It’s just the second week of January, and the crypto market is performing well. Be it the prices, ETFs, or other major shifts, there is movement in the right direction. First and foremost, Bitcoin crossed above $95K, which is a psychological win for the community.
Investors are moving out of fear and are open to taking risks, as the Fear and Greed Index shows neutral conditions. The US Consumer Price Index, a parameter used to measure inflation based on the increment of price in daily consumer products, increased 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in December, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all-items index increased 2.7 percent before seasonal adjustment.
Meanwhile, there was a crypto ETF launched while the crypto market structure bill was not supported. On top of that, the InfoFi models were banned on X, and only reputable and selected brands were paid for posting on X. So, in short, it’s not just the prices that are moving in the right direction, but the market on the whole.
Since December, Bitcoin has been testing the $94K a few times while fluctuating inside a bullish ascending triangle. Come 2026, the flagship coin broke above this level and reached above $96K, an event that improved the whole market sentiment.
The Fear and Greed Index, a market sentiment measurement tool, reached the greed zone for a brief moment after more than 4 months. Now that the index has moved out of the fear zone, it goes on to say that the crypto investors are willing to take a chance and their risk appetite has increased. The traders opting to take risks is something commendable given the rising geopolitical conditions.
Meanwhile, Coinbase exchange pulled away from supporting the crypto market structure bill, which seeks to introduce a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency. On X, the CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, wrote, “There are too many issues, including:
– A de facto ban on tokenized equities
– DeFi prohibitions, giving the government unlimited access to your financial records and removing your right to privacy
– Erosion of the CFTC’s authority, stifling innovation and making it subservient to the SEC
– Draft amendments that would kill rewards on stablecoins, allowing banks to ban their competition”
Social media platform X banned information finance (InfoFi) models, which incentivized users for posting on its platform. X decided to go ahead with banning these models, as there was much AI-generated content. The platform cut off API access to these Info Fi applications as users were posting low-quality, spammy content that was AI-generated just to get paid.
Privacy coins were trending during the week. Monero, DASH, Zcash were holding the top trending spots on CoinMarketCap and Coingecko, making impressive gains. “This isn’t really about price; it’s about crypto growing up. As real institutions and real money move on-chain, the limits of radical transparency become obvious. Nobody wants their balances and transactions visible to the entire world. Public blockchains solved trust and settlement, but they never solved discretion,” said an analyst.
On Wednesday, Bitwise launched the Chainlink ETF—CLNK—after it was approved for listing and registration on NYSE Arca. As geopolitical tensions are rising around the world, anything could happen in the coming days, and crypto prices will be affected.
