Bitcoin and XRP Pop, Then Drop After Mixed US Jobs Report

Bitcoin broke above $100,000 per coin Friday morning New York time after a mixed U.S. jobs report showed that unemployment was down, yet job growth slowed in the world's biggest economy.

The biggest digital coin by market cap has since dropped and is now trading for $98,320, CoinGecko shows, up 1% over the last 24 hours.

Other major digital assets like XRP and Ethereum also popped before dropping. The coins are now priced at $2.47 and $2,751, respectively. XRP, the third-biggest virtual coin, has jumped by 7% over the last day after a midweek dip. It's still down 19% on the week, however.

Labor Department data showed strong wage growth last month, which means consumers are likely to continue spending. And unemployment dropping from 4.1% to 4% means that the Federal Reserve is likely to hold off cutting interest rates in the short-term.

Low unemployment typically means that people spend more, leading prices to increase. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates three times in 2024 after having raised borrowing costs to two-decade highs in 2022 in order to tame inflation.

But Bitcoin—along with other cryptocurrencies and U.S. equities—boomed last year on the Fed’s decision to finally lower the cost of borrowing. Both crypto and stocks typically do better in a low interest rate environment, because they are riskier assets.

Bitcoin has experienced increased volatility over the last week after President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on major economies like Mexico and Canada, before deciding to pause; tariffs against China still went into effect earlier this week. An AI-related tech selloff also rattled crypto markets last week.

The entire crypto market cap is down by nearly 1% over the past day and currently stands at $3.35 trillion.

Edited by Andrew Hayward