Good morning, Asia. Here’s what’s making news in the markets:
Welcome to the Asia Morning Briefing, a daily overview of top stories in US hours and an overview of market movements and analysis. For a detailed overview of US markets, see CoinDesk’s Crypto Diary Americas.
Crypto markets start the year in recalibration mode rather than retreat, with bitcoin consolidating above $90,000 and ether regaining relative strength as institutional positioning resets.
As Hong Kong began its trading day on Wednesday, BTC slipped modestly on short-term frames, but remained range-bound after clearing the psychologically important $90,000 level.
“With stocks, gold and other precious metals at all-time highs, we see the situation as a battle between price correction higher to be in line with all the other assets versus prices moving lower over the next few months to respect the 4-year cycle,” George Mandres, a cryptoanalyst at trading firm XBTO, told CoinDesk in a note, adding that the latter is turning into “a lot of complacency.”
So far, neither force has dominated price action. Instead of a sharp correction, bitcoin has moved sideways, suggesting digestion rather than distribution. Mandres pointed to the calendar effect as an important difference from the end of 2025.
“What’s different now than a few weeks ago, besides [btc] price that has gone above $90,000 is the fact that a new year has started and therefore PNLs are reset to 0 and investors need to allocate capital to attractive risk/reward opportunities,” he continued.
Ethereum tells a slightly different story. While ETH has outperformed bitcoin over weekly and monthly windows, futures data suggests the positioning has cooled.
Bradley Park, founder of DNTV Research, said CME ethereum futures open interest offers useful context beyond spot charts.
“Rising open interest has increasingly reflected institutional participation via DAT-style, ETF arb trades, while falling open interest suggests a relaxation,” Park said in a note to CoinDesk.
That relaxation now appears to be well advanced.
“The recent pullback looks less like a structural break and more like a loss of momentum, with positioning resetting to roughly July 2025 levels,” Park added.
Importantly, this reset has not been accompanied by a sharp sell-off.
A recent report from Glassnode reinforces the same theme across assets. Options markets are de-risking aggressively, with open interest contracts and volatility expectations rising, while US spot ETF flows have returned to net inflows, signaling renewed institutional demand but also heightened sensitivity to short-term profit-taking.
Taken together, the signals point towards consolidation and rotation rather than a broad risk-off move. Bitcoin is absorbing competing macro narratives without breaking trend, while Ethereum looks less crowded and better positioned if institutional flows re-intervene.
Market movement
BTC: Bitcoin is trading sideways above $90,000, with price action reflecting consolidation after a recent rally rather than renewed selling pressure as macro support and cycle-driven caution continue to offset each other.
ETH: Ether is trading around $3,247, falling on short time frames but remains strongly bullish on weekly and monthly views, underscoring resilience despite a recent cooling in futures positioning.
Gold: After a nearly 65% rally in 2025, banks see gold pushing to new records in 2026 with falling interest rates, central bank purchases and geopolitical risk.
Nikkei 225: Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.45% on Wednesday as Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed, with Australia’s ASX 200 rising 0.38% after inflation data came in below forecasts.
Elsewhere in Crypto
- DeFi, Ethical Disputes Remain in Senate Crypto Bill Ahead of Vote Jan. 15 (CoinDesk)
- Rapper Drake Faces RICO Case for Promoting and Using Crypto Casino Stakes (Decrypt)
