# Bitcoin's Rally Stalls: BTC Slides Below $78K as Fed Rate-Hike Fears Return
Bitcoin is trading around $78,000, down roughly 3% over the past day and sitting well off its recent highs, as macro anxiety once again takes the wheel from crypto-specific news.
## The Numbers Right Now
- Price: ~$78,000–$78,700 This represents a 1.00% price increase in the last 24 hours and a 0.90% price increase in the past 7 days [CoinGecko](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/bitcoin) , though intraday moves have been sharper on the downside per other trackers
- Market cap: Market capitalization of Bitcoin (BTC) is $1,568,871,609,848 [CoinGecko](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/bitcoin) , still #1 among all cryptocurrencies
- Distance from ATH: Bitcoin (BTC) reached an all-time high of $126,080 [CoinGecko](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/bitcoin) and is now trading -38.00% below that peak [CoinGecko](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/bitcoin)
- Dominance: Bitcoin's market share is 57.48% [CoinGecko](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/bitcoin) of the total crypto market
## What's Driving the Selloff
The culprit isn't a Bitcoin-specific problem — it's the Federal Reserve. Bitcoin dropped after Fed Chair Kevin Warsh delivered a hawkish message at the 2026 Jackson Hole Symposium, reviving expectations of a September rate hike [CoinPedia](https://coinpedia.org/news/bitcoin-ethereum-and-xrp-price-crashing-today/) . He described the Fed's 2% price stability target as a firm, fixed target and said delivering stable prices is the Fed's job, "no excuses" [CoinPedia](https://coinpedia.org/news/bitcoin-ethereum-and-xrp-price-crashing-today/) .
That shifted the odds fast: Warsh's remarks pushed September hike odds from roughly 34% to as high as 61.7%, and the selloff was described as macro-driven rather than asset-specific, hitting stocks, metals, and crypto together [BigGo Finance](https://finance.biggo.com/news/b72be601-2835-4f57-b0c7-b260f6ca8c4e) . Leverage in the market amplified it — CoinGlass reported roughly $481 million in total crypto liquidations, with long positions accounting for over $360 million of that [The Currency analytics](https://thecurrencyanalytics.com/bitcoin/bitcoin-drops-to-76877-as-fed-rate-hike-odds-jump-to-55-7-288373) .
## The Bigger Picture
It's not all bearish. On-chain data shows whales accumulating while retail investors sell, and U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $2.5 billion in inflows over seven sessions [BigGo Finance](https://finance.biggo.com/news/b72be601-2835-4f57-b0c7-b260f6ca8c4e) — a sign institutional demand hasn't disappeared. Analysts are split on what comes next: optimistic projections point toward $95,000–$100,000 by year-end, while more defensive views warn of a decline toward $62,000–$68,000 in early September [CoinStats](https://coinstats.app/ai/a/latest-news-for-bitcoin) , with $77,436 flagged as key weekly support for short-term traders [CoinStats](https://coinstats.app/ai/a/latest-news-for-bitcoin) .
Bottom line: Bitcoin's story right now is less about crypto adoption and more about interest rates — the market is holding its breath for the Fed's September decision.