Bitcoin Breaks Above 97k, Market Sentiment Returns to the “Greed” Zone
Summary
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Macroeconomy: The tariff ruling was postponed again, while PPI and retail sales data surprised to the upside. U.S. equities fell for a second consecutive session, with the Nasdaq down 1%, marking its largest daily decline in nearly a month. The metals rally continued, with gold and silver hitting record highs for three consecutive days.
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Crypto Market: Crypto market sentiment turned “Greed” for the first time in three months. Bitcoin extended its rally and broke above the USD 97,000 level. Bitcoin’s market dominance rose 0.58% day-over-day, indicating that capital remains concentrated in BTC, while altcoins failed to keep pace. Overall risk appetite across crypto assets remains clearly fragmented.
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Project Updates
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Hot tokens: DASH, ICP, ZEC
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ZEC: The U.S. SEC concluded its multi-year investigation into the Zcash Foundation and confirmed no enforcement action will be taken. ZEC rose 5%, while privacy-sector tokens such as DASH, XMR, DCR, and ZEN continued to gain momentum.
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ICP: The DFINITY Foundation released a new white paper outlining a plan to reduce new ICP issuance by 70% in 2026 to curb inflation and enhance utility.
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WLFI: Pakistan has signed an agreement with a WLFI-affiliated company to explore the use of stablecoins for cross-border payments.
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ENA: Upbit and Bithumb listed USDE/KRW trading pairs.
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ASTER: Binance Wallet (web version) launched perpetual futures trading powered by Aster.
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LINK: Bitwise’s spot Chainlink ETF (CLNK) received regulatory approval and will begin trading on NYSE Arca on January 15.
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Major Asset Movements
Crypto Fear & Greed Index: 61 (48 24 hours ago), level: Greed
Today’s Outlook
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Aster Phase III airdrop ends on January 15, 2026
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BitMine plans to hold its annual shareholders’ meeting on January 15 to elect eight directors and amend its articles of incorporation
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STRK unlock: 4.83% of circulating supply, ~USD 10.4 million
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SEI unlock: 1.05% of circulating supply, ~USD 6.7 million
Macroeconomy
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U.S. November retail sales rose 0.6% MoM, above expectations
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Federal Reserve Beige Book: Overall economic conditions improved, with most districts expecting modest to moderate growth in the coming months
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The U.S. Supreme Court did not issue a ruling on Trump’s tariff policy on Wednesday
Policy Direction
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Selected amendments to the market structure bill will be put to a vote on Thursday, with the main hearing rescheduled to January 27
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A proposed Russian bill would open crypto markets to non-qualified investors
Industry Highlights
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JPMorgan expects crypto inflows to continue growing in 2026, led primarily by institutional investors
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Visa partnered with BVNK to launch stablecoin payment services
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MetaMask posted a teaser tweet containing only “Coming soon.” with no further details
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Solana Mobile launched the SKR airdrop eligibility checker, with nearly 2 billion SKR tokens to be distributed to the community
Industry Highlights Extended Analysis
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JPMorgan Predicts Continued Crypto Inflow Growth in 2026
JPMorgan’s forecast signals a fundamental shift in market drivers from "retail sentiment" to "institutional structuralism." Analysis suggests that while 2025 was driven by Spot ETF approvals, the growth in 2026 will be centered on the deep integration of traditional financial institutions. With clearer regulatory frameworks now in place, institutions are no longer viewing crypto as a purely speculative play but as a standard component of multi-asset portfolios. This transition implies that as capital scale expands, market volatility may begin to dampen, moving crypto into a new cycle driven by institutional infrastructure.
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Visa Partners with BVNK to Launch Stablecoin Payment Services
The partnership between Visa and BVNK is a critical milestone in the evolution of stablecoins from "trading collateral" to a "settlement layer" for global commerce. By integrating stablecoins into the Visa Direct real-time payment network, corporate clients can now utilize stablecoins for pre-funding and global distribution without total reliance on legacy banking rails. This move solves the pain points of traditional cross-border payments—such as weekend delays—and optimizes corporate cash flow through instant settlement. It reflects a broader trend of payment giants restructuring value transfer protocols via blockchain.
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Ethereum Beacon Chain Staking Surpasses 36 Million ETH
Reaching a milestone of 36 million staked ETH (nearly 30% of total supply) is a double-edged sword for the ecosystem. On one hand, the high staking ratio significantly bolsters the crypto-economic security of the Ethereum network, making attacks prohibitively expensive. On the other hand, it drastically reduces the circulating supply on secondary markets, creating a potential supply-demand squeeze. This surge, largely driven by institutional demand for Ethereum as an "Internet Bond" yielding stable returns, solidifies Ethereum’s position as the primary settlement layer for Web3.
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MetaMask Teases “Coming soon.” Without Further Details
MetaMask’s cryptic tweet likely points toward the long-anticipated issuance of the $MASK token or a major transition toward decentralized governance. ConsenSys leadership has previously hinted that tokenization would be tied to platform decentralization and potentially the ecosystem incentives for their Layer 2 network, Linea. Given MetaMask’s massive user base, any move toward a native token or a new economic model is expected to trigger a massive "airdrop effect" and a surge in on-chain activity, marking its transformation from a wallet tool to a comprehensive Web3 traffic portal.
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Solana Mobile Launches SKR Airdrop Eligibility Checker
The launch of the SKR token is a core strategy for Solana Mobile to build a hardware-integrated ecosystem loop. By distributing nearly 2 billion SKR tokens to Seeker phone users and developers, Solana is effectively pioneering a "hardware-as-a-miner" incentive model. SKR serves not just as a governance token, but as the fuel for DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks) and mobile-native applications. Unlike software-only airdrops, using physical device authentication (Seeker ID) filters out "sybil attacks," ensuring incentives reach real users and paving the way for the mass adoption of Web3 smartphones.