Bitcoin has retreated below US$77,000 as renewed concerns over US interest rates and rising oil prices put pressure on cryptocurrencies following their strong August run.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency was trading around US$77,964, after briefly pushing above US$81,000 last week.
Ether was around US$2,410, down 2.1%, while XRP fell 2.5% to US$1.34 and Solana dropped 3.4% to just below US$100.
The pullback comes after Bitcoin gained around 24% during August, its strongest monthly performance since November 2024.
Rates and oil pressure crypto
Macro conditions have returned to the foreground following a sharp rise in oil prices and US bond yields.
Brent crude climbed towards US$91 a barrel following renewed military action around Iran, while the US 10-year Treasury yield reached around 4.78%. Markets have also increased bets that the Federal Reserve could raise rates at its September meeting.
Higher yields tend to reduce the appeal of non-yielding assets such as Bitcoin, putting the focus firmly on Friday's US employment figures.
A stronger-than-expected jobs report could reinforce expectations of tighter monetary policy and test Bitcoin's recent support around US$77,000.
However, the latest rally appears less reliant on leveraged speculation than previous crypto surges.
US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded US$217 million of inflows on Monday, immediately returning to net buying after an outflow interrupted a nine-session streak of inflows.
Ether demand remains strong
Ether has also fallen with the wider market, but institutional flows remain supportive.
US Ether ETFs have gone without a net outflow since mid-August, while August alone accounted for almost 12% of their total inflows since launch.
Adjusted for the relative size of the two markets, recent demand for Ether products has been substantially stronger than demand for Bitcoin funds, providing another sign that institutional crypto exposure is broadening beyond BTC.
Elsewhere, Arbitrum bucked the broader market decline with a surge of around 30%, after revenue generated by Robinhood Chain reached a 24-hour record of around US$1.9 million.
Wall Street moves deeper onchain
While crypto prices remain sensitive to macroeconomic conditions, traditional financial institutions continue to push further into blockchain infrastructure.
The London Stock Exchange is working with Kraken parent Payward to develop tokenised versions of major UK-listed equities through the xStocks framework, potentially opening blockchain-based access to leading London shares for investors across more than 110 countries.
Separately, 21 major financial institutions, including Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs and UBS, are working on a stablecoin venture initially targeting a US dollar-denominated token for payments and digital asset settlement.
Beyond the short-term volatility, however, ETF flows, tokenised equities and growing involvement from the world's largest financial institutions continue to point towards deeper integration between traditional finance and digital assets.