Trump calls for the dismissal of Fed Chair Powell – Bitcoin is not responding (yet)

Although ECB President Christine Lagarde decided earlier this week to cut interest rates for the seventh time in two years already, Jerome Powell of the Federal Reserve is not doing that just yet. For the time being, US short-term interest rate remain untouched. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is calling for Powell to be fired and Bitcoin is (for the time being) not reacting to the news just yet.

Tariffs

The tariffs that Trump is imposing on China can only have two consequences at this point: either China reacts, or the Fed does. If China were to lower or remove the tariffs it imposed on the United States in response to Trump’s tariffs, Trump could declare to his voters that he has brought China to its knees.

A second possibility is that Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, lowers interest rates because he expects US inflation to rise again due to Trump’s tariffs. This could set markets (and Bitcoin) on another bull run. However, Powell is not (yet) responding.

If interest rates are lowered, that would be very good news for Bitcoin (and tech stocks), as it would signal to investors that stock prices and speculative investments (such as Bitcoin) are likely to rise.

That’s not the case right now, however, and so Trump is calling for Powell to be fired. The head of the Federal Reserve is an independent position over which Trump has no say. A forced resignation would most likely be challenged in court, according to The New York Times.

Cornell University economist Eswar Prasad called Trump’s comments “a stunning and deeply troubling attack that could damage America’s leading role in financial markets. Trump’s assault on the Fed’s independence, which is clearly only just beginning, could undermine the Fed’s monetary policy,” he said. “And it could unravel the confidence in the dollar among domestic and foreign investors.”

Bitcoin, meanwhile, remains trapped in a fairly wide trading band between $80,000 and $90,000. At the time of writing it trades for $85,000.