Fed’s Waller: Further Rate Hikes Needed, But Timing Is Flexible

Waller's framing matters less for the hike itself than for the flexibility he attaches to it: decoupling the pace from a meeting-by-meeting cadence gives the Fed room to move on data rather than a preset path. Naming the AI buildout as an inflation source is notable, since it links a structural investment boom to sticky prices rather than treating it as purely disinflationary. For crypto and RWA markets, the relevant question is whether a higher-for-longer stance persists even as payroll gains decline — that tension between a solid labor read and softer hiring is the variable worth watching.