Bitcoin$BTC faced sharp volatility at the Wall Street open on January 23 amid new rumors that the U.S. would announce a strategic Bitcoin reserve.
Lummis hints at "great things," but omits details
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed that the BTC/USD pair broke out of its short-term range and gained USD 4,000 before retracing most of the move.
The sudden rise accompanied a tweet from Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis, the author of a bill dedicated to Bitcoin reserve, suggesting that the U.S. would announce something relevant to the crypto markets at 10 AM.
"Great things are coming," read one of the two messages on X.
Lummis did not specify from which time zone the news would be made, with President Donald Trump scheduled to speak at 11 AM Eastern Time from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
According to sources such as FOX Business journalist Eleanor Terrett, Lummis could also become the chair of the House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion of Financial Services, pending a vote an hour before Trump's appearance.
Terrett added that "it is unclear if anything else will be announced."
After Trump did not mention Bitcoin, cryptos, or a reserve involving them during his inauguration speech, BTC's price action turned worse as hopes for a breakthrough in U.S. adoption faded.
Reacting, popular industry commentators could only speculate about what was to come.
Popular expert WhalePanda suggested that the cryptic nature of Lummis's X messages constituted a "market manipulation."
Meanwhile, the odds that Trump would create the reserve within his first 100 days in office rose to 40% according to the prediction service Polymarket.
Bitcoin liquidations rise as traders get anxious
Meanwhile, Bitcoin has liquidated short positions on its way to the highs of its range.
CoinGlass data places the total short liquidations of BTC at nearly USD 20 million in just one hour at the time of writing this article.
