Bitcoin (BTC) failed in its attempt to retake $80,000 and was down about 0.4% from a day earlier.
Selling across risk assets intensified after a U.S. strike on Iranian oil tankers, sending international oil prices sharply higher and pushing New York stocks lower.
The yen has strengthened against the dollar, while the unwind in yen carry trades and expectations for a 0.25 percentage-point rate hike are adding to market risk.
Forecast Trend Report by Period
See more mid- to long-term trend analysis
Photo: Shutterstock
Bitcoin (BTC) tried to reclaim $80,000, but lost upward momentum as the yen strengthened and international oil prices surged.
Cointelegraph reported on September 9 that Bitcoin was turned back after attempting to retake $80,000 and was down about 0.4% from a day earlier. The retreat came as reports of a U.S. strike on Iranian oil tankers intensified selling across risk assets.
Oil jumped to its highest level in three months. West Texas Intermediate crude rose above $96 a barrel, while Brent climbed past $101, returning to triple digits for the first time since late July. New York stocks also opened lower.
Moves in the yen have also emerged as a key market variable. The Japanese currency traded at around 153 per dollar, its strongest level since February. That represents a 6.5% gain against the dollar since early August. Short yen positions stood above 5 trillion yen as of early September, near a record high, Barchart said, citing Bloomberg data.
Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Bank, told Reuters that the unwind in yen carry trades is heightening risks because it appears to be underway even before the Bank of Japan starts raising rates. Some short positions have already been reduced, but they remain sizable. Further yen strength could turn gradual deleveraging into a much faster self-reinforcing liquidation. The BOJ is expected to raise rates by 0.25 percentage point at its September 28 meeting.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also signaled the possibility of further intervention in the yen market. The Financial Times reported that Bessent said at an event at Southern Methodist University in Texas on September 9, “When we intervene in the yen market, I have a significant level of information about what the BOJ and Japanese policymakers are going to do. I have an informational asymmetry advantage. Right now, I am the house.”