Bitcoin slipped back below the $79,000 mark during Thursday's Asian trading session, shedding nearly 1% on the day after briefly touching $80,000 earlier—a level not seen since May. Rising expectations for Federal Reserve rate hikes have undermined the lower-yield environment that previously fueled the cryptocurrency's rebound from below $68,000.
Most major tokens traded lower over the past 24 hours. XRP led the declines, dropping nearly 3% to sit above $1.41, though it still holds a weekly gain of 28%, the strongest among its peers. The Hyperliquid ecosystem token HYPE fell over 1% to below $81, while TRON slipped nearly 1% to just above 33 cents.
Buckling the trend, Solana climbed almost 4% to above $101, posting a weekly advance of roughly 19%. Ethereum edged up 1% to just under $2,494, BNB added nearly 1% to below $703, and Dogecoin held steady around the 9-cent level.
As the rolling window shifts past last week's surge, weekly gains across tokens have narrowed noticeably. Bitcoin's seven-day advance has cooled from 23% yesterday to 14%, while Ethereum's has compressed from 29% to 11%.
Overnight, short-end Treasury yields moved higher as traders intensified bets on rate hikes, a stark contrast to the low-yield backdrop that lifted crypto markets last week. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is scheduled to deliver his first Jackson Hole symposium keynote on Friday, roughly three weeks ahead of the September 15-16 rate decision.
Joel Krueger, market strategist at LMAX Group, noted that technical indicators sit in overbought territory on the daily chart, though severely stretched conditions don't always resolve through sharp reversals. He identifies the next key resistance at May's high of approximately $82,820, with a breakout there opening the door toward a return to $100,000.
In equities, Nvidia rose nearly 5% in after-hours trading after signaling strong sales growth through 2028, lifting Marvell Technology and SanDisk in sympathy. The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index advanced 0.5%, led by SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, with South Korea's Kospi climbing nearly 2%.
Singapore's QCP Capital pointed out that declining open interest suggests this rally has been driven more by short covering than fresh buying, while spot ETF inflows have provided genuine demand support. The firm believes it remains to be seen whether this rebound has developed a structural foundation or is still running on borrowed time amid limited liquidity support.
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