Bitcoin price continued climbing toward the next resistance area around $94,000 as fresh macro catalysts emerged.
The altcoin market, which had been trending upwards over the weekend, closed a relatively slow day as most tokens traded sideways with little movement.
Over the past 24 hours, the overall cryptocurrency market cap surged above $3.23 trillion for the first time since mid-December.
Market sentiment had been improving over the weekend as Bitcoin managed to reclaim $90,000 and pushed forward.
The Crypto Fear and Greed Index entered neutral territory at 42, after spending the better part of December in extreme fear.
Why is Bitcoin price up today?
Bitcoin price rallied to an intraday high of $93,408 today, as markets digested escalating geopolitical uncertainty following US airstrikes in Caracas and the reported capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Historically, such periods of instability tend to push investors toward perceived safe-haven assets.
While Bitcoin has traditionally been considered a risk-on asset, it is increasingly viewed as a form of “digital gold” during sovereign crises.
The potential for global economic fallout and currency devaluation has likely spurred fresh demand, and this renewed appetite for Bitcoin could also explain why altcoins saw comparatively muted action despite the broader uptrend.
In times of geopolitical stress, capital tends to consolidate into the most liquid and widely recognised assets, leaving alternative tokens trailing in relative performance.
Adding to the momentum is speculation around Venezuela’s alleged 600,000 BTC shadow reserve, worth approximately $60 billion.
Some market watchers suggest that if the Trump administration decides to seize these assets and add them to its reserve, a notable portion of the supply would be removed from circulation.
It could create a potential supply shock at a time when exchange reserves are already sitting near record lows.
Bitcoin’s January surge also coincides with the so-called January Effect, where investors re-enter markets after selling in late December for tax-related reasons.
This seasonal pattern can take several weeks to fully play out, further supporting the idea of sustained buying pressure.
Meanwhile, over the past few days, Bitcoin open interest has climbed steadily, rising by 4% on Monday to over $138 billion.
Short positions have taken a hit, with liquidations crossing $210 million, helping fuel further upside in price.
There’s also signs of institutional demand returning as US spot Bitcoin ETFs have opened 2026 with strong inflows, reflecting continued interest from institutional investors.
Combined, these macro events and speculative narratives are all feeding into today’s upward move as Bitcoin pushes closer to the $94K resistance area.
What’s next for Bitcoin price?
As mentioned before, $94,000 stands as the next resistance area that Bitcoin price needs to clear to confirm a potential trend reversal and set the stage for a sustained move higher.
A clean breakout above this zone would likely trigger fresh momentum and open the door toward new all-time highs.
On the downside, however, there are two unfilled CME futures gaps that have formed during recent weekend price action.
These zones often act as price magnets, drawing Bitcoin back toward them before the market can establish a clear direction.
Bitcoin CME Futures 1-hour chart. Source: CM on X.
Bears may be looking to exploit this setup by defending the $94,000 resistance and forcing a pullback toward these gap areas.
This could keep prices under pressure in the short term until the lower levels get tested and potentially filled.
Can we just liquidate the bears first who are shorting $BTC because of these CME gaps?
According to the 24-hour liquidation heatmap from CoinGlass, Bitcoin price faces a dense cluster of liquidation levels just above $94,000 and continuing through the $96,000 to $97,000 range.
Bitcoin 24-hour liquidation heatmap. Source: Coinglass.
These zones represent heavily leveraged short positions that could get wiped out if Bitcoin pushes higher, creating conditions for a potential liquidation cascade on the upside.
If Bitcoin manages to break above $94,000 convincingly, these stacked liquidation bands may act as fuel, forcing short-covering and rapid price acceleration through the $96,000 area.
In that case, the rally could snowball quickly as traders attempt to exit losing positions, adding to the momentum.
However, the chart also shows notable liquidity bands between $91,000 and $89,000, reinforcing the possibility of a retracement if bulls fail to sustain upward pressure.
These levels could become short-term targets if sellers regain control or if funding rates cool off after the recent squeeze.
Overall, Bitcoin appears to be in a critical range, with $94,000 acting as a pivot.
A breakout could trigger a sharp move toward the $97,000 region, while failure to hold recent gains may drag prices back toward the CME gap zones around $88,000.
At press time, Bitcoin price was trading just above $93,500, with gains of nearly 3%.
Top altcoin gainers for the day
In the past 24 hours, the market cap of all altcoins combined rose 3.5% to $1.48 trillion before facing a sharp drop in the later trading hours and settling at $1.39 trillion at press time.
Ethereum (ETH), the largest altcoin in terms of market capitalisation, rose from $3,100 to $3,200 before stabilising around $3,162 with gains of just 1% over the day.
Other large-cap altcoins such as XRP (XRP), BNB (BNB), and Cardano (ADA) saw gains ranging between 1-3%.
While the majority of the remaining top 100 altcoins also printed green, some of the top laggards of the day were MYX Finance (MYX), Bonk (BONK), and Midnight (NIGHT), posting losses of 19%, 9% and 8%, respectively.
The top gainers of the day were Render (RENDER) and Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL), two AI-focused cryptocurrencies that clocked gains between 20–25% in the daily session, largely due to bullish revenue forecasts from AI-chip making giant Nvidia for the fiscal 2026 Q4.
Stacks (STX) also stood out from the rest of the market with gains of 14.6% over the day as part of the new year rebound and growing demand among derivative traders, as evidenced by a spike in futures Open Interest.
Source: CoinMarketCap