The Federal Reserve’s rate-setting committee will meet today to discuss US monetary policies.

But no matter the outcome of the meeting, Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and chief investment officer at Maelstrom, is bullish on Bitcoin’s price.

That‘s because “the setup is perfect for a rally” including cryptocurrencies, he said in a recent interview during the Token2049 conference in Dubai.

There is “a lot of fear, uncertainty, doubt in the markets,” Hayes said. “The monetary authorities, especially in America, cannot handle that, so they’re going to resort to money printing.”

He alluded to the myriad market uncertainties present currently including the dwindling primacy of dollars, and armed conflicts around the world.

Hayes said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant will try to coordinate with the Fed to combat shaky government bond markets. That will lead to money printing, Hayes said, which will drive a surge in Bitcoin as investors pile into more risk.

Hayes’ comments echo previous statements where he predicted that these policies will drive Bitcoin’s price to just shy of $200,000, slightly lower than his previous $250,000 estimates.

“The next time Trump ramps up the tariff rhetoric or refuses to reduce tariffs on China, Bitcoin will rally in anticipation of the monetary mandarins running the money printing press at max Brrrrr levels to ensure bond market volatility remains muted,” Hayes previously wrote.

“Any investor with US stock and bonds is looking for something whose value is anti-establishment,” Hayes also wrote previously. “Physically, that‘s gold [and] digitally, that‘s Bitcoin.”

April 9 — one week after US President Donald Trump unveiled his sweeping tariff programme and the same day he initiated a 90-day pause on certain aspects of the trade war— was the bottom of the market, Hayes predicted.

Hayes’ comments came ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

Investors watch these meetings closely for clues to the central bank’s view on interest rates. Low interest rates usually incentivise traders to tap into risk-on assets like cryptocurrencies and equities.

That‘s one of the reasons why Bitcoin surged when the central bank slashed rates in September and November.

Investors overwhelmingly expect the Fed to keep interest rates where they are. Contracts linked to Fed policy bets put the chances of a rate cut as low as 2.3%, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

Those chances rise to 28.4% for the FOMC’s June meeting, and to 72.8% at its July meeting.

“The May FOMC meeting looks like a placeholder, more so after the strong jobs report,” Bank of America strategists said in a recent note. “The Fed will likely remain on hold, and we expect no change in Chair [Jerome] Powell’s tone from his recent speeches.”

Andrew Flanagan is a markets correspondent for DL News. Have a tip? Reach out to aflanagan@dlnews.com.