Inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. remained sluggish on Jan. 23 as President Donald Trump’s efforts to form a working group on digital assets under an executive order failed to meet market expectations.

According to data from SoSoValue, the 12 spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $188.65 million in net inflows on Thursday, marking their fourth consecutive day of declining inflows since the beginning of the week, when they recorded over $1 billion in inflows.

BlackRock’s IBIT attracted the lion’s share of inflows, totaling $154.6 million, leading Bitcoin ETFs in inflows for the fifth consecutive day while Bitwise’s BITB followed with inflows of $42.15 million.

More modest inflows that contributed to the positive momentum came from Invesco Galaxy’s BTCO, Grayscale’s mini Bitcoin Trust, Fidelity’s FBTC and ARK 21Shares’ ARKB which logged inflows of $12.38 million, $11.9 million, $9.16 million and $8.35 million respectively.

Grayscale’s GBTC, which stood out as the only outlier on the day, recorded $49.94 million in outflows, offsetting some of the inflows from the other ETFs. The remaining five BTC ETFs saw zero inflows.

The total daily trading volume for Bitcoin investment vehicles reached $9.59 billion on Jan. 23, marking the second-highest level ever recorded, just behind the $10.39 billion peak seen on March 5.

Notably, the dip in inflows to Bitcoin ETFs coincided with a shift in Bitcoin’s price momentum after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that is aimed at establishing a working group focused on digital assets that fell short of expectations.

While the order set out to advise the White House on digital asset policy and evaluate the creation of a government-held digital asset stockpile—comprising cryptocurrencies seized during investigations—it stopped short of establishing a dedicated strategic Bitcoin reserve, a move many crypto advocates had been hoping for.

Initially, Bitcoin responded positively to the announcement, climbing as much as 2.7% to reach $106,732. However, after the full details of the executive order were released, sentiment shifted, and the largest cryptocurrency by market value dropped nearly 4%, hitting $102,517. Since then, Bitcoin (BTC) has shown signs of recovery, gaining 2.1% to trade at $104,991 per coin.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) chairs the US Senate panel on crypto assets. She has promised some big changes in government policy for the sector.

A Bitcoin sovereign wealth fund Republicans are calling a “strategic national reserve” is only one of Lummis’ promises for blockchain. But markets are thrilling with bullish activity on that prospect alone.

Over the weekend, Bitcoin whales were insatiable in their accumulation.

After Republicans retook control of Congress following November’s election, the US Senate Banking Committee opened its first subcommittee panel on cryptocurrencies Thursday.

Binance Founder: Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Alert!

US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, pretty much confirmed.

Crypto moving at crypto speed again. https://t.co/8qWlt65ARE

— CZ BNB (@cz_binance) January 23, 2025

The idea of a national Bitcoin reserve is so popular at the moment among US policymakers that several states are considering establishing state reserves.

Congress Convenes First Subcommittee on Crypto

The Senate Banking digital asset subcommittee will:
✔️ Pass legislation promoting responsible innovation and consumer protection
✔️ Eradicate Operation Chokepoint 2.0
✔️ Make America the bitcoin and digital asset capital of the world

— Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) January 23, 2025

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The new Senate subcommittee on digital assets has a host of issues to tackle with normalizing US government policy over blockchain. In an X post on Thursday afternoon, Sen. Lummis promised a three-point crypto agenda in 2025:

• Pass legislation promoting responsible innovation and consumer protection
• Eradicate Operation Chokepoint 2.0
• Make America the bitcoin and digital asset capital of the world

Popular crypto markets analyst Crypto Beast replied, “we’re going much higher.” The strategic Bitcoin reserve has backing from President Trump, according to recent reports and the fact that he signed the documents.

In addition, it has a strong group of pro-crypto delegates to Congress in the new subcommittee. That includes Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), who received strong backing from the pro-crypto Fairshake PAC.

Plus, there’s Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), a freshman senator who prevailed in the ballot count over the Banking Committee’s previous chair, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

Bitcoin’s price had a somewhat unexpected reaction to the aforementioned news. The asset started to lose value after the document’s signing and dropped to $102,400 before it recovered some ground to nearly $105,000 now.

Animecoin, the governance token tied to non-fungible token (NFT) project Azuki, has debuted at a fully diluted value (FDV) of $1.2 billion with tokens trading at $0.12 on HyperLiquid.

The total supply of the token is set at 10 billion, and holders of the Azuki NFT can claim the airdrop.

Users reported that the official airdrop claims website suffered downtime moments after it went live.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has repealed a controversial rule requiring financial firms holding cryptocurrency for customers to report those assets as liabilities on their balance sheets.

In a bulletin issued on Jan. 23, the SEC announced that Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 122 officially rescinds SAB 121, a policy introduced in March 2022 that faced significant pushback from the crypto industry.

SAB 121 had drawn criticism for its cumbersome reporting requirements, with industry leaders arguing it made custody of digital assets unnecessarily complicated.

The rule’s removal was met with relief, as highlighted by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce’s celebratory Jan. 23 post on X: “Bye, bye SAB 121! It’s not been fun.”

