Bitcoin Drops Below $112K as Traders Eye Powell’s Speech — What’s Going On?

Bitcoin tumbled beneath 112,000 on Tuesday as traders braced for Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s upcoming speech , hoping his remarks will offer clarity on US monetary ￰1￱ was last down nearly 3% to $111,856. The broader crypto market fell sharply, with total market cap sliding 3.2% to $3.8 ￰2￱ dropped 4% to $4,012, BNB plunged 10% to $1,205 and XRP slipped 5.5% to $2.47. Markets approach Powell’s speech amid sharp swings, fueled by renewed US-China trade tensions and steep declines in digital asset ￰3￱ is scheduled to speak on the economic outlook and monetary policy at the NABE Annual Meeting in Philadelphia on ￰4￱ expect his tone to sway sentiment on rate cuts and whether the crypto descent deepens or ￰5￱ Chair Jerome Powell’s speech tomorrow could trigger a crypto market crash as traders await guidance on interest rates and economic policy amid U.

S.-China trade tensions. #CryptoMarket #Powell #FederalReserve ￰0￱ — ￰6￱ (@cryptonews) October 13, 2025 Political Uncertainty Fuels Investor Anxiety Across Risk Assets Last week, President Donald Trump escalated tensions by announcing plans to impose 100% tariff on all Chinese goods imported to the US starting ￰7￱ move triggered massive market turmoil, wiping more than $125b from global crypto valuations in ￰8￱ found some footing on Monday after Trump softened his tone on China. Still, the shock left traders on edge and primed for further ￰9￱ Otunuga, senior market analyst at FXTM, said the reaction “underscores just how sensitive investors remain to political risk and trade uncertainty.” He added that the US–China tensions and a dragging government shutdown could keep markets ￰10￱ Liquidations Expose Fragile Leverage But Highlight Strong Projects Kevin Lee, chief business officer at Gate, expects downward pressure to persist near term as geopolitical risks and tariffs weigh on ￰11￱ sees the Fed’s expected rate cut on Oct. 28–29 as a possible turning point to ease conditions for risk ￰12￱ Schrade, CEO of Arcium, argued that large liquidations like the weekend’s $19b wipeout act as a market filter, exposing weaker leveraged positions while drawing focus to utility-driven ￰13￱ cited Zcash’s relative resilience and Umbra’s $155m raise in confidential DeFi infrastructure as signs of focus amid ￰14￱ now turns to Powell, whose remarks could decide whether crypto finds relief or slides deeper into decline.