Crypto Surges Today – January 5, 2026: Here’s Why the Market Is Exploding

Crypto markets roar back to life as a perfect storm of bullish catalysts sends digital asset prices soaring. Forget the doom-and-gloom headlines of last quarter—today, the charts are painted green.

The Institutional Floodgates Swing Wide Open

Major regulatory clarity from key global jurisdictions finally arrived overnight. The long-awaited 'green light' from several national financial authorities has unleashed a tidal wave of institutional capital previously sitting on the sidelines. We're not talking cautious dips—this is full-scale allocation.

BNB Shatters Its ATH (Again)

Leading the charge, BNB obliterates its previous all-time high. The surge isn't happening in a vacuum; it's fueled by record-breaking activity on its native chain, proving that utility, not just speculation, can drive valuations into the stratosphere.

DeFi TVL Cuts Through Resistance

Total Value Locked across major DeFi protocols bypasses a critical psychological barrier. The smart money isn't just buying—it's staking, lending, and farming, signaling deep conviction in a decentralized financial future that operates 24/7, much to the chagrin of traditional bankers watching their closing bells.

A Macro Tailwind Pushes the Entire Sector

Broader financial markets are providing a unexpected boost. As traditional assets wobble under familiar pressures, crypto's narrative as an uncorrelated, innovative asset class gains fresh, powerful momentum. It's the classic 'flight to something new.'

So, is this a sustainable rally or another head fake? The sheer volume and fundamental drivers suggest this move has legs. But in crypto, the only true constant is volatility—today's moon mission could always use a bit more fuel. After all, on Wall Street, they call it 'irrational exuberance.' Here, we just call it Tuesday.

Crypto Winners & Losers

At the time of writing on Monday morning, 9 of the top 10 coins per market capitalisation have seen their prices increase over the past 24 hours.

is up by 1.2% since this time yesterday, currently trading at $92,483.

is up by 0.5%, now changing hands at $3,155.

The category’s highest increase is 2.9% by, currently standing at $2.13.

It’s followed by1.6% to the price of $898.

At the same time,saw the lowest rise, with a change of 0.3%, now standing at $0.2949.

The only red coin is, having decreased by 0.9% to $0.1502.

When it comes to the top 100 coins, 87 coins saw increases. Of these, one is double-digit.

appreciated 16% to $2.1.is next with a 6.2% increase to $0.00001211.

On the other hand,fell the most: 10.2% to $0.02653.

is next, having decreased by 6% to the price of $0.1462.

Meanwhile, the big four accounting firmafter years of a cautious stance.

“The Genius Act and the regulatory rulemaking around stablecoin I expect will create more conviction around leaning into that product and that asset class,” Paul Griggs, PwC’s US senior partner, said. “The tokenization of things will certainly continue to evolve as well. PwC has to be in that ecosystem.”

Moreover, Vitalik Buterin said ethereum solved blockchain’s trilemma via zero-knowledge EVMs and PeerDAS technology. This enables decentralization, consensus, and high bandwidth simultaneously, “shifting Ethereum into being a fundamentally new and more powerful kind of decentralized network,” Buterin wrote.

Now that ZKEVMs are at alpha stage (production-quality performance, remaining work is safety) and PeerDAS is live on mainnet, it's time to talk more about what this combination means for Ethereum.

These are not minor improvements; they are shifting Ethereum into being a…

‘Investors Add Digital Gold to Their Portfolios’

Petr Kozyakov, Co-Founder and CEO at payment infrastructure platform, commented that crypto markets are “in the green as investors add digital gold to their portfolios amid positioning for the year ahead.”

Bitcoin has surpassed $92,000, leading the market higher with Ethereum andalso recording gains.

Per the CEO, “a shift in mood across the digital token space has been underlined by a resurgence in interest in the meme coin sector, withandmaking a loud entry to 2026.”

