Bitcoin Tops $82,000 as Bond Rally Lifts Risk Appetite, Even as Fed's Hammack Flags Inflation Risk

Bitcoin edged up to just above $82,000, with Investing.com attributing the move to a rally in U.S. government bonds that lifted broader risk sentiment. Rising bond prices typically signal falling yields, which tends to make riskier assets like cryptocurrency more attractive to investors seeking returns elsewhere. That risk-on tone came even as Federal Reserve official Hammack warned that a deterioration in inflation expectations could require the central bank to respond. Inflation expectations are a closed loop for the Fed: if consumers and businesses start expecting higher prices, those expectations can become self-fulfilling, pushing the Fed toward tighter policy even if current data looks manageable. The tension between a bond rally supporting risk assets and a Fed official flagging inflation risk leaves the near-term path for rates, and for assets like bitcoin that benefit from lower yields, unsettled.