Crypto Reverses Early Gains, Bitcoin Dives Back to $69K

A rally in cryptocurrencies was quickly snuffed out in the late morning hours in the U.S. as traders perhaps continued to take chips off the table following a big run higher over the past few weeks.

Rising to as high as $71,400, bitcoin (BTC) quickly pulled back to the $69,000 level, down nearly 1.3% over the past 24 hours. Ether (ETH) was lower by 0.3% and solana {{SOL]] fell closer to 2%. The broader CoinDesk 20 was off just 0.6%, with cardano {{ADA}} and litecoin (LTC) sporting modest gains.

Earlier Friday, the government reported a sizable slowdown in the U.S. employment market, with just 12,000 jobs created in October, the weakest jobs growth since late 2020. This number, however, could be set for a reversal in November or a revision higher as the Bureau of Labor Statistics works out how the flooding in the Southeast may have affected the data. Later, the ISM reported a 16-month low for its Manufacturing PMI survey, the gauge dropping to 46.5 versus 47.6 expected by economists.

The bond market, however, isn’t buying the reported weakness, with the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rising six basis points to 4.38%, its highest level in four months.

Checking U.S. stocks, they’re off earlier highs but still stronger on the session, the Nasdaq up 0.7% at close and S&P 500 0.4%. Leading is Amazon (AMZN), ahead 6.1% after that company reported strong quarterly results Thursday evening.

Though the price action in crypto has been disappointing to close the week, it’s been a strong month for the sector – bitcoin, for instance, remains higher by nearly 15% over the past 30 days.

CoinDesk analyst James Van Straten noted the renewed interest of late in the U.S.-based spot bitcoin ETFs. The history isn’t a long one – they only launched on Jan. 11 of this year – but large net inflows into these products have often marked local tops in prices.