Macro forces are once again steering crypto prices. As markets parse every signal around Fed meeting expectations and policy messaging, Bitcoin has held remarkably firm above $77,000 after climbing nearly 22% over the past week. The price action is striking, but it also revives a familiar problem: using Bitcoin on-chain can still feel slow and costly when demand spikes.

That usability gap is where Layer 2 networks enter the conversation. One of the presale projects leaning into the “Bitcoin, but practical” narrative is Bitcoin Hyper (HYPER), which is pitching a faster companion network for BTC. The ongoing presale has now raised more than $33 million from early participants.

Fed Meeting Watch: Why Bitcoin Is Acting Like a Macro Asset Again

The current rally is not happening in a vacuum. This Friday, Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh is scheduled to speak at the highly anticipated Jackson Hole gathering. Investors are paying close attention as the US national debt has crossed $40 trillion and the dollar has shown signs of weakness. Jackson Hole — the Kansas City Fed's annual symposium in Wyoming — has a long track record as a venue for policy signaling: Ben Bernanke used his 2010 speech to pave the way for a second round of quantitative easing, and Jerome Powell used the 2020 edition to open the Fed's average-inflation-targeting framework. Markets will be listening for any language on the rate path and the inflation outlook.

Historically, when confidence in traditional currencies softens and inflation concerns remain in the background, Bitcoin tends to be treated less like a tech experiment and more like a hedge often described as “digital gold” — a comparison rooted in Bitcoin's fixed 21-million-coin supply cap. Even with the US Treasury launching $4 billion in long-bond buyback operations to stabilize conditions, capital has been rotating toward crypto. That shift helped Bitcoin deliver one of its strongest weekly gains against the dollar in more than three years. The transmission from Fed expectations into BTC has also become more direct since US regulators approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in January 2024, which let institutional investors trade Bitcoin exposure through ordinary brokerage accounts.

With BTC still above $77,000, analyst Michaël van de Poppe has argued the trend could continue through the rest of the third quarter.

The bull market has barely started at this point for #Bitcoin .

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) August 23, 2026

What the Rally Exposes: Bitcoin Can Store Value, but Spending It Remains Clunky

Bitcoin's base layer is built for security and decentralization first. In practice, the base chain settles blocks roughly every ten minutes and processes on the order of seven transactions per second — far below what conventional payment networks handle at peak. The trade-off is that during busy periods, transactions can slow and fees can rise — fine for long-term holding, less ideal for everyday payments or app activity.

That friction is exactly why scaling narratives tend to reappear during macro-driven bull moves: if more users want to move BTC around, demand for faster rails grows as well. The problem is not new — the Lightning Network has been Bitcoin's best-known scaling effort for payments for years, and a broader wave of Bitcoin Layer 2 projects has emerged around faster settlement and app support. Bitcoin Hyper is positioning itself for that moment.

Bitcoin Hyper (HYPER) at a Glance: A Layer 2 Built for Speed, Apps, and Low Fees

Bitcoin Hyper (HYPER) describes itself as a high-speed network designed to extend Bitcoin's usefulness without asking users to abandon BTC. The project's core pitch combines Bitcoin's security model with the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) to target near-instant transactions that cost a fraction of a penny — a choice that ties the project to the same execution environment popularized by Solana's high-throughput app ecosystem.

At a practical level, the idea is straightforward:

• A bridge for BTC: a secure mechanism to move BTC onto the Bitcoin Hyper network.
• Cheaper, faster activity: once on the network, users can make quick payments, use decentralized apps, and stake without the same fee pressure seen on Bitcoin's base layer during congestion.
• HYPER powers the network: HYPER is the utility token used for transaction fees, governance votes, and rewards. The supply is fixed at 21 billion tokens, a hard cap that echoes Bitcoin's own 21-million-coin limit.

When the forecast says there's a 100% chance of HYPER. pic.twitter.com/LPrQrLUZ5w

— Bitcoin Hyper (@BTC_Hyper2) August 23, 2026

In the current public presale, HYPER is priced at $0.0136851. The presale also allows participants to stake immediately, with an advertised 35% APY (Annual Percentage Yield), so holdings can start earning before the network's full launch. As with any presale-stage project, the core network is not fully live yet, and the advertised yield is a project-set figure rather than a market-determined rate.

How to Buy HYPER: Presale Access, Wallet Options, and What Changes “Later Today”

Those looking to participate can do so via the official Bitcoin Hyper website. The flow is standard for a token presale: connect a compatible wallet, choose a payment asset, and confirm the purchase.

HYPER is also available through the Best Wallet app, which can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and Google Play. Supported payment methods include SOL, ETH, BNB, stablecoins, and bank cards.

After purchasing, tokens can be staked immediately to target the stated 35% APY. The presale price of $0.0136851 is also scheduled to increase later today as the sale advances into its next stage — one of the near-term markers to watch alongside the network's full launch.

For ongoing updates, follow the Bitcoin Hyper project on X and join its Telegram channel.