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Crypto Adds Over $300 Billion in Market Cap as 2026 Begins
The beginning of 2026 marked a year since Trump returned to office, and the crypto market continued to ride the wave of a pro-crypto administration. In January alone, the market added over $300 billion in value, with Bitcoin climbing to $97,000 by the second week. This rally was soon followed by a correction, pushing Bitcoin down to around $67,000. In the meantime, crypto activity continues to fluctuate across exchanges and institutional platforms.
Bitcoin has fallen to $66K and appears to be temporarily stabilizing at $67, based on recent crypto trading platform price movements. The latest decline represents a 20% drop from its January high. Even with ongoing liquidations averaging around $100 million every 24 hours, stablecoin provider Tether added an estimated 35.2 million new users in the fourth quarter of 2025, bringing its total to 534.5 million users worldwide. Stablecoin adoption continues to expand beyond the crypto market, driven by individuals seeking ways to transact and invest using the crypto version of the U.S. dollar.
In the meantime, the crypto market is witnessing varied reactions. With Bitcoin recently falling below $70K, selling pressure is increasing, and all gains accrued in November 2025, when the coin hit $127,000, have been wiped out. Retail investors are split between continuing to invest using the DCA (dollar-cost averaging) strategy and converting profitable assets into stablecoins and waiting for the bottom of the cycle before re-entering the market.
For institutional investors, crypto trading data show that 15,000 Bitcoin and roughly $3 billion in U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have been sold so far, confirming the ongoing bearish trend. In contrast, during the same period last year, ETFs gained strong traction, with the corporate crypto market recording over 47,000 Bitcoin ETF buys. The recent downtrend suggests that institutional investors are unwilling to defend $70K as a key psychological level. Crypto traders and investors can expect Bitcoin to establish a new support level lower than its previous highs as the market continues to correct.
Leading crypto firm Strategy announced Monday its purchase of 855 Bitcoins at an average price of $87,974, spending approximately $75.3 million. This brings its total holdings to 713,502 Bitcoins, acquired for about $54.3 billion at an average cost of $76,052 per coin.
Currently, the NASDAQ-listed firm’s shares are trading around $129, down 3% following Bitcoin’s recent price drop and about 70% below its July 2025 all-time high of $438. Despite the decline, Executive Chairman Michael Saylor remains optimistic. In a recent social media post, he stated that market volatility helps “filter out the tourists and reward long-term holders.”
Not everyone agrees with Saylor’s aggressive Bitcoin strategy, especially as the company faces an unrealized loss of $6.2 billion with Bitcoin hovering near $67,000. Still, Strategy’s commitment reflects a broader trend among crypto firms expanding their Bitcoin treasuries. Similar firms, including Metaplanet, MARA Holdings, and Riot Platform, have also increased their holdings in recent months. This shows continued confidence in Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset despite ongoing market turbulence.
Global crypto regulations were key factors that supported Bitcoin’s climb to a new all-time high in 2025. The US in particular, after years of being neutral, moved a notch higher in supporting the crypto industry. Donald Trump’s campaign featured promises to make the US the crypto capital of the world. Since his election into office, Trump has established the GENIUS Act for stablecoins and presented a Strategic US Bitcoin Reserve.
However, the crypto regulation scene remains fraught with CC challenges. Recently, New York Attorney General Letitia James and four district attorneys signed a letter stating the GENIUS Act does not sufficiently protect users. The letter states that since stablecoin providers like Tether, headquartered in El Salvador, and Circle, based in New York, can decide to keep stolen funds and proceeds under their control rather than returning them to victims. The motive, according to the letter, is that the stablecoin companies can use the funds to earn interest and so are not motivated to return stolen funds to the victims or government authority. Tether and Circle have declared their commitment to consumer safety, but the allegation is yet to be resolved.
US senators have also released draft legislation to create a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency. The framework will finally provide jurisdiction over the gradually growing financial market. According to the draft, the legislation would define what crypto tokens are under various contexts and place the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission as the preferred regulator. However, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will have authority to oversee spot crypto markets. Another crucial part of the bill prohibits crypto companies from offering rewards for holding stablecoins. Crypto firms are fighting for the draft to be amended before being signed, as restricting rewards for holding stablecoins could potentially reduce crypto participation.
Bitcoin crossed $100,000 in December 2024 and again in February 2025. Crypto analysts believe that if Bitcoin breaks the $100,000 resistance level, it could be positioned to challenge the $200,000 zone. However, having recently fallen below the $70K resistance to trade around $69K, there is speculation over whether Bitcoin will rebound to hold above $70K before attempting to break $100K again.
With institutional buying acting as the main driver of any Bitcoin surge, the question becomes whether corporate buyers are showing enough enthusiasm to make additional purchases. Institutional firms like Strategy are still buying Bitcoin, but with falling share prices, there may be less funding available to acquire more coins if demand does not rise.
If Bitcoin fails to reclaim $70K and higher, pessimism in the crypto market could spill over into broader capital markets. On the other hand, if Bitcoin establishes support above previous levels, the market may see increased ETF inflows, which could in turn drive prices higher.
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