Bitcoin slips below $80k as Fed hike bets, oil surge weigh
Investing.com-- Bitcoin slipped below the $80,000 level on Monday as stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data revived bets on a Federal Reserve interest-rate hike this month, while elevated oil prices amid escalating U.S.-Iran tensions added to pressure on risk assets.
Bitcoin was trading at $79,724.8 by 01:01 ET (05:01 GMT), down about 0.3% on the day.
Bitcoin had briefly climbed above $82,000 last week, reaching a more than three-month high of about $82,178.6 on Thursday, before retreating after Friday's U.S. employment report.
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Fed hike bets, oil surge weigh on risk appetite
Data on Friday showed that U.S. employers added 162,000 jobs in August, nearly triple economists' expectations, while the unemployment rate held at 4.1%.
The report pushed markets to price a roughly 60% probability of a Fed rate increase at the Sept. 15-16 meeting, up from 49% before the data, according to CME FedWatch.
Higher interest rates tend to weigh on Bitcoin and other speculative assets by raising the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding investments and tightening financial conditions.
Oil prices have added another source of uncertainty. Brent crude climbed to around $97 a barrel on Monday as military tensions between the United States and Iran raised concerns over supply disruptions in the Middle East.
The U.S. military said it struck three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday after Iranian forces targeted U.S. Navy vessels with ballistic missiles.
Investors are now turning to U.S. inflation data for further clues on the Fed's policy path, with producer prices due on Thursday and consumer prices on Friday. A hotter inflation reading could reinforce expectations for tighter monetary policy.
Despite the recent pullback, institutional demand has provided some support. U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded about $1 billion in net inflows last week, according to data from SoSoValue.
Bitcoin network hit by $320 million exploit
Bitcoin-linked Liquid Network, a settlement platform used by cryptocurrency exchanges, halted new transactions after about $320 million worth of bitcoin was withdrawn from its federation wallet in a security exploit, raising fresh concerns over digital-asset infrastructure.
Around 4,000 of the roughly 4,200 bitcoin held in the wallet were taken, Liquid Network said in a post on X. The withdrawals were conducted through SideSwap, a settlement platform authorized to facilitate transactions on the network.
The network said the individuals responsible described themselves as "purported white-hat hackers", although their identities and intentions remained unclear.
Exchanges have also suspended deposits and withdrawals involving Liquid's bitcoin-linked LBTC token while the incident is investigated.
Crypto price today: altcoins retreat
Most altcoins fell in range-bound trading on Monday amid a cautious mood.
World no.2 crypto Ethereum lost 0.4% to $2,502.11.
World no. 3 crypto XRP fell 1.1% to $1.4086.
Solana eased 1.1%, while Cardano dipped 0.9%, and BNB dropped 2%.
Among meme tokens, Dogecoin slipped 1.8%.
