Bitcoin jumps over $62,000 on sparkling jobs report
The jobs numbers also translated into a more bullish outlook for Bitcoin, which had tumbled 6% earlier
this week, dropping to around $60,000, partly in response to instability in the Middle East. Bitcoin
experienced a gradual rise in the runup to the release of the job report. The top cryptocurrency dipped
slightly in the hours following the release, before spiking over 1%, according to data collected by
CoinGecko. Other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and XRP saw similar jumps as well. For some analysts
this is a good sign for the crypto market but for Omid Malekan, a professor at the Columbia Business
School, it remains unclear how this information will impact Bitcoin prices in the long-term. Despite
increasing 124% in the past year and hitting an all-time high of $72,000 in March, Malekan pointed out
that the price of Bitcoin has bounced around $62,000 over the last eight months. “We know the economy is
strong, or stronger than expected,” he said. “And if that’s the case, then the Fed is not going to cut
interest rates as long as people had hoped, but given what happened for most of this year, it is unclear
to me what impact any of that has on the price of Bitcoin.” The business professor also acknowledged the
uncertainty associated with other macroeconomic factors like the upcoming election. “The polls, the
betting markets, the experts, everyone thinks it’s kind of going to toss up over who is going to win.
So, it’s possible that the uncertainty over that is just weighing over crypto prices,” Malekan said.
“It’s a confusing time, because the usual relationships have not been working,” Malekan said. “And when
they don’t work in one direction, then you have to question whether they’re going to work in the other
direction.” According to the report, the unemployment rate fell to 4.1% in August from 4.2%. These
numbers, in addition to slowing rates of inflation, reduce the probability that the Federal Reserve will
continue aggressive rate cuts.