The U.S. Labor Department reported that August nonfarm payrolls increased by 162,000 jobs, nearly three times the consensus estimate of 56,000. The stronger‑than‑expected data triggered a sell‑off in Bitcoin, which slipped from around $81,300 to a low of $78,600 before stabilising near $79,500.
The payroll surprise adds weight to ongoing debate over the Federal Reserve’s policy path ahead of the September 15‑16 FOMC meeting. Earlier market sentiment favored a pause in rate hikes, with Polymarket odds at 60% for a pause after Fed Governor Christopher Waller’s comments. Following the jobs report, the implied probability of a pause fell to an even 50‑50 split.
President Donald Trump used the occasion to call for lower interest rates, posting on Truth Social that the Fed should act to avoid “unfair disadvantage” for the United States.
Separately, a Bitcoin fork that implements the Blake2b proof‑of‑work algorithm recorded its first trade. The fork originated from the BIP‑110 soft‑fork activation on Aug. 7, which split the network into a BIP‑110 chain and the legacy chain. Supporters, led by developer LukeDashjr, launched a hard fork on Aug. 30 to shift the BIP‑110 chain to Blake2b, aiming to attract a more decentralized miner set via DATUM gateway technology.
Liquidity for the Blake2b version remains thin. The Neoxa exchange is the only platform listing the asset, where it trades at roughly $350 against USDC with a spread of about 1.1 %.
