XRP, Bitcoin Stall Ahead of Crunch Jobs Report. But This Can Reignite the Crypto Rally. — Barrons.com

By Elsa OhlenStrong economic data and the prospect of fewer-than-expected interest rate cuts this year are worrying crypto investors. Friday's jobs report will likely be another driver of Bitcoin, XRP and the price of other digital coins.Bitcoin clawed back some of the past month's losses over the last 24 hours and is up 1.3% to $94,740, according to CoinDesk data. The price of the world's largest crypto is down more than 10% since the Federal Reserve's last meeting on Dec. 18, which had a hawkish tone.That, and hotter-than-expected PMI and labor market data on Tuesday drove recent Bitcoin losses, Bitbank crypto analyst Yuya Hasegawa noted. Unless Friday's jobs data "exceeds market expectations significantly, bitcoin could continue recovering and end the week above $95k. If otherwise, there is a risk that bitcoin dips below $92k again."XRP, the digital coin used to facilitate and settle transactions on Ripple's payment platform, is down 0.4% over the last 25 hours to $2.31.Other altcoins were moving modestly, too. Ether is down 0.7% and Dogecoin up 0.6%, and Solana trading flat.However, crypto's postelection rally meant that major cryptos are still firmly in the green since Nov. 5, helped by hopes that president-elect Donald Trump, who is seen as having a positive outlook toward cryptos, will deliver policies to boost the "digital gold."Write to Elsa Ohlen at [email protected] content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.