Bitcoin dropped $1,430 in five minutes after the August jobs report landed at five times the prior year's average pace, pushing traders to price a September rate hike as the likely outcome. The token has since clawed back part of the move but remains below its pre-report level, with ETF buyers still adding exposure a day earlier.
Bitcoin traded at $81,315 at 8:30 a.m. ET and $79,885 five minutes later, a 1.8% drop, right as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the August jobs data on Friday. The token's low of $78,706 came at 10:50 a.m., more than two hours after the release, before it clawed back about 40% of the $2,609 peak-to-trough move. Bitcoin last changed hands at $79,810, down 2.1% over 24 hours, after trading between $78,706 and $82,108.
A Beat That Reopened the Rate Debate
Nonfarm payrolls rose 162,000 in August against a 31,000 monthly average over the prior 12 months, while unemployment held at 4.1%. The print reversed a conditional hold that Fed governor Christopher Waller had signaled a day earlier, when he said he expected August data to stay in line with recent trends.
Traders on Polymarket moved the odds of a quarter-point September increase from 39.5 cents to a narrow lead within 15 minutes of the release, and the contract has since held at 50.5 cents against 49.5 cents for no change. The Federal Open Market Committee meets Sept. 15-16, with August inflation data due four days earlier.
Technicals Point to a Stalemate
Bitcoin's five-hour chart has been boxed between $78,600 and $81,000, with the Relative Strength Index slipping to 55 from overbought territory and showing bearish divergence even as prices grazed new highs. The price still sits well above its 200-period moving average near $69,335, which keeps the longer-term uptrend intact.
But trend strength, measured by the ADX, reads a weak 20, pointing to choppy range trading, not a bullish breakout.
ETF Buyers Kept Adding
U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs had taken in $730.8 million on Thursday, the largest daily total of the week, led by BlackRock's IBIT at $454 million, a day before the payrolls report pulled the token below $79,000. The week through Thursday totaled $812.1 million across four sessions.
Sources: The Defiant, Investing.com
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