Bitcoin Near $78K as Macro Risks Mount

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Ahmed Barakat

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Ahmed Barakat

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Mar 2024

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Ahmed Barakat is a journalist and copywriter based in Georgia with a growing focus on blockchain technology, DeFi, AI, privacy, digital assets, and fintech innovation.

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Last updated: 

August 31, 2026

Bitcoin traded at $78,500 as the Japanese yen breached 160 per dollar in Tokyo trading, while a U.S. strike on Iran’s Larak Island added to market uncertainty. All these follow Friday’s broad dollar advance and hawkish remarks from Warsh at Jackson Hole, which lifted expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike.

It is reported that bond investors were pricing a Fed positioned to hike and that the repricing had pulled institutional money out of bitcoin ETFs across May and June. The yen itself has long been used as a funding currency for investments in U.S. stocks and Treasury notes.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that recent moves in the Japanese yen had been contained and did not warrant a joint U.S.-Japan intervention like the one seen last month. Reuters likewise reported that Bessent described the moves as contained.

Bessent had warned Friday that a disorderly yen market could feed through to higher U.S. interest rates. That link places Tokyo’s currency market alongside Wall Street’s rate expectations and crypto-market positioning.

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What the Iran Strike Adds to the Macro Test

The U.S. strike on Iran’s Larak Island added another macro risk alongside yen weakness and higher rate expectations. Oil moving higher and stocks moving lower after the U.S. action, while bitcoin showed a comparatively muted response.

Reuters reported that U.S. forces struck Iran’s Larak Island on Sunday and that oil rose as Gulf tensions flared. The market response highlighted energy as an immediate channel for pricing the escalation.

The $78,000 Bitcoin Consolidation Question

Bitcoin’s daily loss remained under 1% as the yen breached its closely watched threshold and Gulf tensions flared. The dollar strength that pushed the yen past its intervention line as the same force capping crypto, leaving bitcoin near $78,000 amid competing market pressures.

The wider crypto market showed mixed performance. Solana and Dogecoin fell roughly 3% on the day, while Ether, BNB, Zcash, and Tron were within 2% of flat. On a weekly basis, Solana was up about 8% while Dogecoin was down by 10%.

Monday was the final trading session of August. The month’s closing ETF total would show whether an eight-day bitcoin ETF inflow run survived the change in rate expectations or ended with it.

Reuters reported that investors were turning to upcoming U.S. data, including the nonfarm payrolls report and consumer inflation figures, which could shape expectations ahead of the September Fed meeting. CoinDesk identified August’s closing ETF flow total as the more immediate crypto-market indicator.

The dollar’s direction, the yen’s movement near intervention-sensitive levels, and the path of rate expectations remain key variables for risk assets, including bitcoin.

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