Fed’s Paulson: Further Rate Hikes May Be Needed to Lower Inflation

The signal matters less as a policy forecast than as a reminder that the disinflation trade is not settled, which keeps a floor under real yields and a ceiling on the multiple investors will pay for long-duration risk assets. Crypto and tokenized real-world assets sit at the far end of that duration spectrum, so a hawkish official acknowledging stubborn underlying inflation and strengthening momentum is a headwind to the sector's liquidity-sensitive bid. The open question is whether other Fed voices echo Paulson or push back, since that split — not this single comment — determines how the rate path gets priced.