Bitcoin nears $80,000 pivotal test as focus turns to U.S. jobs data, rate path

Bitcoin remains below a key resistance level in the $80,000 range, while markets again price in the possibility of a September rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Cointelegraph reported on Aug. 31, local time, that as expectations for Fed policy have turned more hawkish since the Jackson Hole symposium, the bitcoin market is again being heavily influenced by macro factors.

Attention is focused on U.S. employment indicators ahead of the September meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). Private-sector employment data, initial jobless claims and August nonfarm payrolls are due to be released one after another this week. Markets expect August job gains of 50,000. That compares with a decline of 23,000 in June.

The Fed's new chair, Kevin Warsh (케빈 워시), did not set out the policy direction in detail in his Jackson Hole speech but said the existing pre-emptive guidance had "already served its purpose". On inflation, he also said July consumer price index (CPI) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) data were not sufficient.

After those remarks, expectations for a rate hike rose again. CME Group's FedWatch tool showed the probability of a 0.25 percentage point increase at the September FOMC meeting rising to nearly 60 percent from 41.4 percent the prior week.