Key Points:
- Bitcoin (BTC) surges over 2% to $87,200, outpacing major altcoins
- U.S. dollar index hits lowest level since April 2022 amid political pressure on the Fed
- Trump’s campaign to replace Jerome Powell stokes fears of weakened Fed independence
- Gold hits fresh all-time high, while stock futures edge lower
Bitcoin surged early Monday, breaking out of a recent price range as the U.S. dollar tumbled to a multi-year low, sparked by renewed political pressure on the Federal Reserve. President Donald Trump’s increasingly public push to remove Fed Chair Jerome Powell is rattling markets and fueling demand for alternative stores of value.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency jumped more than 2% to $87,200 — its highest since April 2 — according to CoinDesk data. Bitcoin’s rally marked a bullish breakout from its recent consolidation zone between $83,000 and $87,000, signaling renewed investor appetite amid macroeconomic uncertainty.
Altcoins also saw modest gains, with Ethereum’s ether (ETH), Ripple’s XRP, and Cardano’s ADA each rising around 1%, though they continued to lag behind Bitcoin in momentum.
The catalyst behind this move appears to be the sharp drop in the U.S. dollar index (DXY), which fell to 98.5 — its lowest level in nearly three years. The DXY has now lost 10% over the past three months as traders and hedge funds unloaded the greenback in response to the escalating drama between Trump and the central bank.
According to TradingView data, forex markets saw heavy dollar selling against major currencies, including the euro, Japanese yen, and Australian dollar. The sell-off intensified after National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on Friday confirmed the Trump administration is “studying legal avenues” to remove Powell from his post.
“Bitcoin’s move to $87K is closely tied to dollar weakness and the surge in gold prices,” said Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, in a note to CoinDesk. “Trump’s push to fire Powell threatens Fed independence — that’s spooking traditional markets and driving investors into hard assets.”
Trump’s pressure campaign on Powell has grown louder in recent days, with the president posting on Truth Social last Thursday, “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!” He also renewed his calls for aggressive rate cuts, despite Powell warning just last week about the risks of stagflation and the need for more data before any monetary policy shifts.
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee added fuel to the fire by stating that any attempt by Trump to fire Powell would seriously damage the central bank’s credibility. Fed independence has long been viewed as essential for economic stability and market confidence — and any threat to that principle could unsettle investors further.
Adding to market jitters, futures tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both slipped 0.5% in early trading, as traders processed the implications of a politicized Fed, ongoing tariff uncertainty, and a weakening U.S. dollar.
Meanwhile, gold extended its year-long rally, climbing more than 3% to an all-time high of $3,382 per ounce. The yellow metal is now up 28% year-to-date, solidifying its position as a premier safe-haven asset in times of volatility and currency erosion.
The crypto and commodity moves underscore a broader flight to safety as investors question the future of U.S. monetary policy. Historically, threats to central bank independence have coincided with inflationary risks, weaker currencies, and greater volatility across asset classes — a trifecta that tends to benefit Bitcoin and gold.
Looking ahead, markets will be closely watching for further signals from both the Fed and the Trump administration. The central bank’s next policy meeting is scheduled for early May, and traders will be parsing any comments from Powell for hints on how the Fed plans to navigate political headwinds while managing inflation and growth concerns.
For now, however, the perceived erosion of Fed independence appears to be a net positive for Bitcoin and gold — and a fresh headache for the U.S. dollar.
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