Surprise nonfarm payrolls print sends Bitcoin back below 80K — SkimNews
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- US economy added 162,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in August, nearly triple economists' consensus estimate of 56,000.
- Bitcoin sold off from $81,300 to local lows of $78,600 following the data, before recovering to $79,500.
- Polymarket odds for the Sept. 16 FOMC decision swung from a 60% pause / 40% 25bp hike after Waller's Thursday remarks to an even 50/50 split following Friday's jobs beat.
- President Trump broke prior restraint toward Chair Kevin Warsh, posting on Truth Social: "The Fed Board, with its great new leader, must get smart - BE PATRIOTS for a change."
- Fed Governor Christopher Waller said Thursday he favors a rate pause pending upcoming inflation data, citing the lack of forward guidance from Warsh.
- BIP-110 supporters argue miners' refusal to extend the Aug. 7 user-activated soft-fork chain demonstrates Bitcoin mining has become too centralized, with just five pools controlling most hashrate.
- A Blake2b Bitcoin hard fork initiated Aug. 30 by LukeDashjr saw its first trading activity at $350 on exchange Neoxa with a 1.1% spread against USDC.
Why it matters: Polymarket's swing to a 50/50 pause-vs-hike split is the real story—just 24 hours earlier, traders gave a hike zero weight and priced a cut as the base case. Bitcoin's drop below $80K reflects a market that just lost its dovish insurance policy ahead of the Sept. 15-16 FOMC.
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