Polymarket showed 43% odds of Bitcoin reaching $100,000 in January as of Jan. 18, BlockBeats reports. The platform also displayed 15% probability for Bitcoin hitting $105,000, 15% for dropping to $85,000, and 5% for falling to $80,000.

Bitcoin fell below $95,000 on Jan. 18, declining 0.49% over 24 hours, HTX data show. The move reflects short-term downside pressure on the leading cryptocurrency.

Steak 'n Shake allocated $10 million to Bitcoin on Jan. 17, adding BTC to its balance sheet, BlockBeats reports. The U.S. chain has accepted Bitcoin payments since May 2025 via the Lightning Network to lower credit card fees and attract younger crypto users. The company disclosed Q2 2025 same-store sales rose over 10%, processing fees can drop about 50%, and the latest purchase equals about 105 BTC at current prices.

Bitcoin's climb toward $100,000 in early 2026 was disrupted on Jan. 17 as markets reacted to President Donald Trump's remarks on the next Federal Reserve chair, BlockBeats reports citing Reuters. Trump said at the White House he would "rather keep" economic adviser Kevin Hassett in his current role instead of replacing Jerome Powell, calling a move "a serious concern," which pushed prediction platform Polymarket's odds for rival Kevin Warsh to nearly 60%. Analysts noted Hassett is viewed as more dovish and supportive of 2026 rate cuts that could benefit Bitcoin and risk assets, while Warsh is seen as more hawkish, implying higher rates for longer and near-term pressure on crypto markets.

Centralized exchanges recorded a net outflow of 347.51 BTC over the past 24 hours, Coinglass data show. Kraken led outflows with 1,623.52 BTC, followed by Bitfinex at 182.60 BTC and KuCoin at 38.78 BTC. Binance saw an inflow of 573.18 BTC, topping the inflow rankings.

Bitcoin long positions on major centralized exchanges face potential liquidation intensity of $442M if the price drops below $94,000, Coinglass data show. If Bitcoin rises above $96,000, short positions on leading CEX platforms could see $250M in liquidation intensity. The liquidation heatmap reflects relative intensity of liquidation clusters rather than exact contract numbers or values, with higher bars indicating stronger liquidity reactions at those price levels.

About 35,400 profitable BTC moved into centralized exchanges in the past 24 hours, the highest level in nearly two months, while only around 4,600 loss-making coins flowed out, putting the profit/loss outflow ratio at roughly 7.5:1, CryptoQuant analyst Axel wrote on Jan. 17. Axel noted this structure indicates market selling pressure is mainly driven by profit-taking rather than panic selling from losing positions, with investors who bought in the $85,000–$92,000 range using prices approaching their cost basis to lock in gains. Charts show losses compressed to very low levels at the same time profit-taking has become active, and while a reversal in the profit/loss ratio that puts loss-driven selling in control would intensify a bearish scenario, such a shift is not a foregone conclusion as Bitcoin currently tests its cost basis zone under heavy supply from winning positions, he added.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded combined net inflows of $1.416 billion this week, Farside Investors data show. BlackRock's IBIT led with $1.0349 billion, followed by Fidelity's FBTC at $194.4 million, Bitwise's BITB at $79.6 million, ARK's ARKB at $42.5 million, VanEck's HODL at $24.8 million, Franklin's EZBC at $5.6 million, Valkyrie's BRRR at $3 million and WisdomTree's BTCW at $3 million. Grayscale's GBTC posted $16 million in net outflows, while Grayscale Mini BTC saw $30.4 million in net inflows.