“While the cryptocurrency space experienced a severe drop in sentiment in the final months of 2025, fundamentals in the sector remain strong as the underlying infrastructure evolves with assets such as stablecoins continuing to attract increasing levels of liquidity,” Kozyakov wrote.

Moreover,noted that we’ll see “a flurry of jobs data out this week,” coming from the US. Most importantly, the non-farm payrolls (NFP) data is out on Friday, they added, and consensus is headline number +55,000 and Unemployment Rate (UER) 4.50%.

Given that January cuts are barely priced now, “a weak number WOULD likely trigger market to price more cuts for January and push the yields lower.”

“Expect UER to matter more than headline number like last time. A higher UER could be negative for risk assets given most investors are expecting goldilocks scenario on US economy,” they said.

Moreover, “geopolitical tension has been rising as well. So far, the market reaction to the weekend events has been muted, but it could have some spillover effect on places that are already under tension.”

Levels & Events to Watch Next

At the time of writing on Monday morning, BTC stood at $92,483. For the majority of the past 24 hours, the coin traded sideways at the $91,000 level. It then jumped from $91,138 to the intraday high of $93,169.

Over the past seven days, BTC appreciated 2.9%, moving between $86,979 and $92,999. It’s also up by 3.1% in a month and down by 5.8% in a year and 26.6% from its all-time high.

If Bitcoin keeps the level above $90,000, it could run to and above $93,500 and $94,600. This would open doors towards the $98,000 zone in the coming weeks.

Ethereum is currently changing hands at $3,155. Much like BTC, ETH traded sideways at the $3,100 level for much of the past day. The price surged from the intraday low of $3,123 to the high of $3,209.

Looking at the past week, we find a 4.1% increase. The coin moved within the $2,916 – $3,198 range. It’s up just below 4% in a month and is down 13% in a year and 36.2% from its all-time high.

If ETH pushes above $3,430, it could see a further rise to $3,600 and $4,000 later in the year. Yet, a fall below $3,010 could see it pull back below $3,000. That said, Buterin unveiling the ZK-EVM and PeerDAS roadmap could strengthen the long-term outlook with strong fundamentals and tech innovation.

Moreover, as the new year began, the crypto market sentiment has seen a high enough increase to finally exit the fear territory.

The crypto fear and greed index stands at 42 today, compared to its lowest point over the past month of just 21. It is now back into the neutral zone, for the first time since October.

This isn’t to say that market participants aren’t still cautious. However, they seem to be more optimistic about the short- and mid-term outlooks.

ETFs Start 2026 With Inflows

The first trading day of the year, Friday, 2 January, saw the US BTC spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) posting positive flows of $471.14 million. The total net inflow now stands at $57.08 billion.

Of the twelve BTC ETFs, nine saw inflows, and none recorded outflows.posted the highest amount of $287.37 million.

It’s followed by$88.08 million and$41.49 million.

Moreover, the US ETH ETFs also posted positive flows, with $174.43 million on 2 January. The total net inflow hovers around $12.5 billion.

Five of the nine funds recorded inflows, and none posted outflows.took in $103.72 million in total on this day.

Moreover,recorded $47.16 million in inflows.

Meanwhile, according to on-chain data cited by, whales deposited some $2.4 billion to, split nearly evenly between bitcoin and Ether.

However, analysts noted that “crucially, this surge in risk-asset deposits was not accompanied by new buying power.”

Bitcoin Inflows to Binance are Increasingly Whale-Sized

“A 34x increase in the average size of each deposit. This metric reflects the average BTC per inflow transaction, signaling that larger holders are now more active on Binance.” – By @JA_Maartun pic.twitter.com/SkpgMUG8vP

Quick FAQ

The crypto market saw an increase over the past 24 hours, while the US stock market closed its previous trading session with a mixed picture. By the closing time on 2 January, thewas up by 0.19%, thedecreased by 0.17%, and therose by 0.66%. Investors are now watching developments after the United States’ attack on Venezuela.

Insiders expect the market to see additional increases in the coming weeks. Pullbacks are expected and normal.