Bitcoin initially climbed to a multi-day high of $87,200 on October 2, 2026, after a much weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report pushed Treasury yields lower and reduced expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike.
The September nonfarm payrolls report showed only 29,000 jobs were added, far below the 84,000 economists had forecast. The unemployment rate rose to 4.2%, and August payrolls were revised down from 162,000 to 133,000. CME Group's FedWatch Tool indicated the probability of a 0.25% rate hike in October had dropped to 18% from 64% a week earlier. U.S. equities rallied, with the S&P 500 gaining 1% and the Nasdaq Composite rising 1.8%.
Despite the initially positive risk-asset reaction, Bitcoin was rejected near that high and then fell sharply. It declined first to $85,500 before breaking below $84,000, a drop of more than $3,000 within hours. Ethereum also pulled back from about $2,750 to roughly $2,650, while XRP fell from a rejection near $1.55 to around $1.45. ZEC, Dogecoin, Chainlink, Monero, and Cardano posted losses of up to 7%.
The sell-off erased nearly $80 billion from total crypto market capitalization, which fell to about $2.880 trillion. CoinGlass data showed total liquidations exceeded $570 million over 24 hours, with roughly $186 million liquidated in a single hour. Long positions dominated the liquidations, and the largest single liquidation occurred on Binance, valued at nearly $12 million.
Analysts noted that resistance sat near $87,300 to $87,400, while support remained at $82,500. Trader Ted said a daily close above $87,500 could trigger a fast move toward $90,000, but another rejection could send Bitcoin back to retest $84,500. QCP Capital described the earlier rally as a concentrated flow trade and highlighted spot Bitcoin ETF inflows of about $2.6 billion in September. Sygnum Bank CIO Fabian Dori cautioned that weak jobs data is not automatically bullish, while Wincent's Paul Howard maintained a year-end target of $100,000 and referenced Citi's revised $113,000 target. 21Shares strategist Matt Mena added that the fourth quarter has historically been Bitcoin's strongest, averaging 62.7% gains.
