Bitcoin price (BTC) news: Rare U.S. session gains have bitcoin trading above $90,000

January 2, 2026

Markets

Share this article

Particularly hard-hit in 2025’s final sessions, crypto-related stocks are bouncing in this year’s first trading day.

By Stephen Alpher

Updated Jan 2, 2026, 4:18 p.m. Published Jan 2, 2026, 4:16 p.m.

A Wall Street banks's take on crypto. (Midjourney/Modified by CoinDesk)

Bitcoin rose above $90,000 during U.S. trading hours on Friday.
It’s a notable change in trend, as crypto prices late in 2025 were typically on the defensive while American stocks traded.
Strategy, Coinbase, Hut 8 and Galaxy Digital were among the crypto-related stocks seeing strong gains.

Last year in crypto will be remembered for many things, but one notable trend — particularly late in the year — was the selloffs that occurred nearly every day during U.S. trading hours.

It’s not much to go on just yet, but on 2026’s first official trading day, a change could be afoot as crypto prices are actually rising while American markets are open.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW

Don’t miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today.See all newslettersBy signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to ourterms of useandprivacy policy.

The action has pushed bitcoin BTC$90,661.92 above $90,000, up 2.5% over the past 24 hours. Ether ETH$3,106.40, solana SOL$130.25 and XRP$1.9442 are seeing advances closer to 4%.

Assets in general are on the rise in the year’s first session, with the Nasdaq higher by 0.6%, led by AI-related chipmakers like Nvidia, Broadcom, Micron and Intel posting 3%-6% gains. Favored commodity play of late, silver has added 3%. Gold and copper are each modestly higher.

Bitcoin miners turned AI infrastructure firms are sharply higher across the board, with Hut 8 (HUT), CleanSpark (CLSK), TeraWulf (WULF) sporting 10% gains, and Cipher Mining (CIFR) and IREN (IREN) each higher by 8%.

Strategy (MSTR) and Coinbase (COIN) are each ahead more than 3%, Galaxy Digital (GLXY) by 7% and Circle Financial (CRCL) by 4.5%.

More For You

By CoinDesk Research

Dec 22, 2025

KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.

What to know:

KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.

More For You

By Jamie Crawley, CD Analytics|Edited by Sheldon Reback

6 hours ago

ICP pushed above the $3 level on rising activity, holding recent gains as traders reassess near-term direction.

What to know:

ICP rose about 2.7% to roughly $3.00, reclaiming a closely watched psychological level.
Trading activity increased during the move higher, accompanying the push through resistance near $2.95–$3.00.
Price has since stabilized just above $3, keeping attention on whether the level can hold as near-term support.

Latest Crypto News