In brief
- Bitcoin remained relatively flat after May jobs data showed 139,000 new positions (above the 125,000 forecast), though it has dropped 1.5% in 24 hours to $103,919.
- Major altcoins experienced larger declines, with Ethereum falling 5.5% and Dogecoin dropping 6.4% amid broader market concerns.
- Crypto markets are facing pressure from economic uncertainties, trade tensions, and political disputes between Trump and Musk.
Bitcoin stayed flat after the Bureau of Labor Statistics May nonfarm payrolls report showed a steady jobs market in May—an encouraging sign that the economy may be stabilizing.
Economists had forecast that the U.S. would add 125,000 jobs in May, according to Dow Jones. But this morning’s Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows that employers hired 139,000 works last month.
Bitcoin peaked above $105,000 earlier today, but has fallen 1.5% in the past 24 hours and is currently changing hands for $103,919, according to crypto markets data provider CoinGecko. Major altcoins had a more outsized reaction. Ethereum has fallen 5.5% to trade at $2,481.68 at the time of writing.
XRP and Solana were more muted, having fallen 2.6% and 1.8%, respectively, in the past day. But Dogecoin, the OG meme coin and Elon Musk’s favorite, has fallen 6.4% to $0.1789.
“Bitcoin’s rally is showing signs of fatigue, and macroeconomic uncertainties are beginning to take a bite,” 10X Research said in a report Friday.
Digital assets have tumbled this week amid the sagging jobs and economic indicators, rising trade tensions, and most recently a boiling feud between U.S. President Donald Trump and his erstwhile political pal and Dogecoin friend Elon Musk.
The jobs report showed a gain of just TK positions, roughly aligning with consensus forecasts for a 125,000 job increase but below April’s total of 177,000 and a year-to-date monthly average of 144,000 jobs.
Earlier this week, the ADP jobs report showed showed hiring levels at roughly a third of expectations, and the the non-manufacturing Services PMI—a widely watched measure—contracting to 49.9%, only the fourth time since the recession of 2020 that it has dropped below the 50-percent breakeven point.
Bitcoin has fallen 5.4% over the past 14 days as markets have fretted about the re-escalation of U.S. tariff policies that already seem to be wearing on the economy. Ethereum, XRP, Solana and Dogecoin also dropped over the same period with DOGE hit particularly hard.
“In sum, things do look to be slowing, but not yet at crisis levels,” wrote Noelle Acheson in her Crypto Is Macro Now newsletter on Thursday. “Given how much the market reacted to the ADP report, we can expect tomorrow’s read of the official US jobs data to also be feisty.”
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
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