400 and set a mid-2027 target of 8,400. Separately, the head of the world's best-performing sovereign wealth fund warned of a possible pullback in US equities. Jo Townsend, chief executive of New Zealand's Super Fund, which manages the country's $54 billion sovereign wealth fund, said that although 2026 performance was exceptional, the high returns investors have enjoyed in recent years will likely decline, and she expects mean reversion at some point. Her view echoed a recent warning from Nicolai Tangen, chief executive of Norges Bank Investment Management, which runs Norway's sovereign wealth fund.

Jinse Finance launches its cryptocurrency and blockchain industry daily news bulletin, "Jinse at 8 AM," issue 3184, providing you with the latest and fastest news on the digital currency and blockchain industry.

Centralized exchanges will eventually exit the market. A dignified shutdown is simply fulfilling debt repayment obligations; don't exaggerate repaying money as charity.

Jinse Finance launches the "Jinse Web3.0 Daily," providing you with the latest and fastest news on AI, DeFi, DAO, NFT, and the metaverse industry.

OSL topped the list in Hong Kong for both spot and stablecoin trading volume, and stablecoin infrastructure investment supporting trading is becoming a new paradigm for competition among exchanges.

Standard Chartered gave ARB a $10 target price, betting on Robinhood Chain, but the profits went into the DAO's coffers.

The one-month period is neither a lock-up period nor a network congestion, but rather a result of Ethereum actively limiting the entry speed of validators.

The real trading opportunity at the Fed meeting isn't the almost fully priced-in 25 basis point rate hike, but whether Warsh can use it to regain control of the policy narrative. This move is crucial in influencing the pricing logic of US stocks, bonds, currencies, and gold.

The vote on new US cryptocurrency regulations failed again, falling short by just 11 votes.

Listed miners' cash costs are lower than the cryptocurrency price, many mining companies are paying to stop mining and shift to AI, and electrified sites are being revalued as scarce assets.

Jensen Huang Says the Fear Is Overblown