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Crypto markets are mostly lower today as momentum fades and analysts flag a key range for Bitcoin.
Crypto markets pulled back slightly on Friday morning, Jan. 16, giving up some recent gains after a short-lived rally earlier this week.
As of press time, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading around $94,700, down about 1.2% on the day, after reaching over $96,900 in the past 24 hours. Despite the downturn, BTC is still up over 4% on the week, rising out of the holiday doldrums.
Total crypto market capitalization fell to roughly $3.3 trillion, slipping 1.7% on the day.
All of the top-10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization were slightly lower on the day, with Dogecoin (DOGE) losing the most in 24 hours, down 4%.
Ethereum (ETH) is down 1.8% today, but still posting weekly gains of 5.5%, trading above $3,365 at press time.
BTC at Key Inflection Point
In a post on X today, glassnode analyst Chris Beamish said Bitcoin is nearing a “key inflexion point,” adding that the BTC price reclaiming the short-term holder cost basis “would signal that recent buyers are back in profit, typically a prerequisite for momentum to re-accelerate. “
At the same time, in another X post glassnode analysts pointed to growing activity on Ethereum, saying a sharp rise in month-over-month retention among new users is signaling a “wave of first-time wallets interacting with the network rather than activity driven only by existing participants.”
Mike Marshall, head of research at blockchain analytics firm Amberdata, said several signals still look constructive beneath the surface.
“Bitcoin’s price movement appears driven by a convergence of on-chain and market-structure signals,” Marshall said in commentary shared with The Defiant.
Marshall also pointed to recent stablecoin minting, signs that ETF outflows are slowing, and derivatives markets showing accumulation, while warning that “portfolio rotations and broader macro uncertainty could introduce volatility” later in Q1.
Big Movers and Liquidations
Looking at the top-100 assets by market cap, privacy-focused cryptocurrency DASH led gains again, rising about 15% today, following its recent 50% rally. The next biggest gainer today is SKY, which is up roughly 4.8% on the day, according to CoinGecko.
On the downside, POL (ex-MATIC) dropped around 8% after its recent rally, making today’s biggest loser among the top-100 crypto assets.
Liquidations remained relatively muted over the past 24 hours with total crypto liquidations reaching roughly $239 million, per Coinglass data. Long positions made up $181 million, compared with $58 million in short ones.
Bitcoin liquidations totaled about $62.5 million, followed by Ethereum at roughly $38 million, with another $31 million across altcoins.
ETFs and Macro Conditions
On Thursday, Jan. 15, spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $100.2 million, bringing cumulative inflows to $58.2 billion, per data from SoSoValue.
Meanwhile, spot Ethereum ETFs continued to see stronger demand, posting $164.4 million in net inflows on the day, while total net assets across spot Ethereum ETFs climbed to about $20.4 billion.
On the macro side, U.S. Treasury yields were mixed, with the 10-year around 4.18% and the 30-year near 4.8%, as markets stayed on edge over geopolitical concerns, including U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed push to take control of Greenland, per CNBC.
According to the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, import prices rose 0.4% between September and November, even as imported fuel prices fell 2.5% over the same period.
In terms of geopolitical moves, traders were also eyeing Canada’s deepening ties with China. Prime Minister Mark Carney said today that Canada is moving toward a “new strategic partnership” with Beijing, signaling a break from the U.S. on tariffs amid what he described as a shifting global order, Bloomberg reports.
“I’m extremely pleased that we are moving ahead with our new strategic partnership,” Carney said during meetings with China President Xi Jinping, framing the move as preparation for what he called a “new world order.”