Leading cryptocurrencies edged higher Thursday as traders returned from New Year's break with bullish optimism.
| Cryptocurrency | Gains +/- | Price (Recorded at 7:30 p.m. ET) |
| Bitcoin BTC/USD | +2.06% | $96,841.51 |
| Ethereum ETH/USD | +1.93% | $3,450.93 |
| Dogecoin DOGE/USD | +0.77% | $0.3381 |
What Happened: Bitcoin surged to $97,700 late afternoon as upward volatility returned to the market. The leading cryptocurrency lost steam since the $100,000 tease on Christmas, but the latest uptick has taken its weekly gains into the green
Ethereum almost touched $3,500 in the morning before retreating to the $3,500 zone.
The market has high expectations that the incoming Donald Trump administration will bring a golden era for cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrency liquidations hit $175 million in the last 24 hours, with nearly $83 million in upside bets getting wiped out.
Bitcoin's Open Interest rose by 0.99%, while Ethereum witnessed higher speculative interest with a 3% jump in funds locked in unsettled derivatives.
The percentage of traders placing long positions on Bitcoin dropped from 62% to 54% in the last 24 hours, according to Long/Short Ratio.
That said, markets became more greedy, according to the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, hinting at a potential surge in buying pressure.
Top Gainers (24-Hours)
| Cryptocurrency | Gains +/- | Price (Recorded at 7:30 p.m. ET) |
| Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) | +34.07% | $1.34 |
| DeXe (DEXE) | +33.02% | $19.79 |
| SPX6900 (VIRTUAL) | +28.39% | $1.22 |
The global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $3.41 trillion, following a spike of 2.52% in the last 24 hours.
Stocks closed in the red in Wall Street's first trading session in 2025. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 151.95 points, or 0.36%, to close at 42,392.27. The S&P 500 slipped 0.22%, ending at 5,868.55, while the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.16% to end at 19,280.79.
Cryptocurrency-related stocks rose during Thursday's trading session, with both MicroStrategy Inc. MSTR and Coinbase Global, Inc. COIN closing 3.59% higher.
See More: Best Cryptocurrency Scanners
Analyst Notes: Influential cryptocurrency analyst Rekt Capital presented their outlook for 2025.
"2025 will likely see the BTC bull market peak and the very beginnings of a brand new bear market," the analyst projected. "The majority of the bear market will take place, however, in 2026."
Well-known on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant stated that the bull market was far from ending, citing on-chain indicators like network fees and miner sell-offs.
"On-chain data suggests the bull market is still intact, and the current phase appears to be a cooling-off period rather than a cycle peak," the firm added. "However, short-term price movements remain unpredictable."
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