Bitcoin and Ethereum Steady After Jobs Report as ETF Outflows Top $530 Million

Cryptocurrency markets steadied on Friday, November 6, after one of the most bruising sessions of the year, with Bitcoin and Ethereum holding their ground as traders digested a stronger-than-expected United States jobs report and another heavy day of outflows from spot crypto exchange-traded funds. The calm was relative rather than complete: prices were still far below where they had traded earlier in the week, and the mood among traders remained cautious, but the freefall of the previous day had at least paused.

The numbers tell the story of a market catching its breath rather than turning a corner. In Market Briefer’s delayed snapshot at 5:15 p.m. Central Time, Bitcoin was up 0.64 percent at $75,849, Ethereum was up 0.92 percent at $2,235, Cardano led the major coins with a gain of 3.32 percent to $0.185, Dogecoin rose 2.58 percent to $0.072, and Solana added 1.33 percent to $89.99. A separate snapshot from CryptoTimes at 16:30 UTC put Bitcoin at $75,853.75, down 1.1 percent over 24 hours, with a market capitalisation of about $1.524 trillion and 24-hour trading volume of $36.83 billion, while Ethereum stood at $2,230.50, down 1.9 percent, with a market capitalisation of about $272.52 billion and volume of $13.98 billion. Prices are November 6 snapshots, but every reading pointed the same way: the selling had stopped, without strong buying replacing it.

Bitcoin Ethereum Steady Jobs Report: A Calmer Friday After the Rout

Friday’s steadiness was not driven by any single piece of good news from inside the crypto industry. There was no major protocol upgrade, no surprise institutional announcement, and no sudden surge of retail buying. Instead, the market simply ran out of sellers for a day. Thursday’s liquidation cascade had already forced out many of the most overextended leveraged traders, so fewer positions remained to be closed by force on Friday. When forced selling stops, prices often stabilise on their own, even without fresh buyers, because the urgent supply that was pushing prices down has been exhausted. That is a mechanical explanation, and it carries a warning: a market that steadies because sellers are exhausted has not necessarily found willing buyers.

The breadth of Friday’s small gains supports that reading. Cardano’s 3.32 percent rise made it the strongest major coin of the day, and Dogecoin and Solana also rose, yet none of these moves recovered more than a small fraction of Thursday’s losses. Bitcoin was still trading roughly 30 percent below its cycle highs, and a bounce of less than 1 percent after a fall of more than 5 percent is best described as stabilisation, not strength. Crypto also trades around the clock, so it often absorbs stock-market shocks first. Whether Friday becomes a durable floor depends on traditional markets, because Thursday proved crypto does not trade in isolation from equities, particularly technology stocks.

US Jobs Report Crypto: What the 165,000 Payrolls Print Means

The main scheduled event of Friday was the United States October nonfarm payrolls report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and it delivered a stronger reading than many traders had expected. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 165,000 in October, well above the average monthly gain of 48,000 recorded over the prior 12 months. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.1 percent, and the number of unemployed people stood at about 7.1 million. For a market that had been bracing for weakness, a payrolls figure more than three times the recent monthly average was a genuine surprise.

Why does a jobs report move crypto at all? The connection runs through interest rates and the Federal Reserve. Strong employment data can cut both ways for risk assets. On one hand, a healthy labour market supports consumer spending and economic growth, which is good for corporate earnings and risk appetite generally. On the other hand, strong jobs data can reduce the urgency for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, because the central bank has less reason to stimulate an economy that is already creating jobs at a healthy pace. Higher-for-longer interest rates tend to weigh on crypto, because digital assets compete with yield-bearing alternatives and cheap money has historically fuelled speculative buying. Friday’s muted reaction suggests traders were still working through that tension rather than settling it, and the reporting available does not determine what the Federal Reserve will decide next.

There is also a political channel. The report landed the day after midterm elections in which Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress, a result that had already rattled AI stocks on Thursday amid concerns that political opposition could slow data-centre construction. The midterm implications for crypto policy are still being assessed. For ordinary holders, the lesson is simpler: Bitcoin and Ethereum neither rallied nor sold off on the payrolls number, suggesting the market’s immediate focus is on institutional flows, leverage, and technology stocks.

