Over the past week, the crypto market experienced a mix of volatility, cautious optimism, and selective strength across major assets. Bitcoin saw early buying interest but struggled to sustain momentum near key resistance levels, leading to pullbacks and consolidation as traders focused on critical support zones. Ethereum outperformed on a relative basis, posting gains driven by improving spot demand and rising activity in derivatives markets, though it continued to face overhead resistance that capped upside. Broader market sentiment remained fragile, with risk appetite subdued amid macro uncertainty and positioning adjustments after the year-end period. Despite this, institutional signals showed improvement, including renewed inflows into crypto investment products and higher trading volumes across major exchanges. On-chain data suggested steady network activity, even as fee generation softened, highlighting a market in transition rather than decline. Overall, last week reflected a market stabilizing after a volatile end to 2025—balancing lingering caution with early signs that confidence may gradually rebuild as 2026 unfolds.

Bitcoin’s early-year rally faced strong resistance near $93,000, triggering a pullback that shifted market focus back to key support zones. The rejection pushed BTC down to weekly lows around $89,250, reviving the possibility of consolidation or further downside in line with the broader higher-timeframe (HTF) trend. However, the lower-timeframe (LTF) structure still allows room for a bullish response. Bitcoin is currently testing a key order block between $89,200 and $90,500, marking the first area where buyers may look for fresh long opportunities if momentum turns positive. Supporting this setup, BTC continues to trade above the monthly rolling VWAP, which flipped bullish at the start of 2026. Derivatives data further strengthens the case: as price dipped from $92,000 to $90,000, open interest rose sharply, suggesting an increase in short positioning.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $697 million in inflows on the second trading day of 2026, bringing total net inflows to over $1.1 billion across the first two trading sessions of the year, according to data from Farside Investors. The renewed demand marks a positive shift in investor sentiment, following two consecutive months of net outflows from spot Bitcoin ETFs. In November, the funds saw $3.48 billion in outflows, followed by an additional $1.09 billion in December. The strong start to 2026 suggests a return of institutional interest, offering support to Bitcoin (BTC) after a period of consolidation and cautious positioning toward the end of last year.

Ether’s 10% rise in January has refocused analyst attention on the daily chart, where the broader price structure points to higher levels—provided a key daily trend is reclaimed. Order-flow data supports the recovery narrative. Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD), which measures the net difference between market buy and sell orders, has been trending higher across both spot and futures markets over the past three weeks. Rising CVD reflects taker-buy dominance, indicating that aggressive buyers are driving price action rather than passive accumulation or short covering. When spot and futures CVD align, it typically signals genuine buying conviction. However, positioning by larger players remains cautious. Whale wallets ($100,000–$10 million) recorded a negative $40 million cumulative delta this week, pointing to net selling. In contrast, retail traders ($1,000–$10,000) and mid-sized participants ($10,000–$100,000) posted modest positive deltas of $3.4 million and $28 million, respectively, over the past six days. This divergence suggests Ether’s recent recovery is being driven primarily by smaller participants rather than large institutional flows. The next key test lies at the 200-day EMA. A sustained break above this level could encourage larger players to re-enter, while failure may result in price stalling below resistance.

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Technical Outlook

BTC

BTC witnessed a sharp fall after making the all-time high of $126,199. The price plunged almost 36%, reaching a low of $80,600. The asset took support at $80,000, and the lower longer shadow around $80,000 indicated buying at these levels. Post this move, BTC gave a relief rally of 17% up to $94,588. Currently, the asset is consolidating and trading sideways in a range from $84,000 to $94,000 with declining volumes. Breakouts on either side of the range will further decide the trend for the asset. To witness a rally, it needs to break and sustain above the key resistance levels of $95,000 and $100,000.

ETH

ETH, after making the new all-time high of $4,956, witnessed a sharp fall, plunging almost 39% to $3,054. The asset tried to take support at the psychological level of $3,000 and started consolidating in a range. ETH finally gave a breakout below the range, and the price made a recent low of $2,623. The asset did not close below the support level of $2,725 (61.8% Fibonacci Retracement Level) and gave a relief rally up to $3,447. The asset did not break the resistance of $3,500 and corrected again. Currently, ETH is consolidating and trading in a range from $2,950 to $3,300.

SOL

SOL, after making a high of $253.5, started trading in a ‘Descending Channel’ pattern, and the price plunged almost 53.5%, reaching a recent low of $116.88. The asset is taking strong support at $120 and is trading in a broad range from $120 to $145. Breakouts on either side of the range with good volumes will further decide the trend for the asset.

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Weekly Snapshot

Market Updates

• Stablecoin payment flows could tap $56.6 trillion by 2030, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, a rise that would make stablecoins one of the most important payment tools in global finance.
• Morgan Stanley plans to launch a digital asset wallet in 2026 as the financial services giant continues expanding its crypto investment product offerings to clients. The wallet is built to support cryptocurrencies and real-world tokenized assets (RWAs), including stocks, bonds, and real estate, with plans to support more assets over time.
• Binance launched new perpetual futures contracts tied to gold and silver, expanding the crypto exchange’s derivatives offering beyond digital assets as demand grows for exposure to traditional safe-haven markets.

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