Bitcoin Drops 8% to $82,000 as US Unemployment Data Pressures Risk Assets

Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a significant decline, hitting new monthly lows at the April 3 Wall Street open. This drop coincided with the release of US unemployment data, which added pressure on risk assets. The BTC/USD pair fell below $82,000 for the first time since the start of the month, according to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView.

Initially, Bitcoin surged to as high as $88,580 following the US government's announcement of reciprocal trade tariffs. However, the enthusiasm quickly waned as the full impact of the stronger-than-expected measures became apparent. US stocks also felt the pressure, with the S&P 500 dropping over 4% on the day. This decline was noted as the largest daily drop since the 2020 pandemic lockdowns, according to a trading resource.

US initial jobless claims came in below estimates, at 219,000 versus the anticipated 228,000. This data, released by the US Department of Labor, indicated a stronger labor market trend, which traditionally implies that policymakers can maintain tighter financial conditions for a longer period. Despite this, markets continued to favor an interest-rate cut from the Federal Reserve at the June meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, as indicated by data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.

BTC price action continued to disappoint on short timeframes, with $80,000 support becoming uncomfortably close. Popular trader Roman summarized the situation as a "stair step up then elevator down" pattern. Market commentator Byzantine General noted an increase in short positions across major crypto pairs, suggesting that the lackluster conditions would persist due to the tariff responses.

Onchain analytics firm Glassnode reported that Bitcoin had printed a new "death cross," involving the convergence of two midterm moving averages. This pattern historically preceded 3–6 months of bearish trends. Earlier in the week, Glassnode observed that speculative sell-offs in recent months had fallen considerably short of volumes traditionally associated with blow-off BTC price tops.