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Hello, this is Leonie Kidd from London. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.
The theme for this day is Breaking Through the Ranks.
By raising interest rates on Wednesday, the Fed appears almost certain to take the fight against inflation further than the White House wishes.
President Trump hasn’t gotten his way regarding virtual currency regulation either, and the Senate passed the Clarity Act.
And even as President Trump enlists support from Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg to gain an edge in the AI race, the AI revolt continues.
Read more.
What you need to know today
This is a day of decision for the Federal Reserve, a moment that could mark the beginning of a new cycle of central bank rate hikes.
There is a 92% chance that the Fed will raise interest rates by 25 basis points (bps), and this comes amid intense pressure from the White House to keep rates unchanged. On Sunday, President Donald Trump reiterated his belief that the United States should have “the lowest interest rates in the world.”
Investors were on a wait-and-see approach in early trading Wednesday, with U.S. futures slightly higher ahead of Chairman Kevin Warsh’s decision and press conference.
Cryptocurrency is not clear
In a further blow to the Trump administration, the US Senate has voted against advancing the Clarity Act, a bill that would establish a framework for cryptocurrency oversight. The move marks a major setback for the crypto industry after months of negotiations.
Cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, plummeted, and Coinbase and Circle were also sold off. Cryptocurrency data group Coinglass calculated that $571 million of long positions were wiped out in the overnight selloff.
The vote was largely along party lines, with Democrats expressing concern about public officials profiting from crypto businesses.
During President Trump’s second term, cryptocurrencies have also become a major source of personal income for the president. President Trump reported more than $1.4 billion in income from his family’s cryptocurrency ventures in 2025.
Beat the AI rank
The AI industry continues to sound the alarm about the pace of the modeling frontier. However, there are differences of opinion within the industry. Nvidia president Jensen Huang contradicts his colleagues at Anthropic, OpenAI and xAI, telling CNBC’s Jim Cramer that AI will be “incredibly secure,” adding, “We don’t need new laws, we have plenty of them.”
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg backed Huang, saying he believes “AI labs that don’t focus on collaboration will fall behind” on X and other social media platforms.
Huang is scheduled to attend a state dinner with President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping next week, according to a CNBC source familiar with the matter.
The news comes as Chinese companies have remained largely silent on the debate over AI safety. Click here for more information from Beijing.
Bank of Japan decision
Meanwhile, a CNBC poll revealed that another central bank is expected to raise interest rates.
89% of survey respondents expected the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates by 25 basis points to 1.25% at Friday’s meeting. They cited rising inflation, rising wages and pressure from the United States to continue the rate hike cycle.
Most recently, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent instructed Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda to take “decisive market and financial action” at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting earlier this month.
— Leonie Kidd
And finally…
Korean university internal program offering direct route to Samsung and SK Hynix
The disruption of AI has led several prominent entrepreneurs to question the value of traditional university graduate programs. But South Korea’s top technology companies continue to see value in degrees.
In fact, they support courses at polytechnic universities that facilitate entry into the AI field, and some even guarantee jobs for graduates.
Jung Chae-rin is a second-year student at Sogang University’s Department of Systems Semiconductor Engineering, a four-year degree established in partnership with memory chip manufacturer SK Hynix.
Her course comes with a guaranteed job at SK Hynix upon graduation.
— Lim Huijie, Miko Zhang
