Bitcoin Hits $92K as Fed Chair Powell Faces Criminal Probe

The catalyst for the market move was a video released Sunday evening in which Fed Chair Jerome Powell directly addressed President Donald Trump. Powell stated, “The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Fed setting rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.” This marked a significant escalation, as noted by The Kobeissi Letter, which observed that Powell had remained silent amid presidential criticisms for the past year but “today, that changed.” Powell framed the Department of Justice subpoenas and criminal probe as “pretexts” for administrative meddling in monetary policy.

The timing of this legal and political confrontation is critical for financial markets. The Federal Reserve is heading into its January 28 policy meeting with traders increasingly primed for a pause in interest rate cuts. This environment amplifies market sensitivity to any perception that monetary policy is being pulled into partisan conflict. The immediate reaction saw Bitcoin push above $92,000, while traditional assets like metals also experienced significant upward movement, described by analyst Will Clemente as “blasting to new highs.”

For the Bitcoin and broader cryptocurrency community, the episode was interpreted as a powerful validation of its foundational thesis. Analysts and industry leaders were quick to connect the dots between the fraying trust in centralized institutions and Bitcoin’s inherent properties. Alex Thorn, head of firmwide research at Galaxy, put the contrast in monetary regimes front and center, arguing that Bitcoin’s “credibly neutral, predictable, transparent, and censorship resistant monetary policy looks pretty good here.”

The bullish reflex within the crypto market was notably not rooted in sympathy for Jerome Powell. Strive CEO Matt Cole wrote he had “zero sympathy” for the Fed chair, accusing the central bank of “gaslight[ing] the American people” on the issue of independence. Instead, the rally was driven by the perceived systemic failure the conflict exposes. Will Clemente captured this sentiment on social media, stating, “This environment is literally what Bitcoin was created for. The President is coming after the Fed chair.” He connected the event to broader trends of sovereign reserve diversification and rising geopolitical risk.

Other prominent voices used the moment to indict the entire structure of centralized monetary policy. Bitwise advisor Jeff Park argued that “independence alone cannot be a virtue when the institution at its core is incompetent,” adding that “the age of Bitcoin is drawing nearer.” Similarly, a prominent pro-Bitcoin voice known as Walker framed it as a structural problem: “The problem isn’t President Trump or Jerome Powell. The problem is a centralized cabal of unelected banker-bureaucrats set the price of money and print it out of thin air.”

While Bitcoin’s price move through $92,000 puts the “neutral money” narrative onto a chart, analysts caution that the same political-legal feedback loop fueling this thesis can also intensify market volatility. The Kobeissi Letter explicitly warned that “Trump vs Powell will result in even more volatility.” This introduces a new layer of uncertainty for all risk assets, including stocks, which are already at record highs.

The immediate future hinges on the Federal Reserve’s January 28 meeting and the ongoing legal developments. The United States now faces a scenario where its central bank chair is under criminal investigation by the administration he is accused of defying on policy grounds. For cryptocurrency traders and Bitcoin-native observers, this represents a historic moment where the theoretical advantages of a decentralized, rules-based monetary network are being tested against a backdrop of palpable institutional stress. As Matt Cole concluded, the episode suggests “Bitcoin is even more underpriced than we realized.” At press time, Bitcoin had retraced slightly from its peak, trading at $91,560, but the fundamental narrative shift triggered by the Powell-Trump confrontation remains the dominant market theme.