Daily Crypto Signals: Bitcoin Holds Near $95K, Ethereum Eyes $4.1K as Crypto Market Structure Bill Faces Delays
The cryptocurrency market showed mixed signals on Thursday as Bitcoin consolidated near $95,500 following a sharp rally, while Ethereum
Quick overview
- Bitcoin is consolidating around $95,500 after a recent rally, facing resistance at $97,000 and remaining 25% below its all-time high.
- Ethereum is poised for a potential breakout above $4,100, with technical indicators suggesting a possible 10% to 25% price increase.
- US lawmakers postponed crucial discussions on crypto regulation, creating uncertainty in the market, while institutional demand for Bitcoin continues to grow despite low retail interest.
- The Digital Settlement House platform by the London Stock Exchange Group signals increasing adoption of blockchain technology in traditional finance.
The cryptocurrency market showed mixed signals on Thursday as Bitcoin BTC/USD consolidated near $95,500 following a sharp rally, while Ethereum ETH/USD positioned for a potential breakout above $4,100. Meanwhile, US lawmakers postponed crucial markup sessions for crypto market structure legislation, creating uncertainty around the regulatory framework that could shape the industry’s future.
Crypto Market Developments
This week, the cryptocurrency industry saw a lot of regulatory trouble when the US Senate Banking Committee called off its planned Thursday markup of the CLARITY Act. This law is a big deal because it aims to define clear rules for how digital assets should be traded. The delay happened just a few hours after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the exchange would no longer support the bill because he thought the current version “would be materially worse than the current status quo.”
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott called the postponement a “brief pause” and stressed that conversations are still going on in good faith between both parties. The measure would have set rules for how the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission oversee crypto markets. It was scheduled to move through both the Banking and Agriculture Committees before being voted on by the whole Senate.
Armstrong said that a new draft may go into markup “in a few weeks,” but the Senate’s scheduled state work period next week means that any action will probably have to wait until late January at the earliest. Some businesses, like The Digital Chamber, say that “inaction is unacceptable,” but they also say they are worried about rules concerning decentralized finance, stablecoin interest payments, and which agencies have the power to regulate them.
The London Stock Exchange Group’s Digital Settlement House (DiSH) platform is a good sign for institutions. It brings commercial bank money onto blockchain rails. The service lets you settle payments instantly on both blockchain-based and traditional payment networks 24/7. Instead of stablecoins, it uses tokenized claims on real bank deposits. This improvement in infrastructure shows that more and more people in traditional finance are using blockchain technology.
Bitcoin Faces Resistance at $97,000
After a strong three-day run that wiped out $465 million in short futures options, Bitcoin’s price stabilized around $95,500 on Thursday. But the cryptocurrency couldn’t keep up the pace above $97,000, which makes people wonder if the surge has enough support to hit the psychologically key $100,000 level. Bitcoin is still 25% below its all-time high of $126,219, even though it has gone up recently.
Data on derivatives shows a worrying trend: regular traders are still not getting involved. On Thursday, the Bitcoin perpetual futures funding rate was only 4%, which is much lower than the normal range of 8% to 12% for neutral conditions. This low rate shows that retail traders don’t want to take bullish positions, which is unusual because they usually prefer perpetual futures because their prices closely follow spot markets. Google Trends data backs up this lack of interest in retail. The global search interest for “crypto” is only 27 on a scale of 0 to 100, which is just above the 12-month low of 22.
Institutional demand keeps growing, even though retail interest is low. Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds now manage more than $120 billion in assets, while public firms that follow Strategy’s corporate treasury strategy have bought more than $105 billion in Bitcoin. Even if there isn’t a lot of retail buying, this institutional buying could be what pushes Bitcoin beyond $100,000. However, economists say that Bitcoin hasn’t yet proven itself to be a solid hedge during times of economic uncertainty. Traders are worried about social and political risks, such as possible challenges with the Federal Reserve’s independence and rising tensions over Iran’s oil supply.
Can Ethereum Price Cross $4,100 Soon?
Ethereum was trading close to $3,300 on Thursday. Technical signs show that the altcoin may be getting ready for a big move toward $4,100, which would mean gains of 10% to 25%. Pelin Ay, a crypto analyst, found a pattern in how Ethereum’s leverage works on Binance. The Leverage Ratio is currently close to 0.60, which is a high level that has historically come before big price rises after short periods of consolidation.
This pattern happened a lot in 2024 and 2025, and it always led to 10–25% price rises after short-lived liquidation wicks that flushed out overleveraged long holdings. The fact that the leverage ratio still high even after recent price advances shows that traders are still willing to take risks. However, many analysts think there will be a little drop before a prolonged recovery starts.
But it looks like underlying holder sentiment is weaker than Bitcoin’s. According to Sean Rose, an analyst at Glassnode, Ethereum’s spent-output profit ratio is still below 1. This means that losses are still more than profits, even though prices have gone up recently. This means that those who own ETH are less sure of themselves than people who own BTC, even if Ethereum has done better than Bitcoin since the lows in January.
Technical analysis suggests that there may be a dip into the $3,050-$3,170 level before any attempt to break out. This zone lines up with the point of control on the Visible Range Volume Profile, which shows the price level where most trading volume has happened since September 2024. Hyblock data shows that there are a lot of long positions between $3,040 and $3,100 that are worth more than $500 million. This makes it more likely that there will be a short-term liquidation sweep into this region before a larger move toward $4,100 happens.
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