Trading Moment: Gold, Silver, and A-Shares Dance Together, BTC Attacks 98,000 with 94,500 as Base

Daily key market data review and trend analysis, produced by PANews.

1. Market Observation

Although the latest US core inflation data showed signs of cooling, falling to a four-year low of 2.6%, this did not change the market's general expectation for the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates in June this year. Fed officials seem to need more evidence of a weakening job market or sustained easing of price pressures before considering adjusting interest rate policy, causing the initial optimism from the inflation data to quickly fade, putting pressure on US stocks and strengthening the US dollar.

Against this backdrop of uncertainty, the role of precious metals as a "hedge against systemic risks" has become increasingly prominent. Spot gold once hit a new historical high intraday, reaching $4639, while silver was even stronger, touching the $91 mark for the first time, with its total market capitalization breaking through $5 trillion, surpassing Nvidia to become the world's second-largest asset. Market analysis believes this round of gains is more of a repricing of the ambiguous monetary policy outlook, deepening fiscal dominance, and geopolitical risks. Many institutions reacted positively, with ANZ predicting gold prices will break through $5000 in the second half of 2026, and Citigroup even raised its three-month target price to $5000 for gold and $100 for silver. Analysts at VanEck even modeled that, under the assumption of a global return to the gold standard, the "true" price of gold would far exceed current levels.

The A-share market experienced its first decline after 17 consecutive days of gains since January 13th, and January 14th was a dramatic day. The morning session continued the upward trend, with the three major indices collectively opening higher, the ChiNext Index once rising over 2%, and the STAR 50 Index surging over 4%. The market showed a broad rally, with over 4700 stocks rising and over a hundred stocks hitting the daily limit up, particularly in sectors like AI applications, semiconductors, and commercial aerospace. However, the situation changed abruptly in the afternoon. A notice from the Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing Stock Exchanges about raising the minimum margin requirement for margin trading from 80% to 100% caused a brief market plunge. The three major indices once collectively turned negative, and the number of rising stocks plummeted. This move aims to reduce market leverage through counter-cyclical adjustments, protecting investors and promoting long-term stability.

Bitcoin broke through multiple key resistance levels such as $92,000 and $94,000 after the CPI data was released, once touching near $96,500. Michaël van de Poppe and Ali Charts both believe the bull market has started; the former pointed out that BTC has effectively stabilized above the 21-day moving average and is expected to attack $100,000 next week, while the latter stated that breaking through the $94,555 resistance level would point directly to a prediction of $105,921. Additionally, Ardi, Sykodelic, and Astronomer unanimously view $94,500 as the lifeline for the bulls. Ardi emphasized that as long as this support holds, it will sweep through the chip distribution area of $96,500-$97,200 and target $100,000. Astronomer further pointed out that the spot discount in the $80,000-$85,000 range has turned into a premium, which is a strong bullish signal, with subsequent targets as high as $112,000 and a new historical high.

Cautious voices are also not to be ignored. Murphy, through on-chain data analysis, pointed out that the market is in a weak balance of "sentiment repair + low selling pressure" but "insufficient demand." $98,000, as the cost line for short-term holders, is the real "bull-bear dividing line," and a strong intervention of US funds is necessary to break through it. Tradermayne believes there is a 70% probability of forming a secondary high; unless it stabilizes above $105,000, there is still a risk of a bear market. CrypNuevo and CJ worry that this is merely a liquidity grab targeting the 1W 50EMA or the inefficient zone around $97,000, and caution is needed against a bull trap and subsequent decline.

Ethereum, after receiving a response in a key support area, is attempting to break through and stabilize above $3300, but multiple attempts over the past two months have been unsuccessful. Analyst Man of Bitcoin pointed out that a successful break above $3300 would confirm the validity of its bullish roadmap. Investors like Jelle and Max noted that with the Russell 2000 index hitting a new high, the market environment is favorable for ETH to play catch-up. If it can stabilize above key support, $4000 will be the next core target. Looking at derivatives data, Ethereum's open interest is recovering while leverage is decreasing. This divergence usually means a healthier market持仓 structure, and spot buying is leading the recovery. Although plagued in the short term by L2分流 (L2分流 likely means分流to L2s or competition from L2s) and decreased DApp activity, Ethereum is expected to see a catch-up rally after Bitcoin stabilizes.

