By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless otherwise noted)
Like bitcoin clinging to recent gains over $93,000, capital shifts from memecoins to utility tokens, with assets allegedly tied to artificial intelligence (AI) leading the charge.
CoinDesk’s Culture and Entertainment Select Index, Metaverse Select Index, 10 Capped ex-Bitcoin Index and DeFi Select Index are up over 4% each over the past 24 hours. The CoinDesk Meme Select index was slightly changed to negative, putting its recent rally on hold.
It shows capital rotating into substance or established subsectors of utility, such as DeFi and the metaverse, rather than speculative, jokey cryptocurrencies. That’s a strong signal for the sustainability of crypto’s recent decline.
Among individual tokens, AI-linked coins have performed well in the last 24 hours. For example, Render Network’s RENDER rose 20% to become the top performer among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Render is a leading decentralized GPU computing platform for applications ranging from 3D rendering to machine learning and generative AI. Smaller AI tokens such as Virtuals Protocols VIRTUAL token are up over 6%
Layer-1 blockchain Sui’s native coin, has rallied over 15% on privacy tech expectations, rivaling gains in Provenance Blockchain’s HASH token. Payments-focused XRP jumped 10% to a nearly two-month high as Solana’s sol remains locked for a gap of several months despite the recent termination.
These moves are in line with renewed optimism for AI and high-beta tech stocks on Wall Street.
Antonio Di Giacomo, senior market analyst at XS.com, said heightened geopolitical tensions and impending economic data, particularly Friday’s US non-farm payrolls report, merit attention.
“Markets remain on high alert amid rising geopolitical tensions following the US offensive against Venezuela, a factor that has heightened perceptions of systemic risk and curbed enthusiasm for riskier assets, including cryptocurrencies,” he noted, adding that a weak payrolls number could affect the Fed’s monetary policy and investors’ risk appetite.
Other analysts said continued gains in the crypto market depend on bitcoin ETF inflows, which have begun 2026 on a positive note, accumulating over $1 billion in the first two trading days. These inflows must continue to hold the market bid.
In traditional markets, futures tied to the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 were little changed, suggesting a cautious opening after Monday’s gains. The Nasdaq index has consolidated in a narrowed price range (see Technical Analysis section). The direction in which it is ultimately resolved will likely determine the next move and affect the crypto market accordingly. Pay attention!
Read more: For analysis of today’s activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today
What to see
For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
- Crypto
- Macro
- January 6, at 7: Mexico Dec. Consumer confidence (previous 44.2).
- January 6 at 8: Brazil December S&P Global PMI. Services (Previous 50.1); Composite (Previous 49.6).
- January 6 at 9:30am: Canada December S&P Global PMI. Services (Previous 44.3); Composite (Previous 44.9).
- January 6 at 9:45 AM: US (finally) December S&P Global PMI. Services Est. 52.9; Composite Est. 53.
- Earnings (Estimated based on FactSet data)
Token Events
For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
- Governance votes and calls
- The SSV Network DAO votes to expand its market making program, increasing the total allocation to 300,000 SSV ($1.3 million) to secure a 12-18 month agreement with a top-tier market maker for enhanced liquidity. Voting ends January 6.
- Compound DAO votes to supplement reward contracts on Arbitrum and Unichain to maintain user incentives following a correction to a previous proposal. Voting ends January 6.
- The TrueFi DAO votes to approve a comprehensive protocol rebrand and mint the remaining TRU supply to recapitalize the treasury. Voting ends January 6.
- Aave votes on a proposal to deposit the April 2026 expiration main tokens for Athena’s USDe and sUSDe to the V3 Plasma Instance. Voting ends January 6.
- Unlocks
- The token is launched
- January 6: Brevis (BREV) to be listed on Binance, Bitget, OKX, MEXC, LBank, Gate and others.
- January 6: Rain (RAIN) to be listed on KuCoin.
Conferences
For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
Market movements
- BTC is down 0.71% as of 16 ET Monday at $93,425.15 (24 hours: +0.61%)
- ETH is down 0.5% to $3,221.91 (24h: +1.79%)
- CoinDesk 20 is down 0.3% to 3,047.78 (24 hours: +3.34%)
- Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is up 2 bps to 2.85%
- BTC funding rate is at 0.0037% (4.0537% annualized) on Binance
- DXY is unchanged at 99.35
- Gold futures are up 0.44% at $4,456.40
- Silver futures are up 1.83% at $77.56
- The Nikkei 225 closed up 1.32% at 52,518.08
- The Hang Seng closed up 1.38% to 26,710.45
- The FTSE 100 is up 0.58% at 10,062.63
- The Euro Stoxx 50 is down 0.24% to 5,909.44
- The DJIA closed Monday up 1.23% at 48,977.18
- The S&P 500 closed up 0.64% at 6,902.05
- The Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.69% at 23,395.82
- The S&P/TSX Composite closed up 1.06% at 32,220.00
- The S&P 40 Latin America closed up 2.07% at 3,222.70
- US 10-year Treasury is down 2 bps to 4.16%
- E-mini S&P 500 futures are unchanged at 6,939.75
- E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are unchanged at 25,585.50
- E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 0.2% at 49,129.00
Bitcoin statistics
- BTC Dominance: 58.98% (-0.16%)
- Ether to bitcoin ratio: 0.0345 (0.42%)
- Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 1,032 EH/s
- Hash price (spot): $39.90
- Total fees: 2.79 BTC / $259,967
- CME Futures open interest: 111,130 BTC
- BTC priced in gold: 21 oz.
- BTC vs Gold Market Cap: 6.25%
Technical Analysis
- The diagram shows SOL’s and Nasdaq’s daily price fluctuations in candlestick format.
- Despite the 11% rise since the start of the year, SOL remains trapped in a multi-week sideways channel. A potential breakout would confirm a bearish-to-bullish trend change.
- The Nasdaq is consolidating into a contracting triangle – a tighter price range that signals indecision. Whichever way it breaks is likely to dictate the index’s next big move.
Crypto stocks
- Coinbase (COIN): closed Monday at $254.92 (+7.77%), unchanged in pre-market
- Circle Internet (CRCL): closed at $84.80 (+1.59%), +0.51% at $85.23
- Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $26.30 (+6.26%), -0.53% at $26.16
- Bullish (BLSH): closed at $41.48 (+5.65%), unchanged in pre-market
- MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $10.59 (+6.86%), -0.76% at $10.51
- Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $14.79 (+4.45%), -0.27% at $14.75
- Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $16.73 (+4.63%)
- CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $12.30 (+6.49%), -0.81% at $12.20
- CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI): closed at $45.96 (+9.30%), -1.11% at $45.45
- Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $15.67 (+3.09%)
Crypto Treasury Companies
- Strategy (MSTR): closed at $164.72 (+4.81%), -0.18% at $164.43
- Semler Scientific (SMLR): closed at $21.06 (+18.45%)
- SharpLink Gaming (SBET): closed at $10.27 (+5.99%), -0.39% at $10.23
- Upexi (UPXI): closed at $2.27 (+18.85%)
- Lite Strategy (LITS): closed at $1.53 (-0.65%)
ETF Flows
Spot BTC ETFs
- Daily net flows: $697.2 million
- Cumulative net flows: $57.76 billion
- Total BTC holdings ~1.3m
Spot ETH ETFs
- Daily net flows: $168 million
- Cumulative net flows: $12.69 billion
- Total ETH holdings ~6.11 million
Source: Farside Investors
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