News Block: Fed Starts 'Gradual Print,' Strategy Responds to MSCI, Regulators Continue to Embrace Bitcoin

Summary

Coin Stories – News Block: Fed Starts 'Gradual Print,' Strategy Responds to MSCI, Regulators Continue to Embrace Bitcoin

Host: Natalie Brunell
Date: December 15, 2025

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Episode Overview

Natalie Brunell delivers a concise yet insightful roundup of the latest developments in the world of Bitcoin, financial markets, and regulatory shifts affecting the future of money. This episode focuses on the Federal Reserve's renewed money printing, institutional responses to major index changes, and regulatory bodies signaling deeper integration of crypto into the U.S. financial system. Natalie highlights why these shifts matter for Bitcoin and those tracking monetary transformation.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Federal Reserve Turns the Money Printer Back On

[00:17–02:35]

• Fed's Recent Moves:

  • Last week, the U.S. Federal Reserve cut rates for the third time in 2025 and announced plans to buy $40 billion in T-bills over the next month, exceeding market expectations.
  • Chair Powell indicated these purchases could remain high until liquidity stabilizes, then shift to a slower pace.

• Reserve Management vs. QE:

  • The Fed avoids calling this "QE" (quantitative easing), instead labeling it “reserve management”—a mere technical adjustment.

  • Nevertheless, this results in the Fed’s balance sheet expanding again, a recurring pattern through recent history.

    “No matter what you call it, the fact is that the balance sheet is expanding once again. That's the real headline. Or as Lyn Alden put it, ‘the gradual print begins.’ ” — Natalie Brunell [00:47]

• Cycle of Expansion:

  • Every intervention by the Fed leaves its balance sheet at a higher plateau rather than ever shrinking back fully.

  • Reference to Ben Bernanke’s unfulfilled promise to normalize the balance sheet post-2008.

    “After each cycle, the balance sheet never goes all the way back to where it was before. It expands, then it shrinks, then it finds a higher plateau, and then the next easing cycle begins.” — Natalie Brunell [01:28]

• Implications for Currency:

  • The Fed prioritizes financial stability over currency stability.

  • “Currency debasement just in slow motion”—monetary expansions erode the dollar’s purchasing power over time.

    “They will always sacrifice the currency. This is currency debasement just in slow motion. And by pivoting again, the Fed is effectively telling you what the priority is. Financial stability first, currency stability second.” — Natalie Brunell [02:00]

• Bitcoin’s Appeal:

  • As traditional institutions drift back to easy money, Bitcoin’s scarcity becomes attractive, functioning as a lifeboat in a system prone to debasement.

2. MSCI Index Proposal and Strategy's Pushback

[03:03–05:22]

• MSCI’s Proposal:

  • MSCI, a global index provider, considers excluding companies from indices if digital assets comprise 50%+ of their assets, categorizing them as “passive investment funds.”
  • This could impact flows into companies holding significant Bitcoin, such as Strategy (a proxy for MicroStrategy).

• Strategy’s Official Response:

  • Not an Investment Fund: Legally an operating company, not a fund. Actively uses Bitcoin as part of business strategy.

  • Arbitrariness: The 50% threshold is called arbitrary and discriminatory—other sectors (e.g., REITs, commodity firms) are asset-concentrated too.

  • Unworkability: Bitcoin’s price volatility would make index membership unstable.

  • Policy Judgment Intrusion: Creating asset-specific exclusion rules turns MSCI from a neutral provider into a political actor.

    “MSCI markets itself as a neutral and market representative index provider. And Strategy is basically saying that by creating a brand new digital asset specific exclusion rule... it's less about representing markets and more about making a political statement.” — Natalie Brunell [05:09]

• Wider Market Context:

  • NASDAQ 100 continues to include Strategy, showing other index providers may remain neutral even if MSCI imposes stricter rules.
  • Trend: More public corporations now use Bitcoin as a reserve asset to buffer against currency devaluation.

3. Regulatory Developments: OCC, CFTC, SEC

[05:52–08:14]

• OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency):

  • Issued a letter allowing national banks to facilitate “riskless principal trades”—acting as intermediaries for customer crypto transactions, akin to brokerage rather than proprietary trading.

  • Issued conditional approval for companies (Circle, Bitgo, Paxos, Fidelity Digital Assets) to become federally chartered trust banks—step toward integrating crypto custody under federal banking frameworks.

    “BitGo CEO Mike Belshee summed things up by saying, ‘this marks an official end to the war on crypto and the beginning of the next era of innovation in banking. We've entered the era of regulatory integration.’” — Mike Belshee (quoted by Natalie Brunell) [06:52]

• CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission):

  • Withdrew outdated digital asset guidance cited as stifling innovation.
  • Launched a pilot program allowing Bitcoin as collateral in regulated derivatives markets.

• SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission):

  • Released “Crypto Asset Custody Basics,” a bulletin introducing retail investors to self-custody principles—wallets, private keys, hot vs. cold storage, and security considerations.

