Bloomberg: Macro adverse factors offset Trump's push, further intensifying the downturn of cryptocurrency

PANews reported on March 10, according to Bloomberg, that cryptocurrency prices continued to fall on Monday. The escalating tension of the tariff war and the weakening expectation of further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve offset the positive impact brought about by a series of statements supporting cryptocurrencies made by US President Donald Trump last week. Since mid-December last year when the Fed hinted at pausing interest rate cuts, risk assets such as cryptocurrencies have been under pressure. Last Friday's employment data showed that the US unemployment rate rose from 4% to 4.1%, further exacerbating market uncertainty. Augustine Fan, partner at cryptocurrency derivative software provider SignalPlus said: "The 'underemployment' rate has soared to a five-year high, intensifying concerns about economic recession and driving yields lower as expectations for interest rate cuts are brought forward to early summer."

Trump's friendly stance towards cryptocurrencies - including signing executive orders establishing U.S Bitcoin reserves and separate other token reserves - along with high-profile summits held in Washington with industry executives had limited effect in boosting market sentiment. Despite government promises to fund reserves through legally seized cryptocurrencies, investors were disappointed by lack of new capital commitments. Jeff Mei, COO of crypto exchange BTSE said: "The market found this summit disappointing; after news broke out that widely anticipated cryptocurrency reserves only hold existing government assets major cryptocurrency prices fell." Mei added: "Bitcoin is likely going down into $70k-$80k range within next few weeks; only when this tariff war ends and Fed resumes cutting rates will major cryptos start moving back towards previous all-time highs."

Currently United States holds approximately $17 billion worth Bitcoin and around $400 million worth other tokens mainly due to asset seizures related civil criminal cases.BlockTower Capital co-founder Ari Paul stated it was reasonable for investors be more optimistic about cryptos given recent developments like weakened enforcement efforts from SEC but there were subtler factors even negative ones.Paul said in a message: "The government's obvious capriciousness and favoritism when choosing strategic reserve assets - especially after launching Trump and Melania tokens - is a strong deterrent for investors. It gives the impression that the Trump administration is selecting and promoting 'insider' assets based on lobbying, while today's cryptocurrency market is largely a short-term trading casino."