bitcoinist.com

The Bitcoin price looks to be off to a great start, having spent most of the new year above the psychological $90,000 mark. While the premier cryptocurrency has slowed down in recent days, there has been a display of significant bullish intent in the market so far in 2026.

Now, this latest show of optimism somewhat contradicts recent predictions that the Bitcoin price might be at the start of a bear market. This begs the question — could the bull run be nearing a restart, or is the price of BTC only witnessing a relief rally?

In a January 9 post on the X platform, crypto analyst Maartunn shared interesting data points to answer the question of whether Bitcoin’s latest price bounce is meaningful or just a relief rally. The market pundit anchored their answer on both on-chain and technical price data.

Firstly, Maartunn acknowledged that the recent jump was only bound to happen, as the Bitcoin price found support around the ETF Realized Price at $85,000. This price level represents the average cost basis of BTC ETF investors, and as expected, the buyers defended their positions — leading to the price bounce.

This phenomenon is spotlighted by another on-chain metric, the Coinbase Premium Gap, which measures the difference between the Bitcoin price on Coinbase and global exchanges. According to Maartunn, the metric started to rise right after New Year’s Eve, signaling renewed buying activity from US-based investors.

Furthermore, the spot exchange-traded funds started seeing strong capital inflows days after this uptick in the Coinbase Premium Gap. “This looks more like strategic buying/portfolio rebalancing (new quarter, new year) than emotional FOMO,” Maartunn added.

However, the crypto analyst noted that the rally only saw the Bitcoin Price climb to the range high at $94,000 before getting rejected. In essence, this suggests that the flagship cryptocurrency does not possess the bullish strength to breach that resistance.

Additionally, Maartunn mentioned that Bitcoin is still trading beneath crucial on-chain levels like the Short-Term Holder Realized Price and Whale Realized Price, both of which are acting as significant overhead resistance.

The on-chain analyst noted that the on-chain observations suggest that this recent bounce is merely a bear market relief rally, not a trend continuation — even though the price is up by about 10%. Only a clean break and sustained close above the $94,000 would indicate the Bitcoin price’s strong intent to rebuild a bullish structure, Martunn concluded.

As of this writing, the price of BTC stands at $90,360, reflecting an almost 1% decline in the past 24 hours.

In an exciting development, the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs has set a markup date for the CLARITY Act, representing a significant advancement in the creation of a federal regulatory framework for cryptocurrency use and operations in the United States.

The CLARITY Act was introduced in May 2025 and passed by the House of Representatives in July. It is a landmark US crypto market-structure bill designed to define regulatory responsibilities between the SEC and CFTC, clarify asset classifications, and establish compliance pathways for digital asset markets. The bill has since been moved to the US Senate for consideration, commencing with a revision by the relevant Senate Committee. In an X post on January 10, Fox Reporter Eleanor Terrett stated the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, led by Republican Chairman Tim Scott, has set the markup session for the CLARITY Act at 10 am EST on Thursday, 15 January, 2026.  For context, the markup represents a key legislative process whereby the lawmakers in relevant committees review, debate, amend, and rewrite a proposed bill before it is presented to the full chamber. Commenting on this development, Chairman Tim Scott explained the potential importance of the CLARITY Act, emphasizing its role in transforming the US into the crypto capital of the world. The Republican said:

This legislation is about making America the crypto capital of the world – so the next generation of jobs and innovation is built here, not overseas. When we set clear rules, we give entrepreneurs the confidence to start companies, hire workers, and grow right here in the United States. We also make it harder for criminals and foreign adversaries to use new technology to rip off Americans or undermine our financial system. After months of serious, bipartisan work, it’s time to move this forward and deliver real results for the American people.

Notably, the Banking Committee’s announcement has received many positive reactions from crypto enthusiasts. This is because the CLARITY Act is expected to bring regulatory clarity and also introduce the needed guardrails that would encourage more mainstream digital asset adoption among individuals and institutions alike.

In other developments, Eleanor Terrett predicts the CLARITY Act could be ratified in the next two months on a conservative basis. The Fox reporter explains the bill will likely be advanced next week, following the slated markup to be merged with the portion of the Agricultural Committee before being read to the Senate floor for voting. Upon approval, it is sent back to the House of Representatives and finally to President Donald Trump’s desk for ascent. Considering these processes and their respective length, Terrett expects the CLARITY Act to gain full approval by March at the earliest.

Dogecoin has taken another step in its objective to become a widely accepted and decentralized global currency as its corporate arm, House of Doge, announced a strategic partnership aimed at expanding the Dogecoin ecosystem into Japan. 

