Crypto Markets Trade Mixed as Bitcoin Pulls Back

Crypto markets were mixed on Tuesday, Jan. 6, as investors remained cautious ahead of key macroeconomic data.

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at around $92,129, down 2.3% on the day but still up 4.4% over the past week. Ether (ETH) changes hands near $3,225, flat on the day and up 8.6% over the past seven days.

Aurelie Barthere, a Principal Research Analyst at Nansen, said if Bitcoin’s current price level holds for at least a couple of weeks on rising trading volume, “that would be a strong bullish signal.”

“I would also look for a widening BTC call-put spread, which would indicate increasing optimism among options traders and further support the case for structural strength,” Barthere added.

Among other major tokens, XRP slipped 1% on the day to $2.25, though it remains up 20% over the past week. BNB fell 0.8% to $901, while Solana (SOL) traded flat near $138, extending an 11% weekly gain.

Among notable movers, Render rose about 11% to $2.43, while Bittensor gained roughly 5.4% to trade around $282.50. Rain also moved higher, climbing 12.8% on the day.

On the downside, Midnight fell 13% to $0.076, while Canton slipped 7.5% to $0.14. Solana memecoin Bonk declined 4.5%.

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $3.25 trillion, down about 1.5% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. Trading volume over the same period reached roughly $151 billion.

Liquidations and ETF flows

More than $512 million in leveraged positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, according to Coinglass data. Long positions accounted for roughly $284.7 million, while shorts made up about $227.4 million.

Bitcoin saw the largest share of liquidations at approximately $147.1 million, followed by Ethereum with about $126.6 million. Liquidations were also concentrated across other large-cap tokens, including Solana ($41.4 million) and XRP ($41.3 million).

In the exchange-traded fund (ETF) space, Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded $697.3 million in net inflows on Jan. 5, while Ethereum spot ETFs added $168.1 million.

Flows were also positive for newer products, with XRP spot ETFs attracting $46.1 million in daily inflows and Solana spot ETFs adding $16.2 million.

Silver Tops $80

Elsewhere, precious metals extended their rally from Monday, with gold rising 1% to trade above $4,480 per ounce, while silver jumped nearly 5% to around $80.

This comes as investors await macroeconomic data due later this week for signals on inflation and interest rates.

“Rate markets are currently pricing in nearly three 25-basis-point rate cuts for 2026, which is already a fairly dovish outlook,” said Barthere. “As a result, it would likely take a meaningful downside surprise in payrolls or an upside surprise in the unemployment rate to push risk assets, including crypto, materially higher.

Barthere added that another positive catalyst could come from a dovish signal around the appointment of the next Fed Chair, “for example, if Kevin Hassett were to be nominated.”