Flipster Crypto Weekly (January 23)

Markets Fade Early-year Momentum as Positioning Unwinds

January 23, 2026

Crypto markets reversed sharply through the fourth week of January, shifting from early-month strength into a volatile, liquidation-driven reset. Price action deteriorated steadily across sessions, with leverage unwinding, headlines dominating short-term flow, and infrastructure developments carrying more signal than macro releases.

BTC slipped below the $90,000 threshold early in the week and failed to reclaim it sustainably, ending near $89,500. ETH followed the downside, retreating from above $3,200 toward $2,950. Bitcoin dominance climbed to nearly 60%, reflecting continued defensive positioning and capital concentration in large-cap assets.

The selloff accelerated into Asia early in the week, with more than $500 million in long liquidations recorded within a single hour. While volatility remained elevated during U.S. sessions, follow-through selling proved limited, suggesting forced de-risking rather than broad capitulation.

Macro Headlines Set Tone, But Failed To Reset Direction

Macro events played a secondary role this week, with geopolitics and political commentary exerting more immediate influence on risk sentiment.

Markets turned choppy following comments from U.S. President Donald Trump at Davos, where he announced that the U.S. and NATO had reached a high-level framework on Greenland and Arctic security. The remarks eased immediate tariff threats toward European allies, but left details unresolved, limiting directional conviction across risk assets.

While the week included anticipation of U.S. Core PCE data and the Bank of Japan’s rate decision, price action suggested traders treated the macro calendar as context rather than catalyst. Volatility was driven less by policy repricing and more by positioning fragility and headline interpretation.

Infrastructure And Capital Formation Stayed Active Beneath The Surface

Despite weaker price action, activity across crypto infrastructure and capital markets remained constructive. 

BitGo Holdings delivered one of the week’s most notable signals, surging as much as 36% on its NYSE debut after pricing its IPO at $18. Shares briefly traded as high as $24.50 before retracing to close near $18.49, valuing the company at over $2 billion. The volatile debut underscored renewed public-market appetite for crypto infrastructure amid a more stable U.S. regulatory environment.

Elsewhere, Galaxy Digital announced plans to launch a $100 million hedge fund in Q1 2026, targeting institutional allocators seeking actively managed exposure. Superstate raised $82.5 million in a Series B led by Bain Capital Crypto, reinforcing continued venture appetite for tokenized finance and onchain asset management.

Traditional finance engagement also deepened. Mastercard continued exploring crypto infrastructure exposure, including a potential investment in Zerohash following the collapse of earlier acquisition talks.

Onchain Rails Quietly Gained Traction

Under the surface, network usage and consumer-facing crypto products continued to expand.

Ethereum daily transactions hit an all-time high over the weekend, supported by gas fees falling to record lows. At the same time, crypto-native payment cards recorded rapid adoption, with daily transaction counts surging 22x since late 2024 to nearly 60,000 by mid-January. These cards processed roughly $4 million in daily volume, as users increasingly spend crypto directly via Visa and Mastercard rails without manual offramping. Etherfi currently accounts for roughly half of all transactions.

Product-level shifts continued across DeFi and exchanges. Pendle retired its vePENDLE multi-year lockups as sPENDLE staking went live, while Paradex announced a rollback after users reported mass liquidations on its perpetuals platform.

Policy And Ecosystem Developments Accelerated

Regulatory and ecosystem headlines remained active throughout the week.

The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee released its version of crypto market-structure legislation, adding another layer to ongoing regulatory negotiations. The New York Stock Exchange disclosed plans to develop a blockchain-based platform for tokenized U.S. equities and ETFs, enabling 24/7 trading and near-instant settlement pending regulatory approval.

Internationally, Bermuda partnered with Coinbase and Circle to advance a “fully onchain” economy initiative, while World Liberty Financial announced a collaboration with Spacecoin focused on satellite-powered DeFi infrastructure.

Additional ecosystem moves included Farcaster being acquired by Neynar, Trove Markets pivoting abruptly to Solana, and Cap Money unveiling ICO plans.

Outlook

The fourth week of January marked a clear tonal shift.

Leverage has been flushed, volatility has returned, and markets are recalibrating after an aggressive start to the year. Despite price weakness, capital formation, infrastructure investment, and real-world usage continue to advance in parallel.

For now, crypto is trading like a market in reset rather than retreat. Direction will likely depend less on macro data and more on whether liquidity can rebuild fast enough to support renewed risk-taking.

Patience and structure remain paramount.

Trade accordingly.

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