Bitcoin Drops Below $80K as Strong Jobs Data Dims Fed Rate Cut Hopes

Bitcoin fell back below the $80,000 mark on Friday after a unexpectedly strong US jobs report forced traders to reprice expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut at the upcoming September FOMC meeting. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the US economy added 162,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in August, nearly triple the 56,000 consensus estimate from economists. Bitcoin (BTC) slid from $81,300 to local lows of $78,600 following the release before recovering modestly to around $79,500.

The labor data shifted the outlook for the Fed's Sept. 15–16 policy decision. Prediction market Polymarket moved from showing 60% odds of a rate pause and 40% odds of a 25-basis-point hike — a stance reinforced earlier in the week by Fed Governor Christopher Waller — back to a roughly even 50/50 split on Friday. The uncertainty is compounded by Chair Kevin Warsh's limited forward guidance and the possibility of dissent within the Federal Open Market Committee, a contrast to the more well-anchored expectations seen under previous leadership.

President Donald Trump seized on the strong data to renew his pressure campaign on the central bank. In a Truth Social post, Trump urged the Fed Board and its "great new leader" to "BE PATRIOTS" and cut rates, arguing that high interest rates put the United States at an "unfair disadvantage." While Trump routinely attacked former Chair Jerome Powell over rate policy, he had largely refrained from targeting Warsh until Friday's jobs surprise.

In a separate development, a rival Bitcoin fork using the Blake2b algorithm saw its first trading activity following the Aug. 7 activation of the BIP-110 soft fork. The BIP-110 chain briefly split off from the main Bitcoin network but largely stalled after miners declined to dedicate hash power to extending it. Despite the setback for BIP-110 supporters, coins on the fork reportedly changed hands at $350 on exchange Neoxa, marking the first recorded liquidity for the contested chain.