President Donald Trump has escalated his pressure campaign against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, leaving the door open to ousting him for “fraud,” he said last week. That raises questions about what would happen if Trump actually tires to fire the central bank leader.

A longtime lobbyist said Trump’s ongoing threats on Powell, while backing off of firing him, are a combination of “testing the waters to see how bad the backlash would be, his strong desire to get rates lowered [and] him working the refs — hoping to bully Powell and future chairs.”

Crypto traders are eyeing rate cuts this year amid a growing standoff between President Trump and Fed Chair Jerome Powell.