Bitcoin Dips After Jobs Report Reveals Nearly 1 Million Phantom Jobs

Two timelines showed up in one government report

Morning headline: U.S. payrolls rose by about 130,000 in January, unemployment held at roughly 4.3%, and average hourly pay inched up — the kind of routine data that traders glance at before coffee. Then the paperwork did a plot twist: the government’s benchmark revision quietly sliced almost 900,000 jobs off last March’s total, which drags the whole 2025 job story downward.

That split personality — a decent-looking January, plus a suddenly much weaker 2025 trend — is why markets got emotional. Bond yields popped (the 10-year ticked up to about 4.20% from near 4.15%), futures-implied odds of a March rate cut dropped sharply, and Bitcoin, being Bitcoin, took a hit of roughly 3% and traded in the high‑$60k area as traders re-priced the odds.

Why Bitcoin felt the jolt (and what to watch next)

Here’s the short version: stronger hiring and stubborn wage growth make rate-setters look less ready to ease. Higher yields raise the cost of money, which tends to dull appetite for riskier stuff — and crypto often leads that charge down. Wages are the sneaky variable here: average hourly earnings rose about 0.4% in January and are up around 3.7% year‑over‑year, enough to keep “sticky inflation” conversations alive.

But don’t throw out the past: the benchmark revision that cut roughly 898,000 jobs from last March changes the story people tell about last year’s economic resilience. That matters because traders don’t just react to today’s headline — they react to the path policy is expected to take. When that path flips, futures and liquidity can swing fast, and that speed itself can create short-term chaos.

Keep an eye on two near-term events: the next inflation readout this Friday and the following jobs report in early March. Those data points will either confirm the newer, softer picture or reinforce the idea of a still-hot labor market. Either way, they’ll move rate expectations — and anything that moves rate expectations can move Bitcoin.

Short takeaway: one morning’s numbers gave traders two competing stories. The headline looked solid; the revision made the past weaker. Markets chose to price the riskier storyline for now, and Bitcoin got nudged lower. If you’re watching prices, watch yields and futures odds too — they’re the scorecards that tend to tell crypto what to do next (often before the rest of us blink).