Coinbase bitcoin swung from $56,995 to $52,530 after U.S. jobs report

Bitcoin’s BTC-USD market on Coinbase climbed as high as $56,995 before falling to $52,530 on September 6, 2024, producing a 7.83% high-to-low retreat during one UTC trading session.

The exchange’s daily candle opened at $56,156.82 and closed at $53,950.01, a 3.93% open-to-close decline calculated by Coinburn. Contemporaneous reporting recorded the crucial sequence: bitcoin initially approached $57,000 following the release of U.S. employment figures, reversed below $54,000 by midday in New York and extended its decline later in the session.

The move mattered because it showed how quickly an anticipated case for lower interest rates could be displaced by concern about economic weakness. The timing supports a connection between the employment release and the reversal, but it cannot establish that one government report caused every trade across a decentralized, continuously operating market.

A mixed employment report

At 8:30 a.m. Eastern on September 6, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nonfarm payroll employment increased by 142,000 in August. The unemployment rate changed little at 4.2%.

The release also revised June payroll growth down from 179,000 to 118,000 and July growth from 114,000 to 89,000. Together, those revisions removed 86,000 jobs from the previously reported totals. Average hourly earnings nevertheless increased 0.4% during August and 3.8% over the preceding 12 months.

That combination was not an unambiguous recession or interest-rate signal. Slower payroll growth and substantial downward revisions indicated reduced labor-market momentum, while the unemployment rate’s small decline from July and continued wage growth complicated the picture.

CoinDesk reported at 12:07 p.m. Eastern that bitcoin had risen toward $57,000 after the release before falling below $54,000. Forbes subsequently recorded a price of $52,530 at approximately 5 p.m. Eastern using Coinbase data supplied through TradingView. The second observation matches the low in Coinbase’s completed UTC candle.

What the price calculation measures

Coinbase defines its daily candle on a UTC basis. For September 6, that means the measurement window ran from 00:00 through 23:59 UTC, rather than from the opening to the closing bell of a U.S. securities exchange.

The 7.83% figure is the decline from the Coinbase high of $56,995 to its low of $52,530. It is not the daily return. The 3.93% daily decline instead compares the $56,156.82 UTC opening price with the $53,950.01 UTC close.

These figures describe one exchange’s BTC-USD order book. Bitcoin trades continuously on multiple venues, so another provider can report different highs, lows or closing values depending on its constituent markets, timezone and calculation method. There is no consolidated global closing auction for spot bitcoin.

Why the reversal mattered

Coinbase Institutional had already described U.S. market participants as trimming risk while awaiting the Federal Reserve meeting scheduled for September 17–18. Its September 6 commentary, prepared before the payroll figures were available, also identified weak liquidity and limited appetite for additional long exposure.

The subsequent reversal therefore occurred in a market that was already cautious. The defensible event-day conclusion is narrow: mixed employment data briefly supported bitcoin, but the advance failed, and Coinbase recorded a sharp decline through the remainder of September 6. The session demonstrated bitcoin’s sensitivity to macroeconomic expectations without proving a durable price trend, a single cause or the Federal Reserve’s eventual decision.