13th January 2026 – (New York) A broad risk-on rally lifted major equity benchmarks over the past week — led by a 4.6% jump in the Russell 2000 and gains in the Nasdaq and S&P 500 — but cryptocurrencies underperformed. Bitcoin slipped about 2.6% over seven days, with intraday moves leaving BTC down roughly 1.9% and Ether off 3.4%. In contrast, a handful of altcoins, including Solana, TRON and Monero, notched gains of more than 2%, while rotation also favoured XRP and mid-cap names, according to market maker Wintermute.
Traditional havens advanced as the US dollar eased, with gold and Treasuries firmer. Brent crude edged higher on supply jitters tied to geopolitics.
Price action in Bitcoin remained tightly coiled. Wintermute OTC trader Jasper De Maere noted BTC’s early-week push from the high-$80,000s to a brief peak near $94,700 before sellers capped the move. By midweek, price dipped beneath $90,000, bottoming around $89,200 and later stabilising close to $91,000. Ether traced a similar arc, rising toward $3,220 before retreating to roughly $3,080.
Wintermute characterised $89,000-$90,000 as support and $94,000-$95,000 as resistance, highlighting an unusually compressed range that has persisted since late November. The 30‑day trading band now sits in the 91st percentile for narrowness, a pattern consistent with consolidation phases marked by slower ownership turnover and muted volatility. Historically, three out of four comparable compressions saw positive 90‑day forward returns for BTC.
Flows in crypto exchange-traded products swung sharply. The week began with robust inflows — about $471 million on 2 January and $697 million on 5 January, the strongest daily tally since October — before momentum reversed. Roughly $250 million exited on Tuesday, $485 million on Wednesday and $400 million on Thursday. Net, more than $1.1 billion left Bitcoin ETFs, largely offsetting early-week inflows, while ETH funds saw around $260 million in redemptions. Jasper described the move as profit-taking rather than stress, citing orderly volumes and a lack of panic.
Meanwhile, select altcoin vehicles gathered capital, with XRP, SOL and DOGE products attracting roughly $100 million combined. Wintermute cautioned that outperformance was concentrated in names with ETF-related flows or specific catalysts, and consensus remains that BTC leadership is needed before broader risk rotates down the curve.
On-chain signals point to patience rather than defensiveness. With Wednesday’s CPI print (consensus 2.7%) and steady-rate messaging from the Federal Reserve in focus — as well as the U.S. Senate Banking Committee’s planned markup of the CLARITY Act on 15 January — exchange inflows of Bitcoin have stayed subdued, according to XWIN Research Japan. Spent Output Profit Ratio (SOPR) hovers around or just below 1, indicating muted profit-taking and low on-chain spending. In short, coins are not moving; investors appear to be waiting for regulatory clarity while BTC holds its compressed range.
