Most cryptocurrencies declined on Thursday as risk appetite weakened across markets amid renewed concerns over the US labor market.

Data released by Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed that US job cuts surged by 183% month-over-month in October, raising fears about labor market stability. As a result, expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut in December rose to 70%, up from 62% yesterday, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee expressed caution on Thursday regarding the path forward for rate cuts, noting that the ongoing government shutdown has halted the release of core inflation data, making it difficult to accurately assess price trends.

Meanwhile, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said she remains concerned that current monetary policy may not be properly calibrated to address ongoing inflationary pressures.

Ethereum

As of 20:37 GMT, Ethereum fell 4.4% to $3,309.7 on CoinMarketCap.

The rapid rise of artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure has made data centers the fastest-growing source of electricity demand in North America. As grid operators and policymakers race to keep pace with this surge, energy providers face a historic opportunity to unlock new avenues of growth and revenue.

The First Challenge: Capacity Bottlenecks

Data center developers are working under tight timelines to secure power, while interconnection queues for new generation or transmission projects can stretch for years. To overcome these hurdles, some operators have begun building their own substations or developing on-site generation facilities to accelerate supply.

For energy providers, this race against time creates opportunities to deliver flexible, fast-deployable power solutions such as gas turbines, reciprocating engines, and energy storage systems.

The Second Challenge: Grid Stability

Data centers are highly sensitive to even minor voltage fluctuations, and several incidents have already caused significant load disruptions. In response, regulators are tightening reliability standards, while the industry invests in backup systems and advanced on-site grid technologies.

These developments pave the way for a new concept — “Stability as a Service” — where energy providers can offer reliability and stability solutions alongside traditional power supply.

The Third Challenge: Cost Pressures

As utilities expand their networks to meet rising demand, the cost of new infrastructure is putting pressure on electricity prices across all customer segments. Policymakers are exploring new cost-recovery models to protect consumers, but large industrial users are already turning to behind-the-meter generation to reduce costs and achieve greater price stability.

This shift, in turn, is creating growing demand for integrated on-site energy solutions that combine reliability, affordability, and sustainability.

Outlook

The growth of data centers is reshaping North America’s energy landscape faster than power grids and regulatory frameworks can adapt. Companies capable of providing rapid, innovative, and cost-efficient solutions will be best positioned to benefit from this wave.

In the longer term, carbon capture, energy storage, and renewable integration will become essential components for sustaining growth in a world moving toward lower emissions.

Palladium prices fell sharply on Thursday, despite a weaker U.S. dollar against most major currencies, as investors assessed the recently announced trade truce between the United States and China.

According to Capital.com, palladium prices have surged about 26% since the beginning of October to around $1,500 per ounce. This rally has coincided with gains in the platinum market and a broader easing in global financial conditions.

Bets on potential U.S. interest rate cuts and a softer dollar have further supported palladium’s rise, as part of the broader “gold + liquidity wave” driving precious metals higher.

Palladium is used almost exclusively in catalytic converters for gasoline engines, meaning U.S. automakers and electronics manufacturers could face significant cost volatility.

Technical analysis from Monex shows a resistance zone between $1,500 and $1,520 per ounce, with expectations that the overall trend remains upward but with volatile trading in the near term.

Analysts at CPM Group said the recent strength in palladium is “closely linked to platinum’s performance,” while warning that a weakening U.S. labor market and persistent inflation could hinder demand growth.

Despite the announcement of a trade truce between Washington and Beijing, comments from U.S. officials suggest tensions remain unresolved. The U.S. Treasury Secretary described China as an “unreliable trading partner,” while President Donald Trump stated that his administration would not allow exports of advanced Nvidia chips to China or other countries.

Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar index fell 0.3% to 99.8 points by 15:48 GMT, after reaching an intraday high of 100.1 and a low of 99.7.

At the same time, December palladium futures dropped 3.7% to $1,397 per ounce.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) rose again above the $100,000 mark, supported by upbeat employment data that boosted market sentiment, even as the cryptocurrency continues to trade below its record highs.

The token gained 1.5% to $103,195 on Thursday morning, recovering from a sharp early-week decline. However, prices remain well below the all-time high of $126,000 reached in early October.

In a note released Thursday, analysts at Deutsche Bank said that “risk-on sentiment” returned to the markets over the past day, as the S&P 500 index climbed 0.4% on Wednesday, rebounding from the previous session’s sell-off.

The bank added that “stronger-than-expected data, along with growing expectations that the U.S. government shutdown could soon end, helped improve investor optimism over the short-term outlook,” which in turn stabilized bitcoin after recent losses.

An ADP report showed that the U.S. private sector added 42,000 jobs in October — its first monthly increase since July.

Bitcoin had fallen earlier in the week amid investor concerns over the U.S. government shutdown and slowing economic growth.

Sean Farrell, head of digital asset strategy at Fundstrat, said Monday that selling pressure from “whales” — large bitcoin holders — has increased in recent weeks, noting that billions of dollars worth of bitcoin were recently moved from private wallets to exchanges in preparation for liquidation.

Simon Peters, crypto market analyst at eToro, commented Wednesday that bitcoin’s latest pullback followed the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, where Fed Chair Jerome Powell dampened expectations for a December rate cut.

The U.S. Federal Reserve had lowered interest rates last week by 25 basis points to a range of 3.75%–4.00%, but Powell said during the post-meeting press conference that another reduction in December “is far from certain,” lowering market hopes for additional easing next month.

Peters added that roughly $915 million in leveraged bitcoin positions have been liquidated since early November, contributing to the recent decline.

“While the pullback may unsettle some investors, this level of volatility is not unusual,” he said, noting that bitcoin has previously seen drops of over 30%, such as the fall between January and April this year when prices plunged from $109,000 to $74,500 before surging 70% to a record high of $126,300.

Peters concluded that “bitcoin remains in a long-term uptrend, forming higher highs and higher lows,” adding that short-term catalysts — such as renewed expectations for rate cuts or continued inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs — could quickly trigger a sharp recovery.