A single-word reply on X from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R‑FL) — “Confirmed” — rocketed through the crypto markets early Wednesday, convincing a growing chorus of traders that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s tenure is measured in days, not months. Within minutes of Luna’s affirmation that “Jerome Powell is going to be fired. Firing is imminent,” prediction‑market odds of his ouster on Polymarket leapt to 26 percent, the highest reading this year, up from 16 percent only 24 hours earlier.
A White‑House‑backed search is already under way. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in an on‑record Bloomberg interview, acknowledged “a formal process that’s already starting” to identify Powell’s successor, adding that “there are a lot of good candidates inside and outside the Federal Reserve.”
President Donald Trump underscored the point during an impromptu press gaggle, repeating last week’s warning that “the renovations at the central bank were a fireable offense.” Those renovations — an over‑budget, $2.5 billion overhaul of the Fed’s historic Eccles Building — have become the legal pretext for dismissal, with Trump allies alleging “inefficiency” and “neglect of duty,” two of the three causes for removal spelled out in the Federal Reserve Act. Powell has asked the Fed’s inspector general to reopen its review of the project.
Notably, Bill Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency head and a longtime Powell critic, confirmed the rumors to his followers on X: “I heard from a very credible, bipartisan source, today, that Jerome Powell is considering resigning. This maps with both reports and also the talk in DC.”
The Bitcoin and crypto prices haven’t shown any reaction to the rumor yet. After piercing $123,000 on Monday, BTC is still 4.5 percent below the record high. The entire crypto market seems to be in a wait-and-see position. However, long-term, the implication could be profound for the crypto markets. “I cannot think of a more bullish catalyst for Bitcoin in the past five years than the complete and utter humiliation of Jerome Powell,” wrote macro commentator Julian Figueroa, pointing to what he called the “façade” of central‑bank independence collapsing in real time.
Long‑time trader Byzantine General echoed the ambivalence: “Powell was actually a great Fed chair. But… if he resigns then it’s very likely that whoever comes next will lower rates, which is bullish for our cryptographic currencies.”
Should President Trump succeed in replacing Powell with a more accommodating successor—one prepared to deliver the “three‑percentage‑point” rate cut he has publicly demanded—the Federal Reserve would likely be forced to shelve its balance‑sheet runoff precisely as Washington ramps up fresh fiscal stimulus.
That synchronous pivot away from quantitative tightening would flip the liquidity regime from drain to deluge, recreating the macro backdrop that powered the crypto market’s 2020‑21 vertical ascent and positioning it for the next major bull run.
At press time, the total crypto market cap stood at $3.68 trillion.