At the start of 2026, Bitcoin rebounded toward its weekly range high, reaching $94,800 amid improving sentiment and trading activity. After failing to hold above $95,000, the price is retesting support around the 20-day moving average near $89,400, while technical levels and liquidation clusters suggest another futures-led push toward $95,000 and possibly $101,500. Recent data also show nearly $1.1 billion in futures buy volume accompanying the Jan. 5 rally, triggering about $100 million in short liquidations on the BTC/USDT pair at Binance.

Ethereum remains in a late-stage accumulation, with its inverted monthly structure pointing to a controlled setup rather than explosive volatility. Resistance is outlined at $3,800–$4,500, with a potential path toward $6,000–$7,500 if that zone turns to support, while a risk scenario includes a retest of $1,800–$2,200.

Zcash developers who left Electric Coin Company plan to build a new Zcash-focused startup and a wallet code‑named cashZ using the Zashi codebase. Former ECC CEO Josh Swihart said they will not launch a new token and remain focused on ZEC. Meanwhile, dev activity has slumped, and recent market swings have tested the project.

The Nasdaq Stock Exchange and CME Group have combined their crypto benchmarks by renaming the Nasdaq Crypto Index to the Nasdaq-CME Crypto Index, which currently tracks major assets such as Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Solana, Chainlink, Cardano and Avalanche. Executives and analysts expect crypto index benchmarks and exchange-traded products to gain traction as the digital asset market becomes more complex and investors increasingly seek passive, diversified exposure.

On January 8, 2026, engineer David said Bitcoin's miner energy floor is $93,000, with full-cycle break-even near $96,000. He noted roughly $1.2 billion flowed into spot ETFs this week while miner hedging compressed price around $90,000–$96,000. Hedge strength sits near 100% at the year's start and is projected to drop toward ~43% by late January.

In the third quarter of last year, U.S. workers received 53.8% of GDP through wages and salaries, the lowest share since the BLS labor share series began in 1947. Over the same period, labor productivity registered its fastest increase in two years, while employers added 50,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate eased to 4.4% amid subdued hiring. Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin highlighted that firms are leaning on productivity gains, keeping hiring modest even as GDP and corporate profits expand.

On January 9, 2026, Pump.fun announced a redesigned creator fee system with fee‑sharing so teams can split percentages across up to 10 wallets. The update addresses low‑risk coin creation incentives from Dynamic Fees V1 and aims to improve transparency; weekly platform volume reached $6.6 billion.

On 9 January 2026, US Senators intensified debate over the Responsible Financial Innovation Act (RFIA), a Republican-backed bill that would redefine federal oversight of digital assets. Democratic lawmakers are insisting on strict conflict-of-interest rules to stop public officials, including the president, from profiting from crypto ties, warning the bill could stall without such safeguards. The proposal, which passed the House as the CLARITY Act and may expand Commodity Futures Trading Commission authority, now faces added pressure from election politics and impending leadership changes.