Bitcoin’s price was pushed higher on Friday as a stronger-than-anticipated jobs report was evaluated by investors, despite earlier indications of an economic slowdown earlier in the week.
Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was most recently traded near $97,000, reflecting a 0.4% rise over the previous 24 hours, as reported by CoinGecko. Earlier in the day, a peak above $97,800 was reached, marking the highest level since late February. Most altcoins remained relatively unchanged, with XRP and Solana declining by 0.1% to $2.21 and 1.6% to $148, respectively.
In April, 177,000 nonfarm payrolls were added to the U.S. economy, significantly exceeding the 130,000 jobs forecasted by economists, while the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.2%, according to data from Trading Economics.
The snapshot contrasted with an earlier economic growth report from the same week, which revealed a contraction in the U.S. economy for the first time in three years. This development raised expectations of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, based on the belief that the central bank could be compelled to support an economy potentially constrained by trade tariffs imposed under U.S. President Donald Trump.
On Friday, greater conviction was shown by traders that the Federal Reserve would maintain current interest rates at the conclusion of its June policy meeting, with the probability increasing to 66% from 42% just a day earlier, according to CME FedWatch data.
Gains were recorded by Wall Street indices, as both the S&P 500 and the tech-focused Nasdaq fully rebounded from the impact of Trump’s announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on April 2. Strategy’s stock climbed 3.4% to $395 per share, even after disclosing a $5.9 billion loss for the first quarter just a day earlier, following its intensified efforts to acquire Bitcoin.
While the U.S. stock market has regained the ground it lost following Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” declaration, the U.S. dollar is “still trading notably weaker” compared to its level a month earlier, according to Allianz Chief Economic Advisor Mohamed El-Erian, as stated on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday.
He noted that “the currency once famously referred to as the ‘mighty dollar’ is currently experiencing a difficult phase.” This, he added, “has sparked considerable debate over whether the cause is mainly cyclical or indicative of a longer-term, secular trend.”
According to Yahoo Finance, a 3.7% decline has been recorded in the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) over the past month, which tracks changes in the dollar’s value against a group of other major currencies. During the same period, the price of gold has increased by 3%, reaching approximately $3,200 per ounce.
With Trump’s trade war posing risks to the prevailing economic structure and potentially pushing the U.S. economy toward a recession, Bitcoin is being increasingly regarded as a safe-haven asset similar to gold, according to Matt Mena, a crypto research strategist at asset management firm 21Shares, who recently shared this perspective.
This week’s PCE data, which reflected easing inflation in March, along with a contraction in Gross Domestic Product, were cited by him as indicators reinforcing that shift in market sentiment.
He stated that “fears of stagflation and a possible recession were reignited by the PCE and GDP data.” In response, a reallocation into Bitcoin has been undertaken by investors, who are treating it as a flight-to-safety asset amid economic uncertainty—particularly due to its non-sovereign status and limited supply.
