August payrolls push Bitcoin below $81,000

Bitcoin broke its recent range after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the August employment numbers at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday. The price dropped from $81,315 to $79,885 in a single five‑minute candle, a 1.8% decline, before slowly recovering to around $79,810 by the end of the session.

Market reaction to the jobs report

The report showed non‑farm payrolls rising by 162,000, far above the 31,000‑month average for the prior year. Unemployment held at 4.1% and labor‑force participation edged up to 61.6%.

Crypto markets priced the data harder than traditional markets. Bitcoin’s 24‑hour loss was 2.1%, while Ether fell 2.2%. Most large tokens, except privacy coins, were lower: XRP down 4.5%, Solana 3.3%, and BNB 0.4%.

Fed commentary and rate‑hike expectations

Fed Governor Christopher Waller had hinted at a hold in a Reuters interview the day before, but the strong jobs print revived expectations of a September rate increase. Prediction‑market contract on Polymarket for a quarter‑point hike moved from 39.5 cents at release to a majority outcome (over 50 cents) within 15 minutes.

Broader market context

U.S. Treasury yields were steady (10‑year at 4.78%, 30‑year at 5.25%). Gold rose 1% to $4,476/oz, the dollar index slipped 0.3%, and equities were mixed (S&P 500 flat, Nasdaq up 0.4%).

Altcoin performance

• Privacy coins outperformed: Zcash rose to $1,036, Dash up 19% to $55.15, Monero up 0.7%.
• Among the 125 largest non‑stablecoin tokens, 30 were up and 94 down.
• Notable losers included Akedo (‑20.2%), Cash Cat (‑16.3%) and Artificial Inu (‑13.1%).

ETF inflows

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted $730.8 million on Thursday, led by BlackRock’s IBIT ($454 million). Spot Ether ETFs saw modest inflows of $2.9 million.

DeFi and stablecoins

DeFi total value locked remained unchanged at $88.1 billion. Stablecoin supply held at $304.2 billion, with Tether at $183.4 billion and USDC at $73.9 billion.

Sentiment

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index rose to 74, indicating bullish sentiment despite the price dip.