Bitcoin fell sharply on Friday following the release of stronger-than-expected U.S. employment data, which increased market expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate hike. The decline drove BTC from $81,300 to a session low of $78,600 before recovering to the $79,500–$79,800 range by day's end.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nonfarm payrolls expanded by 162,000 in August, substantially exceeding analyst expectations of 55,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%, while June and July payroll figures were revised upward by a combined 55,000 positions.
The employment report shifted market sentiment regarding monetary policy. Data from CME Group's FedWatch tool indicated traders assigned approximately a 58% probability to a quarter-point rate increase at the September 16 Federal Reserve meeting, up from 52% prior to the report. Prediction markets on Polymarket shifted to nearly even odds between a rate hike and maintaining current policy.
Despite Friday's pullback, Bitcoin remained on track for a 3% weekly gain, marking its third consecutive week of positive movement. Earlier in the week, BTC reached $82,178.6, its strongest level since mid-May.
According to market analyst Bull Theory, Bitcoin rallied approximately $20,000 over a 20-day period, climbing from $62,535 to exceed $82,300. This movement added $390 billion to Bitcoin's market capitalization and resulted in $11.4 billion in liquidated leveraged positions.
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted $175 million in net capital inflows on September 4, marking the third consecutive day of positive flows. BlackRock's IBIT product led with $117 million, followed by Fidelity's FBTC with $57.22 million.