    “I genuinely never thought I'd see the day the SEC is putting out education on how to self custody Bitcoin. But hey, here we are.” — Natalie Brunell [08:03]

4. Podcast Recommendations and Community Events

[08:14–09:15]

• Interview Highlight: Natalie promotes her recent interview with Samurai Wallet founder Keone Rodriguez, discussing privacy and legal challenges before his five-year prison sentence.

• Community Invitation:

  • Announced a book signing for “Bitcoin Is For Everyone” at the Strategies Quarterly Meetup in Washington D.C., emphasizing the ability to purchase the book with Bitcoin or Lightning.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Fed’s cycle:

  “When push comes to shove, they always have to intervene and provide liquidity to the system, no matter the long term costs.” — Natalie Brunell [01:57]

• On MSCI and digital assets:

  “By creating a brand new digital asset specific exclusion rule, it's less about representing markets and more about making a political statement.” — Natalie Brunell [05:09]

• On regulatory sea-change:

  “This marks an official end to the war on crypto and the beginning of the next era of innovation in banking. We've entered the era of regulatory integration.” — Mike Belshee (as quoted by Natalie Brunell) [06:52]

• On Bitcoin’s role:

  “Bitcoin and other sound money alternatives keep gaining in popularity. Because in a world where policymakers keep drifting back toward easy, scarcity starts to look less like a trade and more like a lifeboat.” — Natalie Brunell [02:20]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:17 – Fed resumes T-bill purchases, resumes money printing
• 01:26 – Discussion of the Fed's perpetual balance sheet expansion
• 02:00 – Implication: financial stability prioritized over currency
• 03:03 – MSCI’s index proposal and its implications
• 04:11 – Strategy company’s rebuttal to MSCI
• 05:52 – Regulatory update: OCC’s new guidance and trust charters
• 06:52 – BitGo CEO comment on the new regulatory era
• 07:30 – CFTC withdrawals and Bitcoin collateral pilot
• 07:56 – SEC’s retail investor bulletin on self-custody
• 08:14 – Podcast recommendation: Samurai Wallet founder interview
• 08:40 – Natalie’s book signing announcement and community event

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Summary Flow & Tone

Natalie Brunell adopts an analytical, matter-of-fact style, blending data, regulatory analysis, and industry commentary with wry observations on the system’s recurring patterns. The episode is brisk, clear, and squarely aimed at listeners keen to understand monetary policy’s real-world consequences and Bitcoin’s growing relevance as a hedge. Listeners are also invited to engage with the broader community, emphasizing an ethos of education and participation.

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Transcript

[A]

Welcome to the Coinstories news block, powered exclusively by LEDN. I'm Natalie Brunel, and in about 10 minutes or less, I'll provide you with insightful updates on Bitcoin, financial markets and the global economy. Everything you need to know in one block. Let's go.

[B]

All right, it happened last week. The Fed cut rates for the third time this year. And at the same time, it announced it's going to start buying treasury bills again to deal with tightening liquidity conditions. In other words, the money printer just got dusted off and turned back on again. The Fed announced that it will be buying about $40 billion over the next month in T bills, which was higher than the market was expecting. Chair Powell signaled this could stay elevated for a bit while liquidity conditions stabilize, before stepping down to a slower maintenance pace of only 20 to 25 billion per month down the road. Now, the Fed will insist this isn't qe. Instead, they called it, quote, reserve management, claiming that this is just a technical plumbing issue. But no matter what you call it, the fact is that the balance sheet is expanding once again. That's the real headline. Or as Lyn Alden put it this week, quote, the gradual print begins. And this is a pattern investors should recognize by now. The Fed steps in when liquidity dries up, its balance sheet expands, and then they try to shrink it until something breaks, usually in the treasury market, and then they pivot again.

[A]

The key point is this.

[B]

