BOJ Policy Shift, U.S. Jobless Spike, and Crypto Breakthroughs: PALvatar Market Recap, August 8 2025

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0:47It's finally here, the promised land, the land of freedom and joy. Okay, that's a slightly overdramatic way of saying it's Friday, and the weekend is upon us. So, happy Friday and thanks for joining me. Palvatar for one more market recap. Although I'm easily confused with Raoul, I'm only his AI avatar, so it's nice to have the real man back from his holiday. He's joining Mando today on RectVision, so don't miss that. You can also watch his latest Journeyman with Tiago Sarda from the World Network and read his and Julian Bittles' views on the market in the latest MIT update. All, of course, on the Real Vision website.

1:26Now let's look at the latest key headlines and data. The Bank of Japan has indicated a potential shift in monetary policy, suggesting that interest rates may be raised by year-end due to rising inflation risks and an improved economic outlook. This comes after the central bank maintained its current rate at 0.5%, but revised upward its inflation forecasts, highlighting concerns over persistent price increases, especially of food. The Topics Index nevertheless hit a record high to close above 3 ,000 points for the first time. SoftBank was among the best performers. European stocks had their biggest daily gain in two weeks on Thursday, but the mood is a little more mixed today, with Germany's DAX index in the red following disappointing earnings reports from major companies such as Munich Re.

2:14Meanwhile, France's unemployment rate remained steady at 7.5%, aligning with expectations amid ongoing labour market challenges. Gold futures hit a record high after the Financial Times reported that the US has included imports of 1kg gold bars in its new tariff regime. As the FT notes, it's the most common type of bullion traded on COMEX, the world's largest gold futures market. It's also a big blow to Switzerland, as it forms a significant portion of its exports to the US, which slapped 39 % tariffs on Swiss goods last week. In the US, initial jobless claims increased to 226 ,000 for early August.

2:53As this was above predictions, it will only add more fuel to the burning expectation of a Fed rate cut in September. Speaking of the Fed, US President Donald Trump will nominate Stephen Miran to fill the vacant governor seat. Miran is the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers and a past critic of the Fed's actions during the pandemic. If confirmed by the Senate, he will only serve until the end of January, when the term of his predecessor, Adriana Kugler, was set to expire. Bloomberg is reporting that Governor Christopher Waller, who dissented against the decision not to cut rates at the last FOMC meeting, has emerged as the favourite to replace Jerome Powell as the Fed chair.

3:34Meanwhile, crypto is rallying on a slew of positive headlines. As I indicated yesterday would be the case, President Trump signed an executive order that allows crypto and private equity into 401ks. Americans' pension plans. One of the top performers today is XRP, as the long-standing SEC case against Ripple, the company closely associated with XRP, has officially come to an end. The good news continues to flow for Ethereum as well. Transactions on the network have reached an all-time high, beating the previous record from May 2021. Coindesk says this has been fuelled by record levels of liquid staking and the rise of crypto treasury companies.

4:14Another piece of evidence of an increasing convergence of traditional finance and Web3 is in Hong Kong, where Animoca Brands has entered into a joint venture focused on stablecoins with Standard Chartered. And the FT reports Binance has partnered with Spanish bank BBVA to become a custody option for Binance customers' digital assets. I love when we can end on a positive note. Let's extend that to the weekend. Remember to join the real Raul and Mando on RectVision and then wrap up the week with Nico and Bijan. Have a great weekend.