Friday morning saw the release of underwhelming U.S. job figures for July, coupled with surprising downward revisions to the June and May data, culminating in the most sluggish quarter for employment growth since the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020.
These figures are likely to shift Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell from his cautious stance, potentially prompting the central bank to resume interest rate cuts at its upcoming September meeting.
This anticipation has led to a 14-basis-point drop in the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond, now at 4.22%, while gold prices surged by 1.5% to $3,400 per ounce, nearing their all-time high.
In contrast, other assets sensitive to interest rates, such as bitcoin and stocks, have not fared as well. With about 90 minutes remaining in the U.S. trading session, both are hitting session lows, with the Nasdaq down 2.5% and bitcoin dropping over 3% to $113,800.
Bitcoin is actually performing better than some other cryptocurrencies. Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), BNB, and Dogecoin (DOGE) have each fallen roughly 6%, while XRP (XPR) is slightly better off, down just 2.9%.
Presidential Commentary
“Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell is a disaster,” President Trump declared on Truth Social shortly after the jobs report was issued. “DROP THE RATE.”
Moments ago, the president once again took to social media, demanding the dismissal of Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, accusing her of manipulating data to favor the Biden/Harris administration last year and paint a negative picture during his term.
Market Reaction
The outlook for crypto-related stocks is also bleak. Coinbase (COIN) has plummeted nearly 18% amid the risk-averse market sentiment and disappointing earnings reported Thursday night. Traditional finance peer Robinhood (HOOD) is down by 3.1%.
Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms (RIOT), which also reported earnings last night, is seeing a 17% drop, while MARA Holdings (MARA) is down 3%.
Stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL) and bitcoin treasury leader Strategy (MSTR) have both declined by 7.5%.
