Crypto Markets Today: Bitcoin tests key resistance as memecoin trading volume explodes

• BTC topped out near $94,800 on Monday before retreating to around $93,600, with traders split between shorting and positioning for a breakout toward $98,900.
• SUI jumped more than 15% in 24 hours following speculation around potential privacy features, while XRP extended its strong start to the year with a 29% gain since Jan. 1.
• Retail trading surged as Pump.fun volumes hit a record $1.27 billion and interest grew in BNB Chain’s “Four Meme” tokens, though overbought RSI readings suggest near-term profit-taking risks.

Bitcoin BTC$93,106.80 retreated from Monday's peak, when it touched the highest price since mid-November. That's the same level the largest cryptocurrency neared, and failed to breach, in early December.

While some traders will be shorting that level as a sign of resistance, others will be eyeing a potential break out that could lead to a run towards $98,900 — a key level of support between June and November.

Altcoins rallied, with SUI adding more than 3% since midnight UTC to add to a 24 hour rally of 16%, while XRP continued its barnstorming start to the year with a 29% move to the upside since Jan. 1.

There has also been notable activity in the memecoin sector, with trading volumes on Solana-based token issuer Pump.fun hitting a record high of $1.27 billion, indicating activity from retail traders. The CoinDesk Memecoin Index (CDMEME) rose 1.5% to take its year-to-date gain to 19%.

Derivatives positioning

• Crypto futures bets worth over $400 million have been liquidated in the past 24 hours. As of Monday, most of these were shorts, a sign that traders entered the New Year expecting a price slide.
• BTC global futures open interest (OI) has held flat at around 660K BTC over 24 hours while OI in XRP jumped to 2 billion XRP, the highest since Oct. 11. The increase indicates capital inflows into the XRP market as the token's price hit multiweek highs.
• Funding rates for most major cryptocurrencies remain moderately positive, indicating a bullish bias. Tokens such as SOL, TRX, ZEC, SHIB and UNI stand out with negative rates, indicating a build up of bearish short positions.
• Volmex's BVIV index, which represents the annualized 30-day implied volatility in BTC, reversed Monday's small spike from 44% to 47%, signaling continued calm.
• On Deribit, put bias in BTC and ETH continued to ease as traders chased upside via calls.
• Block flows featured BTC and ETH call spreads and BTC strangles.

Token talk

• Memecoins are back on the map after a difficult year that culminated in drawdowns of more than 95% across the board. The renewed optimism comes as daily trading volume on Pump.fun, the Solana-based token generator, hit a record high of $1.27 billion on Monday.
• There has also been activity on BNB Chain as retail traders flock to predominately Chinese-language tokens that fall under the "Four Meme" umbrella, a phrase coined by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.
• Aside from the memes, Sui's native token, SUI$1.8881, enjoyed some upside, rising by 3% since midnight and 16% over the past 24 hours after Mysten Labs, the developers behind Sui, published a research paper on private crypto transactions, leading the community to speculating over whether Sui will add privacy features to its blockchain.
• CoinMarketCap's "altcoin season" indicator is at 27/100, still firmly in "bitcoin season" territory, but a far cry from December's low of 14/100, demonstrating early signs of strength across the sector.
• There are warning signs, however, with the average crypto relative strength index (RSI) flashing "overbought" to suggest that several altcoins may face a period of profit-taking in the short term.

• 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.

• Strategy (MSTR) shares rose 6% in after-hours trading after MSCI's decision on digital asset treasury companies.
• MSCI stated that distinguishing between investment companies and those holding digital assets requires further research.
• The current index treatment for companies with digital assets making up 50% or more of their total assets will remain unchanged.

Disclosure & Polices: CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of Bullish (NYSE:BLSH), an institutionally focused global digital asset platform that provides market infrastructure and information services. Bullish owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets and CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish equity-based compensation.