Warsh's Jackson Hole Speech Triggers $488M Crypto Liquidation

Bitcoin plunged below $77,000 on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh reignited fears of higher interest rates at the Jackson Hole conference.

Data from CryptoSlate shows that Bitcoin dropped to as low as $76,909 before recovering to $77,712 by press time, down around 4% over the previous 24 hours.

The sharp repricing of Federal Reserve expectations led to a broader crypto deleveraging, erasing nearly $488 million from derivatives traders. Long positions accounted for more than $360 million of these losses, with Bitcoin positions generating about $141 million of those liquidations.

Warsh's speech gave several reasons to reconsider expectations that the Fed was moving toward easier policy. He argued that inflation remains too high, even after better price readings this summer, and that current borrowing conditions are not restrictive enough.