Crypto Market Drops Sharply After Strong Jobs Data

The crypto market took a hit on jobs day, as strong economic data sent shockwaves through risk assets. Bitcoin led the decline, dropping below $80,000 after falling $1,600 in just three minutes. Ethereum and XRP also suffered losses, down from their previous prices. The sudden drop was attributed to the Federal Reserve's increasing likelihood of a rate hike rather than a cut.

The US economy added 162,000 jobs in August, far exceeding the expected 55,000. Unemployment held steady at 4.1%, as July's job figure was revised up by 43,000. Normally strong economic data would be welcome news, but in this case it worked against risk assets.

President Trump weighed in on the market's response, calling it 'crazy' and describing the reaction as living in a 'false reality'. He also called on the Fed to cut interest rates regardless of the strong jobs data, threatening to 'stop trading with countries with which we have a deficit' if they don't act.

Zcash bucked the trend, however, gaining 13% and pushing its price to $1,034.80. The total crypto market cap still sits at $2.75 trillion despite the pullback, showing how sensitive risk assets remain to Fed rate expectations.