NEW YORK, January 2, 2026, 09:59 ET — Regular session
- Bitcoin rose in early Wall Street trade but remained capped below the $90,000 level.
- Traders are watching spot bitcoin ETF flows and next week’s U.S. jobs report for fresh direction.
Bitcoin rose about 2% on Friday to $89,555, extending a rebound into the first U.S. trading session of 2026 as buyers again tested the $90,000 threshold.
The move comes after bitcoin ended 2025 down more than 6% following a sharp fourth-quarter pullback from an October record above $126,000, a slide that underlined the token’s sensitivity to wider risk appetite.
That matters now because spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, have become a primary channel for institutional demand and can amplify moves when flows swing. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs saw $348.1 million of net outflows on Dec. 31, data from Farside Investors showed.
Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, was up 3.4% at $3,082.
Crypto-linked stocks also firmed early, tracking bitcoin’s gain. Coinbase rose about 1%, while bitcoin miners Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms were up about 3%.
The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, one of the biggest spot bitcoin funds, gained about 2% in early trade.
Bitcoin has largely traded between $85,000 and $90,000 over the past month, a narrow band that reflects thin holiday liquidity and a cooling in late-year inflows, Investing.com reported.
Investors are also watching macro catalysts that have increasingly steered crypto markets alongside equities. The next major U.S. jobs report is due on Jan. 9, and markets are also looking for an imminent announcement of a new Federal Reserve chair, Reuters reported.
“If Bitcoin manages to clear the $89,500 resistance, a decisive move towards the $100,000 mark is likely,” Akshat Siddhant, lead quant analyst at Mudrex, was quoted as saying. The Economic Times
For now, traders say the immediate tell is whether bitcoin can break and hold above $90,000 as liquidity returns after the holiday period, and whether ETF flows stabilize once the next set of daily figures prints.
Bitcoin traded between $87,778 and $89,913 on Friday, according to market data, keeping the market’s month-long range intact even as risk assets started the year on a firmer footing.
