An early 2026 break in what had been a week-long pattern of falling crypto prices during US trading sessions turned out to be short-lived. Running for $95,000 as US stocks opened the day, bitcoin has pulled back to just above the $92,000 area just after midday on the East Coast, now lower by 1.3% over the past 24 hours.
XRP, which led Monday’s crypto rally, fell more than 2% over the past two hours. Solana — which got an early boost when Morgan Stanley moved to offer a spot SOL ETF — fell back in similar fashion.
Read more: Bitcoin sees $94,000 as crypto prices steer early US gains for second straight session
The declines came as US stocks posted modest gains – the Nasdaq rose 0.4% and the S&P 500 rose 0.3%. The faster action came in the metals, with gold up 1% and retracing $4,500 a barrel. ounce, and silver rose 5% and back above $80 per ounces. Copper was ahead 1.1% and topped $6 an ounce for the first time ever.
ETF inflows get off to a strong start in 2026
Bitcoin ETFs saw their biggest one-day inflows in nearly three months on Monday — about $697 million — pointing to new institutional allocations and the unwinding of year-end tax-loss harvesting. Ether saw an even more bullish current bias, with large block trades targeting mid- and long-term upside via call spreads, suggesting directional conviction in the second half of 2026, according to crypto trading firm Wintermute.
Options markets continue to reflect cautious optimism, according to Wintermute head of OTC, Jake Ostrovskis. Traders are positioning for upside in both BTC and ETH, he said, but with an eye on structural dynamics. BTC skew remains negative, a pattern driven by systematic overwriting and hedging by entities that treat bitcoin as a financial asset, Ostrovskis added.
That has made risk reversals — buying calls while selling puts — a cost-effective way to express bullish views, Ostroviskis said.
Looking ahead, bitcoin’s price action suggests it is increasingly seen as a geopolitical hedge, less tied to inflation or central banks but more tied to statecraft and long-term strategic positioning, said Matt Mena, crypto research strategist at 21shares.
Mena noted Bitcoin’s 6% loss in 2025 and that it has already recovered a significant portion of that in the first week of 2026. Bitcoin, he reminded, has never posted back-to-back losing years.
In fact, after years where crypto was among the worst-performing asset classes, it has often rallied, as it did after market declines in 2014, 2018, and 2022. If that pattern holds, 2026 could shape up as a strong year for digital assets.
