Ethereum opened 1.6% lower on Monday, August 31, 2026, as traders priced in higher odds of a near-term rate hike, and bitcoin slipped too after failing to clear $80,000 last week. Both coins pared some of the losses in early trading, but remain down significantly from Friday's opening prices.
Ethereum and bitcoin open lower
Ethereum (ETH-USD) opened at $2,417.98 on Monday, August 31, 2026, down 1.6% from Sunday's opening price. By 9:06 a.m. ET, the price had climbed back to $2,453.78.
Bitcoin followed the same path, opening at $77,695.48, 0.7% below Sunday's price, before moving up to $77,999.80 by the same hour. Yet despite the morning bounce, both bitcoin and ethereum remain down significantly from Friday's opening prices.
Jackson Hole and Middle East tensions weigh on prices
Last week's coverage asked whether bitcoin's next test was $80,000 as the Jackson Hole meeting loomed. So far, bitcoin isn't passing the test.
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's Jackson Hole speech reiterated the Fed's duty to lower prices, saying the committee has "work to do." Meanwhile, U.S. airstrikes on Iranian rocket launchers over the weekend renewed hostilities in the Middle East, pushing oil prices higher and further raising expectations that rate hikes are imminent this year.
Weekly, monthly and yearly moves
Ether's opening price is down 1.9% over the past week, up 26.1% over the past month, and down 44.7% over the past year. Its all-time high was $4,953.73 on Aug. 24, 2025, against an all-time low of $0.4209 on Oct. 21, 2015. Bitcoin's opening price is down 0.1% over the week, up 20% over the month, and down 28.6% over the year, with an all-time high of $126,198.07 set on Oct. 6, 2025.
As of 2:10:58 p.m. UTC, bitcoin traded at $77,950.00, down $828.40, or 1.05%. Ethereum traded at $2,443.36, down $33.84, or 1.37%, as of 2:11:00 p.m. UTC — both markets still open and moving.
Source: Yahoo Finance
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