Bitcoin holds firm despite “extreme fear” and a red-hot employment print.

Bitcoin edged higher after January’s U.S. payrolls report beat expectations, even as the details pointed to uneven hiring across the economy.

The cryptocurrency was trading near $67,800, modestly up on the session, as markets digested the stronger-than-forecast employment data without triggering an immediate risk-off reaction. The restrained response is being interpreted by some traders as evidence of diminishing sell pressure and a gradual return of risk appetite, despite a still-challenging macro environment.

The U.S. added 130,000 jobs in January, far surpassing projections of 70,000. The upside surprise reduced the likelihood of a near-term interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve, with market participants now pushing expectations for policy easing toward midyear.

Typically, firmer labor data and fading rate-cut hopes would weigh on speculative assets such as cryptocurrencies. However, the report showed that most of the job gains were concentrated in health care and a narrow group of related sectors, while broader hiring activity was largely flat. That nuance suggests the headline strength may be masking signs of cooling elsewhere in the economy.

Bitcoin’s ability to hold steady stands in contrast to deeply negative sentiment indicators. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index has dropped to 5, its lowest level since the 2022 collapse of FTX, underscoring the gap between investor mood and price stability.

Derivatives market signals

Positioning data suggests bearish momentum may be stabilizing. Open interest remains around $15.8 billion, and perpetual futures funding rates have shifted back toward neutral or slightly positive territory.

Funding trends are strongest on Bybit and Binance, while Hyperliquid continues to reflect more cautious positioning. Still, the three-month futures basis is hovering near 2%, indicating that institutional investors have yet to fully embrace the rebound in retail-driven sentiment.

In the options market, caution remains elevated. The one-week 25-delta skew has fallen to 19%, with put options accounting for more than half of the past 24 hours’ volume. Meanwhile, implied volatility has moved into short-term backwardation, signaling that traders are paying a premium for near-term downside protection.

Liquidation data from Coinglass shows $342 million in positions were wiped out over the last 24 hours, split nearly evenly between longs and shorts. Bitcoin led the tally, followed by ether and a range of other tokens. Binance’s liquidation heatmap highlights $68,800 as a key upside level that could trigger additional forced buying if breached.

Institutional expansion into DeFi

In a separate development, BlackRock is extending its reach into decentralized finance by bringing its $2.2 billion tokenized U.S. Treasury fund, BUIDL, to Uniswap. The move enables DeFi participants to access tokenized Treasury yields through the decentralized exchange.

The listing marks the first time the asset management giant has launched a tokenized product on a decentralized platform. BlackRock also revealed a strategic investment in Uniswap and purchased an undisclosed amount of UNI, the protocol’s governance token.

UNI jumped sharply on the news before giving back part of its gains, reflecting heightened investor interest. The transaction appears to represent the first direct investment in a DeFi governance token by a major traditional financial institution.

To facilitate the rollout, BlackRock partnered with Uniswap Labs and compliance firm Securitize. Trades in BUIDL will be executed via UniswapX, an offchain quoting system that sources pricing from approved market makers before settling transactions onchain.

Access to the product is limited to qualified investors vetted by Securitize to ensure compliance with U.S. securities laws.

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