Bitcoin touched $108,000 at the July 2 Wall Street open as a major miss in US employment sparked volatility . Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD up 2% on the day at the time of writing .
Gains accompanied a surprise retraction in private-sector payrolls data, which came in 33,000 lower in June to hit its lowest level since March 2023 . Estimates from management firm Automatic Data Processing (ADP), which compiled the data in its National Employment Report, had seen an increase of nearly 100,000 . "Though layoffs continue to be rare, a hesitancy to hire and a reluctance to replace departing workers led to job losses last month," ADP chief economist Nela Richardson commented in an accompanying press release .
Ahead of US nonfarm payrolls data, due for release on July 3, crypto market commentators were optimistic . Labor market weakness, they noted, increased the odds of Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts coming sooner rather than later — a key source of liquidity injections for Bitcoin, altcoins and risk assets .
A May 2025 report indicated that the U.S. economy added 139,000 jobs, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 4.2% . Private payrolls rose by 140,000, with the largest gains seen in health care & social assistance (+78.3k) and leisure & hospitality (+48k) .
A short squeeze occurs when a heavily shorted asset experiences a sudden and significant price increase, forcing short sellers to buy back the asset quickly to cover their positions and limit losses . In this scenario, buying activity may create a feedback loop, potentially driving the price even higher .
In the cryptocurrency market, just as in the traditional financial (TradFi) markets, trading strategies can significantly impact asset prices and investor behaviour . One such phenomenon is the 'short squeeze'. If many investors are shorting a stock and its price starts to rise, they may rush to buy back shares to cover their positions, causing the price to spike further and exacerbating losses .