Ukraine Adds to Fed Chair's List of Worries Before His Congressional Testimony
Jerome Powell will face questions from U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday and Thursday when he gives his semiannual monetary policy update to Congress.

As if Jerome Powell didn’t already have enough to worry about, the Federal Reserve chair now has to testify in front of Congress at a time when monetary policy calculations have been completely changed by the Ukraine-Russia war.
Powell is scheduled to appear before a House panel on Wednesday and a Senate committee on Thursday to give his semiannual monetary policy update to U.S. lawmakers.
The crypto community will be watching as the Fed chair will likely address topics like inflation, stablecoins and a potential central bank digital currency (CBDC).
“I think several non-monetary related items will be discussed [including] stablecoin regulatory frameworks, the Federal Reserve’s recent CBDC report, access for fintech and crypto charters to the Federal Reserve’s payment rails, and the potential effect that U.S. sanctions will have on the Central Bank of Russia," said Robert Baldwin, director of policy at the Association for Digital Asset Markets.
Powell could also discuss the risks of cryptocurrency to traditional financial markets. The memorandum for Wednesday's hearing, prepared by staff of the House Financial Services Committee, mentions the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s (FSOC) annual report from December highlighting “the rapid growth in cryptocurrency and stablecoins in 2021.” One concern was potential “spillover effects” from price volatility and speculation among these digital assets.
With the Ukraine-Russia conflict accelerating, the Fed chair’s testimony comes at a time of great uncertainty. The war changes everything, politically and economically, and in regard to the handling of monetary policy.
It has also become a major talking point in crypto markets.
Recent efforts by Ukrainians to collect money via crypto donations have shed light on potential benefits from the technology in times of crises. The country has received over $23.3 million worth of crypto in just three days.
Early in the conflict, cryptocurrency prices were down, trading in the red across the board, but the market turned on Monday, and bitcoin nearly hit $45,000 on Tuesday. Some analysts say Russians are turning to bitcoin and other cryptos as a safe haven.
At the same time, sanctions imposed on Russia are pushing oil prices up, now over $100 per barrel. Higher gasoline prices could add to inflation, already at a four-decade high.
However, some analysts think the Fed will take a less hawkish stance when it comes to hiking rates amid current geopolitical tensions and the resulting pressure on traditional markets. The CME Group's FedWatch tool currently shows traders see 0% odds of a half-percentage point hike, down from 40% odds last week.
“I do think that the situation in the Ukraine makes it much less likely they will raise by 50 basis points this time around,” PNC Chief Economist Gus Faucher told CNBC.
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CoinDesk Data's monthly Exchange Review captures the key developments within the cryptocurrency exchange market. The report includes analyses that relate to exchange volumes, crypto derivatives trading, market segmentation by fees, fiat trading, and more.
What to know:
Trading activity softened in March as market uncertainty grew amid escalating tariff tensions between the U.S. and global trading partners. Centralized exchanges recorded their lowest combined trading volume since October, declining 6.24% to $6.79tn. This marked the third consecutive monthly decline across both market segments, with spot trading volume falling 14.1% to $1.98tn and derivatives trading slipping 2.56% to $4.81tn.
- Trading Volumes Decline for Third Consecutive Month: Combined spot and derivatives trading volume on centralized exchanges fell by 6.24% to $6.79tn in March 2025, reaching the lowest level since October. Both spot and derivatives markets recorded their third consecutive monthly decline, falling 14.1% and 2.56% to $1.98tn and $4.81tn respectively.
- Institutional Crypto Trading Volume on CME Falls 23.5%: In March, total derivatives trading volume on the CME exchange fell by 23.5% to $175bn, the lowest monthly volume since October 2024. CME's market share among derivatives exchanges dropped from 4.63% to 3.64%, suggesting declining institutional interest amid current macroeconomic conditions.
- Bybit Spot Market Share Slides in March: Spot trading volume on Bybit fell by 52.1% to $81.1bn in March, coinciding with decreased trading activity following the hack of the exchange's cold wallets in February. Bybit's spot market share dropped from 7.35% to 4.10%, its lowest since July 2023.
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