Bitcoin dropped below $80,000, falling $1,600 in just three minutes, after August jobs data came in far stronger than economists expected, raising the odds of a Federal Reserve rate hike rather than a cut. Bitcoin is now trading at $79,763.95, down 1.4% over 24 hours, while Ethereum sits at $2,461.41 and XRP at $1.41, both negative on the day.

Why Strong Jobs Data Hit Crypto Hard

The US economy added 162,000 jobs in August, nearly tripling the 55,000 expected. Unemployment held steady at 4.1%, in line with forecasts, and July’s job figure was revised up by 43,000, turning that month positive as well.

Normally strong economic data would be welcome news. But in this case, it worked against risk assets. Stronger job growth…