After each cycle, the balance sheet never goes all the way back to where it was before. It expands, then it shrinks, then it finds a higher plateau, and then the next easing cycle begins. For example, the Fed is now expanding its balance sheet again, even though it's still more than 50% higher than where it was before the pandemic response. That's why this moment matters. After the global financial crisis, for example, the implicit promise was, but don't worry, this is only a temporary measure. Former Fed chairman Ben Bernanke famously promised that the Fed would eventually normalize the Fed's balance sheet. But more than a decade and trillions of dollars later, that normalization never really arrived. And the balance sheet only continues to grow. This week was a major signpost. The Fed has no choice. When push comes to shove, they always have to intervene and provide liquidity to the system, no matter the long term costs. Once you accept that, the system begins to crack. When the Fed attempts to shrink its balance sheet, you realize what it implies long term. The default response becomes more intervention, more balance sheet expansion, more debt absorption, and more currency units created to keep the machine running. They will always sacrifice the currency. This is currency debasement just in slow motion. And by pivoting again, the Fed is effectively telling you what the priority is. Financial stability first, currency stability second. And it doesn't always show up instantly in cpi. In fact, it usually shows up in asset prices first. And that's exactly why Bitcoin and other sound money alternatives keep gaining in popularity. Because in a world where policymakers keep drifting back toward easy, scarcity starts to look less like a trade and more like a lifeboat. Need cash, but don't want to sell your Bitcoin? Leden is the global leader in Bitcoin backed loans, issuing over $9 billion in loans since 2018, and they were the first to offer proof of reserves. With Leden, you get custody loans, no credit checks, no monthly payments and more. Visit Leden IO Natalie to learn more and get a quarter percentage point off your first loan all right, switching Gears to Strategy A few weeks ago we talked about how msci, one of the world's most influential index providers, is considering a proposal that could exclude companies from certain MSCI indices if digital assets make up 50% or more of their total assets, saying that these are more akin to a passive investment fund rather than an operating company. And this matters because index eligibility isn't just symbolic, it can drive real passive flows into Bitcoin. Treasury companies like Strategy this past week we finally got Strategy's official response in a letter to msci, and their case is pretty logical and straightforward. First, they argued they're not an investment fund, they're an operating company. This is an objective fact, both legally and operationally. They argue the company actively uses Bitcoin as part of a broader value creation strategy, including issuing Bitcoin backed financial products to the market. Second, they say the 50% threshold is arbitrary and discriminatory. Plenty of businesses are highly concentrated in one asset type. Think REITs with real estate or commodity producers with oil, timber or gold. So really this feels like discrimination against a reserve asset the MSCI simply disagrees with. Third, they argue that the proposal is unworkable in practice, Bitcoin's price is volatile and a hard 50% cutoff could cause companies to whipsaw in and out of indices, creating instability and forcing MSCI into constant monitoring. And fourth, perhaps most importantly, they argue that this proposal injects policy judgment into what's supposed to be rules based indexing. MSCI markets itself as a neutral and market representative index provider. And Strategy is basically saying that by creating a brand new digital asset specific exclusion rule. It's less about representing markets and more about making a political statement. So the bottom line is MSCI should not rush with this reactionary exclusion rule that could stifle innovation and harm their reputation as a neutral benchmark. Instead, they should take a more cautious approach, study the market as it matures, and only then decide whether any classification change is warranted. Now here's one key nuance. MSCI is just one index provider. There was some chatter this week that strategy could be removed from the NASDAQ 100, but that didn't happen. Strategy remains in the NASDAQ 100 reminding that even if MSCI tightens its rules, other index providers may simply stick to neutral mechanical benchmark that reflect the market as it is. And the market is currently one of public corporations increasingly turning to Bitcoin as a reserve asset to protect against debasement and uncertainty. All right, let's end this news block with a quick run through the regulatory front because we had notable updates from not one, not two, but three regulatory agencies, the occ, the CFTC and the sec. First up, the occ, the agency published a new interpretive letter clarifying that national banks can facilitate certain crypto transactions called riskless principal trades. In plain English, a bank can now step in as the intermediary between two customers, matching a buyer and a seller at the same time. So it's not warehousing Bitcoin on its balance sheet or taking big market risk, but facilitating Bitcoin trades more like a broker. Then, in a separate but related move, the OCC also gave conditional approvals for a handful of major crypto firms to become federally chartered national trust banks. Those firms include Circle, Bitgo, Paxos and Fidelity Digital Assets. Now to be clear, these trust charters don't turn these firms into full service commercial banks. They won't be taking deposits or making loans. But it is a major step toward bringing custody and settlement rails into a federal banking framework. BitGo CEO Mike Belshee summed things up by saying, quote, this marks an official end to the war on crypto and the beginning of the next era of innovation in banking. We've entered the era of regulatory integration. Next, the CFTC it announced withdrawing older digital assets guidance that was described as outdated and overly complex and explicitly said it was stifling innovation. It didn't stop there. The CFTC also rolled out a digital assets pilot program that recognizes Bitcoin as eligible collateral inside regulated derivatives markets. And lastly, the sec, it published an investor bulletin called Crypto asset custody basics. Aimed at retail investors, it walks through the fundamentals of self custody, including wallets, private keys, hot versus cold storage, and explores the kinds of questions people should be asking to protect themselves. Now I genuinely never thought I'd see the day the SEC is putting out education on how to self custody Bitcoin. But hey, here we are. And speaking of custody and privacy, this week I also sat down with Samurai Wallet founder Keone Rodriguez for a conversation ahead of his five year prison sentence. And I didn't hold back on asking the hard questions. I highly recommend if you haven't yet, give it a listen and learn more about the case. The big takeaway from all of this is the same trend we've been watching all year. We've been seeing more regulatory clarity, fewer barriers and more institutional grade rules of the road. But we've still got work to do ahead, especially when it comes to protecting things like privacy on Bitcoin. If you're in Washington D.C. this Thursday evening, come stop by PubKey DC for strategies quarterly meetup where I will be signing my new book, Bitcoin Is For Everyone and selling copies that you can purchase via Bitcoin or Lightning powered by Speed Wallet. I've gotten a lot of inquiries on how you can get the book for Bitcoin, so here it is. But you gotta come meet me in person. Can't wait to see you and meet you guys in the nation's capital at the Bitcoin bar.

[A]

That's it for the newsblock, your weekly Bitcoin and economic news update. Powered exclusively by ledn. I'm Natalie Brunel. Make sure you're subscribed to Coinstory so you never miss an episode. This show is for educational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice. Until next time, keep stacking.