Bitcoin has continued its decline today, having begun the year on a high, rising above $94,000 earlier this week. This latest decline comes despite the release of the November JOLTS job openings, which came in below expectations and strengthened the case for more rate cuts.
Bitcoin Drops Amid JOLTS Job Openings Release
Bitcoin briefly fell below $91,000 following the November U.S. JOLTS job openings release and is currently trading around $91,000, down almost 3% on the day. This continues the decline from yesterday, when the flagship crypto dropped from around $94,000.
The BTC decline comes despite the November JOLTS job openings data coming in below expectations, which is bullish for the crypto market. The number of job openings was 7.1 million in November, below estimates of 7.6 million and 7.4 million, which was the revised figure for October. The November figure also marked the lowest level in over a year.
The job data is bullish for Bitcoin and the broader crypto market as it suggests that the U.S. labor market continues to weaken, which could prompt more rate cuts from the Fed. Fed Governor Chris Waller already warned that the labor market is asking them to make more cuts as it continues to soften.
Meanwhile, as CoinGape reported yesterday, Fed Governor Chris Miran has advocated for rate cuts of over 100 basis points (bps) this year. Attention will now turn to the December U.S. employment report, which drops on January 9.
The nonfarm payrolls coming in below expectations and the unemployment rate rising will further make a case for more rate cuts this year, ahead of the January FOMC meeting. The CPI data that drops next week is also in the spotlight as market participants look to see whether inflation in the U.S. is indeed cooling, as the last report suggested, which is a positive for Bitcoin.
BTC ETFs See First Outflow Of The Year
Bitcoin ETFs saw their first outflow of the year yesterday, which could be a reason for the BTC decline. SoSoValue data shows that these funds recorded daily net outflows of $243.24 million yesterday, just a day after they took in almost $700 million, their largest inflow since the October 10 crash.
The outflows yesterday were led by Fidelity, which saw $312.24 million leave its fund. Grayscale, Ark Invest, and VanEck also recorded significant outflows. Meanwhile, despite not seeing outflows yesterday, Arkham data shows that BlackRock deposited 567 BTC, worth $52.2 million, into Coinbase today, likely to offload the coins.