📉 Bitcoin Is Stuck - And That Might Be the Most Important Signal Right Now
Bitcoin isn’t breaking out… but it’s also not breaking down. $BTC has been moving in a tight range while stocks like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq do the same - and that kind of quiet usually means the market is waiting, not finished.
This sideways phase has been building since late November. We saw a bounce, a slightly higher low, a marginally higher high - and then price drifted right back into the middle of the range. No panic. No euphoria. Just digestion after the last big move.
Zooming out, the structure is very clear. On the upside, Bitcoin keeps getting rejected between $92,800 and $101,200. On the downside, buyers have defended $82,000–$85,200. As long as price stays inside this band, there’s no real trend - just range trading and patience.
Short-term action tells the same story. Attempts to hold above $91K–$92K keep fading, while support near $86.5K–$88.2K continues to absorb selling. Small swings, choppy moves, no follow-through - classic “waiting for confirmation” behavior.
To sum up, a clean break above resistance could open the door toward $97K–$98.5K, but until that happens, Bitcoin is likely to keep tracking broader markets and moving sideways. This isn’t a prediction phase - it’s a positioning phase, where levels matter more than narratives.
Michael Saylor’s “Big Orange” Post - Is Another $BTC Buy Coming?
Michael Saylor just dropped a familiar signal - and the market noticed. On January 11, he posted “Big Orange” on X, alongside data showing Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings valued at $61.25B, once again putting $BTC speculation back on the table.
Why This Post Has Traders Watching Closely
If you’ve followed Saylor for a while, you know this pattern. Short, cryptic posts like this have often appeared right before Strategy officially disclosed new Bitcoin purchases, usually the very next day.
Recent Strategy Buys Add Fuel to the Theory
The timing makes sense. Strategy has been actively accumulating $BTC in early January, buying 1,286 BTC on January 5 and another 1,283 BTC between January 1–4, both around the $88K–$90K range. Even smaller end-of-year buys kept the streak alive.
What This Could Mean Next
Nothing is confirmed yet - but history gives the hint weight. If another purchase is announced, it reinforces the same message: Strategy keeps treating pullbacks as opportunities, not risks, while other assets like $ETH remain secondary to its Bitcoin-first playbook.
Vitalik Buterin’s Ethereum Vision: Built Like the Internet, Not a Startup
This sounds subtle, but it’s a big idea. While $BTC proved digital scarcity works, Vitalik Buterin is focused on making Ethereum scale like global infrastructure - not a niche crypto product.
Buterin compares Ethereum to BitTorrent: a decentralized network that handles massive global demand without central control. His point is simple - Ethereum should do the same thing, but with consensus and coordination built in.
The deeper comparison is Linux. It’s open-source, neutral, and boring - yet it runs governments and enterprises worldwide. That’s the model Buterin sees for $ETH : infrastructure institutions use not because it’s “crypto,” but because it reduces risk.
Why this matters:
1. Institutions want lower counterparty risk, not ideology.
2. Open systems remove dependence on intermediaries.
3. Ethereum L1 aims to support finance, identity, and governance directly.
If Ethereum follows the Linux path, adoption won’t be loud. It’ll be quiet, widespread, and hard to replace - exactly how real infrastructure wins.
🔥 Ethereum Tightens on the Weekly - and the Next Move Won’t Be Small
With $BTC still setting the macro tone, Ethereum is entering a pressure zone on the weekly chart. ETH has spent years forming higher lows inside a rising channel, recently poked above long-term resistance - and got rejected. That rejection didn’t break the structure, but it did tighten the range. Price is compressing again, and this is the phase where patience matters more than prediction.
On the $ETH side, this looks more like compression than weakness. Fakeouts near major levels often flush late longs, reset leverage, and cool sentiment - setting the stage for the real move. As long as ETH holds its rising weekly support, the broader bullish structure stays intact. A clean weekly close above resistance could open the door toward the $6,500–$7,000 zone. Until then, expect volatility, noise, and false starts. The weekly close will decide - not intraday moves.
Hey! If you own more $BTC than the German government, hit 👍
No pressure though - sovereign-sized bags aren’t required. In crypto, even a small stack still makes you part of the same game… just with a lighter balance sheet 😌
📊 $2.2B in $BTC & ETH Options Expire Tomorrow — Markets Brace for Volatility
💼 Around $2.2 billion worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum options are set to expire on Deribit at 08:00 UTC tomorrow. The expiry comes as markets await a Supreme Court ruling on Trump-era tariffs, creating a mix of macro uncertainty and derivatives-driven pressure that could shape short-term price action.
