Bitcoin swung between $77,283 and just above $78,000 as September opened, extending the volatile pattern that followed its nearly 25% August rally. A global sell-off in government bonds pushed borrowing costs to multi-decade highs, and traders are now watching the Federal Reserve's response to upcoming inflation and jobs data.
Bitcoin kicked off September with sharp two-way swings, trading on either side of $77,200 and $78,000 as an intensifying global bond sell-off rattled broader markets. The move came just hours after the cryptocurrency locked in one of its biggest monthly gains of 2026, jumping almost 25% in August.
Bitcoin whipsaws through the $77,000-$79,000 range
Market data shows bitcoin initially looked poised to close Monday above $79,000, just hours after trading below $77,800. However, as soon as bitcoin breached $79,000, bears took control again, pushing the price back to $78,200 two hours before midnight.
The pattern repeated when bitcoin reclaimed $79,000 just after 1 a.m. EST, only to plunge below $77,900 two and a half hours later. It then fluctuated around the $78,000 support level before another sell-off sent it to $77,578 at 9:40 a.m. By 10:24 a.m. EST, bitcoin had reversed those losses to trade above $78,200, a 0.5% daily gain, leaving its market capitalization virtually unchanged at $1.57 trillion.
The swings also narrowed the gap between liquidated long and short bets. Coinglass data shows bitcoin long liquidations reached $23.7 million, compared with $26.7 million in shorts. That contrasted with the broader crypto market, where liquidated long positions of $102 million outpaced $90.6 million in shorts.
Bond sell-off and Fed decisions loom over crypto
The volatility comes as a bond sell-off has pushed borrowing costs across major economies to multi-decade highs. Rising energy prices, driven by the military conflict in Iran, briefly pushed Brent crude past $90 a barrel on Sunday, compounding global inflation concerns.
That jump in yields is raising borrowing costs across sovereign debt, consumer loans, and corporate debt in the U.S., Japan, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. A corporate borrowing boom by technology companies building artificial intelligence infrastructure has also swamped fixed-income markets, pulling capital away from sovereign debt.
Government interventions, such as the expanded bond buybacks announced by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, will likely excite crypto investors who have seen similar liquidity-boosting moves propel bitcoin higher before. Still, market observers believe the upcoming August employment report and the Sept. 11 inflation data will dictate how the Federal Reserve handles interest rates at its FOMC meeting later this month. A rate cut would likely fuel bitcoin's upward trajectory, whereas standing pat could leave the asset vulnerable to pullbacks.
Source: Bitcoin News
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