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Bitcoin holds $78,000 as yen breaks 160 and rate-hike bets lift the dollar
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- DeepHorus
Bitcoin held steady near $78,000 on Monday as the U.S. dollar strengthened following hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve officials. The world's largest cryptocurrency was trading just below the $78,000 mark during Asian morning hours, experiencing a minor dip of less than 1% over the past 24 hours but showing a gain of approximately 1% for the week.
The price action occurred against a backdrop of significant moves in foreign exchange markets, with the Japanese yen breaching the key 160-per-dollar level. Strategists noted that intervention by Japanese authorities could be triggered if the yen reaches 161, and then more decisively in the 162 to 163 zone. This level of weakness has nearly erased more than half the gains from a coordinated yen-buying operation by the U.S. and Japan back in July.
The broader cryptocurrency market showed mixed performance. Solana and dogecoin led the declines, dropping about 3% each, while hyperliquid and XRP also saw notable losses. In contrast, ether, BNB, zcash, and tron remained relatively flat, within 2% of their previous values. The weekly performance was starkly different, with solana up around 8% and dogecoin down roughly 10%.
The firming U.S. dollar was fueled by new expectations for higher American interest rates. This shift in sentiment came after Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium. Bond markets are now pricing in a Fed positioned to hike rates, a repricing that analysts say has pulled institutional money out of Bitcoin ETFs throughout May and June.
Monday's trading session marks the final day of August. The month's closing ETF total will provide a key indicator of market sentiment. It will reveal whether a recent eight-day run of inflows into Bitcoin exchange-traded funds survived the recent shift in rate expectations or came to an end alongside it.
Looking ahead, market participants are closely watching for any potential Japanese currency intervention and the evolving U.S. interest rate outlook. The performance of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the final hours of August will be scrutinized for clues about institutional demand in a changing macroeconomic environment.
