US employment statistics were lower than expected, with the unemployment rate rising to 3.9%.
Cryptocurrency markets rose on Friday morning following the release of the US government's April jobs report.
Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, was trading at about $61,800 as of 1:30 p.m. ET, up 4.6% in 24 hours. Ether (ETH) traded above $3,000 and Dogecoin (DOGE) rose 4%. According to CoinGecko, Solana and Avalanche also recorded a 3% increase.
Friday's spike in crypto markets can be attributed to several factors, among them the Federal Reserve's less aggressive stance on monetary policy and news of the PayPal and MoonPay merger.
Cryptocurrency analyst Justin Verrett told The Defiant that the adoption of cryptocurrency services by financial industry giants like PayPal gives credibility to the cryptocurrency market.
“This legitimacy could encourage traditional investors and the general public, who have previously been skeptical of cryptocurrencies, to become aware of and potentially engage with this asset class,” he said.
job report
The U.S. economy added 175,000 jobs in April, according to the government's nonfarm jobs report released Friday morning. This figure was lower than economists' expectations of 243,000 and 315,000 in March.
The unemployment rate in April was 3.9%, slightly higher than the expected 3.8% and March's 3.8%.
Expectations are growing that the Fed will ease monetary policy in response to weaker-than-expected economic data, which typically leads to higher risk appetite.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average led the gains with a 1.5% gain, while the S&P 500 also rose 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.8%.
company revenue
Meanwhile, leading crypto exchange Coinbase Global reported its second consecutive quarter of profit due to increased crypto trading in the first three months of 2024. Despite this strong financial performance, the stock was up nearly 4% in pre-market trading on Friday. A decline in the value of a company's stock.
In other news, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey announced that his financial company, Block Inc., plans to invest 10% of profits from Bitcoin products into monthly Bitcoin purchases.
“Going forward, each month, we will invest 10% of our gross profits from Bitcoin products into Bitcoin purchases,” Dorsey said in a letter to shareholders, also reporting better-than-expected first-quarter results.
Block's first quarter results showed a 60% increase in Bitcoin gross profit from customer sales through its Cash App business to $80.1 million. Block stock rose 6.19% in after-hours trading on Friday on the news.
