Bitcoin falls below $80,000 as Fed rate hike bets rise

Bitcoin fell below $80,000 against the backdrop of Fed interest rates and rising oil prices

Bitcoin fell below the $80,000 mark on Monday. One of the reasons was stronger-than-expected US labour market data, which reignited expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike this month. Meanwhile, rising oil prices against a backdrop of escalating tensions between the US and Iran added to the pressure on risk assets.

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Bitcoin was trading at $79,724.8 at 08:01 Moscow time, down by approximately 0.3% on the day, according to investing.com.

Last week, Bitcoin briefly rose above $82,000, reaching a more than three-month high of around $82,178.6 on Thursday, but then retreated following the release of US employment data on Friday.

Expectations of a Fed rate hike and rising oil prices are dampening risk appetite

Data published on Friday showed that US employers created 162,000 jobs in August — almost three times economists’ expectations — whilst the unemployment rate remained at 4.1 per cent.

The report prompted markets to put the probability of a Fed rate rise at its 15–16 September meeting at around 60 per cent, whilst prior to the data release this figure stood at 49 per cent, according to CME FedWatch data.

Higher interest rates typically put pressure on Bitcoin and other speculative assets by increasing the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets and tightening financial conditions.

Oil prices have added another source of uncertainty. Brent crude rose to around $97 per barrel on Monday amid military tensions between the US and Iran, fuelling fears of supply disruptions in the Middle East.

The US military stated that on Saturday it had struck three Iranian oil tankers after Iranian forces attacked US Navy ships with ballistic missiles.

Investors are now turning their attention to US inflation data in search of further clues regarding the Fed’s policy stance: the Producer Price Index is due to be released on Thursday, followed by the Consumer Price Index on Friday. Higher inflation figures could reinforce expectations of a tightening of monetary policy.

Despite the recent decline, institutional demand has provided some support. According to SoSoValue, US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded net inflows of around $1 billion last week.

The Bitcoin network suffered a $320 million exploit

Liquid Network, a Bitcoin-linked settlement platform used by cryptocurrency exchanges, suspended new transactions after approximately $320 million worth of Bitcoin was drained from its federated wallet following a hack, raising fresh concerns about the security of digital asset infrastructure.

Around 4,000 of the approximately 4,200 bitcoins held in the wallet were withdrawn, Liquid Network reported in a post on X. The funds were withdrawn via SideSwap, a settlement platform authorised to conduct transactions on the network.

The network reported that those involved in the incident described themselves as ‘alleged white-hat hackers’, though their identities and intentions remain unknown.

Exchanges have also suspended deposits and withdrawals related to Liquid’s LBTC token, which is pegged to Bitcoin, whilst the incident is being investigated.