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#PowellRemarks The Fed kept its key rate unchanged for the fourth straight meeting Wednesday, and said the economy is expanding at "a solid pace." Changes to the Fed's rate typically — though not always — influence borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, and business loans.

The central bank also released its latest quarterly projections for the economy and interest rates. It expects noticeably weaker growth, higher inflation, and slightly higher unemployment by the end of this year than it had forecast in March, before President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs April 2. Most of those duties were then postponed April 9. The Fed also signaled it would cut rates just once in 2026, down from two cuts projected in March.

Fed officials see inflation, according to its preferred measure, rising to 3% by the end of this year, from 2.1% in April. It also projects the unemployment rate will rise to 4.5%, from 4.2% currently. Growth is expected to slow to just 1.4% this year, down from 2.5% last year.

Despite the gloomier outlook, Fed chair Jerome Powell and other officials have underscored that they are holding off from any changes to their key rate because of the uncertainty surrounding the impact of the tariffs and economic outlook. Some of the Fed's policymakers have expressed particular concern that the duties could boost prices, creating another surge of inflation just a couple of years after the worst inflation spike in four decades. Many economists say that without the higher import taxes, the Fed would likely be cutting its rate further.

Yet so far, inflation has cooled this year to just 2.1% in April, essentially back at the central bank's target of 2%. Core inflation, which excludes the volatile food and energy categories, remains elevated at 2.5%.

At a press conference after the Fed released its latest policy statement, Powell said, "Increases in tariffs this year are likely to push up prices and weigh on economic activity." He added, however, that the extent of the impact depends on the size and duration of the tariffs. The "pause" Trump put in place on many of the tariffs is set to end on July 9, pending any deals the administration strikes with its trading partners.

"We don't yet know with any confidence where (the tariffs) will settle out," he said.

#xrp
It could be a crucial day for XRP as another closed SEC meeting looms, potentially spotlighting the Ripple case on Thursday, May 22. On Thursday, May 15, Judge Analisa Torres rejected the SEC’s request for an indicative ruling on settlement terms for the case. The agency had requested Judge Torres to lift the ban on XRP sales to institutional investors and to lower the $125 million penalty.

On May 15, XRP tumbled 6.51% in response to the ruling but avoided a drop below $2.2, with optimism about a resolution to the case limiting the downside. The May 22 closed meeting may provide the SEC Commissioners with the quorum to vote on the next steps in the case.

Judge Torres rejected the SEC’s request on the basis of a procedural error, failing to file the request under rule 60. Notably, the court ruling raises another crucial question. Would Ripple withdraw its cross-appeal and the SEC its appeal if the injunction remains?

It is plausible for the SEC to vote on whether to drop its appeal regardless of the outcome of the settlement.

An SEC vote in favor of dropping the appeal could pave the way for a US XRP-spot ETF market, crucial for XRP’s supply-demand trajectory.

The US XRP futures ETF market has signaled robust investor interest. Bloomberg Intelligence Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas remarked on the imminent launch of the very first US XRP-futures ETF:

“VolatilityShares is launching the first-ever XRP futures ETF tomorrow, ticker XRPI. yes there is a 2x XRP already on market (this is first 1x) and it has $120m aum and trades $35m/day. Good signal that there will be demand for this one.”

However, the SEC recently delayed its review of the Franklin XRP Fund and Grayscale’s XRP Trust conversion, with more spot-ETF review delays likely today. 21Shares XRP ETF, Bitwise XRP ETF, Canary Funds, and WisdomTree have upcoming intermediate deadlines this week. Bloomberg Intelligence ETF Analyst, James Seyffart, remarked on the likelihood of delays:

“Delays on spot crypto ETFs are expected. A bunch of XRP ETPs have dates in next few days. If we’re gonna see early approvals from the SEC on any of these assets — i wouldn’t expect to see them until late June or early July at absolute earliest. More likely to be in early 4Q.”