Crypto Surges Today – Here’s Why Markets Are Rallying on January 12, 2026
Crypto markets roar back as institutional flows flood in. Forget the doom-and-gloom headlines—digital assets are staging a powerful rally today. What's fueling the surge? A potent cocktail of regulatory clarity and renewed institutional confidence.
Regulatory Green Lights Ignite Momentum
Clear signals from major financial watchdogs are cutting through the uncertainty. The market interprets recent guidance not as a threat, but as a long-awaited roadmap. This isn't about stifling innovation; it's about building the guardrails for mainstream adoption. Traditional finance veterans, once sidelined, are now scrambling to position themselves.
Institutional FOMO Returns with a Vengeance
Major asset managers aren't just dipping a toe—they're diving in headfirst. New fund approvals and product launches bypass old barriers, channeling fresh capital directly into the ecosystem. The narrative has flipped from 'risky experiment' to 'strategic imperative.' Watch the options market: surging volumes and open interest tell the real story of big-money conviction.
Tech Infrastructure Proves Its Mettle
Behind the price action, the underlying tech stacks are handling the load without a hiccup. Network upgrades and scaling solutions are operating as promised, processing record transaction volumes seamlessly. This isn't a speculative bubble built on hype; it's a liquidity event built on functioning infrastructure. The 'digital gold' and 'programmable money' theses are playing out in real-time.
Macro Winds Shift in Crypto's Favor
A subtle shift in broader financial conditions is adding rocket fuel. As traditional markets grapple with their own complexities, crypto's 24/7, borderless nature offers a compelling alternative. It's the classic hedge play, but now with a sophistication that even the most cynical portfolio manager can't ignore—though some still try, clinging to spreadsheets that haven't been updated since the last bull run.
The rally today isn't an accident. It's the convergence of policy, technology, and capital. The market is voting with its wallet, and the message is clear: crypto isn't just back; it's building something new right under Wall Street's nose.
Crypto Winners & Losers
With the beginning of the new week, at the time of writing on Monday morning, 4 of the top 10 coins per market capitalisation have seen their prices fall over the past 24 hours, while 4 have posted gains in the same timeframe (not taking the stablecoins into account).
has appreciated by 0.7% since this time yesterday, currently trading at $91,271.
increased by 1.2%, now trading at $3,128.
The category’s biggest gainer is, which posted a 3.6% increase to $141.
It’s followed by, having gone up 1.3% to the price of $3,124.
On the red side, the highest drop is2.1%, now trading at $2.05.
2% fall to $0.1368 is next, followed by1.2% and0.2%, trading at $902 and $0.2977, respectively.
When it comes to the top 100 coins per market cap, one posted a double-digit drop.is down 11.3% to $0.1584.
It’s followed by, which declined by 9.5% to the price of $0.02155.
The rest of the red coins are down below 5% each.
At the same time, three coins in this category recorded double-digit increases.appreciated 18.1% to $569.
appreciated 10.9%, currently changing hands at $0.1459. It’s followed by10.2% to the price of $5.51.
Meanwhile,said it WOULD withdraw support for major crypto legislation if the US Senate negotiators add restrictions on stablecoin rewards beyond disclosure requirements. This has increased tensions ahead of the markup scheduled for 15 January.
The Senate Banking Committee marks up the Market Structure bill next week, and stablecoin rewards remain under debate. Congress already settled this in GENIUS—reopening it now only creates uncertainty and risks the future of the US Dollar as commerce moves onchain. Here’s why…
— Faryar Shirzad
On the other side of the world, South Korea may be ending its nine-year ban on corporate crypto investment. It’s forming with new guidelines that will permit listed companies and professional investors to trade crypto.
‘BTC is Highly Sensitive to Institutional Risk’
Petr Kozyakov, Co-Founder and CEO at, commented that BTC “has surrendered early gains after breaching the $92,000 mark in Asia trading as the biggest cryptocurrency mirrors leading US tech stocks in a risk-off mode retreat.”
Markets appear to be weighing growing tensions between USChairman Jerome Powell and President Donald Trump. Against this backdrop, and amid escalating geopolitical risks, traders are retreating to safe-haven assets such as gold and silver, the CEO writes.
“Meanwhile, in the digital token space, the narrative of increasing inflows into privacy coins, which so defined the final months of 2025, is continuing to play out with Monero and Zcash recording gains of 16 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively,” Kozyakov concludes.
analysts noted that the U.S. federal prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation intoChair Jerome Powell.
