Bitcoin’s brief rise above $97,000 in the past day suggests that the underlying mechanisms point to a structural shift in the interaction of capital and asset classes.
According to crypto slate According to the data, BTC reached a peak of $97,860, its highest price level since November last year. This price performance continued the flagship digital asset’s strong start to the year and drove the broader cryptocurrency market.
But the price increase wasn’t happening in a speculative vacuum. Instead, it is supported by key on-chain indicators that paint a picture of new institutional investors colliding with the supply side that suddenly stopped selling.
here, crypto slateexplains why Bitcoin is currently trending upwards, citing on-chain data.
Bitcoin spot bidding and whale dominance
The most immediate driver of the price increase was a sharp re-acceleration of inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs.
According to data from Coinperps, 12 Bitcoin ETF products have seen more than $1.5 billion in inflows in the past two days alone.
These are not just big numbers because they are mechanically important.
After the halving, the amount of new Bitcoin issued will be approximately 450 BTC per day. At current prices, this represents a relatively small amount compared to the expected demand during periods of high ETF inflows.
ETF flows are not the only source of spot purchases and do not map one-to-one to immediate “market purchases” in all cases. But they are highly visible and regulated conduits that can quickly pull increasing demand into the market.
This is particularly effective when institutional allocators rebalance or when broader “risk-on” flows return to financial markets.
This dynamic explains why ETF flow data has become a daily macro-like signal for the crypto sector. This helps explain why Bitcoin is rising even when crypto-native talk is quiet.
Data from CryptoQuant reinforces this spot-driven strength story. According to the company’s metrics, this move was not initially driven by leverage, but by real demand for the underlying assets.
CryptoQuant’s 90-day spot taker CVD started turning positive around $86,000, indicating an increasing taker-buy advantage. This indicator shows that the market’s buying volume consistently exceeded the selling volume well before the price reached its current high.
Additionally, the quality of this purchase was outstanding. Spot average order size for the same period showed a “whale order.” This indicates that purchasing volumes were driven by larger companies rather than dispersed retail speculation.
These investors stepped in to try to lead this bull market through spot purchases, rather than relying on weak leverage.
Profit taking is slow
The second stage of the movement is defined by the absence of the negative forces of relentless profit taking.
According to Glassnode’s recent market notes, realized profits have declined significantly from the high levels seen early in the fourth quarter.
According to the company, the seven-day moving average of realized gains for long-term BTC holders has declined to approximately $183.8 million per day. This is significantly down from more than $1 billion per day in late 2025.
This is important because a Bitcoin rally requires more than just buyers. It also requires fewer enthusiastic sellers.
When profit-taking weakens, even moderate demand can cause prices to rise because the market is not constantly “replenishing” with distributions from profit-taking holders.
Notably, this reluctance to sell is further evidenced by the Value Days Destroyed (VDD) indicator. This metric calculates the number of days a Bitcoin was inactive before it was moved, weighted by the amount of BTC transferred.
A low value indicates that younger coins are being moved, and a high value indicates that older, long-held coins are being used.
Currently, as of January 2026, VDD is approximately 0.53, a historically low level. This suggests that the BTC being transferred on the network is relatively young, meaning that older coins remain in place.
Past cycles suggest that rising Bitcoin prices and subdued VDD readings signal a solid economic expansion. In this environment, incoming demand no longer needs to break through a structural sell wall, allowing bids to drive prices higher more efficiently.
Therefore, a breakout above the current resistance is supported by the inactivity of long-term holders. This supports the idea that real market strength is driving assets, rather than a fragile rebound fueled by short-term speculation.
Derivatives as accelerators
The third driver is the classic accelerator: derivatives positioning.
As Bitcoin rose, crypto market coverage followed a wave of short-term liquidations. These are forced buybacks by traders who bet on this move. These events can create sudden “air pockets” as stops occur and liquidations cascade.
In fact, the move triggered the largest short-term liquidation event across the top 500 cryptocurrencies since October 10, according to Glassnode data.
But beyond the aggregation of headline liquidations, more structural changes may have occurred in options.
Glassnode also noted that the market’s all-time high options open interest was reset around expiry in late December, reducing open interest from 579,258 BTC to 316,472 BTC. This equates to a reduction of more than 45%.
For market observers, option open interest is very important because it can change the way market makers hedge their risks.
Glassnode also warned that dealer Gamma is in short supply in the approximately $95,000 to $104,000 zone. This setup allows the upside to be amplified as the price starts to rise, as the flow of the hedge matches the movement rather than dampening it.
Simply put, this rally didn’t just attract new buyers; They also forced purchases (through liquidations and hedging actions) when key levels were challenged.
Meanwhile, CryptoQuant data confirms that futures participation arrived late in the sequence, with retail activity dominating.
According to the company, the buying volume of BTC futures takers turned positive around $91,400, slightly behind spot bids.
Still, this was in line with the upward trend of top cryptocurrencies and confirmed the strength of the market.
Macro and policy tailwinds
Bitcoin does not trade in a vacuum, and macro injections provided a friendlier backdrop this week.
According to the latest US CPI release, the headline inflation rate in December was 2.7% year-on-year, and the core CPI was 2.6% year-on-year. On a monthly basis, the headline CPI was 0.3% (seasonally adjusted).
The market often translates this into a simple question. Will inflationary pressures push real yields higher and financial conditions remain tight, or will risk appetite be allowed to expand?
While real yields remain at historically meaningful levels (recently measured at around 1.83% for the US 10-year TIPS yield), easing inflationary impulses could reduce the likelihood of further monetary tightening shocks and support high-beta assets.
Bitcoin’s sensitivity to macros varies by regime. However, during times when cryptocurrencies are being traded as “risk-on” proxies, less inflationary fears may be enough to support a rebound, especially if spot flows and positioning are aligned.
A quieter contributor, on the other hand, is the evolution of the US policy dialogue around crypto market structure.
U.S. lawmakers have positioned the CLARITY Act as an important piece of legislation that would create clearer boundaries between government agencies and reduce the power of “executive regulation.”
While the bill has elicited mixed reactions from market participants, industry participants agree that the bill could benefit BTC by creating a friendlier regime that compresses risk premiums.
Can Bitcoin continue?
The question now is whether Bitcoin can turn this rebound into sustained upward momentum.
Glassnode highlights a short-term holder (STH) cost basis of approximately $99,100 as a key threshold. The logic is simple. If recent buyers have reached breakeven or profits, they are less likely to sell defensively on a small pullback, and momentum traders gain confidence.
At the same time, Bitcoin is entering an overhead supply zone where many buyers’ cost bases are concentrated. Glassnode incurs overheads that range from approximately $92,100 to $117,400.
This means that as prices rise, you may repeatedly encounter groups eager to sell near the break-even point.
This creates two reasonable paths. In a continuation scenario, if the ETF’s inflows remain consistently positive and the price regains around $99,000, the market could move higher through supply as sellers are absorbed (especially if derivative hedges maintain support).
In a failure scenario, if prices repeatedly fall below the STH cost threshold and macro tightening occurs through rising real yields, there is a risk that the move will look like a new range depleted by a resurgence in overhead supply.
(Tag Translation) Bitcoin
