Markets
Crypto Markets Fall After US Unemployment Claims Report
Solana continues to outperform, with a 10% gain in the last week.
Crypto markets fell slightly on Thursday morning following the release of the latest US unemployment claims report.
The Department of Labor reported that unemployment benefit claims declined compared to the previous week, reaching 222,000 in the week of May 12 – slightly above the Dow Jones forecast of 220,000.
Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $65,600, up 1% in the last 24 hours. Ether (ETH) fell below $3,000 while Solana (SOL) soared nearly 5%, according to CoinGecko data.
BTC Price
Reducing unemployment claims is often seen as a sign of economic stability. A stable economy generally promotes investor confidence, which can extend to riskier assets like cryptocurrencies.
Michael Van de Poppe, CEO of MN Trading, express optimism about Bitcoin’s recent performance and its potential impact on altcoins. He tweeted: “This is the period where I think Altcoins will start to accelerate as confidence returns to the markets.”
According to CoinGlass, 59,463 traders were liquidated in the last 24 hours, totaling $148 million. The largest single settlement occurred on OKX, involving the ETH-USD swap, valued at $3.25 million.
At the time of writing, CoinGlass data shows that the majority of potential short futures liquidations will occur at the $66,000 mark. Short liquidations occur when traders who bet against rising asset prices (short sellers) are forced to close their positions, typically causing further price increases.
Crypto Stocks Decline
Shares of Coinbase Global (COIN) fell about 6%, while crypto miners Riot Platforms Inc (RIOT) and Marathon Digital (MARA) fell 2%.
However, the broader US stock market continues to reach all-time highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%, along with similar gains of 0.2% each for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite.