Bitcoin drops toward $70,000 ahead of U.S. jobs data; oil price rises on Iran war

• Bitcoin dropped toward $70,000 before the monthly U.S. jobs report, where unemployment is expected at 4.3% and nonfarm payrolls at 59,000.
• Broader markets are showing risk-off signals, with WTI crude rising above $83 per barrel, the Dollar Index strengthening above 99 and the Nasdaq-100-tracking Invesco QQQ ETF down about 0.5% in pre-market trading.
• Strategy (MSTR), Coinbase (COIN) and MARA Holdings (MARA) are all priced lower in pre-market trading.

Bitcoin is on the cusp of falling below $70,000 for the first time since Wednesday, after climbing as high as $74,000 earlier this week.

The decline reflects a broader risk-off shift in markets as investors position ahead of key U.S. macroeconomic data and the developing war in Iran.

For now, attention is focused on the U.S. jobs report due at 13:30 UTC. The unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 4.3% while nonfarm payrolls are forecast to drop to 59,000.

Labor market data is closely watched because it can influence expectations around Federal Reserve interest-rate policy, often leading investors to reduce risk exposure ahead of the release.

The war with Iran, nearing the end of its first week, is also contributing to market caution, pushing oil prices higher. WTI crude has climbed to around $83 per barrel, up more than 5% over the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) has strengthened above 99 and the yield on the 10-year Treasury has risen to roughly 4.16%. Equity markets are slightly weaker, with the Invesco QQQ ETF, which tracks the Nasdaq 100 index, down about 0.5% in pre-market trading.

Crypto related stocks including Strategy (MSTR), Coinbase (COIN), and MARA Holdings (MARA) are also lower in pre-market trading.

• Disrupting a Stagnant Market: Pudgy Penguins is utilizing a "Negative CAC" model to challenge the traditional $31.7B licensed toy industry by treating physical merchandise as a profitable user acquisition tool rather than just a final product.

• Despite a wave of "crypto-native" wins — like BNY Mellon acting as an ETF custodian and Kraken gaining Fed payment access — Bitcoin is increasingly ignoring positive industry news to follow global trends, such as the U.S. dollar index and interest rates.
• The same Wall Street adoption the industry spent years chasing has tightly coupled bitcoin with the Nasdaq, leading to a selloff in crypto right alongside tech stocks.
• While the price is currently stuck in a downward grind, the plumbing of the industry is becoming more robust, with heavyweights like ICE investing in exchanges and the White House encouraging banks to work with the sector.

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