Bitcoin surged nearly 5% after weak U.S. jobs data, signaling a potential end to the correction but anticipating a gradual uptrend, according to Arthur Hayes. The dovish Federal Reserve meeting outcomes suggest the U.S. dollar’s recent surge might have peaked, benefiting cryptocurrencies, analysts at Coinbase noted. Cryptocurrencies bounced back on Friday, with bitcoin leading the charge, raising hopes that the worst of the downturn might be behind us.
Bitcoin Soars BTC jumped almost 5% to briefly surpass $62,000 during the U.S. morning session following a less-than-expected U.S. April jobs report, easing worries about higher interest rates. Currently, bitcoin is trading at $61,600, up 4.4%, outperforming the CoinDesk 20 Index’s (CD20) 3% gain over the past 24 hours.
Ether (ETH) also reclaimed the $3,000 mark, rising 3% during the same period, while major altcoins like dogecoin (DOGE), shiba inu (SHIB), and Near Protocol’s NEAR surged 5%-10%.
This rally comes as the U.S. economy added 175,000 jobs in April, below the consensus of 245,000 and March’s 315,000, according to the Nonfarm Payrolls report. It also showed a slight uptick in the unemployment rate to 3.9% from 3.8% in March. After the report, market participants now see a 68% chance of at least one rate cut by September, up from 57% a week ago, according to CME FedWatch data.
Bitcoin Soars
Bitcoin’s correction since mid-March aligned with growing concerns that Federal Reserve policymakers might adopt a more hawkish stance to combat persistent inflation in recent months. This has pushed the U.S. dollar index to its highest level since November, typically a bearish signal for risk assets like cryptocurrencies. Coinbase analysts David Han and David Duong also noted the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting this week, where policymakers hinted at no interest rate cuts but did taper the central bank’s balance sheet runoff – a move known as quantitative tightening (QT) – which was seen as a dovish signal.
“We believe that the FOMC’s more dovish-than-expected statement has signaled the peak in the USD’s upward momentum against both FX [foreign currencies] and crypto pairs,” Han and Duong wrote.
Arthur Hayes, former BitMEX CEO, suggested in his latest analysis on Friday that bitcoin likely hit bottom this week at $56,000, but cautioned that the recovery to March highs would be gradual, not immediate. Hayes anticipates a surge beyond $60,000 followed by a period of price consolidation between $60,000 and $70,000 until August.
In summary, while the recent bounce in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is encouraging, market experts like Hayes advise a cautious approach, anticipating a slow but steady climb ahead.
