Bitcoin Stumbles as Trump Threatens Tariffs Ahead of Fed Decision

The price of Bitcoin fell below $95,000 on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose new tariffs ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision.

The original cryptocurrency was recently trading hands around $94,000, a 1.8% decrease over the past 24 hours, according to crypto data provider CoinGeko. BTC had started the weekend above $96,000. 

Most altcoins showed greater losses, with XRP dropping 2.7% to $2.12, while Solana fell 0.8% to around $146.

The Fed is expected to hold its benchmark interest rate steady on Wednesday, with traders penciling in a 97% chance that the central bank will maintain a target range of 4.25% to 4.5% for a third meeting in a row, according to CME FedWatch.

Although Trump has called repeatedly on Fed Chair Jerome Powell to lower rates, the central bank has held interest rates steady, as it waits to see how the White House’s efforts to reshape global trade are affecting the U.S. economy and potentially adding to inflation.

If Powell’s comments put more of an emphasis on an economic slowdown as a risk to its dual mandate, as opposed to the threat of persistent inflation from tariffs, risk assets could rally, Bitwise Senior Investment Strategist Juan Leon told Decrypt. The tone would suggest that the Fed is leaning toward lower borrowing costs as a way to stimulate the economy, he said.

At the same time, Powell’s remarks could mirror the negotiating tactics from Trump’s trade war, electing not to take a firm stance on the economy’s overall direction to preserve the Fed’s maneuverability, in the event that Trump’s calculus on trade changes.

“I think they’re trying to mirror Trump by holding their cards as close [to their chests] as they can,” Leon said. “Because of that, I think investors are going to be reading into whatever statements that Powell puts out.”

The Fed is also scheduled to release a series of quarterly economic projections on Wednesday, which will indicate where each official on the Fed’s policy committee thinks interest rates should bear by year’s end. In December, the officials forecast two rate cuts this year of a quarter of a percentage point, paring back projections from four.

Cryptocurrencies have rallied alongside stocks over the past couple of weeks as Trump has softened his rhetoric on tariffs, but he floated new ones this weekend.

On Sunday, Trump said in a post on his social media website Truth Social that the U.S. would “begin the process of instituting a 100% tariff” on foreign movies in order to preserve an American cinema industry that’s purportedly dying.

Edited by James Rubin