Crypto Market Slides as BTC, ETH Drop; CLARITY Bill Advances in Senate

I. Crypto Market Overview

Key Takeaways

Macro Environment

The Federal Reserve is expected to keep rates unchanged, maintaining tight liquidity and limiting crypto upside. The US Senate is advancing the CLARITY bill, signaling progress toward unified crypto regulation and boosting market confidence. Surging USDC stablecoin issuance highlights strong demand for regulated digital assets and supports overall market liquidity.

Crypto Market

The crypto market saw broad declines over the past 12 hours, with Bitcoin down 4.43% to $97,474 and Ethereum falling 9.27% to $3,144, pressured by ETF outflows and weak risk sentiment. Altcoins also dropped, with MYX Finance down 13.58%, FET down 12.59%, and ARB down 11.73%. MemeCore and TRON outperformed, falling less than peers, as sector rotation and network activity provided some support.

Today's Outlook

BUIDL Europe 2026 opens in Lisbon today, gathering blockchain builders and founders for a major technical conference. Spur Protocol SON DeFi IDO launches on KingdomStarter, potentially drawing attention to new DeFi projects and sector innovation.

Fear and Greed Index

14.00% Annual Percentile

49 Neutral

Total Crypto Market Cap

$3.13T

1.94%

Total Market Trading Volume

$108.29B

20.82%

Altcoin Season Index

72.73%

Quarterly Percentile

24 / 100

Total Futures Market Open Interest

3.22B

17.48%

Futures

672.73B

19.92%

Perpetuals

II. Industry Updates

Macro-economic Policies

The Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates unchanged in January, with an 88.4% probability, maintaining tight liquidity and limiting upside for Bitcoin and DEFI markets.

China's central bank (PBoC) has pledged to cut the reserve requirement ratio and interest rates in 2026, signaling an accommodative stance that could boost regional risk appetite and support crypto market liquidity.

The U.S. dollar index rose 0.11% to 98.683, strengthening against major currencies; a stronger dollar typically pressures Bitcoin and altcoin prices by tightening global liquidity.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $243 million in net outflows after strong early-year inflows, reflecting shifting institutional sentiment and increasing short-term volatility in crypto asset prices.

Circle minted $2.25 billion in USDC since January, including $500 million today, highlighting surging stablecoin demand and providing additional liquidity to DeFi and crypto trading platforms.

Cryptocurrency Regulatory Trends

The US Senate Agriculture Committee has advanced a bipartisan draft of the CLARITY bill, signaling progress toward comprehensive crypto regulation and boosting market confidence in regulatory clarity.

The US Senate Banking and Agriculture Committees will hold a vote on January 15 for major crypto market structure legislation, a key step toward establishing unified federal oversight and potentially reducing regulatory uncertainty.

If the Senate passes the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, it will be integrated with the House-approved version and sent to President Trump, potentially accelerating the implementation of clear crypto regulations and impacting investor sentiment.

World Liberty Financial, linked to the Trump family, has applied for a US bank charter to issue and manage a dollar-backed stablecoin, reflecting the trend of crypto firms seeking regulatory approval and institutional legitimacy.

Circle minted $2.25 billion in USDC since the start of the year, including $500 million today, highlighting surging demand for regulated stablecoins and supporting liquidity in the digital asset market.

MemeCore (M): MemeCore rose 2.7% in 24h with $14.6M volume, driven by ongoing Layer 1 blockchain adoption and strong meme coin sector sentiment, but no major new event in the last 24h.

MYX Finance (MYX): MYX Finance gained 9.4% in 24h with $25.8M volume, surging on V2 upgrade optimism and perpetual market volume growth, though no specific protocol event confirmed in the last 24h.

TRON (TRX): TRON increased 1.3% in 24h with $632.8M volume, supported by robust network activity and stablecoin transaction leadership, but no major new announcement in the last 24h.

Smart Money Movements

A crypto whale closed a 3,846 BTC long position at $91,158 per BTC, totaling $350 million, incurring a $3.8 million loss after a market pullback.

Ethereum ETFs recorded $457.3 million in net inflows over three days, with BlackRock’s ETHA adding 61,360 ETH ($198.8 million) and helping keep ETH above $3,200.

Metaplanet acquired $451 million in Bitcoin between October and December, raising its total BTC holdings to $3.78 billion and boosting its share price by 21% in five days.

A whale accumulated 3,000 BTC worth $280 million across three wallets within 10 hours, signaling continued large-scale Bitcoin accumulation.

Grayscale transferred 26,361 ETH ($84.3 million) and 2,078 SOL to Coinbase Prime, highlighting ongoing institutional asset management activity.

Events to Watch

Jan 8 (Thu)

BUIDL Europe 2026 opens in Lisbon, gathering blockchain builders and founders; Spur Protocol SON DeFi IDO launches on KingdomStarter.

Jan 9 (Fri)

US Non-Farm Payrolls and December jobs report to be released, providing key data for Federal Reserve policy outlook.

Jan 10 (Sat)

Ranger ICO and Infinex token sale both end, potentially impacting MetaDAO and Infinex project liquidity and market activity.

Jan 11 (Sun)

$21.94M worth of APT tokens will be unlocked, possibly affecting APT token market dynamics.

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