While Trump’s decision to keep Jerome Powell as Fed Chair sent Bitcoin rocketing to $93,136, the real fireworks came during the political drama leading up to the announcement. Trump’s earlier threats to fire Powell had already pushed Bitcoin to $87,586 as the dollar weakened to a three-year low. Talk about a rollercoaster.
The cryptocurrency market proved surprisingly resilient throughout Trump’s public tirades against Powell. Even as Trump declared “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough” and called him “always too late and wrong,” Bitcoin held steady above $84,000. When Trump finally backed down on April 23, 2025, declaring he had “no intention of firing” Powell, Bitcoin surged another 6% in just 24 hours. The surge demonstrated Bitcoin’s increasing correlation with macroeconomics.
The whole saga highlighted Bitcoin’s emerging role as a hedge against political chaos. Unlike traditional wire transfers, Bitcoin transactions settled within minutes while costing just transaction fees between $1-2. As Trump’s team, including National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, accused the Fed of politically biased rate decisions, investors fled to cryptocurrencies. The dollar took a beating, falling below 141 Japanese yen and watching the euro climb above $1.15.
BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes put it bluntly: Bitcoin “ripped” both when Trump threatened Powell and when he backed off. Sean McNulty of FalconX blamed it on good old-fashioned “USD weakness.” Meanwhile, economist Peter Schiff wasn’t mincing words about the dollar’s widespread decline, calling it “serious.” The situation echoed historical precedents where political manipulation of central banks led to detrimental economic policies.
The drama exposed the fragile relationship between presidential authority and Federal Reserve independence. With Powell’s term running until May 2026, Trump’s threats to remove him sparked intense debate about central bank autonomy. Reports that Trump’s administration was already interviewing potential replacements didn’t help calm market jitters.
Bitcoin’s price movements through this political theater demonstrated its growing importance as an economic indicator. Every presidential tweet, every Powell criticism, every dollar dip sent ripples through the crypto markets. The message was clear: in times of political uncertainty and dollar weakness, Bitcoin increasingly looks like a safe harbor.
Whether Trump would try to axe Powell again remains anyone’s guess.
