Bitcoin Awaits Jobs Report as Powell Keeps Rates Steady: Is $70K Imminent?
- Powell signaled patience, leaving Bitcoin bound as rate-cut hopes stayed subdued.
- March payroll data now steers sentiment, with crypto set to react first and swiftly.
- Rising volume and a rebound toward $69K show traders bracing for a range break soon.
Bitcoin held near $68,599 at press time, even as two macro events lined up to test the market’s long-running range. According to data, the asset has stayed trapped between $65,000 and $75,000 since early February. Bloomberg reported that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell avoided signaling near-term rate cuts at Harvard on March 30.
Traders are now concentrating on the March Jobs Report, scheduled for April 3, which coincides with the closure of US stock and bond markets. Could that data finally force Bitcoin out of its months-long range?
Powell Leaves Rates in Focus
Powell’s Harvard appearance was one of his final public events before his term ends on May 15. Bloomberg described the session as unscripted and framed as a moderated conversation with an introductory economics class. During that appearance, Powell said the Fed faced “unusually high uncertainty.”
He also said monetary tools could not solve inflation driven by oil and other supply shocks. In the same remarks, Powell said the Fed’s policy rate was “in a good place to hold steady.” As a result, the message pointed to patience rather than action.
That stance mattered because Bitcoin did not react strongly to the speech itself. Instead, the absence of guidance shaped the market response. Powell gave no hints on rate cuts and no signal on future policy action, leaving Bitcoin inside its established range.
Powell also addressed the broader fiscal picture. He warned that US national debt was growing faster than the economy and called the path “not sustainable.” He added that delays in fixing the problem “will not end well,” a remark that added another layer to the market backdrop.
At the same time, Powell said the Fed had not made as much progress on inflation as it had hoped. He also said supply shocks remained outside the reach of monetary policy. That left traders without a policy catalyst from the March 30 event.
For Bitcoin, that meant the next major trigger shifted to incoming data. Powell made clear that the Fed would not move on words alone. Instead, it would wait for numbers, and the next important number arrives with the March jobs report.
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Jobs Report Becomes the Next Catalyst
The report is due on April 3 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, ahead of the next FOMC meeting on April 29. February posted a loss of 92,000 jobs, the weakest monthly result since December 2020. That drop raised pressure on the March release.
FactSet consensus calls for a 57,000-job gain in March. That would mark a rebound, yet it would still sit far below the pre-2026 monthly average of about 180,000. The text also noted that roughly 30,000 healthcare jobs lost in February came from the Kaiser Permanente strike.
If those jobs return, the March figure could improve. Even so, traders are watching two key thresholds. The text said a result above 75,000 could delay rate-cut expectations and push Bitcoin toward $63,000 to $65,000.
By contrast, a print below 30,000, or another negative reading, could bring rate-cut bets forward. Under that scenario, the text said Bitcoin could move toward $70,000 to $75,000. In turn, the report now stands as the clearest short-term catalyst.
CoinMarketCap data showed Bitcoin had already tried to recover before the release. BTC fell from about $71,450 and slid below $66,000 on March 27. Bears then held price between $65,500 and $67,500 through late March.
Then buyers stepped in on March 31 and pushed price back toward $69,000. CoinMarketCap also showed 24-hour volume rising 21.14% to $43.76 billion, while market capitalization climbed 2.78% to $1.37 trillion. With Good Friday closing US stock and bond markets on April 3, crypto will react alone in real time.