🟠 Why $BTC May Stay Below $90,000 Bitcoin dominates the expiry with roughly $1.84B in notional value. The put-to-call ratio near 1.05 signals a cautious but slightly optimistic stance. Max pain sits around $90,000, while a large cluster of put options is positioned below $85,000.
📌 Call interest is building between $90,000–$100,000, increasing pin risk around the $90K level. This setup often keeps spot prices near max pain until contracts settle, suggesting BTC may remain range-bound until expiry. Historically, sharper moves tend to follow once options pressure is removed.
🟣 Ethereum Options Point to Post-Expiry Strength $ETH options paint a more constructive picture. About $384M in notional value is expiring, with a put-to-call ratio of ~0.89, indicating stronger bullish positioning. Max pain is near $3,100, with calls concentrated above $3,000.
🚀 If ETH holds above the max-pain level, shifting hedging dynamics after expiry could support further upside. Despite options-related pressure, Ethereum has held key levels — increasing the likelihood of a continuation higher once expiry passes.
📉 Why Bitcoin Is Unlikely to Hit a New ATH in 2026
Bitcoin is starting 2026 in a pretty uncomfortable place. Price isn’t collapsing, but it’s not breaking out either - it’s stuck in a tug-of-war between buyers and sellers.
Analyst Keith Alan says a move back toward $87,500 is likely at some point. Right now, bulls are trying to hold support near $92,000, but the order book suggests bigger players are fine letting price dip first and “check” that level.
The logic is simple. Before $BTC can really run again, the market may need one more cleanup. A proper support test, some weak hands shaken out - and only then a daily Golden Cross could kick off the next rally.
When you zoom out, the message stays cautious. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum are sitting at key decision points, and new all-time highs may be more of a 2027 story than a 2026 one. Not bearish - just not the final leg yet.
Opened the charts today and - surprise - green everywhere. After a rough finish to 2025, crypto is kicking off the new year with energy, pushing the total market cap back toward $3.29T in just 24 hours.
This isn’t a random pump. When $BTC , ETH, and major alts all move together, it usually signals confidence returning. The market is up roughly 1.2% on the day, with most top coins trading higher at the same time.
Bitcoin is leading the reset. Price rebounded to around $93,400, up about 8% in five days, adding roughly $135B in market value. Over $500M in short positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours, forcing bearish traders to exit fast and fueling the bounce.
Ethereum followed with strength of its own. ETH is trading near $3,280, up more than 10% this week, helped by about $168M in net inflows into spot ETH ETFs - a clear sign institutions are stepping back in.
And XRP? It stole the show. Trading near $2.37, $XRP is up almost 11% in a day and over 27% on the week, with volumes jumping past $8B. When sentiment flips and shorts get squeezed, moves like this can happen fast - and XRP is feeling it today.
America announced plans to build a Bitcoin reserve - then quietly did the opposite. And yes, it all comes back to $BTC . That contradiction is now sparking serious questions about whether federal agencies are actually following the White House’s strategy.
Reports suggest the U.S. Marshals Service sold roughly 57.55 BTC (about $6.3M) seized in the Samourai Wallet case, despite guidance to hold confiscated Bitcoin. On-chain data shows the funds moved to a Coinbase Prime address that now has a zero balance - raising a simple question: is the U.S. stacking Bitcoin, or still selling it at the first chance.
Strategy just added 1,229 $BTC , spending about $108.8M at an average price near $88,568. The move pushed its 2025 BTC yield to 23.2% YTD and shows continued conviction despite recent volatility in BTC.
As of Dec 30, 2025, the company now holds 672,497 BTC, acquired for roughly $50.44B at an average cost of $74,997 per coin. Long-term accumulation remains the core strategy.
🇯🇵 Bank of Japan Signals 2026 Rate Cut - Why Crypto Is Paying Attention
The Bank of Japan is hinting at a rate cut in January 2026, even as the yen keeps sliding. Moves like this often ripple into global risk markets - including $BTC .
We’ve seen it before 📉
Past BOJ policy shifts triggered sharp swings, with Bitcoin dropping 20–25% after some decisions. Earlier this month, a BOJ move sent BTC down nearly 5% in one day.
But expectations matter
When policy changes are widely anticipated, volatility tends to be limited. A lot of the fear gets priced in before the headline hits.
Zooming out
Loose monetary policy usually pushes investors to look for value protection. In those periods, $BTC often re-enters the conversation as a hedge against currency weakness.