As the broader market warms up, Solana has attracted much attention due to the "cup and handle pattern" formed on its daily chart. Analysts believe its price structure suggests a potential breakthrough towards the target range of $180 to $190. Additionally, the spot SOL ETF continued to record net inflows in 2026, enhancing market bullish confidence. Inscription tokens like ORDI and SATS also gained over 20%. The Meme coin sector made a comeback, with tokens like PEPE, WIF, and BONK seeing significant gains. In the privacy coin sector, Monero (XMR) hit a new historical high breaking $700, leading other similar tokens like DASH to follow with gains of over 30%. Furthermore, the performance of Meme coins listed on Binance Alpha diverged. The "Dark Horse" (literal translation for 黑马) saw its market cap surge to $15 million before falling back to $11.6 million, with gains narrowing to 500%, while "Laozi" (老子) fell instead, with its market cap shrinking to $8 million, down 35% in 24 hours. In contrast, "Binance Life" (币安人生) became the biggest winner, its market cap once rising to $289 million, breaking its historical high. The top on-chain holder has floating profits exceeding $2.63 million, with a return rate of over 15,434.1%. Some analysts believe "Binance Life" could become a sentiment indicator for altcoins on the Binance platform. (*Note: The content is for reference only, not investment advice. Please do your own research.)

2. Key Data (As of January 14, 13:00 HKT)

(Data Source: CoinAnk, Upbit, SoSoValue, CoinMarketCap)

• Bitcoin: $94,942 (Year-to-date +8.8%), daily spot trading volume $68.7 billion

• Ethereum: $3,334 (Year-to-date +12.1%), daily spot trading volume $361.1 billion

• Fear & Greed Index: 48 (Neutral)

• Average GAS: BTC: 1.75 sat/vB, ETH: 0.02 Gwei

• Market Dominance: BTC 58.7%, ETH 12.1%

• Upbit 24-hour trading volume ranking: XRP, BTC, IP, ETH, SOL

• 24-hour BTC Long/Short Ratio: 51.20% / 48.80%

• Sector Gains/Losses: Crypto market broadly higher, NFT and GameFi sectors lead gains over 8%

24-hour liquidation data: 104,179 people globally were liquidated, total liquidation amount was $601 million,其中BTC liquidations $262 million, ETH liquidations $171 million, SOL liquidations $30.86 million

3. ETF Flows (As of January 13)

• Bitcoin ETF: +$754 million, none of the twelve ETFs had net outflows

• Ethereum ETF: +$130 million, none of the nine ETFs had net outflows

• XRP ETF: +$12.98 million

• SOL ETF: +$5.91 million

4. Today's Outlook

• Tom Lee urges BitMine shareholders to approve the proposal to increase authorized shares from 500 million to 50 billion by January 14th

• BSC mainnet Fermi hard fork upgrade scheduled for January 14, 2026

• Binance will list FOGO spot trading on January 15th and mark it with a seed tag

• MANTRA: All ERC20 versions of OM will be deprecated on January 15th, please migrate as soon as possible

• Aster: Phase 3 airdrop is open for claiming, will end on January 15, 2026

• US Supreme Court postpones ruling on Trump tariff case, next ruling on January 14th

• Federal Reserve releases the Beige Book" on economic conditions (January 15, 03:00)

Today's top 100 coins by market cap, maximum gains: Dash up 32.7%, Story up 30.7%, Pepe up 13.5%, Optimism up 12.7%, Internet Computer up 12.3%.

5. Hot News

• Corporate crypto holdings net increased by approximately 260,000 BTC in the past 6 months, three times the Bitcoin mining output during the same period

• OpenSea Foundation is preparing for TGE, will consider historical trading volume and Treasures data

• The top address for "Binance Life" has floating profits exceeding $2.63 million, with a return rate over 154,341.1%

• DN token fell over 80% in 24 hours, DeepNode responded saying "working with market makers to resolve liquidity issues"

• Spot silver approaches the $90 mark, hitting a new high again

• Bitmine stakes another 94,400 ETH, worth $314 million

• Zama will initiate token sales through CoinList and its own auction APP, FDV floor price is $55 million

• SharpLink's staking收益 (staking收益 means staking rewards/yield) last week reached 500 ETH, cumulative收益 (收益 means rewards/yield)突破 (突破 means broke through) 11,000 ETH

• Spot gold stands above $4620/oz, spot silver up over 3.00% intraday

• US December unadjusted CPI year-on-year 2.7%, core CPI year-on-year 2.6%

• "On-chain part-time stock investor" turns short on-chain gold, holdings reach $13 million