Bitcoin held above $67,000 on Good Friday as U.S. employers added 178,000 jobs in March — beating forecasts by a wide margin — while traditional markets sat closed for the Easter holiday, leaving crypto as the primary gauge of how investors are pricing the hawkish surprise.
Summary
- The U.S. added 178,000 nonfarm payrolls in March, well above consensus estimates, while unemployment fell to 4.3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Bitcoin held above $67,000 on Good Friday with traditional markets closed, absorbing the hawkish macro signal with unusual composure.
- February’s payroll figure was simultaneously revised to a loss of 133,000 jobs, complicating the read on Fed policy going into Q2.
Bitcoin (BTC) held its footing above $67,000 on Good Friday, April 3, as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released a stronger-than-expected March jobs report that showed 178,000 nonfarm payrolls added last month — a figure that significantly exceeded consensus estimates of around 135,000. With traditional U.S. equity and bond markets closed for the Easter holiday, crypto was among the few liquid markets actively pricing in the data.
The BLS release, filed under code USDL-26-0580 and embargoed until 8:30 a.m. ET, showed the unemployment rate ticking down to 4.3% from 4.4% in February. At the same time, February’s payroll figure was sharply revised to a net loss of 133,000 jobs — a downward swing that softens the headline beat considerably and suggests the labor market has been weaker than previously reported entering 2026.
Bitcoin decouples — quietly
What stood out on Good Friday was what Bitcoin did not do. With stocks offline and macro traders watching from the sidelines, BTC held its ground rather than selling off on the hawkish implications of a strong jobs print. A 178,000-job print reduces the Federal Reserve’s urgency to cut rates, which typically pressures risk assets like crypto. But Bitcoin absorbed the signal without a meaningful downside.
That composure fits a pattern visible across recent weeks. As crypto.news has reported, Bitcoin has been trading primarily in response to geopolitical headlines around the ongoing U.S.–Iran conflict, with macro data playing a secondary role in near-term price discovery. The February jobs shock — when the economy shed 92,000 payrolls — had briefly pushed BTC below $70,000 before markets stabilized. Friday’s print delivered the opposite surprise, yet the price reaction was equally muted.
What this means for the Fed and crypto
“Relatively strong employment data means the Fed feels less pressure to reduce interest rates,” analysts at Bitfinex noted in a recent macro briefing. “It will likely remain laser-focused on inflation, which it sees as a major risk tied to Trump’s trade policy.” Higher rates tend to strengthen the dollar and weigh on Bitcoin ETF inflows — a dynamic that has shaped much of crypto’s performance in early 2026.
With U.S. markets closed until Monday, the full institutional reaction to Friday’s data will only become clear when equities reopen. Bitcoin’s ability to hold $67,000 through a holiday weekend — under both a strong jobs print and continued war risk from the Middle East — may offer early evidence that the asset is finding a floor.
