Bitcoin (BTC) slipped under $70,000 around Friday’s Wall Street open as weak US employment data failed to boost risk assets.
Key points:
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Bitcoin and stocks slump in reaction to a surprise downturn in US nonfarm payrolls.
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Fed interest-rate odds stay hawkish, with markets seeing just one cut this year.
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BTC price action “round trips” its latest breakout attempt, continuing a 2026 trend.
Bitcoin ignores “clearly weakening” labor market
Data from TradingView showed daily BTC price downside passing 3% to hit $68,176 on Bitstamp.
BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewUS nonfarm payrolls data disappointed across the board, showing that the labor market was more under pressure than expected.
The economy lost 92,000 jobs in February, per data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in contrast to the predicted 58,000 increase. The unemployment rate also came in higher at 4.4%.
The print contrasted with that from January, which delivered surprisingly strong employment results.
“This marks just the 2nd monthly job loss since the 2020 pandemic,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter wrote in a response on X.
US civilian unemployment rate. Source: BLSLabor-market strain traditionally signals a tailwind for crypto and risk assets as it implies a greater chance of interest-rate cuts.
The latest data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool nonetheless showed little chance of the Federal Reserve doing so at its next meeting on March 18. Markets also saw just one rate cut in store for 2026.
Fed target rate probabilities (screenshot). Source: CME GroupThe employment result thus failed to boost risk assets, with crypto following US stocks lower. At the time of writing, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index were down 1.5% and 1.3%, respectively.
Only gold gained, with the precious metal up 1.5% to $5,155 per ounce.
XAU/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewBTC price comes full circle from monthly highs
Among Bitcoin traders, frustration was apparent as BTC/USD failed to cement a breakout from its narrow local trading range.
Related: Bitcoin ‘anomalous’ outflow sees 32K BTC leave exchanges in a single day
“Deviations above the Range High keep getting sold,” Maartunn, a contributor to onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant, commented.
Maartunn flagged three such failed breakouts in recent months, with each ending up as a deviation before a retreat lower.
“The latest deviation just occurred around $71K. If history repeats, this level may again act as a trap for late longs,” he warned.
BTC/USDT perpetual contract 12-hour chart. Source: J. A. Maartunn/XPrice returned to interact with key long-term levels, notably the 200-week exponential moving average (EMA) and the old all-time high from 2021.
“Looks like $BTC is round tripping the range…again,” Keith Alan, cofounder of trading resource Material Indicators, added.
Earlier, Cointelegraph reported on existing expectations of new lows coming for Bitcoin next, despite its run to monthly highs.
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