Recently, the document about the Federal Reserve's "Devil's Pact" has been going viral, sounding quite sensational. But a closer look reveals that the document itself has many flaws. What we should really be worried about isn't whether the document is genuine, but rather why it could trigger the market so quickly—because it touches on a common fear in everyone's mind: Is the Federal Reserve's independence still valuable?

Let's first look at what has actually happened inside the Federal Reserve over the years. A series of trading scandals that broke out last year were already quite embarrassing. Recently, Atlanta Fed President Bostic admitted that over the past five years, he violated securities trading disclosure requirements more than 150 times. Moreover, some of these violations involved transactions made during the Fed's silent periods.

His explanation was: "I misunderstood the disclosure rules." This sounds a bit far-fetched—would a top official not understand basic rules? Regardless, he claimed to have mitigated conflicts of interest by entrusting assets to third parties for management.

This kind of situation isn't unique. Going back to 2021, multiple cases of abnormal trading by senior officials inside the Fed were exposed. The incident caused a big stir, leading Dallas Fed President Kaplan and Boston Fed President Rosengren to resign early. The situation escalated to the point where the Fed was forced to introduce the "Strictest New Rules" in February 2022, explicitly banning officials from purchasing stocks, funds, bonds, and other assets.

While the rules seem strict, enforcement appears to have some flexibility. Looking at Bostic's 150 violations, there's a significant gap between the rules and their enforcement.

These events impact the market not just because of "officials' dishonesty." One of the core values of the Fed is its independence and credibility—the market needs to believe that Fed decisions are based on economic data and financial stability considerations, not influenced by political factors or personal interests. Once this trust cracks, the entire market's pricing logic can be destabilized.

Especially for the cryptocurrency market, the Fed's policy stance directly affects liquidity, interest rate expectations, and asset allocation. If the market begins to doubt the purity of Fed decisions, risk premiums will rise rapidly, and market sentiment will become extremely fragile. A mysterious "Devil's Pact" document can instantly trigger emotional reactions, indicating that underlying anxieties are already deep.

The key moving forward is how the Fed rebuilds trust. Simply introducing new regulations isn't enough; enforcement and transparency are the real tests. Otherwise, similar scandals will continue to shake market confidence, and each shock could amplify uncertainties.