Around 30,000 Bitcoin options contracts will expire on Friday, Jan. 24, and they have a notional value of roughly $3.1 billion.

This week’s expiry event is slightly larger than last week’s, but it is unlikely to have any major impact on spot crypto markets, which have calmed following a volatile week.

Bitcoin Options Expiry

This week’s batch of Bitcoin options contracts has a put/call ratio of 0.48, which means that there are more than twice as many call (long) contracts expiring than puts (shorts). Open interest, or the value or number of BTC options contracts yet to expire, is highest at the $120,000 strike price, which has $2.4 billion in OI, according to Deribit.

There is also around $1.7 billion in OI at the $110,000 strike price, as derivatives traders remain bullish.

The anticipated announcements and crypto executive orders following US President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday did not materialize, causing cryptocurrency market indicators to stabilize, reported Deribit this week.

While Bitcoin options markets still show some unusual trading patterns, overall market excitement has subsided, it added.

In addition to today’s batch of Bitcoin options, around 168,000 Ethereum contracts are expiring as well. These have a notional value of $543 million and a put/call ratio of 0.47. This brings Friday’s combined crypto options expiry notional value to around $3.5 billion.

Crypto Market Outlook

Spot markets have remained relatively stable over the past 24 hours, with total capitalization at $3.7 trillion following a volatile week. The market cap is exactly where it was last week, so the Trump pump following the US president’s inauguration on Monday was very short-lived.

Bitcoin has dropped 4% from this week’s all-time high, which was almost revisited on Thursday. The asset was trading up 3% on the day at $105,000 at the time of writing, having held above six figures for most of this week.

Ethereum is up 5% on the day at $3,370, but it remains deflated following dissent and infighting at the Ethereum Foundation.

Altcoins remain mixed with minor gains and losses across the board during the Friday morning Asian trading session.

Nevertheless, market sentiment is strengthening as the first crypto-related executive order gets the approval signature from President Trump.

I told you this was the year for Bitcoin and digital assets.

— Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) January 24, 2025

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Bitcoin price settled above the $100,500 resistance zone. BTC is consolidating gains and might aim for a fresh increase above the $105,000 zone.

• Bitcoin started a downside correction from the $106,800 zone.
• The price is trading below $104,000 and the 100 hourly Simple moving average.
• There is a connecting bullish trend line forming with support at $102,000 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
• The pair could start another increase if it stays above the $102,000 support zone.

Bitcoin Price Eyes Fresh Increase

Bitcoin price started a decent upward move above the $104,500 zone. BTC was able to climb above the $105,500 and $106,000 levels.

The bulls even pushed the price above the $106,500 level. However, the bears were active near the $106,800 zone. A high was formed at $106,833 and the price is now correcting gains. There was a move below the $105,000 level.

There was a move below the 50% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $101,281 swing low to the $106,833 high. Bitcoin price is now trading below $104,000 and the 100 hourly Simple moving average. There is also a connecting bullish trend line forming with support at $102,000 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair.

On the upside, immediate resistance is near the $104,000 level. The first key resistance is near the $105,500 level. A clear move above the $105,500 resistance might send the price higher. The next key resistance could be $106,800.

A close above the $106,800 resistance might send the price further higher. In the stated case, the price could rise and test the $108,200 resistance level and a new all-time high. Any more gains might send the price toward the $110,000 level.

More Losses In BTC?

If Bitcoin fails to rise above the $104,500 resistance zone, it could start a downside correction. Immediate support on the downside is near the $102,500 level or the 76.4% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $101,281 swing low to the $106,833 high. The first major support is near the $101,250 level.

The next support is now near the $100,500 zone. Any more losses might send the price toward the $88,500 support in the near term.

Technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD is now gaining pace in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BTC/USD is now below the 50 level.

Major Support Levels – $102,500, followed by $101,250.

Major Resistance Levels – $104,500 and $105,500.

Bitcoin (BTC) held steady during Friday’s Asian hours after Bank of Japan (BOJ) lifted the benchmark borrowing cost to the highest in 17 years while raising inflation forecasts.

“If the outlook presented in the January Outlook Report will be realized, the Bank will accordingly continue to raise the policy interest rate and adjust the degree of monetary accommodation,” the policy statement said, citing positive outlook on wages and maintaining guidance to keep raising rates, according to ForexLive.

The anti-risk Japanese yen rose over 0.6% to 155.12 against the U.S. dollar following the rate decision. Still, risk assets remained resilient. Bitcoin showed no signs of stress, trading little changed on the day above $104,000. The futures tied to the S&P 500 also traded flat.

This resilience in risk assets suggests that market attention is increasingly centered on potential policy developments under Donald Trump’s presidency. In comparison, the Bank of Japan’s rate hike in late July had previously shaken risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.

On Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order to ban digital dollar and promote crypto and AI innovation in the U.S. Meanwhile, the U.S. data released recently showed “all tenant rent” index, which leads shelter inflation in the CPI, rose at a slower pace last quarter. That has raised hopes that the Fed will walk back on its hawkish December rate forecasts.