Bitcoin Trades Steady Above $78K While HYPE Climbs Amid Fed Jitters

Bitcoin was little changed above $78,000 on Tuesday as most major cryptocurrencies moved lower, while HYPE bucked the trend with a roughly 4% gain. Growing expectations for a more hawkish Federal Reserve were weighing on broader risk sentiment.

BTC traded near $78,400 during Asian morning hours after moving between approximately $77,200 and $79,200 over the previous 24 hours, according to CoinDesk data.

The cryptocurrency finished August up 24%, its biggest monthly increase since November 2024. Strategy also returned to the market last week, buying about $370 million worth of Bitcoin after a roughly two-month break from purchases.

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HYPE was the strongest performer, rising about 4% to nearly $84. Ether fell around 1% to slightly above $2,440, while Solana dropped roughly 1% to about $104. XRP remained below $1.40, and BNB traded close to $693.

Tron and Dogecoin posted the largest declines, each falling around 2% to approximately 33 cents and 8 cents, respectively.

Asian Markets Under Pressure

The broader risk-off mood extended into Asian equities. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined about 1% to near 25,300, while Tencent and Meituan each lost almost 3%.

Japan’s Nikkei also slipped, trading around 66,185. South Korea’s Kospi, however, edged higher as semiconductor shares recovered.

Brent crude rose nearly 1% to about $91 a barrel after US military action near the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend.

Rising Oil Prices Lift Rate Expectations

Oil’s move higher is adding another layer to the interest-rate outlook. The US 10-year Treasury yield increased to 4.78%, while traders put the odds of a Fed rate hike at the Sept. 16 meeting at roughly 64%.

Those expectations were closer to 36% before Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s speech at Jackson Hole.

Gold also pulled back to about $4,435 an ounce after gaining 10% during August.

Yusuf Fakhro, a partner at ARP Digital, said Bitcoin’s ability to hold near $78,000 following its August surge is potentially more important than the size of the rally.

He pointed to perpetual futures open interest falling to its lowest level since May and strong weekly demand for US spot Bitcoin ETFs. In his view, the combination indicates that the August rally was driven primarily by spot buying rather than an accumulation of highly leveraged long positions.

ETF Support Shows Signs of Cooling

Bitcoin ETF inflows have since lost some momentum. Wintermute recorded approximately $924 million of inflows over nine consecutive positive sessions before a $202 million outflow on Friday brought the streak to an end.

Bitcoin has also repeatedly failed to establish a foothold above $82,000.

Jasper De Maere, an OTC trader at Wintermute, described the market as nervous but lacking a clear short-term direction.

Friday’s US payrolls report will be the final major employment reading before the September FOMC meeting. With markets assigning roughly 64% odds to a rate increase, a stronger jobs report could drive Treasury yields higher and put additional pressure on Bitcoin, potentially sending it toward the $77,200 low recorded overnight.