NEW YORK, Jan 3, 2026, 06:31 ET — Market closed
- Bitcoin held around $89,700 early Saturday after U.S. strikes in Venezuela rattled geopolitical nerves.
- Crypto-linked stocks Coinbase and Strategy ended the last session higher ahead of Monday’s reopen.
- Traders are watching the $90,000 level and next week’s U.S. data calendar for clues on rates and risk appetite.
Bitcoin hovered near $89,700 early Saturday after President Donald Trump said the United States carried out a large-scale strike on Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro. Bitcoin was last up about 0.4% at $89,680, after trading between $88,509 and $90,804.
The weekend move matters because bitcoin trades 24/7 and often gives the first read on investor risk appetite when stocks are shut. The world’s biggest cryptocurrency is also sitting just under the closely watched $90,000 mark, a round-number level that has acted as a pivot for traders in recent months.
Crypto-linked equities will get their first chance to react when U.S. markets reopen on Monday. Coinbase rose 4.6% in the last session and Strategy, a major corporate bitcoin holder, gained about 3.5%.
In Caracas, Venezuela’s defense minister Vladimir Padrino said the country would resist the presence of foreign troops and accused the United States of striking civilian areas. He said officials were compiling information on dead and injured people.
Diplomatic fallout was still building, with governments split between condemnation and calls for restraint. Russia described the strikes as armed aggression, while Spain urged moderation and offered to help mediate, Reuters reported.
The Venezuela shock hit as markets were already entering 2026 with a heavy macro focus. On Friday, bitcoin rose 1.7% in U.S. trade while the 10-year Treasury yield pushed higher and oil slipped on oversupply worries despite geopolitical tension.
Currency markets have also turned to the next batch of U.S. data for direction as investors reassess the outlook for interest rates. “It’s going to be a time to actually do a lot of assessment,” said Juan Perez, director of trading at Monex USA, pointing to uncertainty around incoming data after the recent U.S. government shutdown. Investing
For the coming week, the baseline setup is a choppy range trade as headlines compete with rates. Traders typically define “support” as a level where buying interest tends to show up and “resistance” as an area where selling pressure often emerges; for bitcoin, the latest swing low near $88,500 and the $90,800 area on the upside are the near-term markers.
A sustained push above $90,000 would matter mostly for positioning rather than fundamentals. The next leg higher would likely require calmer geopolitical news and softer U.S. data that reinforces expectations for rate cuts, which can support risk assets by easing financing costs.
The downside scenario is a broader “risk-off” move — investor shorthand for a shift out of riskier assets — if the Venezuela situation escalates or oil spikes, pressuring inflation expectations and bond yields. In that setup, a break back below the high-$88,000s would bring the mid-$80,000s into view.
Before the next U.S. stock-market session, traders will be watching whether bitcoin can hold the upper-$88,000 area through the weekend and whether volatility spikes around fresh headlines. A sharp gap at Monday’s open in bitcoin-linked stocks is a common tell on how much risk investors are willing to take.
The broader calendar is also stacked. Reuters’ weekly market preview flagged the U.S. jobs report due Jan. 9, an OPEC+ meeting and other macro catalysts that can swing the dollar, yields and risk appetite — all key inputs for bitcoin’s next-week path.
For now, $90,000 remains the pivot. A decisive move above roughly $91,000 would put $95,000 back on traders’ radar, while a slide through $88,000 would raise the odds that bitcoin retests the mid-$80,000s before the next macro catalysts hit.
