Fed Hike Expectations Eased, Sending Bitcoin to $81K

Bitcoin's price surged above $81,000 in Asia trade on Friday after market expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike eased.

This shift in expectations was swift, with CME FedWatch assigning a 50% likelihood to a rate hike in September, down from above 63% earlier in the week.

Comments from Fed Governor Christopher Waller that he would back a pause in rate rises if price pressures continued to ease also contributed to this change in sentiment.

Zcash led other cryptocurrencies, gaining 16.33% to $955.12 within 24 hours, while Ethereum rose 4.88% to $2,511.58 and XRP increased 6.36% to $1.44.