Bitcoin and risk assets plunge after hawkish jobs shock
Markets sold off broadly on Friday despite a strong US jobs report, with Bitcoin falling sharply and triggering heavy crypto liquidations. Bitcoin dropped to around $59,100 (first time since Nov 2024), dragging the altcoin complex and causing up to about $1.7B in liquidations at one point.
In traditional markets, gold fell more than 4% in a day, while US equities also deteriorated: the S&P 500 lost roughly $2T in market cap in a session and the Nasdaq 100 posted its worst intraday decline in over a year.
Analysts point to a Fed-expectations reset: strong employment data is seen as killing the “rate-cut narrative” and pushing the market toward a more hawkish path. The report showed job openings rising by over 730,000 in April versus expectations of no change, with employment jumping to 7.6 million—the highest in two years. This shift led experts to anticipate rate hikes by early 2026, reversing prior expectations of as many as four cuts.
For Bitcoin, the macro catalyst is now negative. Commentary cited leveraged positioning concerns (“uncleared leveraged longs”) alongside softer risk appetite from ongoing Middle East tensions. Bitcoin is also described as down roughly 20% for the week and down about 53% since October, with total crypto losses estimated around $2.5T since Oct 2025.
Additional funding/flow concerns were mentioned: reports say Meta may raise tens of billions for AI, which could pressure equities/flow conditions, and the upcoming SpaceX IPO (June 12) is also flagged as a potential source of selling to fund subscriptions.
Overall, traders appear to interpret the upbeat jobs headline as bearish for Bitcoin and other risk-on assets because it implies tighter Fed policy for longer.
Bearish
The sell-off looks primarily driven by macro expectations rather than crypto-specific news. The strong jobs report shifts Fed pricing toward fewer cuts and even potential rate hikes by early 2026. Historically, when employment surprises to the upside, crypto and other risk assets often struggle because real yields and the dollar can move higher, tightening financial conditions.
For Bitcoin, the article also highlights a positioning problem: it was “sitting on uncleared leveraged longs,” meaning downside can accelerate during volatility as forced liquidations propagate. The reported $1.7B+ in liquidations and the deep weekly drawdown are consistent with a reflexive deleveraging phase commonly seen in prior bear-market rallies that failed after hawkish data.
Short-term: traders may keep selling into rallies until rate-cut expectations stabilize, and liquidation-driven momentum can extend downside. Long-term: if inflation/financial conditions eventually cool and macro data stops surprising to the upside, Bitcoin could regain support; but as long as the market keeps repricing the Fed path to be hawkish, risk-on bids are likely capped.
Net: the news is bearish for market stability because it simultaneously hurts rate-cut narratives and increases leverage-driven fragility across risk assets.