Jan3 founder Samson Mow has outlined five ambitious Bitcoin forecasts for 2026, including a claim that Tesla CEO Elon Musk will aggressively increase his Bitcoin exposure. Mow also expects BTC to climb to about $1.33 million that year, far above more moderate outlooks from other crypto executives.

On January 11, 2024, the U.S. SEC approved the first spot Bitcoin ETFs, a landmark step that expands regulated access to Bitcoin for institutional investors. The decision comes 15 years after Hal Finney's "Running bitcoin" tweet and coincides with Bitcoin trading at $90,673.58 on January 11, 2026. These ETFs and the recent market data together highlight Bitcoin's shift from a niche experiment to a major financial asset class.

Bitcoin has recently traded in a tight band between $90,000 and $93,000, with price action showing little decisive movement. Data indicates spot market inflows have dropped to a six-week low, while institutional investors have shifted from net buying to selling hundreds of millions of dollars in BTC. Despite weak broader sentiment, long-term holders remain largely inactive, helping to limit deeper downside for the cryptocurrency.

A Bitcoin miner who earned rewards in 2010 has transferred 2,000 BTC, valued at nearly $200 million at prices close to $100,000 per coin, to Coinbase after 15 years of inactivity. On-chain data shows multiple whale selling waves since late 2024, including an 80,000 BTC move in July 2025 and several other dormant wallets reactivating. Analysts are debating whether these sales and cooling ETF inflows will disrupt Bitcoin’s historical four‑year cycle as institutional demand continues to expand.

On January 10, 2009, early Bitcoin contributor Hal Finney posted the brief message "Running Bitcoin," signaling the first publicly known node operating beyond the project's creator. He later received Bitcoin's first transaction from Satoshi Nakamoto, and over time his post has come to represent a key moment in the network's early development. Ongoing debate about whether Finney could have been Satoshi has been challenged by technical details and timelines described by other Bitcoin developers.

Bitcoin is trading within a tight range, with support around $90,500–$88,200 and a more defined zone at $90,588–$88,280. A daily close above $94,130, and later $98,200–$107,500 with $107,500 as a higher‑high trigger, would bolster the bullish case. Light weekend volume keeps $87,600 and $96,500 in focus as key levels.

The Bitcoin network's mining difficulty slipped to 146.4 trillion on Thursday in the first adjustment of 2026. CoinWarz estimates the next change will occur on Jan 22, 2026 at 04:08:12 AM UTC, lifting difficulty from 146.47 T to 148.20 T. Average block times are 9.88 minutes, slightly under the 10‑minute target.

Bitcoin is trading around $90,624 after a pullback from its strong start to the year, with analysts highlighting a potential resistance zone just below $100,000. On-chain data indicates that new whale buyers have an average cost basis close to $99,000, while long-term whales and miners hold at significantly lower levels near $39,681 and $58,681. This positioning suggests structurally bullish conditions, but also points to $99,000 as a critical level where profit-taking or breakeven selling could intensify.