Bitcoin traded at $79,699 on Friday as traders positioned for Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's keynote at the Jackson Hole Symposium. Dollar options flows and a rising dollar index point to bets on a hawkish tone, while Bitcoin's own chart shows fading upward momentum.
Bitcoin traded at $79,699, up 0.31% on August 28, ahead of Warsh's address at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium. The coin later slipped 0.4% to $79,259.3 by 09:52 ET. It stayed in sight of a three-month high of over $81,000 hit earlier in the week.
Dollar positioning turns hawkish
Analyst Walter Bloomberg noted that 57% of this week's dollar options flows suggest investors expect the US dollar to gain, up from 43% last week. That positioning lines up with the dollar index climbing from 98.56 on August 21 to 99.19 at the time of writing.
On August 27, Kansas City Fed President Jeff Schmid said inflation remained stubborn and sticky, adding that the current 3.50% to 3.75% rate remained accommodative — remarks that trimmed odds of a Fed rate cut. US PCE inflation, the Fed's preferred gauge, came in at 3.3%, above the 3.2% estimate. Prediction markets separately showed a 57% chance of a Fed rate hike in 2026.
Bitcoin's chart turns cautious
Bitcoin is moving within an ascending channel on the two-hour chart, a pattern that suggests the uptrend is intact as the price sets higher highs and higher lows. However, the price has dropped below the channel's midline, and a break below support could push Bitcoin toward $77,829. The RSI reading of 52 points to neutral momentum that could tilt either way once Warsh speaks.
Broader crypto trades sideways
Bitcoin was still on track to add about 2% this week, helped by optimism over US regulatory progress. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's move to double the Treasury's bond buybacks also spurred flows into alternative assets, according to Investing.com. Other coins mostly tracked Bitcoin: Ether climbed 0.3% to $2,505.33. XRP shed 1.4% over the same span.
If buying pressure returns, Bitcoin could retest resistance at $80,000 before attempting a move toward $81,000.
Sources: CoinGape, Investing.com
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