A higher-than-expected 177,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy in April, triggering a rally in traditional markets as Bitcoin moved closer to $98K.
Strong Employment Data Drives Bitcoin Toward $98K Milestone
A stronger-than-expected 177,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy in April, as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor on Friday, surprising bearish economists. Unemployment remained steady at 4.2%. Following the news, both traditional and crypto markets experienced a surge, with Bitcoin (BTC) hovering just below $98K.
A prediction of 135,000 job additions had been made by economists at data analysis firm Factset on Thursday, 42,000 less than the actual government report. At the time of reporting, the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones Industrial Average were up by 1.64%, 1.88%, and 1.50%, respectively. According to CoinMarketCap data, a modest 0.21% increase was recorded in the crypto market, which now holds a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion.
Earlier in the week, it was reported by the Department of Commerce that the U.S. economy had contracted by 0.3%. Then, on Thursday, data released by the Department of Labor showed that 241,000 unemployed Americans had filed for jobless benefits during the week ending April 26. The negative data, which at times caused BTC to stumble and rattled traditional markets, was largely attributed to President Donald Trump’s controversial tariff policies. However, with strong jobs data now available and $98K in sight, Standard Chartered Bank’s forecast of a “fresh all-time high” of $120K by the summer now seems less unreasonable.
A fresh all-time high of $120K in Q2 is being anticipated by Geoffrey Kendrick, head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered. He also stated that his end-of-year forecast remains at $200K.
Market Metrics Overview
On Friday morning, Bitcoin reached $97,905.90, but a slight retreat was observed, with the current trading price at $97,337.50, reflecting a 0.14% increase over the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap. The cryptocurrency fluctuated within a narrow range between $96,222.76 and $97,905.90, with its weekly performance showing a solid 1.88% rise.
Despite the price increase, a sharp decline of 15.10% was observed in Bitcoin’s 24-hour trading volume, which dropped to $27.20 billion, signaling a slowdown in market activity. However, Bitcoin’s market capitalization saw a slight increase to $1.93 trillion, up 0.15% from the previous day, reflecting continued investor interest. Bitcoin’s dominance in the broader crypto market also rose by 0.16 percentage points to 64.85%, reaching its highest level since 2021.
Mixed signals were shown by activity in the derivatives market. According to Coinglass, a slight dip of 0.30% was recorded in BTC futures open interest, which fell to $67.69 billion. Over the past 24 hours, total liquidations amounted to $661,120, with long positions accounting for the majority of the liquidations at $551,770, indicating that bulls may have misjudged the market’s short-term direction. In contrast, short sellers experienced only $109,350 in liquidations, suggesting a more cautious and defensive approach.