Crypto ETF Outflows November: $530 Million Leaves Spot Funds

The most consequential numbers of the week may not be prices at all, but the flows through spot crypto exchange-traded funds. In the previous session, spot crypto ETFs recorded combined net outflows of $530.17 million, led by a withdrawal of roughly $200 million from Fidelity’s Bitcoin fund. Bitcoin ETFs alone saw $430.20 million of net outflows on November 5, according to data from SoSoValue, while Ethereum ETFs recorded about $100 million of outflows. These are large numbers by any standard, and they arrived on top of a pattern building for weeks: roughly $1.8 billion of net outflows across combined ETF products over the prior two weeks, according to Crown Investing.

To understand why ETF flows matter, it helps to know what these funds do. A spot Bitcoin ETF holds real Bitcoin on behalf of its investors, so when investors sell their ETF shares, the fund must sell Bitcoin, or at least stop buying it, and the selling pressure reaches the underlying market directly. ETF flows have therefore become one of the clearest windows into institutional sentiment, capturing the decisions of advisers, funds and larger investors. A single day of $430 million in outflows does not by itself determine the market’s direction, but a sustained pattern running into the billions over two weeks tells a story about institutional patience wearing thin. Fidelity’s fund accounted for the largest single withdrawal at roughly $200 million, and BlackRock’s fund also recorded a substantial outflow, suggesting broad-based selling. It also points to outright selling rather than rotation, since money leaving both Bitcoin and Ethereum funds at once looks like a genuine reduction in crypto exposure.

There is context that keeps this from being a story of uninterrupted selling. On November 4, the funds had recorded their first inflows of the month, with Bitcoin ETFs taking in $74.57 million and Ethereum ETFs $53.02 million, led on the Bitcoin side by Fidelity with $236.72 million of inflows even as BlackRock lost $201.24 million that day. November 5 therefore reversed a one-day reprieve rather than extending an unbroken streak. Even so, one good day surrounded by heavy outflows does not change the direction of travel: if outflows persist into next week, price pressure is likely to continue, while a return to inflows would be the first sign buyers are stepping back in.

Liquidations, Fear and What Traders Watch Next

Alongside the ETF outflows, the derivatives market continued to show signs of stress. About $468.88 million of crypto positions were liquidated over 24 hours, according to CoinGlass, with most of the total coming from long positions, the bets that prices would rise. Bitcoin accounted for a large share of that total, with about $468 million of Bitcoin liquidations noted in the reporting. That figure is smaller than Thursday’s wipeout of more than $1 billion, consistent with a market that has already flushed out much of its leverage, but it is still substantial, and it shows bullish traders were still being caught out as prices chopped around the $75,000 to $76,000 area. The Fear and Greed Index added to the picture: it stood at 28, down from 50, according to KuCoin’s daily report for November 6, which also recorded Bitcoin down 5.49 percent at $76,087.90, Ethereum down 7.70 percent at $2,238.01, the Nasdaq down 5.52 percent at 24,315, and the S and P 500 down 4.35 percent at 7,353.79, all at 00:00 UTC. A reading of 28 sits firmly in fear territory, but it is fearful rather than extreme, and it would be a mistake to treat it as proof that a bottom is in.

The immediate question is whether Bitcoin can hold the $75,000 to $76,000 region, now tested twice in quick succession. A level tested repeatedly either becomes a floor or breaks, because each test weakens it. The market still faces the same pressures that produced Thursday’s fall, and a steady Friday resolves none of them. If AI stocks stabilise, crypto is likely to stabilise with them, while another leg down in the Nasdaq would almost certainly drag crypto lower again. In this episode Bitcoin behaved like a high-beta technology stock, falling when the Nasdaq fell and steadying when the Nasdaq steadied. The most honest description of Friday is also the simplest: the market stopped falling, and now it waits.

FAQ

Why did Bitcoin and Ethereum steady on November 6?

Bitcoin held near $75,849 and Ethereum near $2,235 after Thursday’s sell-off, as the forced selling had exhausted itself and the strong jobs report gave traders no new reason to sell.

What did the US jobs report show?

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 165,000 in October, well above the 48,000 average monthly gain over the prior 12 months, while unemployment held steady at 4.1 percent and about 7.1 million people were unemployed.

How large were crypto ETF outflows?

Spot crypto ETFs saw combined net outflows of $530.17 million, with Bitcoin ETFs losing $430.20 million on November 5 and Ethereum ETFs losing about $100 million.

How much was liquidated in the last 24 hours?

About $468.88 million of crypto positions were liquidated over 24 hours, according to CoinGlass, mostly longs, with Bitcoin accounting for a large share.

What is the Fear and Greed Index reading?

The index stood at 28, down from 50, in fear territory after Thursday’s sell-off.

Source: CryptoTimes/Market Briefer/KuCoin

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