Bitcoin slips below $80,000 as stronger jobs data lift rate-hike bets

Bitcoin fell as much as 3.5% to below $80,000 after a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report led investors to revive bets that the Federal Reserve could raise rates in September. The link is less about Bitcoin itself than about the price of money: higher interest rates make safer assets such as cash and government bonds more rewarding, while putting pressure on riskier holdings whose appeal depends partly on easy financial conditions. The move shows how closely crypto now trades with shifts in expectations for U.S. monetary policy. It is still a market reaction, not a prediction of a Fed decision; incoming inflation and employment data could quickly change those expectations.