Cryptocurrencies posted broad gains Thursday as softer-than-expected U.S. jobs data cooled expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike, pushing investors toward risk assets.
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) climbed 2.19% to $61,460.31, briefly piercing the $62,000 level before pulling back to consolidate in the low $61,000 range.
Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) outperformed its peers with a 5.67% advance, breaking cleanly through the $1,700 level before trading sideways near $1,708.41.
XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) added 3.23% to reach $1.09, while Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) gained 3.17% to trade at $0.07466, and Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) rose 4.20% to $81.33.
Cryptocurrency-related equities also moved higher, with Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ: MSTR) surging 7.90% and Bitmine Immersion Technologies Inc. (NYSE: BMNR) closing up 1.48%.
Nearly $460 million was liquidated from the cryptocurrency market over the 24-hour period, with short positions accounting for the majority of those losses, according to Coinglass data.
Bitcoin’s open interest climbed 1.14% to $46.22 billion, while derivatives traders on Binance, including both retail and institutional participants, remained net long on the asset but trimmed their exposure.
The global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $2.2 trillion, reflecting a modest 0.79% dip over the prior 24-hour period.
U.S. job growth slowed sharply in June, with only 57,000 positions added, falling well short of the 110,000 economists had forecast and declining from 129,000 in May.
The CME Group’s FedWatch tool showed markets lowering the probability of the Fed holding rates unchanged in September to 45%, down from nearly 50% the previous day.
Major stock indexes also responded positively to the data, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average surging 594.83 points, or 1.14%, to close at a record 52,900.07, while the S&P 500 edged to 7,483.24.
Blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant warned that Bitcoin’s failure to hold $60,000 could trigger accelerated selling, potentially driving prices toward the realized price of $53,000, which the firm identified as a major support level.
CryptoQuant also reported that the average Bitcoin deposit size has doubled from 1 BTC to 2 BTC, signaling increased activity from whales and institutional investors rather than retail participants.
“Whales appear to be leading the move. Incoming volatility,” the firm said, noting that BTC inflows had jumped above 50,000 per day and ETH inflows had spiked above 1.25 million.
Widely followed cryptocurrency analyst Michaël van de Poppe said he has no intention of selling his altcoin portfolio and is waiting for broader market excitement to return before taking profits.
“The markets are just waking up and sentiment can change fast,” Van de Poppe said, adding, “There’s no need to be looking to be selling the actual market bottom, as that would be here.”
Among the session’s top performers, Magma Finance surged 37.08% to $0.5301, MemeCore jumped 28.90% to $1.58, and LAB advanced 26.20% to $11.54, all among cryptocurrencies with market capitalizations above $100 million.
