Bitcoin Rises After the Jobs Report. The Reaction From Crypto Traders Is Muted.

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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 $27,950, 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.

“When a plethora of markets will be closed, we will see if traders will look to take advantage of the one market that trades 365 days a year,” said Edward Moya, an analyst at broker Oanda. “Bitcoin remains near the upper boundaries of its trading range and could see a good chance to breach the $30,000 level over the weekend.”

So far, that hasn’t happened—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 1.5% to $1,850, holding steady despite Bitcoin’s moves. Smaller cryptos or altcoins exhibited more of the same, with both

Cardano
and

Polygon
off less than 1%. Memecoins were weaker, with the wind coming out of the sails of

Dogecoin
—down 8%—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