✅ Top Takeaways

• BTC is up roughly 2.5% to the mid‑$93K area, logging its longest daily winning streak in three months after a 6.4% drop in 2025.
• XRP breaks above $2.12 as spot ETF assets pass $1B, while ETH and SOL track BTC higher into early‑2026 optimism.
• Geopolitical tension around Venezuela pushes gold higher and lifts the dollar, tempering some of crypto’s upside even as derivatives markets lean toward $100K BTC calls.

📰 Crypto Market Summary

• BTC’s winning streak hits three‑month high: Bitcoin rose about 2.5% to roughly $93,790–$94,000, marking its longest string of daily gains since early autumn and pushing its year‑to‑date move to more than 7% after a 6.4% slide in 2025.
• XRP rides ETF demand and tight supply: XRP rallied nearly 5% above $2.12 as shrinking exchange balances signal supply tightness; U.S. spot XRP ETFs have now crossed $1B in AUM, adding a new structural demand channel on top of on‑chain usage.
• ETH and SOL mirror BTC momentum: Ether climbed about 1.4% to the $3,180–$3,200 range, while Solana added just over 1.2% near $135.6, both tracking bitcoin’s bounce as traders lean back into large‑cap beta heading into Q1.
• Options market eyes $100K BTC: On Deribit, the January $100,000 call has become the most actively traded, with overall BTC options volume jumping more than 40% as risk appetite recovers from year‑end weakness.
• Macro tempers the party: The U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Maduro has lifted gold by roughly 2.4% and strengthened the dollar, reminding crypto traders that geopolitical risk can both support and crowd out digital‑asset flows depending on how hard safe‑haven demand bites.

📊 Sentiment Dashboard

🔢 Market Performance

• BTC’s 7%+ weekly and YTD gains confirm that the early‑January move is more than a single‑day short squeeze, with spot and options markets now pointing toward a serious test of the $100K narrative.
• ETH, SOL, ADA and BCH all post strong double‑digit weekly or YTD moves, signaling that capital is flowing beyond just BTC and into the large‑cap beta complex.
• TRX’s soft daily print but positive week shows how some names are consolidating after their first leg higher rather than breaking, a constructive pattern if the broader trend holds.

💰 Funding & Institutional Moves

While ETF flows were flat over the weekend, derivative markets were anything but quiet: BTC options volume jumped more than 40%, with the January $100K call emerging as the most popular strike on Deribit.

The skew toward upside calls suggests institutions and sophisticated traders are increasingly willing to pay for topside convexity again, even as spot buyers frame the current bounce as “bargain hunting” after a disappointing 2025.

Signal: Flows aren’t yet screaming “new bull market,” but the shift from hedging downside to buying upside optionality is a clear step away from the defensive posture that dominated Q4.

🌍 Macro & Commodities Watch

The U.S. operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Maduro has jolted global risk narratives, driving gold roughly 2.4% higher and firming the U.S. dollar as investors reassess energy and geopolitical risk.

For crypto, that means early‑2026 gains now have a real macro headwind to contend with: if safe‑haven flows continue to favor gold and the greenback, some capital that might have chased BTC and ETH could stay parked in more traditional hedges.

Policy signal: A stronger dollar and nervous energy markets could complicate the simple “rate cuts = crypto up” story, putting more weight on ETF flows and on‑chain activity to carry the next leg.

🎟️ Events, Community & Builders

• This week: Attention turns to the first full trading week of 2026, with BTC and ETH options expiries and new ETF flow data set to confirm whether today’s optimism can sustain.
• Protocol roadmaps: Major L1 and L2 teams are publishing updated Q1–Q2 upgrade timelines, detailing rollup improvements, data‑availability solutions and staking‑reward adjustments that could affect where liquidity migrates.
• Builder sentiment: Developer activity across DeFi, RWAs and account‑abstraction wallets remains robust, with teams emphasizing product polish and institutional integrations after a year focused heavily on infrastructure.

Community focus: As price action improves, the projects that can match the tape with visible user growth and clear execution will be the ones that keep capital through any pullbacks.

⚡ Risk & Market Lens

BTC’s longest winning streak in months, aggressive upside call buying and strong alt performance are all bullish — but they’re happening against a backdrop of geopolitical risk and a still‑fearful sentiment profile.

What to watch: Whether BTC can hold above the low‑$90Ks on the next dip, how XRP and other ETF‑linked assets trade as more data on flows arrives, and if macro volatility from Venezuela spills into energy, inflation and ultimately the Fed’s path — all key drivers of how far this early‑2026 run can go before the first real test.