Reports indicate Kevin Warsh may replace Jerome Powell as U.S. Federal Reserve chair, sparking volatility across equities, bonds, commodities, and digital assets.
Markets faced heightened volatility as reports suggested the Trump administration could appoint Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chair, replacing Jerome Powell. The DXY index rose to 96.6, indicating a stronger U.S. dollar, while the Volatility Index (VIX) climbed 13% and the MOVE Index (Treasury market volatility) gained 6%. Bitcoin dropped to $82,000, falling out of the top ten global assets with a $1.6 trillion market cap. Crypto-related equities such as MicroStrategy, IREN, Cipher Mining, Galaxy Digital, and Coinbase all traded lower. Commodities also weakened, with gold retreating toward $5,000 per ounce and silver to $100 per ounce. Pudgy Penguins, an NFT-native brand, expanded its ecosystem with retail sales exceeding $13M, over 1M units sold, and a token airdropped to more than 6M wallets. The bitcoin-to-gold ratio rebounded to about 16.3 after a drop to 15.5 as gold and silver declined more sharply than bitcoin.