Iran Geopolitics, BTC On-Chain Data, Crypto Legislation Outlook | BMTV Oct. 14, 2026

Grace Remington (0:05)

Good morning, happy Wednesday, and welcome in to BMTV. I'm Grace Remington with Sean Hagan. Well, inflation is coming in hot today. That is the story of the day. We'll break down the numbers in just a bit. But Sean, how are you doing this morning?

Sean Hagan (0:16)

I'm doing good. Sitting behind this desk is a much better spot than the Fed Chairman and the rest of the board are in right now. So feeling very grateful that I'm over here on the desk, and I just get to comment on the situation.

Grace Remington (0:29)

That's true. Not a job I'm too envious of. Well, here's who we got coming up on today's show to help us break everything down. Charles Edwards, CIO of Capriole Investments, James Thorne, Chief Market Strategist at Wellington-Altus, Brian Vietan, Analyst at Seaboard Financial, and Gui Gomes, CEO of Orange BTC. And with that, let's get you started with today's headlines. Standard Chartered is launching Bitcoin trading for eligible professional investors in the UAE after receiving regulatory approval. Clients will be able to buy and sell through their existing bank accounts with the bank managing custody and settlement. The bank plans to expand the offering to other markets over time.

Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor says he believes Bitcoin has bottomed and will return above $100,000. Speaking to Bloomberg Television, he pointed to its rebound from just below $60K into the $80K range, adding that strategy's long-term forecast assumes Bitcoin grows 20-30% a year over the next 20 years. Strive has proposed a new offering of 5 million Sats preferred shares, with a 15% annual dividend rate on a $100 stated value. Dividend payments would be subject to board approval, with the company planning a reserve covering the first 18 months. Proceeds will be used to fund Bitcoin purchases, income-generating assets and share buybacks, among other corporate uses.

Coinbase is urging Bitcoin developers to begin preparing for quantum computers that could theoretically break its current cryptography, saying network changes and wallet migration could take years. The company is preparing its own systems and supporting open-source research while calling for new signature options that work for both individual wallets and institutional custody. Bank of New York, Mellon Corporation and Citadel Securities have completed a transaction using a tokenized US Treasury note as collateral for overnight financing. The purchase settled within minutes on BNY's private digital ledger rather than the standard next day cycle before Citadel used the note to borrow cash from BNY. BNY says the transaction demonstrates how tokenized Treasuries can move more efficiently from settlement into short-term financing.

And US regulators have fined Bank of America more than $1.2 billion for anti-money laundering and sanctions violations. Treasury says the bank failed to report more than $5 billion in suspicious activity on time, including over $1 billion involving national security and other priority risks. The bank says a $1.2 billion charge will reduce its third-quarter earnings.

And with that, let's go to the markets. Bitcoin under pressure this morning, just under 83k, down almost a full percentage point on the day. But of course, everyone looking at the CPI report that just came out, Core CPI rising three-tenths of a percentage point. The estimate was two-tenths of a percentage point. So Core CPI at a 0.3 for the second consecutive month. And equities did slide on the move. Well, actually, it looks like SPY a little bit flat. Flat this morning, although the triple Qs is down six-tenths of a percentage point. But the most reactive in the markets was the 10-year yield. It had dropped to 5.19% this morning after the CPI came out. It had a double-digit rise. It's sitting at 5.28 right now. The 30-year yield sitting at 5.6. That's up three basis points on the move. Gold down today about a 0.1 and 3 quarters of a percentage point, sitting around $4,100 per ounce. WTI crewed up almost five full percentage points on the day, almost $95 a barrel. Sean, what are you watching?

Sean Hagan (4:34)

Yeah, I'm watching Bitcoin. But what's new? We're always watching Bitcoin. It's really interesting that you have this kind of reactionary sell-off when CPI comes in a little bit hotter than expected. What I alluded to at the start of the show is that the Fed is in a pretty tight spot right now. You have some softening economic conditions. You have this inflation problem that just won't seem to go away. You have a Treasury Department that's struggling with high yields.

This was a huge narrative leading into the last Fed decision where they ultimately raised. Bitcoin has done quite well since then. So this knee-jerk reactionary sell-off on the presumption that perhaps they'll raise again is from a general, theoretical, macro economic lens. It makes sense that you would sell off these long-dated assets. But based on how Bitcoin has performed previously under these circumstances, it just doesn't quite make a lot of sense.