Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $80,000 into Tuesday’s Wall Street open as crypto and gold gave way to gains in US equities.
Key points:
- Bitcoin upside momentum fizzles as $80,000 proves difficult to flip to support.
- Gold joins BTC price downside after multimonth highs of $4,697 per ounce as US 30-year bond yields target three-week lows.
- Attention switches from bonds to US inflation data and Nvidia earnings tomorrow.
Bitcoin price struggles to cement $80,000 reclaim
Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD falling as low as $78,111 on Bitstamp after reaching new 14-week highs of $81,265.
BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
The $80,000 zone, which traders previously earmarked as an area of strong sell pressure, proved difficult to reclaim as US trading hours appeared to increase downside across both Bitcoin and gold. XAU/USD saw local lows of $4,605 per ounce, down nearly 2% on the day.
XAU/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
US stocks moved inversely to gold and crypto last week, coming under pressure as both rallied. This divergence has continued this week, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index posting modest daily gains of 0.2% and 0.5%, respectively.
Nasdaq Composite Index one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
The comparative strength appeared to mostly brush off a brewing trade-tariff spat between the US and Canada in which negotiations recently broke down. In his latest posts on Truth Social, US president Donald Trump accused Canada of “ripping off” the US.
“Over the last 10 years, the United States lost, on average, 60 Billion Dollars a year with Canada. No more!” he pledged.
US government bond yields continued to cool on the day, with 30-year yields dropping below 5.2% and eyeing their lowest levels since Aug. 7. Last week’s crypto surge came as yields hit heights not seen since January 2007 and the US Treasury announced bigger debt buyback operations to tame the upside.
US 30-year bond yield one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Commenting on the prospect of further bond-market interventions in the future, trading resource The Kobeissi Letter suggested that interest-rate cuts — a key potential liquidity driver for crypto markets — were not an option in the current inflation environment.
“The reality is that the Fed cannot cut rates in this environment and the Trump Administration knows this. So, direct bond market intervention is the only solution to drive interest rates and yields lower over the short-run,” it wrote in a post on X.
“Our view? Don’t fight the Treasury.”
As Cointelegraph reported, market consensus calls for an ongoing rate-hike freeze at the Fed’s September meeting, with the odds of this outcome currently at 61.9%, per data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.
Fed target-rate probabilities for September FOMC meeting (screenshot). Source: CME Group
PCE, Nvidia earnings on the radar
Discussing the immediate macro outlook, trading firm QCP Capital shifted the focus away from the Treasury toward fresh US inflation data and the Fed’s Jackson Hole economic symposium, taking place from Aug. 27-29.
Related: First bear-market trend line reclaim since 2025: Five things to know in Bitcoin this week
Wednesday will see the July print of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, known as the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, which saw its first month-on-month decrease since 2020 past June. Tech giant Nvidia, meanwhile, will also report earnings on Wednesday, adding another potential risk-asset volatility catalyst.
