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As expected, the U.S. Federal Reserve left its benchmark fed funds rate range steady at 4.25%-4.50% on Wednesday, the second consecutive pause since three straight rate cuts to end 2024.The Fed's quarterly economic projections showed a sharp decline in expectations for economic growth, with the GDP increase in 2025 now seen at just 1.7% versus 2.1% at the December projection. The growth outlook for 2026 and 2027 was trimmed as well."Uncertainty around the economic outlook has increased," the Fed said in an accompanying statement, which is likely a reference to the tariff regime being threatened by President Trump.Core PCE inflation, though, is now seen at 2.8% this year versus the previous 2.5% projection. The core inflation outlooks for 2026 and...

Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk's weekly wrap-up of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I'm Margaux Nijkerk, CoinDesk’s Ethereum Reporter.In this issue:Hello, Hoodi: Ethereum Welcomes a New TestnetMicrosoft Raises Alarm of Malware Targeting Coinbase, MetaMask WalletsHalliday Raises $20M for AI Protocol to Eliminate Writing Smart Contracts for DeFiSam Altman's World Network and Razer Want to Defeat Gaming's Bot ProblemThis article is featured in the latest issue of The Protocol, our weekly newsletter exploring the tech behind crypto, one block at a time. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Wednesday.Network newsHELLO, HOODI: ETHEREUM WELCOMES A NEW TESTNET: Ethereum developers launched a new test network, Hoodi, this week that will be used to carry out the...

Privy, a provider of cryptocurrency wallet infrastructure, raised an estimated $15 million in a funding round led by Ribbit Capital.The company, which announced the funding on Wednesday, offers application programming interfaces (APIs) for developers to manage and integrate user data, allowing its customers to offer crypto services and other on-chain functions so that end users can buy, sell and hold cryptocurrency."Businesses that emerge from the early adoption of crypto rails will not only thrive but also redefine how value is created and exchanged globally," Privy said. "But this future hinges on one critical factor: making it easy for any developer to build seamless, secure experiences on crypto rails."The size of the round was not disclosed, though Privy said the investment...

Two of the biggest forces in artificial intelligence (AI) — Elon Musk’s xAI and Nvidia — have joined BlackRock, Microsoft and investment fund MGX’s group to expand AI infrastructure across the U.S., the companies announced Wednesday.The fund — called the AI Infrastructure Partnership — at its formation in September of last year, said that it plans to launch with more than $30 billion in initial funding. The goal is to build data centers and energy projects which are required to power large-scale AI models.Nvidia will also serve as a technical advisor for the group, which it had announced last year.Must and Nvidia join the effort two months after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the formation of Stargate, a private venture...

CoreWeave, one of the hottest players in the artificial intelligence (AI) sphere, filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on March 3.The company works closely with bitcoin (BTC) miner Core Scientific (CORZ); the two firms have inked a multi-billion dollar deal for Core Scientific to build hundreds of megawatts of infrastructure for CoreWeave to run its AI services. In fact, CoreWeave is by far Core Scientific’s largest client.Which raises a question: How will CoreWeave’s IPO affect Core Scientific?“CoreWeave’s IPO likely will have a correlating impact on Core Scientific,” Wolfie Zhao, head of research at TheMinerMag, told CoinDesk. “If CoreWeave’s public debut is successful and it sustains strong revenue growth in the coming years, it will reinforce Core Scientific’s position as...