Arthur Hayes said in his essay "Frowny Cloud" that Bitcoin underperformed in 2025 despite an all-time high above $126,000, citing a contraction in US dollar credit. He expects 2026 to bring a rebound in liquidity via Federal Reserve balance-sheet expansion and Reserve Management Purchases, estimating at least $40 billion per month, and disclosed leveraged BTC exposure through Strategy and Metaplanet.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies announced on Thursday a $200 million equity investment in Beast Industries, the entertainment firm founded by YouTube creator MrBeast, with closing expected around January 19, 2026. The deal aligns with Bitmine's digital asset strategy focus, while separate on-chain investigations have linked MrBeast's network to alleged insider trading involving multiple crypto tokens.

According to analyst Axel Adler Jr., Bitcoin futures positioning moved into a bullish regime after three months in a neutral 0 ± 2 range, with the Positioning Index climbing to 3.5, the first break above 3 since October 2025. Daily readings hit 24 as price rose nearly 4% to $95,358 and open interest to $12.18 billion, alongside funding at 0.0045; Adler said sustainability hinges on the SMA staying above 2 for at least a week.

According to analyst Benjamin Cowen, the 30‑day moving average of views across major crypto YouTube channels has dropped to levels last recorded in January 2021, marking a multi‑year low in audience engagement. Several creators report that interest has waned across social platforms, even as Bitcoin trades near $92,000 and attention appears to be shifting toward safe‑haven assets such as gold, silver, and privacy-focused cryptocurrencies.

In 2025, Solana reported that Pump.fun became one of its highest-earning applications as total network app revenue climbed to $2.39 billion. Launchpads, including Pump.fun, generated $762 million in revenue and created 11.6 million tokens, while overall meme coin trading volume declined 10% year over year to $482 billion but remained far above levels from two years earlier.

At the beginning of 2026, major cryptocurrencies and meme coins have rebounded from the prior year's downturn, while retail sentiment has turned more optimistic but remains highly reactive to short-term news. Social and sentiment data indicate that Bitcoin is trading increasingly in line with macroeconomic signals and ETF flows, as Ethereum, XRP and Solana see mixed yet notable shifts in discussion and price action. Meme coins, led by Dogecoin and its leveraged ETF performance, have also attracted renewed interest alongside whale activity and social media hype.

VanEck's Head of Digital Assets Research Matthew Sigel projects that Bitcoin could be valued near $2.9 million per coin by 2050 in the firm's long-term base-case scenario. The outlook assumes BTC is adopted for 5% to 10% of global trade settlement and reaches a 2.5% share of central bank reserve assets, alongside a 15% annualized return from 2026 to 2050, while alternative bear and bull cases point to much lower or significantly higher prices.

Zcash developers who left Electric Coin Company plan to build a new Zcash-focused startup and a wallet code‑named cashZ using the Zashi codebase. Former ECC CEO Josh Swihart said they will not launch a new token and remain focused on ZEC. Meanwhile, dev activity has slumped, and recent market swings have tested the project.

Bitcoin has risen back above $90,000, with analysts noting that the move is being powered mainly by spot buying rather than high leverage. Derivatives indicators show only moderate expansion, while exchange balances have dropped to their lowest level since 2018, suggesting a more sustainable market structure.