Bitcoin
and other cryptocurrencies edged higher after the release of the U.S. jobs report for March. With stock markets closed for Good Friday, cryptos could have been a leading indicator of risk sentiment—but those hopes have so far fallen flat with muted moves.
The price of Bitcoin has risen less than 1% over the past 24 hours to near $27,970, up from around $27,900 before the release of the labor market data. The largest digital asset was holding below the $28,000 level at which prices have recently hovered—around the highest level since the crypto crash accelerated last June, though below a recent spike to near $29,500. Bitcoin has surged some 70% so far this year in a move that has spurred calls of a new bull market.
“It looks like crypto traders are headed for a long weekend as the consolidation phase remains intact as Bitcoin remains trapped in its range,” said Edward Moya, an analyst at broker Oanda. “Bitcoin needed a soft jobs number to trigger a market reaction and that is not what happened today. Regardless, Bitcoin still has the potential for a big move in the next couple of weeks.”
So far, the reaction in cryptos has been muted—but there is an entire long weekend over which restless crypto traders might feel the urge to bid prices one way or another. If bullish sentiment prevails, analysts have been eyeing the $30,000 level as key, because it represents where Bitcoin stood before last summer’s selloff turned into a brutal bar market.
Cryptos recently have slipped back into their correlation with stocks, moving in step with the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
and
S&P 500
in reaction to macroeconomic forces that impact both asset classes. With the stock market closed for the long weekend, digital asset traders may still yet react to the jobs report and the closely-watched nonfarm payrolls figure that was released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.
The big rally in Bitcoin so far this year has come amid expectations that the Federal Reserve will become more accommodative on monetary policy, easing back on interest-rate hikes and possibly even cutting rates in 2023. The central bank’s campaign of rate hikes over the past year in a bid to rein in inflation was a driving force behind the selloff in stocks and cryptos over the same period.
The jobs report is an important data point for the Fed before its next rate decision. The U.S. added 236,000 in March, the slowest pace of hiring growth in years and below economists’ expectations of 240,000 jobs. It’s not drastically different from what the market was estimating, hence the muted reaction, for now.
Beyond Bitcoin,
Ether
—the second-largest crypto—shed less than 1% to $1,850, holding mostly steady despite Bitcoin’s moves. Smaller cryptos or altcoins were more mixed with up
Cardano
less than 1% and
Polygon
off less than 1%. Memecoins were weaker, with the wind coming out of the sails of
Dogecoin
—down 7%—after an Elon Musk-fueled rally in recent days, though
Shiba Inu
shed less than 1%.
Write to Jack Denton at jack.denton@barrons.com
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