Institutional Investors Resume Bitcoin Purchases Amid Volatility Risks

Bitcoin consolidates with low volatility, hiding market fragility and unclear price direction.

The leading cryptocurrency is consolidating amidst low volatility. This current calm conceals the market’s “fragility” and the lack of a clear price direction, noted Glassnode.

Bouncing Into Supply#Bitcoin has entered the new year with constructive momentum, printing two higher highs and extending price to $98k, but the advance now runs directly into a historically significant supply zone.

Read the full Week On-Chain👇 https://t.co/CfFlebieWM pic.twitter.com/jgMy9vLLsD

— glassnode (@glassnode) January 14, 2026

According to analysts, the recent rise to $96,000 was “mechanical” in nature. It triggered a short squeeze in the futures market with low trading volumes, rather than an influx of fresh capital.

Key Levels

The price has entered a historically significant supply zone ($93,000-$110,000). This range is concentrated with coins held by long-term holders, purchased from April to July 2025. Any attempts to rise above $93,000 face selling pressure from this group.

An important indicator is the average purchase price by short-term holders — $98,300. Maintaining the rate above this level will preserve the unrealized profits of new players and support market optimism.

Actions of Major Players

Long-term holders (LTH) have reduced their selling activity to 12,800 BTC per week. For comparison, at cycle peaks, this figure exceeded 100,000 BTC. However, for a sustainable rally, accumulation rates must confidently surpass this supply.

Institutional flows have stabilized:

• spot ETFs have returned to buying;
• buyers dominate on Binance and other platforms;
• aggressive selling on Coinbase, which previously pressured the price, has significantly slowed.

Derivative Risks

Despite local positivity, the options market signals ongoing risks. Traders continue to buy insurance against price drops (puts), especially for medium and long terms.

Dealers are in a “short gamma” position in the $94,000-$104,000 range. In such a market structure, hedging operations amplify price movements rather than dampen them. This creates conditions for a sharp spike in volatility when a strong impulse appears.

Experts consider the “market settings” for the first quarter to be constructive. If demand in the spot market continues to grow, the current consolidation will become the foundation for resuming the upward trend.

Shift in Sentiment

Chief Analyst at MEXC Research, Sean Yang, noted a positive shift in a comment to ForkLog. Bitcoin’s rise of more than 8% since the beginning of the month has offset the decline of the fourth quarter of 2025. According to the expert, this indicates the exhaustion of sellers’ strength and the cryptocurrency’s correlation with safe-haven assets — gold and silver.

“Historically, January brings an average of 9% growth for Bitcoin. The asset is striving to test the $100,000 mark, and the current dynamics align with expectations,” said Yang.

Ethereum shows a high correlation with the leading cryptocurrency: over two weeks, the asset has gained 12%. The analyst predicted that by the end of January, Ethereum’s growth will be 12-20%, fully compensating for December’s decline.

Among the key growth drivers, the expert highlighted:

1. Liquidity Influx. The effects of quantitative easing will begin to flow into the crypto industry.
2. Supply Shortage. Institutional investors are buying Bitcoin faster than miners can produce it.
3. Technology. The development of RWA and privacy segments will attract new investors.

On January 13, exchange-traded funds based on the leading cryptocurrency attracted $753.7 million — the highest since October.