News & Digests

The cryptocurrency market staged a significant recovery during Week 5 of 2026, with total market capitalization climbing from $3.05 trillion to $3.32 trillion, representing an 8.9% weekly gain. Bitcoin rebounded sharply from its January 26 low of $83,300 to trade near $95,000 by week's end, effectively erasing the early-week correction that had pushed the Fear and Greed Index to extreme fear levels. Trading volume increased 21.6% over the week, rising from $139 billion to $169 billion, indicating renewed market participation. Bitcoin dominance remained elevated at 57-60%, reflecting continued institutional preference for the leading cryptocurrency amid macro uncertainty. Spot ETF inflows resumed their positive trajectory after brief outflows on January 24-26. The gaming and infrastructure sectors outperformed, with Axie Infinity leading gains on its bAXS reward system launch. Meanwhile, privacy tokens faced headwinds, with Monero experiencing significant volatility. Regulatory developments dominated headlines as the Senate prepared landmark crypto market structure legislation hearings, while Coinbase announced plans to transform into an "everything exchange" combining crypto, stocks, and commodities.

The crypto market endured its most turbulent week of 2026, with total market capitalization plunging 6.51% from $3.24 trillion to $3.02 trillion. The selloff began on January 19 (MLK Day) when reduced liquidity from U.S. market closures combined with aggressive tariff threats from President Trump triggered a cascade of liquidations. Over 240,000 traders saw positions wiped out within 24 hours, totaling more than $875 million in liquidations, with 91% coming from long positions. Bitcoin fell below $93,000 early in the week before staging a partial recovery to $91,000 by January 23, buoyed by suspected Bank of Japan intervention in currency markets. The Fear and Greed Index dropped to 43 (worry levels), though analysts noted a lack of retail capitulation, suggesting potential for deeper corrections before a sustainable reversal. BTC dominance increased 0.23 percentage points to approximately 59%, indicating Bitcoin outperformed altcoins during the downturn. Despite the broader weakness, AI and GPU-focused tokens defied the trend spectacularly. Render surged 57% as institutional and retail investors piled into decentralized compute infrastructure plays. Polygon also rallied 31% following the announcement of its Open Money Stack framework for stablecoin payments. On the regulatory front, the Senate Agriculture Committee postponed its CLARITY Act markup to January 27 after major industry participants withdrew support, highlighting ongoing tensions between legislators and the crypto industry over DeFi developer exposure provisions.

The crypto market experienced a consolidation phase during the third week of 2026, with the total market capitalization declining approximately 2.1% from $3.41 trillion to $3.33 trillion. This pullback followed the strong gains seen in early January and represents healthy profit-taking rather than a fundamental shift in market structure. Bitcoin dominance increased by 0.74 percentage points to 57.29%, indicating that capital is flowing into BTC as investors seek relative safety during the consolidation. The week saw notable regulatory developments in the United States, with Senate committees scheduling CLARITY Act markups for January 15, though both were postponed for further bipartisan negotiations. Despite the delay, the legislative momentum toward clarifying SEC and CFTC jurisdictions continues to build. Bitcoin ETFs continued to attract institutional capital, absorbing $1.7 billion in just three days as BTC briefly touched $96,000. Privacy-focused cryptocurrencies emerged as the clear outperformers, with Monero gaining 35% and Zcash rising 16.7%. This surge reflects renewed interest in privacy-preserving protocols amid discussions about regulatory oversight and surveillance. On the flip side, several layer-1 platforms underperformed, with SUI experiencing an 8.5% decline following a network outage that halted transactions for six hours on January 14.

The second week of January 2026 opened with strong momentum before a mid-week correction tested investor resolve. Total cryptocurrency market cap fell 2.16% from $3.24 trillion to $3.17 trillion, as a sharp reversal on January 7 triggered $486 million in Bitcoin ETF outflows, the largest single-day outflow in months. Bitcoin dipped below $90,000 while the Fear and Greed Index dropped to 27, signaling cautious sentiment. Despite the pullback, altcoins demonstrated notable strength. Bitcoin dominance declined 1.08 percentage points as capital rotated into AI infrastructure, Layer 1 platforms, and meme coins. Render Token led the market with a staggering 67% weekly gain, driven by institutional AI fund allocations, while SUI surged 38% in its longest winning streak since April. The divergence between Bitcoin and altcoins suggests an emerging altseason, though fragile macro conditions and technical resistance levels warrant caution heading into the week ahead.