00:00 Josh

Crypto kicks off 2026 on stronger footing. So is Bitcoin headed for a rally or Verronez Ferre has more Nez.

00:05 Inez Ferre

Yeah, Josh, and just taking a look at Bitcoin today, it has been a bit under pressure, but still, uh, Wall Street is saying that they’re more optimistic on the token’s potential for a rally in 2026. at least with some of the strategists that we have been tracking. Ed Engle over at Compass Point noted that crypto is on better footing. He talked about leverage appearing to have been washed out since the big sell-off that we saw in October and also November. Also selling from long-term holders, that has slowed. and institutional demand, that is going to be the structural driver for Bitcoin going higher. But watch out because of the levels that we’ve seen, Bitcoin has not been able to punch above 95,000. And what Engel is saying is that the cost basis for those investors that that got in within the last six months, it’s still around 98,000. So, he wouldn’t be chasing rallies just yet. But if you do see a break above 95,000 or above 98,000, then you could then he would become much more bullish about a strong rally driven by that institutional demand that we were just talking about. You also have Bernstein yesterday which said that the the bottom for Bitcoin is in basically that 80,000 level that we saw in the fourth quarter of last year. Uh, Bernstein analyst saying that that was the bottom for Bitcoin and the broader markets. Then you’ve got Sean Farrell over at Fundstrat who is a big Bitcoin bull saying that yes, he’s expecting a bounce in January, but he’s still expecting a significant drawdown in the first half of the year before we could see a rally in the second half of the year. and he’s got a price target of 115 for Bitcoin by the end of this year, Josh.

02:02 Josh

And Inez, taking a look at another cryptocurrency, Ethereum. It’s currently trading at just over, you know, 3100. And as traders over in Polymarket, they’re betting on whether Ethereum or gold hits 5,000 first. Right now gold winning out, right? It’s currently priced at 4400. What what are your thoughts there, Inez?

02:22 Inez Ferre

Yeah, look, uh, so this is that, uh, bet of the clash of the narratives, right? Of gold getting to 5,000 first or Ethereum getting to 5,000 first. So currently, as you mentioned, the market is favoring gold. Um, I would point out that that gold is closer to 5,000 than Ethereum is to 5,000, even though we’ve seen a rally, uh in the start of the year when it comes to Ethereum. But Ethereum is also more volatile. So you could see prices moving uh to the upside much more quickly. With respect to gold, you’ve got the central banks that are still buying, that are buying uh uh at at a at a record clip. And you also have this move away from the Treasuries. But with Ethereum, you’ve got the bulls that are saying that with the financial system that is upgrading to on-chain, that is basically moving the entire financial capital markets on-chain. They are seeing more and more of a utility for blockchain, Ethereum being one of those where a lot of tokenization is happening. So certainly, there is also a bull case, of course, when it comes to Ethereum and the rest of blockchain. So, look, these contracts expire on uh the 30th of 2026. We’ll get a, I’m sure a better idea in the coming months. But as I said, gold is inching it it’s it’s closer to the finish line.

03:41 Josh

All right, great stuff as always. Thank you, Inez.