Key points:
Bitcoin sees light relief as US President Trump reveals that Iran had been in touch.
Trump calls Fed Chair Jerome Powell “stupid” as markets see no chance of an interest-rate cut at the June 18 FOMC meeting.
Order books show BTC price action ripe for liquidity grabs.
Bitcoin (BTC) returned to $105,000 after the June 18 Wall Street open amid claims that Iran had “reached out” to the US for dialogue.
Trump: Fed Chair Powell “stupid person” ahead of FOMC
Data from Coinpectra Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD reversing downside, which had taken it to lows of $103,857 on Bitstamp.
Still highly sensitive to developments in the Iran-Israel conflict, Bitcoin sought relief from comments by US President Donald Trump that Iran had been in touch.
“I said, ‘It’s very late,’” Trump told reporters during an appearance on the White House lawn, adding that he did not know how much longer the conflict might continue.
Positive BTC price momentum built on US unemployment data, which broadly conformed to expectations, avoiding more uncertainty over inflation.
Hours ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates, however, concerns lingered over the potential impact of US trade tariffs as well as the Middle East tensions and their effect on oil prices.
“First tariffs, now missiles. This is no ordinary inflation fight,” trading resource QCP Capital summarized in its latest bulletin to Telegram channel subscribers on the day.
“Our expectation is for the Fed to hold rates steady while striking a hawkish tone, acknowledging the fresh upside risks to inflation stemming from geopolitical instability.”
QCP warned that the Fed reducing its forecast for the number of interest-rate cuts in 2025 would “likely pressure risk assets, including Bitcoin and broader digital assets, as liquidity expectations are pared back.”
For his part, Trump reiterated existing demands for cuts, despite markets believing that they would not come until Q3.
“$88 billion came in from tariffs; no inflation. I know what I’m doing,” he said, calling Fed Chair Jerome Powell a “stupid person.”
Bitcoin liquidity stacks up into Fed decision
Among Bitcoin traders, anticipation was brewing over a potential short squeeze, with the market positioned for further losses.
Related: Bitcoin price top metric with 10-year record stays 'neutral' at $112K
“Market reacting so far positively off headlines of de-escalation (we see though),” popular trader Skew wrote in part of ongoing X analysis.
“Orderbooks are skew towards bid depth - More bids closest to price vs asks. Perp positioning is pretty short with all the stacked defensive positioning here.”
Order book data from monitoring resource CoinGlass shows that the area around $103,000 is particularly primed to act as a short-term price magnet should a liquidity grab ensue.
Fellow trader TheKingfisher nonetheless described a short liquidation event as “loading,” with asks in place between spot price and current all-time highs of $112,000.
$BTC shorts liquidations loading...
— TheKingfisher (@kingfisher_btc) June 18, 2025
Cleaning them up before the end of the week?
What do you think anon? pic.twitter.com/CzXorcjmHa
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.