The initiative, which was disclosed in a press release on January 8, proposed a collaborative framework with Japanese firms abc Co., Ltd. and ReYuu Japan Inc. to pursue real-world asset initiatives and compliant digital infrastructure in Japan.

According to the press release, House of Doge has entered a tripartite partnership with abc Co., Ltd. and ReYuu Japan Inc. 

Each party brings a defined role to the table, with abc contributing expertise in token-economy design, smart-contract development, and regulatory alignment, while ReYuu Japan is tasked with local business development and market execution. House of Doge, meanwhile, will act as the coordinating body that guides ecosystem strategy and alignment with Dogecoin’s broader objectives.

A main focus of the partnership is the exploration of real-world asset initiatives, including support for regulated token structures and the promotion of asset-backed digital instruments like gold asset-backed stablecoins. Furthermore, the partnership is looking to establish a joint fund within the Dogecoin ecosystem.

According to the announcement, the partnership is also looking to promote democratization of next-generation Web3 through real-world use cases. Although it does not attach an extensive list of specific products or launch timelines, it highlights interest in frameworks that could support stablecoin-related activity and other regulated financial use cases.

The partnership framework spotlights cooperation within Japan’s established regulatory structure, particularly around compliant tokenization models. Japan’s increasing positivity towards cryptocurrencies and strong technology adoption make it a suitable environment for exploring blockchain-based financial products tied to real-world assets. 

“This partnership reflects our continued focus on supporting thoughtful, real-world expansion of the Dogecoin ecosystem,” said Marco Margiotta, CEO of House of Doge. 

The timing of the partnership also aligns with expanding crypto adoption trends within Japan itself. Overall, the number of registered crypto accounts in the country has continued to rise, with a report showing 12 million users in February 2025, representing a 3.5-fold increase over the past five years. More recent estimates place the figure above 13 million registered accounts.

Regulatory developments may further support this trajectory. The Government of Japan has been weighing changes to its crypto tax framework, including a proposal to introduce a flat 20 percent tax rate on crypto-related gains. The revision is reportedly targeted for fiscal 2026 and is aimed at encouraging investor participation in the crypto industry.

Therefore, the partnership comes in an environment that could benefit the Dogecoin ecosystem and its usage in japan, which in turn could benefit its price action in the coming years.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Over the past week, Bitcoin (BTC) finally broke out of a longstanding consolidation phase, moving decisively above the $90,000 mark. During this time, the leading cryptocurrency traded as high as $94,700 before a sudden rejection that has since forced prices to move within the $90,000-$92,000 range. Amid this mini-consolidation, a market analyst with the username OnChain has identified clear signs of a structural market weakness supporting the possibility of a bear market.

In a QuickTake post on CryptoQuant, OnChain explains that Bitcoin is showing early signs of structural weakness on the weekly chart, similar to what happened in 2021–2022. The analyst confirms this theory by consulting a combination of price-based technical indicators and on-chain demand metrics to determine the right market situation. These include: 4 Anchored VWAPs (2021 ATH, 2025 ATH, 3rd halving, and 4th halving), the SMA50, Realized Price – UTXO Age Bands (6-12 months), and Bitcoin Apparent Demand.

The application of these indicators to the Bitcoin weekly chart highlights areas of similar price structure in the present market and in 2021/2022. Notably, in Areas 1, as seen in the chart below, it is observed that Bitcoin for the first time simultaneously trades below the average price since the last all-time high (anchored VWAP), the SMA50, and also the realized price of coins held for 6–12 months. In the previous cycle, when BTC first fell below all these levels together, it marked the start of a broader weakening phase, rather than a brief correction. In Areas 2, OnChain reports that in both cycles, Bitcoin finds support at the anchored VWAP to its last halving for the second time in each cycle. Following the price correction halt, BTC attempted a mini-rebound in 2022 but faced strong resistance at all indicators from Areas 1, before slipping into a multi-month downtrend.

According to the market analyst, the indicators highlighted in Areas 1 are presently positioned around the $98,000 – $101,000, presenting the next point of major resistance. Meanwhile, all this reported price action is occurring as Bitcoin Apparent Demand continues to crash suggest a visible lack of buying pressure. OnChain notes another concerning similarity as Apparent Demand is also nearing the negative territory, similarly to 2021-2022.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin trades at $90,500 following a minor price decline of 0.58% in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, its monthly loss stands at 1.9%, indicating the bulls continue to struggle for market control. While there are alarming signs of growing market weakness, there are also potential positive developments. One of which is the Clarity Act, as highlighted by OnChain, the potential impact of which, following enactment, largely remains unknown.