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Fed chief Powell calls Cook Supreme Court case most important in bank’s history

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Fed Chair Powell: Losing Fed independence will make it hard to reestablish credibility

US Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference following a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in Washington, DC, on Dec. 10, 2025.

Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday explained his controversial decision to attend Fed Governor Lisa Cook‘s Supreme Court hearing, saying the case could have a major effect on the central bank’s independence.

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“That case is perhaps the most important legal case in the Fed’s 113-year history,” Powell said Wednesday during his post-Fed meeting press conference. “As I thought about it, I thought it might be hard to explain why I didn’t attend.”

Powell last week attended oral arguments in the case, which will determine if President Donald Trump can fire Cook, who had been accused of mortgage fraud, a claim she denies. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Powell’s decision to attend a “mistake” in an interview with CNBC last week, saying the Fed chair was politicizing the case.

Powell also noted that former Fed Chair Paul Volcker “famously” went to a Supreme Court case in the 1980s, but did not specific which. That showed Powell there was precedent for his attendance, he said.

The Federal Reserve was created in 1913 under President Woodrow Wilson.

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During the hearing, Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical of Trump’s claims that he was within his powers to attempt to remove Cook and raised concern about what such a precedent would mean for Fed independence.

Trump has cited mortgage fraud allegations in his move to axe Cook, but critics have said the action appears tied to his push for lower interest rates. The Supreme Court previously allowed Cook to remain in her role pending the oral arguments.

Powell’s attendance followed his revelation earlier this month that he’s facing a federal probe over the Fed’s headquarters renovations. Politicians and monetary policy watchers have connected the investigation to Trump’s repeated criticism of Powell for not moving interest rates lower at a faster pace.

Fed Chair Powell: Losing Fed independence will make it hard to reestablish credibility

The criminal investigation of Powell and attempted removal of Cook have together raised concerns that the Fed’s longstanding apolitical posture is at risk.

Powell said the Fed’s political separation is key to ensuring credibility long term during Wednesday’s press conference.

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“The point of independence is not to protect policymakers or anything like that,” Powell said. “It just is that every advanced economy (and) democracy in the world has come around to this common practice.”

If you lose that separation, he said, “it would be hard to restore the credibility of the institution.”

Looming over Wednesday’s press conference was the knowledge that Trump could at any time announce a successor for Powell, who’s term as chair ends in May. Powell offered some advice timely advice for whoever takes the role next.

“Don’t get pulled into elected politics,” Powell said. “Don’t do it. “

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ME Token Slumps After Magic Eden Announces Buybacks, Staking Rewards

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ME Token Slumps After Magic Eden Announces Buybacks, Staking Rewards


The former NFT marketplace said it will allocate revenue to the ME ecosystem, including USDC rewards paid out to stakers.

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Solana (SOL) Plunges Below $100, Bitcoin (BTC) Recovers From 15-Month Low: Market Watch

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BTCUSD Feb 4. Source: TradingView


Meanwhile, HASH and HYPE have declined the most over the past 24 hours after charting impressive gains lately.

Bitcoin’s adverse price actions as of late worsened yesterday when the asset tumbled to its lowest positions since early November 2024 at $73,000 before recovering by a few grand.

Most altcoins followed suit with enhanced volatility, but some, such as SOL, HYPE, and CC, have been hit harder than others.

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BTC’s Latest Rollercoaster

It was just a week ago when the primary cryptocurrency challenged the $90,000 resistance ahead of the first FOMC meeting for the year. After it became official that the Fed won’t cut the rates again, BTC remained sluggish at first but started to decline in the following hours.

The escalating tension in the Middle East was also blamed for another crash that took place on Thursday when bitcoin plunged to $81,000. It bounced off to $84,000 on Friday but tumbled once again on Saturday, this time to under $75,000. Another recovery attempt followed on Monday, only to be rejected at $79,000.

Tuesday brought the latest crash, this time to a 15-month low of $73,000. It has rebounded since then to just over $76,000, but it’s still 3% down on the day. Moreover, it has lost 14% of its value weekly and a whopping 18% monthly.

Its market capitalization has plummeted to $1.525 trillion on CG, while its dominance over the alts has declined to 57.3%.

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BTCUSD Feb 4. Source: TradingView
BTCUSD Feb 4. Source: TradingView

SOL Below $100

Most larger-cap altcoins have felt the consequences of the violent market crash lately. Ethereum went from over $3,000 to $2,100 in the span of a week, before bouncing to $2,280 as of now. BNB is down to $760, while SOL has plummeted to under $100 after a 7% daily decline.

Even the recent high-flyer HYPE has retraced hard daily. The token is down by 11% to $33. CC and ZEC are also deep in the red, while XMR has gained the most from the larger caps.

The cumulative market cap of all crypto assets has seen more than $70 billion erased in a day and is down to $2.65 trillion on CG.

Cryptocurrency Market Overview Feb 4. Source: QuantifyCrypto
Cryptocurrency Market Overview Feb 4. Source: QuantifyCrypto

 

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Pumpfun Unveils Investment Arm and $3 Million Hackathon

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Pumpfun Unveils Investment Arm and $3 Million Hackathon


PUMP rallied as much as 10% but erased its gains as crypto markets dipped.

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Spot Bitcoin ETF AUM Hits Lowest Level Since April 2025

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Spot Bitcoin ETF AUM Hits Lowest Level Since April 2025

Assets in spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs slipped below $100 billion on Tuesday following a fresh $272 million in outflows.

According to data from SoSoValue, the move marked the first time spot Bitcoin ETF assets under management have fallen below that level since April 2025, after peaking at about $168 billion in October

The drop came amid a broader crypto market sell-off, with Bitcoin sliding below $74,000 on Tuesday. The global cryptocurrency market capitalization fell from $3.11 trillion to $2.64 trillion over the past week, according to CoinGecko.

Altcoin funds secure modest inflows

The latest outflows from spot Bitcoin ETFs followed a brief rebound in flows on Monday, when the products attracted $562 million in net inflows.

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Still, Bitcoin funds resumed losses on Tuesday, pushing year-to-date outflows to almost $1.3 billion, coming in line with ongoing market volatility.

Spot Bitcoin ETF flows since Jan. 26, 2026. Source: SoSoValue

By contrast, ETFs tracking altcoins such as Ether (ETH), XRP (XRP) and Solana (SOL) recorded modest inflows of $14 million, $19.6 million and $1.2 million, respectively.

Is institutional adoption moving beyond ETFs?

The ongoing sell-off in Bitcoin ETFs comes as BTC trades below the ETF creation cost basis of $84,000, suggesting new ETF shares are being issued at a loss and placing pressure on fund flows.

Market observers say that the slump is unlikely to trigger further mass sell-offs in ETFs.

“My guess is vast majority of assets in spot BTC ETFs stay put regardless,” ETF analyst Nate Geraci wrote on X on Monday.

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Source: Nate Geraci

Thomas Restout, CEO of institutional liquidity provider B2C2, echoed the sentiment, noting that institutional ETF investors are generally resilient. Still, he hinted that a shift toward onchain trading may be underway.

Related: VistaShares launches Treasury ETF with options-based Bitcoin exposure

“The benefit of institutions coming in and buying ETFs is they’re far more resilient. They will sit on their views and positions for longer,” Restout said in a Rulematch Spot On podcast on Monday.

“I think the next level of transformation is institutions actually trading crypto, rather than just using securitized ETFs. We’re expecting the next wave of institutions to be the ones trading the underlying assets directly,” he noted.