The native digital rose as much as 2.4% to $96,348 early Wednesday in Singapore, its highest intraday level since Nov. 16. Ether, the second-largest token, rose as much as 5.1%. In the options markets, the rally has wiped out more than half a billion dollars in bearish crypto bets.
Bitcoin slumped to a loss of more than 6% for 2025 after ending the year on a muted note, trading within a narrow range and proving largely indifferent to rallies in stocks and precious metals. But the token has already shown signs of a potential breakout in January, and traders now see it potentially gaining ground against rival asset classes.
“In the medium term, I think investors could allocate more to Bitcoin on the back of a gold catch-up story – and other risky assets are having a great time,” said Justin d’Anethan, head of research at Arctic Digital.
He pointed to a report on Tuesday that showed underlying U.S. inflation rose less than expected as a tailwind for the token, as well as tensions surrounding the U.S. Federal Reserve, which was subpoenaed by the Justice Department’s grand jury earlier this week. The Fed episode highlights “the value of safe havens and hard assets” against the U.S. dollar, d’Anethan said.
Another factor is the “sharp short squeeze” in the Bitcoin derivatives markets, says Vincent Liu, Chief Investment Officer at Kronos Research. According to data from CoinGlass, approximately $290 million worth of Bitcoin short positions have been liquidated in the last 24 hours. About $600 million in short positions were wiped out across all cryptocurrencies.
Investors poured $754 million into the 12 US-listed Bitcoin exchange-traded funds on Tuesday, the most since October 7, in a show of confidence that the rally has further to go.
A sustained break above $95,000 would pave the way for a run at $100,000 and “potentially the 200-day moving average, currently at $106,115,” Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG Australia, said in a note.
Overall, traders view the current macro environment as positive for Bitcoin, said Joshua Lim, global co-head of markets at FalconX.
Tensions in Venezuela, unrest in Iran, the Fed’s independence debate, and MSCI’s decision to suspend a plan to acquire crypto-heavy firms like Strategy Inc. from the major indexes represent a “steady drumbeat of positive macro developments” for Bitcoin, he added.
Bitcoin was trading at $94,787 at 6:07 a.m. in London.
Published on January 14, 2026
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