Key Facts
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh struck a hawkish tone on inflation at the Jackson Hole symposium on Friday, though he stopped short of committing to a rate hike.
Bitcoin fell from around $80,000 to below $77,000 after the speech before recovering to about $78,000, while prediction markets swung to narrowly favor a rate hike.
Analysts including Charles Schwab's Jim Ferraioli said a hawkish Fed puts the "debasement trade" behind Bitcoin's recent surge back in check.
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh struck a hawkish tone on inflation at the Jackson Hole symposium on Friday, though he stopped short of committing to a rate hike.
Bitcoin fell from around $80,000 to below $77,000 after the speech before recovering to about $78,000, while prediction markets swung to narrowly favor a rate hike.
Analysts including Charles Schwab's Jim Ferraioli said a hawkish Fed puts the "debasement trade" behind Bitcoin's recent surge back in check.
Bitcoin was trading around $79,500 when Warsh began speaking at 14:00 UTC. After the speech, it briefly fell below $77,000, hitting a 24-hour low of about $76,900, before recovering to around $78,000 — down roughly 3.4% over 24 hours — according to CoinMarketCap data.
Bitcoin price, 24 hours. Source: CoinMarketCap
Warsh, marking his 100th day as chair, said the Fed's "predominant focus right now should be on prices" as inflation runs above the central bank's 2% target. But he pointedly declined to signal the next move.
What a Hawkish Fed Means for Bitcoin
"Liquidations of levered futures typically can explain 50% of Bitcoin's daily price move," he said. So, with positioning reset, there was "less fuel for the fire."
Read More:Rate Hikes and the Fed: How Do They Affect Crypto Markets?
