Bitcoin dropped below $78,000 on Saturday, retreating from a three-month high above $81,000, suggesting investors may increasingly be treating it as a scarce monetary asset rather than a tech-stock proxy. A hawkish Federal Reserve speech and rising exchange reserves added pressure, even as some on-chain metrics point to renewed whale accumulation.
Bitcoin fell below $78,000 on Saturday, trading at $77,647 and down about 2.07% over the session, after touching above $81,000 earlier in the week. The pullback tests the idea that Bitcoin is trading more like a scarce monetary asset than a high-beta technology stock.
Correlation with gold rises as tech link fades
Grayscale data cited in the report shows Bitcoin's 90-day correlation with gold has climbed above 50%, up from barely above zero at the start of 2026. Meanwhile, its correlation with the Nasdaq 100 has fallen to roughly 33% from above 60%. The shift has coincided with concern over U.S. fiscal policy after federal debt surpassed $40 trillion, and rising borrowing requirements and Treasury bond buybacks have revived the so-called debasement trade that favors scarce assets such as gold and Bitcoin.
Fed's hawkish tone adds to the pressure
The retreat followed a hawkish Jackson Hole speech from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh on Aug. 28, which dashed hopes of monetary easing. Bitcoin fell 3% on Friday and Ethereum dropped 2.74% in the same risk-off move. Bitcoin exchange reserves also climbed to 685,000 BTC, the highest level in 2026, as reserves built up while the price rebounded from $60,000 to $80,000.
On-chain signals stay mixed
Alphractal founder Joao Wedson said the Bitcoin Network Stress Index has fallen to extremely low levels, a historical marker of important market transitions that has tended to precede a volatility expansion in either direction. Analyst Ali Martinez observed that retail wallets sold Bitcoin during the recent rally while larger wallets kept accumulating, a pattern AMBCrypto framed as a sign of confidence among bigger holders.
Separately, six wallets dormant since between 2011 and 2014 moved 553.59 BTC, worth roughly $40 million, between Aug. 16 and Aug. 26, according to Galaxy Research data cited by CoinDesk. Five of the six sent coins to addresses without known exchange links, while one transferred 40 BTC to Boerse Stuttgart Digital.
Sources: Cryptocurrency News, AMBCrypto
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