Bitcoin Needs Deeper Liquidity Before A Real Recovery Takes Shape: Analysts

Key takeaways:

• Bitfinex Bitcoin margin longs hit 2-year highs, but arbitrage suggests this isn't a purely bullish price indicator.

• Bitcoin price drops as tech stock valuations and gold gains drive investors toward cautious, risk-averse behavior.

Bitcoin (BTC) price plummeted to its lowest level in over two months on Thursday, retesting the $84,000 support. This sell-off aligned with a broader move toward risk aversion after Microsoft (MSFT US) shares tanked 11% following reports of increased capital expenditures and disappointing quarterly cloud server revenue.

​Investors are currently analyzing why demand for bullish margin positions surged to a two-year high despite a 26% price decline over the past 90 days. Some traders worry that excessive leverage could spark further forced liquidations, especially after $360 million in BTC futures positions were wiped out on Thursday.

The United States federal government is on track for another shutdown by the end of Friday. The Congressional Democrats have been pushing for changes to ICE policies, thus standing in the way of President Donald Trump.

On Thursday, the Senate blocked the House-approved 6-bill spending package with a vote of 45–55. This is after the Senate included extended DHS funding through September 30 with no meaningful reforms. 

The bill failed to reach the 60 votes needed, after a bipartisan group – including all Democrats and 7 Republicans – voted against it rather than hand DHS a blank check.

Traders Brace for a Potential Federal Government Shutdown 

Prediction traders have shown uncertainty about the potential federal government shutdown. According to Polymarket, the odds for a U.S. government shutdown are 50%, a sign drop from earlier this week as traders anticipated a last-minute bipartisan deal. 

The last U.S. government shutdown increased bearish sentiment on crypto, thus accounting for heightened traders’ fear. According to market data from CoinMarketCap, the Fear and Greed Index hovered around 38 at press time, which represents fear of further capitulation.

What’s Next for BTC Price?

Bitcoin price will experience heightened volatility over the weekend following its drop below $84k on Thursday. The flagship coin dropped over 5% in the last 24 hours to trade at about $84,462 at press time.

According to market analyst Aksel Kibar, the Bitcoin price is en route to a new multi-month low, potentially to retest its April 2025 support level around $76k.

When guided by well-crafted prompts, Anthropic’s AI model Claude delivers eye-popping price forecasts for XRP, Shiba Inu, and Pepe over the next eleven months.

According to the model, a prolonged crypto bull market combined with clearer, more favorable regulatory policies in the United States could propel leading digital assets to new all-time highs (ATHs) in the months ahead.

So, below is Claude AI’s outlook on three cryptocurrencies it believes could post unexpectedly strong performances this year.XRP ($XRP): Claude AI Predicts XRP Could Surge to $8 by 2027

Ripple’s XRP ($XRP) began 2026 with gusto, gaining 19% in the opening week of the year. Now trading near $1.83, Claude AI estimates that a sustained bull market could send XRP as high as $25 by the end of 2026. That scenario represents potential upside of around 1,200%, or more than thirteen times its current price.Source: Claude

XRP ranked among the strongest-performing large-cap cryptocurrencies last year. In July, it reached its first new ATH in seven years, climbing to $3.65 after Ripple secured a decisive legal victory against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The ruling sharply reduced regulatory uncertainty surrounding XRP and eased concerns about broader enforcement pressure across the altcoin market.

From a technical perspective, XRP’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) sits near 43, suggesting more selling pressure in the midst of the current downturn. However, price action since early January has been consolidating into a bullish flag pattern. Supportive macroeconomic trends and clearer regulatory signals could spark a breakout consistent with Claude’s $8 target.

Strengthening the bullish outlook, newly approved spot XRP ETFs in the U.S. are beginning to draw interest from traditional investors, echoing the capital inflows seen following the launch of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.Shiba Inu (SHIB): Claude AI Projects 817% Returns for 2026 SHIB HODLers

Shiba Inu ($SHIB), introduced in 2020 as a playful challenger to Dogecoin, has evolved into a major crypto ecosystem with a market capitalization of around $4.3 billion.Source: Claude

Trading at approximately $0.000007283, Claude AI suggests that a clean breakout above resistance between $0.000025 and $0.00003 could ignite a powerful rally, potentially pushing SHIB to $0.0000668 by the end of the year.

That move would translate to roughly 817% upside from current levels and would place the token slightly below the ATH of $0.00008616, set in October 2021.

