Crypto Markets Trade Flat Ahead of U.S. Unemployment Report

Crypto markets traded flat on Thursday after a two-day rally.

Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1% to trade at $58,000, while Ethereum (ETH) was unchanged at $2,429. Polkadot (DOT) rallied 2%, and Solana (SOL) gained 1%.

According to on-chain analytics firm Santiment, Bitcoin whales wholeheartedly bought the dip earlier this week.

“Wallets with 10 to 1,000 BTC rapidly accumulated on the price dip that saw crypto’s top asset fall below $50K,” Santiment tweeted.

On August 5 and 6, Santiment observed 28,319 BTC transactions over $100,000 and 5,738 transactions over $1 million.

Data from CoinGlass indicates over 67,000 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours, totaling $201.92 million in liquidations.

Crypto trading firm QCP Capital notes believes that the selloff isn’t over quite yet.

“We foresee continued selling pressure as systematic funds continue to pare exposure in light of the heightened volatility,” the firm wrote in a market analysis. “We believe the Fed will refrain from an emergency cut in September or an inter-meeting cut in October, as that will exacerbate panic in the market.”

XRP Soars on Lawsuit Settlement

Ripple’s XRP token is the top gainer among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, rallying 20% after a New York federal judge settled a three-year-long lawsuit against Ripple Labs. XRP is currently trading at $0.61.

XRP’s trading volume surged 265% to $5.4 billion in the past 24 hours.

On August 7, Ripple Labs was ordered to pay a $125 million civil penalty to settle the SEC’s lawsuit against it.

“This is a victory for Ripple, the industry, and the rule of law,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse tweeted. “The SEC’s headwinds against the whole of the XRP community are gone.”

Meanwhile, open interest in XRP futures, which represents the total number of outstanding derivative contracts, surged by 49% to $715 million after the ruling.

Stock Markets Remain Calm

Stock market futures were relatively unchanged on Thursday morning. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.05%, S&P 500 futures slipped by 0.12%, and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.1%.

U.S. jobless claims released on Thursday morning came in at 233,000, slightly below the Dow Jones estimate of 240,000 initial jobless claims, allaying fears of a rapidly weakening labor market.

The U.S. unemployment rate soared to a near three-year high of 4.3% in July due to a hiring slowdown, marking the fourth consecutive monthly increase. This jump has heightened concerns about a weakening economy, raising fears of a potential recession.