Jerome Powell will not walk away from the Fed when his chairmanship ends — and crypto markets noticed.
At his final FOMC press conference on April 29, Powell said he will remain on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors past May 15, citing recent legal attacks on the institution and a Department of Justice probe into the Fed’s headquarters renovation that touched his congressional testimony. “The things that have happened really in the last three months have, I think, left me no choice but to stay until I see them through at least that long,” he said, adding he intends to “keep a low profile” and will not act as a shadow chair once Kevin Warsh is confirmed and sworn in. Powell also vowed to leave “when the investigation is well and truly over with finality and transparency.”
If he stays, Powell would become the first outgoing Fed chair to remain on the board since Marriner Eccles in 1948. DC Attorney Jeanine Pirro closed her office’s probe last week but warned she “would not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.” Former President Donald Trump attacked Powell on social media, saying he “wants to stay at the Fed because he can’t find a job elsewhere.” Treasury Secretary Bessent called Powell’s decision “extraordinary,” calling it a breach of tradition.
Policy context and market fallout
- The FOMC held the federal funds rate at 3.50–3.75% for a third straight meeting. The meeting’s real headline was the four dissents: three members wanted the statement’s easing bias removed (signaling a rate hike as likely as a cut), while Stephen Miran voted for an immediate cut.
- Markets had been pricing a Warsh-driven pivot to faster rate cuts once Powell left. Powell’s decision to remain on the 12-person FOMC — and the hawkish dissents — upended that narrative and tightened the path for rate cuts.
- Crypto reaction was immediate: Bitcoin fell from roughly $77,000 to $74,914 on the news, and $137.77 million in Bitcoin ETF outflows snapped a nine-day inflow streak. 21Shares’ Matt Mena colorfully summed it up: the dissenters “threw a bucket of ice on the market’s pivot party.”
- As crypto.news has tracked, Bitcoin has now declined after eight of the last nine FOMC meetings — a pattern that continued on April 29.
Why this matters for crypto traders
Powell remains a full-voting governor through January 2028, which means he will keep a vote on rate decisions for at least the first two years of Warsh’s expected chairmanship. That prolonged voting presence reduces the likelihood of a rapid shift in Fed policy and keeps uncertainty higher for interest-rate-sensitive assets, including crypto. The full Senate confirmation vote for Warsh is expected the week of May 11.
Bottom line: Powell’s decision to stay clears the way for a more cautious market outlook on rate cuts, and the immediate price action in Bitcoin and ETF flows shows traders are reassessing a previously assumed Warsh pivot.
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