Bitcoin (BTC) was flat at the open on Wall Street on August 21, but a “massive” U.S. jobs report boosted bullish risk asset bets.
Fed in focus as U.S. jobs decline
According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, the BTC price is moving steadily despite the plunge in US non-farm payrolls figures.
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), that’s a decrease of 818,000 jobs on the day. So, from April 2023 to March 2024, the average monthly payrolls were overstated by 68,000 jobs.
Popular trader Daan Crypto Trades wrote as part of his response to X, “Watch $DXY, bond yields and indices to see how the market (and crypto) likes it.”
The implications of this change are that the U.S. jobs market has performed worse than originally anticipated, increasing the need for the Federal Reserve to ease policy sooner and earlier.
As Cointelegraph reported, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is likely to address the topic when he speaks at the Jackson Hole Annual Symposium on August 23.
The US dollar has felt the impact early, falling to 2024 lows, which will be a huge boost for cryptocurrencies and riskier assets.
“The last time the dollar index was trading this low was in December 2023. But the dollar index is actually still relatively high,” Peter Schiff, chief economist and global strategist at Europac, said in a recent X post.
The US Dollar Index (DXY) that Schiff mentioned was at 101.18 at the time of writing, down 0.2% on the day and down 3% so far in August.
Traditionally, DXY has had an inverse relationship with BTC/USD, making the current market situation even more disappointing for Bitcoin bulls.
“In this USD weakness, BTC has now fallen from 70k to 59k. The USD cycle peak was in Q3 2023 and has fallen 12% since then,” Tom Capital, an X account, summarized to his followers, adding that the DXY decline resembles the 2008 global financial crisis.
Bitcoin is still a sick risk asset
BTC/USD trading within the range did not provide much benefit to traders.
Related: Bitcoin Macro Peak Expected in 2025 Despite ‘Chaotic’ March Highs
Bitcoin, stuck below $60,000 on a daily basis, struggled on the day, but gold and stocks still performed well.
Popular trader Peter Brandt analyzed the Bitcoin-gold ratio, highlighting how much more power is needed to turn the current situation in the bulls’ favor.
“The current ratio is 23.4. BTC is below its 2021 high,” he explained in part of an accompanying commentary to the X post.
“The ratio has room to drop below 20. It needs to rise above 32.5 to declare BTC/GC in a bullish trend.”
This article does not contain any investment advice or recommendations. All investment and trading moves involve risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making decisions.