Crypto’s January Bounce Hits a Speed Bump as ETF Flows Reversed

Key Points

• Bitcoin fell back near $90,000 as spot-ETF flows flipped from strong inflows to sizable outflows.
• Majors and high-beta tokens slid, while one listed altcoin surged on exchange access.
• Short-term charts look weak, even as daily signals stay neutral.

Crypto slid through the last day and night as traders cut leverage after an early-January rebound. Bitcoin traded near $90,392 (-2.58%), swinging between $92,936 and $89,600.

Ether fell to $3,126 (-3.87%). Solana slipped to $135.64 (-2.49%). XRP dropped to $2.117 (-7.08%). Zcash lagged at $444.78 (-9.97%). Perpetual turnover stayed elevated, about $3.76bn in BTC and $3.5bn in ETH.

Flows did much of the talking. Farside’s table shows Bitcoin spot ETFs at +$471.3m on Jan. 2 and +$697.2m on Jan. 5, then -$243.2m on Jan. 6 and -$486.1m on Jan. 7.

Ether spot ETFs ran +$174.5m, +$168.0m and +$114.7m on Jan. 2, 5 and 6, then fell to -$98.3m on Jan. 7. Solana’s spot-ETF flows were small, at +$2.0m on Jan. 7.

Traders watched U.S. jobs data and a Supreme Court tariff ruling that could shift rates and risk appetite. One market desk said the pullback reflected “profit booking along with long liquidations.”

Crypto tests support trend debate open

A Delta Exchange analyst noted Bitcoin below its 20-day EMA near $92,000 and testing $90,000 support, while Ether traded below a $3,187 20-day EMA with support near $3,080.

The trend debate is open. Cointelegraph cited researcher Axel Adler Jr saying structural signals were shifting from “weakness” to “strength,” with a composite indicator at +0.73 and a key resistance test near $96,000.

Altcoins showed how uneven this market can be. ZKP jumped 45% after Binance listed it for spot trading with a Seed Tag and OKX opened ZKP/USDT perpetuals on Jan. 7.

Zcash’s slide came with derivatives stress: futures open interest fell to $986.42m from $1.11bn the prior day, alongside a rise in short positioning. On the charts, Bitcoin’s 4-hour RSI sat near 39.9, while the daily RSI held near 51 and the weekly RSI near 40.7.

That gap says momentum is weak now, but the broader market is not fully washed out. Litecoin stayed anchored in the low-$80s, a reminder that discipline beats slogans.

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