Bitcoin closes in on $100,000 in surprise surge

The jump in Bitcoin came after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell issued a bombshell statement accusing president Donald Trump’s administration of directing a baseless criminal investigation in order to intimidate the agency. Meanwhile, prices of gold and other precious metals rose as investors fled towards safe-haven assets.

In addition to uncertainty over the independence of the Fed, recent inflation numbers appear to be driving the recent rally in Bitcoin.

“The global macro backdrop is supportive as the CPI came in cool on Tuesday, amid general concerns about the Fed’s independence following Powell’s speech, weighing on the dollar, which is generally negatively correlated with bitcoin,” said Russell Thompson, chief investment officer at Hilbert Group.

Smaller cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Solana have also seen a recent rise. The price of the former rose more than 4% last week to around $3,338, and the latter rose more than 3% during that period to its current price of roughly $144.

By all accounts, 2025 has been a disappointing year for Bitcoin. Despite more favorable policies by the Trump administration, most notably the GENIUS Act signed into law in July, the price of the native cryptocurrency has fallen by more than 6% over the course of the year. This is in stark contrast to the S&P 500, which grew at a rate of about 17% during that period.

In early October, Bitcoin reached an all-time high of more than $126,000, but the last three months of 2025 have erased those gains and then some. The original cryptocurrency fell to $84,000 in late November, a roughly 33% drop from its high. Much of this decline continued after the so-called “October Flash Crash,” a day in which traders lost $19 billion in assets.

While the last quarter of 2025 was a quarter to forget for Bitcoin, its price is off to an auspicious start in 2026.