NEW YORK, Jan 3, 2026, 12:21 ET — Market closed
- Bitcoin slipped about 0.9% to around $89,990; ether eased to roughly $3,106.
- Coinbase, Strategy and major bitcoin miners surged in Friday’s first Wall Street session of 2026.
- Traders are watching next week’s U.S. jobs and inflation data and the late-January Fed meeting for rate signals.
Bitcoin eased 0.9% to $89,990 on Saturday, hovering near the $90,000 mark as weekend trading stayed thin. Ether slipped 0.9% to $3,105.90.
The start of 2026 finds bitcoin still wrestling with a round-number threshold that has shaped positioning for both tokens and the crypto-linked stocks that tend to amplify the underlying move.
Macro drivers are back in focus after the holiday lull, with investors looking ahead to a “critical week of economic data” that could reset expectations for U.S. interest-rate cuts. “It’s going to be a time to actually do a lot of assessment,” said Juan Perez, director of trading at Monex USA, as markets priced in two Fed cuts this year; Reuters also said the dollar index rose 0.24% to 98.48. Reuters
On Friday, bitcoin gained 1.69% to $89,789.87 and ether rose 4.5% to $3,121.09 as U.S. stocks finished mixed, Treasury yields moved higher and the dollar firmed, Reuters reported.
Spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds — vehicles that hold the token and trade like stocks — saw net outflows of $3.5 billion in November and $1.1 billion in December, SoSoValue data cited by Investing.com showed, as bitcoin traded in a narrow $85,000-$90,000 range into year-end. Investing.com also said bitcoin fell 6% in 2025.
In U.S. equities, Coinbase rose 4.6% on Friday while bitcoin-holder Strategy gained 3.5%; miners Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms jumped 10.2% and 12.0%, respectively.
Bitcoin trades around the clock, so weekend moves can show up immediately in the token, but crypto-linked shares won’t reflect that price action until U.S. markets reopen.
Before next session, traders will parse a packed U.S. data calendar that could swing rate expectations. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey is due Jan. 7, followed by the December employment report on Jan. 9 and the December CPI report on Jan. 13.
Before next session, the Federal Open Market Committee’s Jan. 27-28 meeting is also in view, after a year in which shifts in the rate outlook repeatedly drove cross-asset volatility.
Before next session, the immediate technical focus stays on $90,000: holding above it would put the upper end of the recent range back in play, while another fade keeps bitcoin locked in consolidation.
