 Bitcoin could reach new highs in Q1 despite sluggish jobs print: Grayscale Research 
2025-02-08
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Bitcoin BTCUSD could hit new all-time highs in the first quarter of 2025 despite slower-than-expected US hiring in January, Zach Pandl, Grayscale’s head of research, told Cointelegraph. 
On Feb. 7, US officials said the country’s economy added 143,000 jobs in January, slightly below forecasts. 
“Bitcoin is likely to take today’s jobs report in stride,” Pandl said on Feb. 7. According to him, the report could “reinforce expectations that the Fed will be on hold for a while but is unlikely to result in material repricing.”
Meanwhile, “Bitcoin and other digital assets are benefiting from a variety of policy-related tailwinds,” including progress on stablecoin legislation, he said. Stablecoins are digital tokens pegged to a fiat currency, usually the US dollar.
As a result, Pendl said he expects “crypto markets to trade with a bullish bias.”
“As long as equity markets remain broadly stable, Bitcoin could make new highs later this quarter,” he said. 
Sluggish US jobs print
Bitcoin spiked to $100,000 at the Feb. 7 Wall Street open as US employment data dealt risk assets much-needed relief.
US job additions fell short of the expected 169,000 and far below traders’ estimates on prediction services.
Crypto and stock markets gained as a result, with the figures implying that the labor market was not as resilient to restrictive financial policy as first thought. 
Estimates from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool show markets downplaying the likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates at its next meeting in March. As of Feb. 7, the odds of a base 0.25% cut stood at just 8.5%, down from 14.5% before the jobs release.
Stablecoin bill progress
Meanwhile, two US congresspeople released a discussion draft on Feb. 7 for a bill that would establish a regulatory framework for dollar-pegged payment stablecoins in the United States.
The legislation would impose a two-year halt on issuing an “endogenously collateralized stablecoin,” meaning issuers would be prohibited from creating stablecoins backed by self-issued digital assets.
Additionally, the draft bill would require the US Treasury Department to facilitate a study on stablecoins. 