On Friday, 7 October, Bitcoin price slipped below the $20,000 level after the release of the report on the US unemployment rate. Over the past 24 hours the asset has fallen 2.5%, according to CoinGecko.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin trades around $19,620.
According to the report, September unemployment stood at 3.5% versus 3.7% previously. It is the lowest reading since April 2021, though it exceeded analysts’ expectations.
Such data are likely to push the ФРС to take a more hawkish stance and raise the policy rate by 75 basis points.
In March the Fed for the first time since 2018 raised the federal funds rate to 0.25–0.5%. The local crypto rally persisted through April — Bitcoin and Ethereum reached annual highs.
In May the Fed again raised — by 50 basis points. In light of the news, the first cryptocurrency surpassed $40,000, but on the same day fell below the $36,000 level, marking the start of a protracted correction.
In June the agency raised the federal funds rate by 75 basis points for the first time since 1994. The rate reached around 1.5–1.75%, and Bitcoin reacted with a brief rally to $22,000, after which slid below $18,000.
July’s rate hike to 2.25–2.5% sparked a rally in digital-asset markets. Bitcoin then breached the $22,000 mark, and Ethereum reached $1,500.
Towards the end of summer, gold-like digital assets reacted to Fed chair Jerome Powell’s remarks with a drop below the $21,000 level.
On 21 September the Fed raised again the target range for the funds rate by 75 basis points, to 3–3.25%. The crypto market reacted with a drop.
As previously reported, former hedge fund manager Jim Cramer, who hosts Mad Money on CNBC, said that tighter monetary policy would cause the ‘washout’ of speculative instruments such as digital assets would occur.
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