Bitcoin Surges Past $79,000 as Fed Rate Hike Probability Hits 87.3%

Bitcoin (BTC) surged past $79,000 (approximately KRW 1.611 billion) before seeing $1 billion in short positions liquidated within 30 minutes. The price then retreated to roughly $77,000 (approximately KRW 1.372 billion). Bitcoin.com reported that nine major institutions including UBS, HSBC, Barclays, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and JPMorgan now expect a 25-basis-point rate hike by the Federal Reserve on September 16. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan have shifted from previous expectations of a hold to anticipating an increase. The CME FedWatch tool shows an 87.3% probability for a 25-basis-point rate hike, while U.S. core CPI rose 0.3% month-over-month in August, exceeding the expected 0.2%. Current federal funds target range stands at 3.50%-3.75%.