On Wednesday, January 16, the cryptocurrency markets saw a significant increase in trading activity. The prominent digital currency, Bitcoin, jumped over 4 percent to exceed the $96,000 mark, breaking through several weeks of resistance, driven by spot buying and a rise in open interest that supported prices. Ethereum experienced a significant increase of over 7 percent, exceeding the $3,300 threshold, driven by strong network activity and notable trading volumes. Altcoins saw positive movement, with Cardano, Stellar, and Dogecoin recording increases between 9 and 10 percent. The rally, analysts observed, appears to be driven by spot accumulation and an increasing risk appetite, with on-chain data showing liquidations of short positions as Bitcoin exceeded key resistance levels.
It is reported that the recent upward movement is linked to the positive sentiment generated by the US CPI data, indicating that inflation has remained stable at 2.7 percent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), which has eased worries about further Federal Reserve rate hikes. “The data indicates a stable macro environment: prices continue to rise, yet they are neither speeding up nor falling sharply, which is favorable for risk assets such as crypto,” stated. Amidst this, the flagship token has seen profit taking at high levels, falling below the $96,000 mark, but it continues to hold a stronger trading position on Wednesday. As of the latest update, the leading digital asset by market capitalization was priced at $94,870, reflecting a 3.33 percent increase, alongside a 24-hour trading volume of $60.14 billion, as reported by CoinMarketCap. The asset has varied between $91,727 and $96,011 in the past 24 hours. Bitcoin is currently around 24 percent lower than its peak of $126,198, achieved on October 7, 2025.
In the latest market update, Ethereum is currently priced at $3,328.76, reflecting a 6.43 percent increase. The trading volume over the past 24 hours is reported to be a remarkable $33.4 billion, according to the reports. The asset varied between $3,118 and $3,357 over the past 24 hours. From a technical standpoint, Riya Sehgal indicates that Bitcoin is facing resistance in the $98,000–$100,000 range, whereas Ethereum is aiming for $3,500 as its next milestone. “A brief period of stabilization may occur before additional progress. Overall sentiment remains positive, backed by both institutional and retail inflows,” said Sehgal.
The sentiment also influenced the broader altcoin market. Among the top gainers were Dash, Story, Pepe, Optimism, Internet Computer, Celestia, Ethena, Virtuals Protocol, Hedera, World Liberty Financial, Stellar, Pudgy Penguins, Arbitrum, Polkadot, Immutable, Worldcoin, Aptos, Polygon, ether.fi, Midnight, Morpho, Bonk, Injective, Cardano, Jupiter, Algorand, Aerodrome Finance, Curve DAO Token, and Avalanche, with gains ranging between 7 percent and 31 percent. On Wednesday, the top trending cryptocurrencies included Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Binance Coin, Dash, Pepe, SPACE_INTO_COIN Node Wave, POOL Impulse Empire_of_Sight, Validator Trove_RWA_Coin DeFi, and Compute Immunefi_Coin AI.