Bitcoin At a Crossroads

DAILY MARKET OVERVIEW

Between Hope and Hesitation

👋 Hey, Crypto Enthusiasts! The market is catching its breath after an exciting push higher, and now all eyes are on whether this pause turns into a dip or the setup for the next leg up.

Bitcoin hit resistance near $98k and has since cooled off, hovering around the $95k area. This short-term pause isn’t a surprise after such a strong move.

ETF flows slowed down noticeably today, but they’re still positive overall.

🌍 On the macro side, tensions between the US and Iran are heating up, and that could spark volatility across risk markets, including crypto.

For now, a move lower toward the $91k–$92k zone looks likely. That would still keep the long-term $100k target alive. However, a deeper dip toward $89k would make that path much harder and raise red flags for the bulls.

⚖️ Legal and political drama also hit. Coinbase pulled its support for the CLARITY Act just hours before a key Senate vote, forcing the markup to be postponed.

CEO Brian Armstrong said the bill would be worse than current law and could kill several Coinbase products. He criticized restrictions on stablecoin rewards, DeFi rules, tokenized equity treatment, and expanded SEC powers, accusing banks of trying to block competition. The move split the crypto industry and sent lawmakers back to the drawing board.

🧠 Another narrative gaining attention is quantum computing risk. Jefferies strategist Christopher Wood removed a 10% Bitcoin allocation from his model portfolio, citing fears that future quantum computers could break Bitcoin’s cryptography. He moved those funds into physical gold and gold mining stocks.

Wood pointed to studies suggesting 20% to 50% of circulating Bitcoin could be vulnerable in a quantum future, especially coins in reused or early-era addresses. As quantum hardware advances, more firms and governments are starting to treat this risk seriously.

Putting it all together: Bitcoin is pausing, ETF flows are slowing, geopolitical risk is rising, and new long-term fears are entering the conversation. Short-term, $91k is the key level to watch.

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SOCIAL SENTIMENT

Relief, But Not Conviction

🟢 After weeks of extreme fear, sentiment has finally crawled back into neutral and even slightly into greed territory.

We’ve seen strong short-squeeze style rallies in coins like Pepe, Bonk, Virtual, Bera, and others.

Privacy coins are also shining. Monero has been extremely strong, with Dash and others posting big gains as well.

Revenue and buyback-style protocols like Rollbit and Pump are also showing renewed strength.

So yes, relief rallies are here. But can they stick ❓️ 

That still depends on Bitcoin. If it fails to hold above $91k, the downtrend likely continues and drags altcoins with it. This makes the current zone one of the trickiest spots we’ve seen in weeks.

NEWS OVERVIEW

The Latest Crypto Headlines 📰 

Interactive Brokers Enables 24/7 Trading With USDC
Interactive Brokers now allows round-the-clock account funding using USDC, unlocking 24/7 trading and planning to add Ripple and PayPal stablecoins next.

Google Play Blocks Overseas Crypto Exchanges in South Korea
Google Play will remove unregistered foreign crypto exchange apps in South Korea starting January 28, affecting major global platforms used by local traders.

US Senate Crypto Bill Still in Play
Despite a delayed vote, lawmakers say negotiations on a sweeping crypto regulation bill are ongoing and closer to agreement than before.

X API Ban Sends Kaito Token Lower
X blocked apps that pay users for posting, cutting off InfoFi projects and triggering a sharp drop in Kaito’s token price.

YOUTUBE INFLUENCER SUMMARY

Summary From The Top Influencers 📷️ 

Benjamin Cowen – Bitcoin: Dubious Speculation (16.01.2026 Summary)

Cowen’s main point is simple, Bitcoin going up right now doesn’t automatically mean the bull market is back. He thinks what we’re seeing looks very similar to past cycles where price rallied briefly, then rolled over again.

Key points (explained plainly)

• Bitcoin is bouncing, but Cowen thinks this is the kind of bounce you see during a downtrend, not the start of something new

• In past cycles, real bull markets ended with excitement and hype, this time the market topped out while people were already bored and disengaged

• That same “apathy top” happened in 2019, and the current setup looks almost identical

• Even with lots of positive news, Bitcoin mostly follows liquidity, and right now liquidity isn’t strong enough

• Institutions have been buying Bitcoin, but retail is basically gone, and without new people coming in, rallies don’t last

• That’s why altcoins haven’t moved, there’s no fresh money to rotate into them

• Bitcoin is actually underperforming stocks right now, which is something Cowen also saw in 2019

• Stablecoin dominance going up tells him people are parking money on the sidelines, not taking risk

• Rallies can still happen, but Cowen sees them as short-term trading moves, not long-term trend changes

What would make him change his mind

• If Bitcoin can move above the 50-week moving average and stay there for a few weeks, not just poke above it and fall back down

Takeaway

Cowen’s view is cautious but not bearish forever. Long term, he’s still bullish on Bitcoin. Short term, he thinks patience matters more than chasing rallies, because this looks like a market that’s still cooling off, not heating up.

Altcoin Daily – Crypto is Absolutely Done (16.01.2026 Summary)

Altcoin Daily breaks down why the most important US crypto market structure bill just stalled, and why this isn’t a small setback but a serious win for banks and a delay for crypto progress.

Key points (explained simply)

• The crypto market structure bill was postponed at the last minute because too many problems showed up in the final draft

• Major crypto players like Coinbase refused to support it, saying the bill would actually hurt consumers

• One big issue was stablecoin rewards, banks pushed hard to ban them so crypto couldn’t compete with bank deposits

• Bank CEOs openly admitted they fear trillions of dollars could move from banks into stablecoins if crypto is allowed to compete

• The bill also raised serious concerns around privacy, government access to financial data, and overreach by regulators

• Another red flag was language that could block tokenized stocks, even though traditional finance is actively moving in that direction

• The overall feeling is that banks don’t need to “win”, they just need to delay, keeping the current system unchanged

• Because of the delay, meaningful crypto regulation may now take much longer, possibly past this political cycle

Market impact

• Even bullish news around Ethereum adoption and big partnerships couldn’t offset the negative reaction to the legislation failing

• The market clearly cared more about regulation than hype or individual announcements

Takeaway

Altcoin Daily’s message is blunt, this wasn’t crypto losing a fair fight, it was banks using influence to slow everything down. The longer regulation is delayed, the longer traditional finance keeps its advantage, and that’s the real setback for crypto right now.

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