Bitcoin hovered just above $110,000 on Tuesday as traders weighed a softer jobs outlook and the Federal Reserve’s shifting guidance—even as gold surged to fresh records.
BTC traded around $110,376.91 after a week of declines that reversed slightly on Tuesday: bitcoin gained about 2.7% while ether (ETH) was essentially flat. Altcoins such as XRP ($2.8057), Solana’s SOL and dogecoin (DOGE $0.2212) each rose more than 3%, lifting total crypto market capitalization roughly 1.8%.
The most striking divergence came from bullion. Gold climbed to about $3,508 an ounce, surpassing its April peak and rising more than 30% year-to-date—making it the best-performing major commodity of 2025 and outpacing bitcoin’s roughly 16% YTD gain.
Traders point to Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole remarks, which opened the door to potential rate cuts in September. A weaker U.S. jobs backdrop has strengthened expectations for easing, prompting some investors to seek protection in hard assets.
“Gold’s surge reflects a structural shift where it acts as a hedge against monetary debasement and equity volatility. Bitcoin’s evolving role as an inflation hedge suggests these assets are increasingly complementary,” said Nick Ruck, director at LVRG Research.
At the same time, Ethereum shows signs of fatigue: daily volumes have cooled since July and on-chain metrics point to about a 28% decline in active addresses since late July. Augustine Fan, head of insights at SignalPlus, said rotation within digital asset tokens (DATs) has funneled new flows toward Solana—whose recovering total value locked helped it decouple from the broader weakness.
All eyes are now on Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report. Economists expect roughly 45,000 new jobs (private payrolls near 60,000) and a slight uptick in unemployment to 4.3%. A materially soft print could lock in a September rate cut and revive risk appetite; until then markets remain cautious, with options demand for downside protection at multi-week highs.
Why it matters: Friday’s jobs data could determine whether gold or bitcoin sets the market tone heading into historically weak September trading. Traders should note that volatility can be rapid; this is not investment advice and past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Source: CoinDesk. Read the original coverage for full details.