Share this article
Fed’s Brainard Says Balance Sheet Reduction to Happen Rapidly
The speech comes a day before the Federal Open Market Committee will release minutes of its March meeting that will provide more details about the central bank's plan.
By Helene Braun
Updated May 11, 2023, 3:45 p.m. Published Apr 5, 2022, 6:44 p.m.
Current inflation is “much too high” and getting it down is of “paramount importance,” Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard said in a speech Tuesday.
“The committee will continue tightening monetary policy methodically through a series of interest rate increases and by starting to reduce the balance sheet at a rapid pace as soon as our May meeting,” Brainard said in a speech at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
The speech comes a day before the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will release minutes of its March 15-16 meeting in which members decided to raise the federal funds rate by 25 basis points (0.25 percentage point) in order to bring down inflation – currently at 7.9%. This could provide further details of the central bank’s plan to reduce its holdings of Treasury securities and mortgage bonds.
While there is no proven correlation between the cryptocurrency market and inflation, recent market movements following the release of economic indicators suggest that at least some bitcoin traders react to traditional economic data.
Before the Fed announced that it would raise interest rates on March 16, bitcoin (BTC) was trading around $40,335. Following the announcement, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap has been on a steady increase, currently meandering around $45,900, according to data from Messari.
The Federal Reserve last reduced its balance sheet in 2018, after its assets quadrupled following the financial crisis in 2008. The minutes could reveal how high the Fed plans to set monthly caps for the amount of securities that mature in order to secure a smooth reduction.
Brainard, who currently awaits Senate confirmation to serve as the Fed’s vice chair, said that those caps would be much larger than during the reduction that followed the financial crisis.
“Given that the recovery has been considerably stronger and faster than in the previous cycle, I expect the balance sheet to shrink considerably more rapidly than in the previous recovery, with significantly larger caps and a much shorter period to phase in the maximum caps compared with 2017-19,” Brainard said.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Gemini Approved by CFTC to Offer U.S. Prediction Markets, Stock Surges Nearly 14%
The decision allows Gemini’s affiliate to offer supervised event-contract markets to U.S. users, adding regulated forecasting tools as the firm expands its product lineup.
What to know:
- Gemini said its affiliate, Gemini Titan, received CFTC approval to operate as a Designated Contract Market.
- The firm stated that the license enables it to offer regulated prediction markets to U.S. customers.
- The Winklevoss twins praised the decision as aligning with President Trump’s push for U.S. leadership in the crypto sector.
Top Stories