From a macro perspective, they write, this is not merely an isolated legal risk. This is “a direct challenge to one of the Core assumptions underpinning market pricing: the political neutrality and policy independence of the central bank.”
“The key issue is not whether the prosecution ultimately succeeds, but whether markets begin to believe that the Federal Reserve is no longer fully insulated from politics. Once that belief is shaken, global asset pricing frameworks must be reassessed,” the analysts argue.
Moreover, “Bitcoin is highly sensitive to such institutional risk. When confidence in dollar credibility and central bank independence is questioned, decentralized assets tend to receive narrative-driven risk premia.”
They continue: “In the short term, heightened risk aversion supports BTC’s relative downside resilience; in the medium term, attention should be paid to whether U.S. equities experience a broader systemic correction; over the long term, if political interference in monetary policy becomes structural, Bitcoin’s role as a “non-sovereign risk asset” is likely to be further reinforced.”
Levels & Events to Watch Next
At the time of writing on Monday morning, BTC stood at $91,271. The coin traded mostly sideways for the first part of the past day. It then swiftly dropped to the intraday low of $90,244 before rising to the day’s high of $92,356. It has corrected lower again since.
Over the past week, BTC traded in the $89,799 – $94,420 range. Overall, it decreased by 2.1% over this timeframe.
A close above $91,520 may open doors for a MOVE to $93,011, followed by $94,800, which would present the next upside test. A failure to hold above the $91,000 level could result in a pullback to $89,241 and $87,921.
Ethereum is currently changing hands at $3,128. After a side-trading period in the $3,095 and $3,104 range, it fell to the day’s low of $3,091 and then jumped to the intraday high of $3,163. However, it has pulled back again.
Looking at the 1-week period, we find that ETH decreased by 1.5%. In this timeframe, it traded between $3,068 and $3,292.
If ETH manages to close above $3,180, it could see a further increase to $3,250, and then potentially retest $3,300. A move beyond this level would open additional moves toward the $3,380–$3,420 zone. Yet, a drop below $3,100 may lead to a dip below $3,000 as well.
Moreover, the crypto market sentiment is still decreasing, even if slightly, as we’ve seen over the weekend.
The crypto fear and greed index has stood at 40 today since Saturday, compared to 41 on Friday. This means it’s still in the neutral zone, though just barely.
As this metric drops, the market participants’ caution and concern rise. Most are waiting for further macroeconomic and geopolitical signals that would indicate the market direction.
ETFs Outflows Continue
The US BTC spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) closed the week with outflows. On Friday, these funds saw negative flows of $249.99 million. Therefore, the total net inflow pulled back to $56.4 billion.
That said, only three funds posted any flows: one inflow and two outflows.is the only one in the green, taking in $7.87 million.
On the other hand,recorded outflows of $251.97 million, whilelet go of $5.89 million.
Moreover, the US ETH ETFs also posted negative flows on 9 January. The outflows for the day amounted to $93.82 million. The total net inflow now stands at $12.43 billion.
Of the nine funds, two posted outflows. None saw inflows again, the same as on Thursday.
let go of $83.78 million, whilesaw $10.04 million in outflows on the same day.
Meanwhile, investors pulled almost $750 million from the two largest crypto-linked ETF categories during the first full trading week of the year.
Also, the BTC support level of $79,000 is also the average purchase price of the US ETFs, per. Many ETF holders would be at the break-even level if BTC hits this zone. Below that level may lead to losses for institutional investors, potentially leading to sell-offs.
GM
CryptoQuant reports that the $79,000 level is an important support area for Bitcoin.
This level coincides with the average purchase price (realized price) of investors in American bitcoin ETFs.
If the price of BTC reaches $79,000, most of the ETF holders will be at the… pic.twitter.com/N80IiO4U1H
Quick FAQ
The crypto market recorded an increase over the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, the US stock market closed the Friday session notably higher. By the closing time on 9 January, thewas up 0.65%, theincreased by 1.02%, and therose by 0.48%. They were recovering from drops seen a week earlier.
This is hardly a rally, and many would say it’s a temporary and expected minor increase. Analysts argue that the market is consolidating, meaning that we may see prices go up and down over the next several days, but not really moving in either direction.
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