Altcoins gained momentum as Bitcoin’s dominance weakened and Ethereum emerged as a key driver of sentiment, with ETH/BTC trading at 0.03484. The Altcoin Season Index fell to 35 while Total 2 formed an ascending triangle around $1.29 trillion, and several privacy-focused altcoins recorded outsized gains.

Ethereum recorded nearly 8 million active addresses and a new peak in network usage on 17 January, alongside transaction fees at all-time lows. Despite this on-chain growth, ETH remained capped below its 200-day EMA, with price action hovering around a symmetrical triangle and key resistance levels between $3,800 and $4,000 in focus.

As the January 2026 FOMC meeting nears, markets assign a 5% chance of a 25 bps rate cut and a 95% likelihood of no change. U.S. inflation cooled to 2.7% at end‑2025, while January 15 initial jobless claims were 198,000 and December added 50,000 jobs. Elevated rates continue to pressure Bitcoin and other crypto.

Ethereum has gained over 12.73% since the start of the year and was trading near $3,333 while testing the $3,450 resistance level. Despite whale trader James Wynn closing his ETH and PEPE longs and withdrawing funds from Hyperliquid, on-chain metrics like rising Taker Buy Dominance and a strong MACD still point to sustained buying interest. Technical indicators, including an RSI around 63.19, suggest the uptrend could continue if ETH holds the $3,200–$3,400 range, with a possible move toward $4,000 if $3,450 is broken.

On 12 January, a whale's 1x long in LIT slid into a $1.8 million floating loss, while Lighter's daily revenue printed just $8,450. Futures open interest showed signs of recovery alongside rising volume, and a liquidity cluster sits just above the $2.7 level, which could offer support if price breaks through with momentum.

On January 11, BNB Foundation invested $200K across four Chinese-themed memecoins, allocating $50K to each. According to CoinMarketCap, $币安人生 rose 26.56% in 24 hours after the announcement. The Fermi Hard Fork is scheduled for January 14, and per X, it will reduce BNB Smart Chain block times from 0.75 to 0.45 seconds.

In 2025, Bitcoin ended the year in negative territory for the third time, leading traders to question whether its long-observed 4-year cycle is breaking down. CZ has highlighted a potential "super cycle", pointing to Wells Fargo's $383 million Bitcoin purchase in January 2026 and easing U.S. regulatory priorities as key drivers. While some analysts expect a topping pattern and bear market, others argue the long-term structure remains intact, with the next cycle low possibly arriving in October 2026.

In 2026, Solana’s price action was increasingly driven by ETF inflows and renewed whale accumulation, even as key support zones came under pressure. The network processed around eight times more Daily Transactions than major rivals, while SOL traded near $136 on 10 January with downside levels flagged at $122 and $102. Clustered liquidity below $120 and weakening RSI and MACD pointed to rising downside risks if those supports failed.

Bitcoin surged to $93,000, a yearly high, after whales accumulated over $3.5 billion within 10 hours on the 5th of January. ETFs logged their strongest inflows since October, while trader James Wynn raised a $14 million BTC long at 40x leverage with over $750K unrealized gains, leaving the rally's sustainability in focus.