The cryptocurrency market paused after rising more than 20% over the week, with Bitcoin, Ether and XRP among the strongest performers. Bitcoin traded around $77,100 in early Asian hours on August 24, down slightly from the previous day but still up more than 21% for the week. XRP fell more than 1% on the day to just below $1.50, yet led major cryptocurrencies with a weekly gain of more than 46%. Ether rose 0.5% to $2,442 and gained 28% for the week, while Hyperliquid climbed 35% to $80. Dogecoin traded around $0.09 after rising 30% weekly, Solana gained 24% to $94, and BNB added 15% to $697. Tron was the laggard, rising 3.4% to $0.344. Investors were watching Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s first Jackson Hole speech for clues about the interest-rate path. Jackson Hole is widely treated as an important venue for signaling monetary policy. Lower rates could support flows into risk assets such as cryptocurrencies, while higher rates could strengthen demand for Treasuries and weigh on those assets. High oil prices and long-term Treasury yields near their highest levels in decades have kept rate-cut expectations alongside market unease. Asian stocks moved in the opposite direction: the MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 1%, Samsung Electronics plunged 8.7% in Seoul after its $79.7 billion shareholder-return plan disappointed investors, and Alibaba dropped 9.6% in Hong Kong after announcing a share sale worth about $10.2 billion.