Bitcoin fell below $80,000 after failing to hold $82,400 as August U.S. employment data strengthened the case for the Federal Reserve to maintain restrictive policy. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 162,000, far above estimates of roughly 55,000 to 58,000, while unemployment held at 4.1%. July payrolls were revised from a reported loss of 23,000 to a gain of 21,000. Market pricing moved to even 50/50 odds of a rate increase after the report, while earlier reporting had put those odds above 50%. Bitcoin reached an intraday low of $78,660 before recovering near $80,000. Investors are awaiting the Aug. 11 consumer price index release before the Federal Open Market Committee’s Sept. 15-16 meeting, while analyst Adam Livingston argues that persistent inflation, rising debt and deficits support Bitcoin’s longer-term scarcity thesis.