Bitcoin Pumps, Then Dumps Below $55K as Jobs Report Spurs Crypto Volatility

The brief rally in the cryptocurrency markets following Friday's U.S. jobs report quickly reversed in volatile action.

Bitcoin {{BTC}} jumped to $57,000 earlier today following the key report, only to the erase its gains and tumble below $55,000. The largest crypto was down nearly 4% over the past 24 hours.

Read more: U.S. Added 142K Jobs in August, Likely Setting Stage for 25 Basis Point Rate Cut

The selloff was broad-based, with major altcoins such as ether {{ETH}}, solana {{SOL}}, Ripple's XRP {{XRP}} and cardano {{ADA}} posting 3%-5% losses over the same period. The CoinDesk 20 Index was down 2.7% over the day.

The price swing triggered nearly $50 million liquidations in one hour on the crypto derivatives markets as the volatility caught leveraged traders off-guard, predominantly longs betting on a continued price advance, CoinGlass data shows.

The price action happened as key U.S. equity indexes also turned lower early during their trading session. The Nasdaq Composite Index was 1.9% lower, while the broad-based S&P 500 declined 1.15% a bit more than one hour after the opening bell.