Trading

On January 19, Bitcoin fell toward $92,000 and Ether slipped below $3,200 as liquidations hit a yearly high, according to Coinglass. CoinGecko showed total crypto market cap at $3.217 trillion, down more than $100 billion in 24 hours, while geopolitical headlines and elevated leverage pressured risk sentiment.

Early Monday, XRP fell below $2.00, touched $1.84, and later hovered near $1.97, marking a decline of over 23% from its January 6 high of $2.41. The move coincided with BTC dropping from above $95,000 to under $92,000. An analyst says XRP must hold $1.9750 to regain upside momentum.

On January 15, the China Securities Regulatory Commission outlined steps to curb speculation and, last week, lifted margin funding requirements on all mainland exchanges to 100% from 80%, with the change effective on Monday. The adjustment covers only new contracts and follows early‑2026 gains led by AI and space themes, with mainland tech shares trading about 40% above Nasdaq 100 peers.

According to SoSoValue, large institutional investors have funneled a net $1.2 billion into U.S.-listed Bitcoin spot ETFs this month while scaling back traditional cash-and-carry arbitrage trades. As CME Bitcoin futures open interest climbs and the basis shrinks, these inflows point to a stronger tilt toward long-term bullish exposure amid low implied volatility.

A Bitcoin analyst known as PlanB argued that gold's roughly $10 trillion market cap increase last year could create profits that some investors might rotate into Bitcoin. Commentators note that even a small shift of these gains could move Bitcoin's price because the crypto market is smaller and more volatile than gold. Another analyst, Janey, projected that spot gold could break to a new high and potentially target $4,700 as the current consolidation holds above support.

BTCC processed $5.72 billion in tokenized gold trades in 2025, with fourth-quarter volume at $2.74 billion. From the first to the fourth quarter, activity rose 809%, and Q4 represented 48% of the year alongside a 130% quarter-over-quarter increase. GOLDUSDT, PAXGUSDT, and XAUTUSDT were major drivers, while tokenized gold's market cap climbed 177% to $4.4 billion, according to CEX.IO.

Bitcoin traded around $95,000 at press time, according to TradingView, after rebounding from the $91,000–$92,000 demand zone. Liquidity gauges highlighted on X show the Global Liquidity Index at a new cycle high, while CryptoQuant's UTXO age bands indicate short‑term holders are in profit and risk is being redistributed toward mid‑term cohorts. Immediate resistance lies at $97,000–$98,000.

Binance has restored direct bank transfers and PayID deposits and withdrawals for Australian users, roughly two years after being cut off from local banking. As of last Friday, the rollout resumed and began with a small cohort last year, according to a Monday press release. The exchange partnered with Bolt Financial Group to provide the new fiat rails.

Bitcoin futures open interest showed a cautious rebound in January after last quarter's sharp deleveraging, signaling tentative risk appetite returning to derivatives. Despite the improvement, OI remains well below prior highs, while options activity has overtaken futures, hinting at a shift toward strategies that reduce forced liquidations.

Bitcoin's latest drop unfolded with unusually tight dispersion across major spot venues and stable session extremes. More than $500 million in long positions were liquidated in roughly sixty minutes across derivatives markets. The move looked dramatic, yet order books and arbitrage activity appeared orderly.