NEW YORK, Jan 8, 2026, 17:13 EST — After-hours
- Bitcoin steadied after dipping below $90,000 earlier on Thursday, leaving U.S.-listed crypto stocks mixed after the bell.
- MSCI delayed an index change for bitcoin-treasury firms, while U.S. spot bitcoin ETF flows swung to outflows.
Bitcoin was last up 0.2% at $91,142 on Thursday, after sliding as low as $89,312 earlier in the session, and U.S.-listed crypto stocks finished mixed in extended trading. Strategy was up 3.2%, while Coinbase slipped 0.1%; miners Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms rose 3.7% and fell 1.0%, respectively.
The market is trying to price two moving parts at once: whether bitcoin-treasury stocks stay anchored in major indexes and whether the ETF bid is still there. MSCI shelved a plan to exclude so-called digital asset treasury companies — operating firms that hold tokens such as bitcoin as a core treasury asset — a move that Clear Street analyst Owen Lau said removed a “material near-term technical risk.” 1
Flows into U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs — funds that hold bitcoin directly — turned negative on Jan. 7, with net outflows of $486.1 million, data compiled by Farside Investors showed. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust and Fidelity’s FBTC led withdrawals, down $130.0 million and $247.6 million, respectively. 2
Macro data could still trump the tape. The Chicago Federal Reserve estimated the U.S. unemployment rate held at 4.6% in December; economists polled by Reuters expect 4.5% in the official report, and markets are pricing only about a 10% chance of a Fed cut at the Jan. 27-28 meeting, rising to about 55% by late April. Morgan Stanley economists wrote that “a 4.6% would keep the Fed on track to cut in January.” 3
But crypto has a habit of turning fast when rates or risk appetite shift. Bitwise CIO Matthew Hougan warned that “a 20% pullback in the S&P 500” would hit “all risk assets in the short term, crypto included.” 4
Traders are watching the $90,000 line again and the next day’s ETF flow print for signs the institutional tone is improving. The next hard catalyst is the U.S. employment report for December, due Friday at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. 5
