Bitcoin rose slightly on Friday, despite a week of negotiations over the U.S. debt ceiling and renewed inflation concerns. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization was recently trading at about $27,180, up 1.2%. Edward Moya, senior market analyst at foreign exchange market maker Oanda, noted that Bitcoin is holding steady after a busy week filled with a debt limit deal, a complicated jobs report that showed both robust hiring and surging layoffs, and as lawmakers inch towards figuring out how to regulate crypto.
Ether, the second largest crypto, was recently changing hands just over $1,905, up nearly 2% from Thursday. Other major cryptos were also in positive territory, with ADA and SOL, the tokens of the Cardano and Solana smart contract platforms, recently rising more than 4% and 3.5%, respectively. Meanwhile, a bevy of small DeFi focused protocols were the big gainers of the past seven days, according to the CoinDesk Market Index, a measure of crypto markets overall performance, with Lido (LDO), Synapse (SYN), and PancakeSwap (CAKE), climbing 15%, 13%, and 12%, respectively. The CMI was recently up 1.6%.
The U.S. Labor Department report showed the economy adding 339,000 jobs in May, about 75% more than economists forecast. The hot jobs data offered the latest evidence that the employment market remained tight, a sign that the economy isn’t done expanding and that inflation therefore will remain a concern. Oanda’s Moya said that the U.S. central banks suggested that the U.S. central bank faces a difficult decision on a June interest rate increase after indicating it was open to a stoppage and might be influenced by the upcoming Institute for Supply Management (ISM) and May Consumer Price Index releases.
The Fed has almost locked themselves into a corner with a skip for the June meeting, but it should be very clear that they are not done raising rates, Moya wrote, also noting that at the midpoint of the year, this economy is not showing strong signs that the second half of the year recession is coming.