Bitcoin Jumps as Fed Chair Powell Touches on Crypto Regulation

The largest digital asset changed hands at about US$104,300 as at 10 am on Thursday (Jan 30) in Singapore, holding a climb of 3.5 per cent from the US day.

Bitcoin price rose sharply on Thursday after US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell briefly touched upon crypto regulation in his comments following the central bank’s latest interest-rate decision.

The world’s largest digital asset was last changing hands at about US$104,300 as at 10 am on Thursday (Jan 30) in Singapore. This marks a climb of 3.5 per cent from the US day. Smaller tokens such as Ether and XRP traded in relatively narrow ranges.

Powell in his customary briefing after Fed officials on Wednesday paused monetary easing signalled that the central bank will need to see more progress on inflation before considering any further reduction in interest rates.

In response to a question about risks from digital assets, Powell said that banks are “perfectly able to serve crypto customers as long as they understand and can manage the risks” and added that “a greater regulatory apparatus around crypto” from Congress will be “very constructive”.

The comments were staid and measured but come against a backdrop of heightened investor expectations for friendly digital-asset regulations under President Donald Trump, who has tightly embraced the crypto sector.

“Traders in the US were reacting to the crypto comments from Powell, and Bitcoin pushed higher,” said IG Australia Pty Market Analyst Tony Sycamore. “From a wider technical perspective, there are indications that the Bitcoin rally is maturing.”

Bitcoin hit a record high of US$109,241 ahead of Trump’s inauguration on Jan 20 but subsequently slipped back. The token is up over 50 per cent since his election victory in early November, leading some to ask if the rally is due a breather.

Others argue that widening US engagement with crypto portends further gains. Some of the latest developments include CME Group’s move to roll out futures products on Robinhood Markets’s app, including for Bitcoin and Ether.

Investment firms are also peppering the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) with proposals to start more crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The companies are “probing the SEC’s boundaries, with unique filings including memecoin ETFs”, Bloomberg Intelligence senior government analyst Nathan Dean wrote in a note.