Bitcoin Drops to $68K as U.S. February Jobs Report Shows Loss of 92,000 Positions

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TLDR

  • Bitcoin retreated 3.4% to approximately $68,000 on Saturday, following a mid-week peak of $74,000.
  • The U.S. economy shed 92,000 jobs in February, driving the unemployment rate to 4.4% and unsettling financial markets.
  • The U.S. dollar experienced its most significant weekly surge in a year, placing additional downward pressure on the cryptocurrency sector.
  • Large-scale holders (whales) offloaded roughly 66% of their recent BTC acquisitions, while retail investors continued to accumulate.
  • Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $348.9 million in net outflows, marking the highest single-day withdrawal in three weeks.

Bitcoin’s momentum stalled as the week concluded. After reaching a high of $74,000 on Thursday, the asset faced a reversal, sliding to around $68,000 by Saturday morning—a 3.4% decline within 24 hours.

Bitcoin (BTC) Price

The downturn followed a Bureau of Labor Statistics report revealing a loss of 92,000 U.S. jobs in February, significantly missing the anticipated gain of 50,000. Consequently, the unemployment rate climbed from 4.3% to 4.4%.

Traditional markets reacted sharply to the jobs data, with the Dow Jones plummeting over 900 points shortly after Friday’s opening, while the Nasdaq fell 1.7%.

Other major digital assets also saw declines: Ether dropped 4.4% to $1,974, Solana fell 4% to $84.31, Dogecoin decreased 2.9% to $0.09, and XRP slipped 2.2% to $1.37.

Despite the Friday sell-off, most major cryptocurrencies maintained weekly gains, with Bitcoin up 3.6%, Ether up 2.6%, and BNB up 2.1% over the seven-day period.

Whale Selling and ETF Outflows

Santiment data indicates that whales—wallets holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC—accumulated positions between February 23 and March 3 while prices ranged from $62,900 to $69,600. Once Bitcoin surpassed $70,000 and reached $74,000, these entities liquidated approximately 66% of their recent holdings.

Conversely, retail investors holding under 0.01 BTC continued to buy. Santiment suggests this divergence often indicates that the market correction may not yet be complete.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced $348.9 million in net outflows on Friday, the highest daily volume since February 12.

Analyst Michael van de Poppe remarked: “If Bitcoin fails to establish support within the $67,000–$68,000 range, a retest of the lows is likely.”

Macro Headwinds

The U.S. dollar recorded its strongest weekly performance in a year. Concurrently, rising oil prices—with Brent crude reaching $90 a barrel, a weekly increase of over 20%—and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have heightened inflation concerns, dampening expectations for near-term interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

According to Glassnode, 43% of the total Bitcoin supply is currently held at a loss, creating persistent selling pressure as investors look to exit at break-even points during price rallies.

A potential positive indicator is the 415% surge in net stablecoin inflows, totaling $1.7 billion for the week, which suggests significant capital is waiting on the sidelines.

Economist Timothy Peterson noted that current price levels have historically served as a floor, estimating a 99.5% probability that BTC will remain above $60,000.

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index dropped to 12 on Saturday, signaling a state of “Extreme Fear.”