BTC stalls near $90,000 as liquidity fuels altcoin rallies: Asia Morning Briefing

Good Morning, Asia. Here’s what’s making news in the markets:

Crypto markets are continuing through the week in a familiar regime: bitcoin pinned near $90,000, ether holding above $3,000, and the day’s real volatility showing up in a handful of altcoins rather than in the majors.

The pattern looks less like fresh bullish conviction than a market settling into equilibrium after leverage was flushed and liquidity thinned.

In a note to CoinDesk, market maker Enflux wrote that SUI’s recent massive token unlock has created imbalances in altcoin pairs, forcing automated market makers to rehedge via centralized exchange arbitrage and indirectly thinning bitcoin liquidity, a setup that can keep BTC range-bound while single names whip around.

For example, Story’s IP rally supports Enflux’s point that unlock-driven imbalances are distorting altcoin liquidity. The token is up 20% on-day, and 40% on the week, despite on-chain data showing no obvious fundamental catalyst, with just $4.75 million in DeFi TVL, $27 in daily fees and revenue, roughly $220,000 in DEX volume, and no token incentives, reinforcing the view that the move is being driven by rotation and positioning rather than underlying usage growth.

That dynamic is unfolding alongside a broader cooling in bitcoin’s underlying demand.

With leverage largely flushed and funding contained, bitcoin has little downside pressure, as Glassnode wrote in their weekly report, but soft spot demand and negative ETF flows also limit upside follow-through. The result is a market where capital circulates rather than expands, leaving bitcoin range-bound as traders rotate liquidity into altcoins with lighter supply overhangs or sharper narratives, even when fundamentals do not justify the move.

For now, that leaves bitcoin acting more as an anchor than a driver. Prediction markets reflect that equilibrium, assigning high odds to BTC holding near $90,000 through mid-January, limited probability of a sustained move above the mid-$90,000s, and contained downside toward the high $80,000s.

With spot demand soft and no clear institutional catalyst, price discovery continues to shift to the market’s edges – altcoin territory – where thinner liquidity and narrative trades can overwhelm fundamentals even as the index remains stuck in range.

Market Movement

BTC: Bitcoin is trading sideways near $90,000 through Asia hours, with limited follow-through in either direction as leverage remains contained and spot demand stays soft.

ETH: Ether is holding above $3,000, supported by selective altcoin rotations, but analysts say it lacks the momentum to break decisively higher.

Gold: Gold is steadying near $4,588 an ounce after a 2% rally to record highs, while silver is easing 1.2% after a 6% surge, supported by a weaker U.S. dollar and concerns over Federal Reserve independence following a Justice Department probe into Chair Jerome Powell.

Nikkei 225: Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped about 3.4% to lead Asia-Pacific markets higher on Tuesday after reopening from a holiday, as investors brushed off geopolitical tensions and a U.S. probe into the Federal Reserve chair, with gains also seen in Hong Kong and Australia despite rising Japanese bond yields and a weaker yen.