There has been a major event in the past couple of days — the U.S. Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. On the surface, this appears to be an internal political turmoil in the United States, but for us token holders, the impact could be much greater than expected.

On January 11th, the Federal Reserve officially confirmed the investigation. U.S. federal prosecutors are conducting a criminal probe into Powell, focusing on the renovation of the Federal Reserve building and whether Powell made false statements to Congress. The investigation is led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and was approved as early as November last year.

Powell himself rarely recorded a video statement in response. His stance was very clear — this is an attack on the independence of the Federal Reserve. He said straightforwardly: "This concerns whether the Federal Reserve can continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions, or if it will be influenced and coerced by political pressure." In other words, once the central bank’s independence is weakened, monetary policy could become a political tool.

How will your assets be affected? Let’s see what Moody’s Chief Economist Mark Zandi has to say — inflation already poses a huge risk to bond investors. If the Fed is forced to change its interest rate policy, the entire financial market will need to be re-priced. The crypto market is equally sensitive. Uncertainty in central bank policies often leads to market sentiment volatility, and investors will become more cautious.

In simple terms, this is not just Washington gossip. It could mean greater uncertainty for inflation pressures, interest rate policies, and even the entire asset pricing system. If you hold crypto assets or other risk assets, the upcoming market performance is worth close attention. The debate over the independence of the central bank is often not a short-term storm but a long-term source of market noise.