Digital Asset News Today August 28 – Jackson Hole Rate Hike Warning

Bitcoin’s 20% rally has just run into its first serious obstacle.

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh used his first Jackson Hole speech to warn that inflation is still too high, immediately increasing expectations that U.S. interest rates could rise again as soon as September.

Bitcoin slipped back below $79,000 as he spoke. Now investors have to decide whether this rally is strong enough to survive a tougher Fed.

Jackson Hole Speech Today: Fed Rate Hike Risk Jumps

Kevin Warsh did not give markets the reassurance they were hoping for.

Speaking at Jackson Hole today, the Fed chair said inflation remains well above the central bank’s 2% target and warned that recent improvements have not been enough to convince him the problem is disappearing.

July PCE inflation was 3.7%, while core inflation remained at 3.3%.

Warsh said the Fed’s main focus now needs to be bringing prices under control and warned that if inflation does not move clearly toward 2%, policymakers still have “work to do.”

Markets reacted quickly. The chance of a September interest rate hike jumped from around 35% to roughly 50%, while the dollar strengthened.

Bitcoin fell below $79,000 during the speech and is trading around $77,800 this afternoon.

Higher interest rates can make safer investments more attractive, leaving less reason for investors to take risks on assets such as Bitcoin.

Bitcoin ETF Inflows Reach Nine Straight Days

The good news for Bitcoin is that buyers have not disappeared.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted another $242.3 million on Thursday, extending their inflow streak to nine consecutive trading days.

BlackRock’s IBIT brought in $277.6 million, although withdrawals from Fidelity and Grayscale reduced the overall total.

Ethereum is seeing the same trend.

Ether ETFs brought in roughly $226 million, also extending their buying streak to nine days, while Solana funds attracted around $61 million.

That matters because Bitcoin is now facing pressure from higher-rate expectations while large investors are still putting fresh money into digital assets.

The battle between those two forces could decide what happens next.

The Fed Just Changed the Short-Term Picture. What Could Change the Next Decade?

For the past week, investors have watched Bitcoin surge from roughly $64,000 toward $80,000.

Today, a single speech was enough to put that rally under pressure.

It is a reminder of how quickly short-term markets can change, and why some of the biggest opportunities may come from looking beyond the next Fed meeting.

That’s why we created The $5 Trillion Signal.

It’s a completely free, beginner-friendly report that takes only a few minutes to read and explores five technologies we believe could reshape the global economy, including AI, robotics, energy, biotech and blockchain, plus the investment themes positioned to benefit.

Enter your email below and we’ll send it straight to your inbox, along with our latest Future Finance market research, completely free.