On the fundamentals side, Shiba Inu now offers more than meme-driven hype. Its Layer-2 solution, Shibarium, provides faster transaction speeds, reduced fees, enhanced privacy, and improved tooling for developers, helping distinguish SHIB from meme coins with little real-world utility.Pepe ($PEPE): Claude AI Explores a 2,000% Bullish Scenario

Pepe ($PEPE), which launched in April 2023, has become the largest meme coin outside the doge meme category, with a market capitalization of roughly $2 billion.Source: Claude

Inspired by Matt Furie’s “Boy’s Club” comics, PEPE’s instantly recognizable imagery and cultural resonance have kept it constantly in the spotlight on social media.

Despite intense competition within the meme coin sector, PEPE’s loyal community and the legion of copycats it has inspired have kept it among the subsector’s consistent leaders.

Occasional cryptic posts from Elon Musk on X have additionally ignited speculation that PEPE could sit alongside DOGE and BTC in his personal holdings.

PEPE currently trades near $0.0000047, about 83% below its December 2024 all-time high of $0.00002803.

Under Claude’s most optimistic assumptions, PEPE could rally by exactly 2,000%, rising to around $0.0000987 and smashing its previous record high.Maxi Doge (MAXI): A Meme Coin Built for Extreme Swings

Finally, outside of Claude’s ken, Maxi Doge ($MAXI) has quickly become one of January’s most discussed meme coin presales, raising more than $4.5 million ahead of its initial exchange listings.

The project presents itself as Dogecoin’s undeniably brash, gym-obsessed cousin, leaning heavily into exaggerated meme culture and embracing the wild comic energy that originally made meme coins popular.

Maxi Doge aims to rally a community intent on overtaking Dogecoin, appealing to traders attracted by high-risk speculation, community-driven hype, and unapologetically degen humor.

MAXI is issued as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum’s proof-of-stake network, giving it a smaller environmental footprint compared with Dogecoin’s proof-of-work design.

At this time, presale buyers can stake MAXI for yields of up to 68% APY, with rewards gradually tapering as participation increases. The token is currently priced at $0.0002801, with automatic price increases scheduled at each presale milestone. Purchases are supported via MetaMask and Best Wallet.

Move over, Dogecoin. Maxi Doge is the top dog in Memesville now!

Stay updated through Maxi Doge’s and pages.

Visit the Official Website Here

Ethereum is down $201.31 today or 6.67% to $2814.75

• Lowest 5 p.m. level since Dec. 1, 2025, when it traded at $2791.51
• Largest percentage decrease since Jan. 20, 2026, when it dropped 6.87%
• Snaps a three day winning streak
• Down 5.47% month-to-date
• Down 5.47% year-to-date
• Down 43.20% from its all-time intraday high of $4955.23 on Aug. 24, 2025
• Down 13.24% from 52 weeks ago (Jan. 30, 2025), when it traded at $3244.46
• Up 98.20% from its 52-week intraday low of $1387.85 on April 9, 2025
• Traded as low as $2750.67; lowest intraday level since Dec. 1, 2025, when it hit $2719.82
• Down 8.80% at today's intraday low; Largest intraday % decrease since Dec. 1, 2025, when it was down as much as 9.97%

Note: The Ethereum price is a 5 p.m. ET snapshot from Kraken

Data compiled by Dow Jones Market Data

Aethir is integrating Bolt’s one-click, open-web payment solution to enable smoother in-game purchases and give game studios more control over checkout flows. The partnership, announced in an Aethir post on X, targets frictionless payments outside traditional app-store rails. Mechanistically, this could make games built on or partnered with Aethir infrastructure more commercially attractive, potentially driving higher usage of Aethir’s cloud and GPU resources. For ATH, the key question is how closely token value is linked to network demand and partner growth; if usage and revenue are meaningfully tied to ATH-based economics, successful adoption of this integration could support a stronger long-term valuation narrative.

Ethena’s synthetic dollar USDe is being listed on HTX Global, with spot pairs and eligibility as derivatives margin starting 30 January, as detailed in an Ethena Labs post on X. Mechanically, this adds a major centralized venue where traders can hold USDe, trade it against other assets, and use it as collateral, with additional incentive programs promised. Expanded CEX access typically increases stablecoin liquidity and circulation, which can boost protocol usage and fee generation. Since ENA and SENA are tied to Ethena’s ecosystem economics, higher USDe adoption and collateral utility can translate into improved revenue expectations and potentially higher demand for the governance and staking tokens.