Bitcoin Breaks $94K as Markets Rally Despite Rising Geopolitical Tensions

Crypto markets continued to move higher on Monday, Jan. 5, as investors returned to risk assets despite a tumultuous weekend marked by escalating geopolitical tensions.

Continuing from Friday's rally and over the weekend, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading around $94,340, up 3.5% over the past 24 hours, while Ethereum (ETH) rose 3.2% on the day to trade near $3,240. The top two cryptocurrencies are up 8% and 11% on the week, respectively.

Among the other top-10 assets, XRP climbed the most, rising over 11% over the past 24 hours to $2.33, while BNB gained about 2% to trade near $914. Solana (SOL) added roughly 4% on the day, changing hands around $139.

Render (RENDER) led today’s top gainers, jumping 14% over the past 24 hours to trade near $2.18, while Worldcoin (WLD) rose about 9.6% to $0.65.

On the downside, Midnight (NIGHT) led losses after last week’s rally, sliding about 4% on the day to $0.08. Zcash (ZEC) — 2025’s top performer among large-caps — fell roughly 2.5% to $493, while TRON (TRX) edged lower by about 0.6%, trading near $0.29.

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization currently stands at approximately $3.31 trillion, up 3% over the past 24 hours, with total trading volume reaching about $139 billion. Bitcoin dominance was measured at 57.2%, while Ethereum dominance stood at 11.8%.

Liquidations and ETF flows

More than $427.6 million in positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, according to Coinglass data, with shorts accounting for roughly $347.3 million and longs making up about $80.3 million.

Bitcoin recorded the largest share of liquidations at approximately $228.0 million, followed by Ethereum with about $73.4 million. Liquidations were also seen across other large-cap tokens, including XRP ($17.5 million) and Solana ($14.3 million).

In the exchange-traded fund (ETF) sector, spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $471.1 million in inflows on Friday, Jan. 2, while spot Ethereum ETFs experienced net inflows of $174.4 million. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs saw mostly outflows in December, with monthly net outflows reaching over $1 billion for BTC products, and over $600 million for ETH.

Spot XRP ETFs posted daily net inflows of $13.6 million, and Solana ETFs saw $9.7 million in inflows on Friday.

Elsewhere

Elsewhere, safe-haven assets rallied as geopolitical tensions escalated after the now ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro pleaded not guilty in a New York federal court following his capture in a U.S. military operation.

Gold rose more than 2.5% to around $4,443 per ounce, while silver climbed roughly 4.6% to above $76.

The development prompted warnings from President Donald Trump and renewed concerns over regional stability, as Washington moved to establish an interim government in Caracas. In turn, Venezuela has declared a state of emergency, ordering the arrest of individuals accused of supporting the U.S. operation, according to CNN.