invezz.com
As the market anticipates the monthly US job report, Bitcoin (BTC/USD) rallied to a five-month high. The report will confirm or refute expectations of the Federal Reserve’s stimulus package, which the government will begin rolling out next month.
The top cryptocurrency by market cap was approaching $56,000 at the time of publication, reaching a peak since May 12 with a gain of almost 27%.
Unemployment rate expected to be down 0.1% this month
The US NFP (non-farm payrolls) report, to be released at 12:30 UTC today, is expected to show the unemployment rate dropped from 5.2% to 5.1% and that the US added 500,000 jobs in September, more than twice that added the previous month.
While Bitcoin has been sensitive to such macro data releases since the beginning of the pandemic in the spring of last year, it could just ignore it this time, even if that means cementing Fed taper prospects. In every event, a weak report is good news for asset prices in general.
Pankaj Balani, CEO of Delta Exchange commented:
Bitcoin is looking too strong here. The cryptocurrency has digested all the negative news that has come out of China in the past few weeks, which is a very positive sign. There has been fresh spot buying activity in BTC, and looking at the price action, we expect to see a fresh ATH (all time high) in the coming weeks.
Market focused on ETF prospects
The reason Bitcoin looks like it might ignore the report is owed to the market’s focusing on speculation that US regulators will soon greenlight a Bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF), making the flagship crypto even more mainstream.
Despite negative developments on institutional participation, the cryptocurrency appears to stand on solid ground, having distanced itself from the declining stock market.
Last month, analysts commented that Bitcoin would remain resilient to any Fed taper. Taper concerns emerged during the May drop, when Bitcoin lost about $28,000. That’s when it probably priced in an early stimulus end, being at the far end of the risk curve.