Bitcoin, Ethereum Drop With Stocks on Weak Jobs Report, Tariff Angst

Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies tumbled along with other risk-on assets amid a disappointing U.S. jobs report that offered the latest evidence of a slowing economy and ongoing angst about tariffs.

After rising over $91,000 earlier Friday, the largest crypto by market value was recently trading at $86,900, down 2% over the past 24 hours, according to data provider CoinGecko.

Other major digital coins and tokens were also in negative territory, with Ethereum and XRP, the second and third largest digital assets by market capitalization, dropping 3% and 6% from Thursday same time, respectively. Both assets had also risen earlier in the day but are well off their all-time highs.

Elsewhere, Solana was down by over 1.2%, while Cardano dipped 7%.  The declines came even after U.S. President Donald Trump announcing the creation of a Bitcoin Reserve and crypto stockpile that will include different altcoins, including potentially Ethereum, XRP, Solana and Cardano.

The price dip also follows a rocky week for digital assets and and U.S. equities as traders try and determine how Trump tariffs on its largest trading partners–China, Mexico and Canada–government cost-cutting measures and other policies will affect the economy. Trump has flip-flopped on the amount and timing of the tariffs in recent days further unsettling markets.

The jobs report which showed U.S. employers adding slightly fewer jobs than expected and unemployment ticking up from 4% to 4.1% heightened investor concerns, offsetting some of the buoyancy about the executive order.

But the biggest virtual coin and other cryptocurrencies are still down as broader macroeconomic concerns.

“Last night’s crypto news was good, but ‘good’ isn’t enough in this malaise,” researcher Noelle Acheson wrote in her Crypto is Macro Now newsletter, adding that Friday’s jobs data was “worrying.”

Stocks took a hit Friday, too, with the S&P 500, which hits its lowest level in six months on Thursday, down more than a half a percentage point, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq declining 1.2%.

Edited by James Rubin