The United States Treasury announced Thursday that restrictions on Chinese tech firms’ access to sensitive American technology will be lifted. This move comes as a result of an agreement between the U.S. and China to pause export controls on rare earth minerals. 📈 The decision is part of a broader thaw in trade relations between Washington and Beijing, signaling optimism for risk assets like cryptocurrencies. However, this easing has not reassured investors entirely as comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell following the recent FOMC meeting sparked caution among markets. 📉 Powell revealed that FOMC members hold differing opinions on whether to cut interest rates next December, which led to a decline across major asset classes. In addition to the policy uncertainty, the Fed confirmed the end of quantitative tightening (QT), a measure that had restricted liquidity in financial markets. Increased liquidity is generally viewed as positive for crypto prices, but there’s often a lag between the end of QT and the start of quantitative easing (QE). This delay can lead to price drops as investors wait for more stimulus-driven inflows. 📉 Despite this, over $1.1 billion in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated within 24 hours following the Fed’s announcement, pushing Bitcoin below $107,000 and breaching its 200-day EMA—a key technical support level monitored by traders. Concerns are also rising as investors look back to 2019, when a similar pattern resulted in a 35% decline in Bitcoin after the Fed ended QT during that market cycle. 📉 This has led some traders to worry about potential volatility similar to past events.