With Bitcoin’s (BTC) volatility in early January, currently changing hands at $90,470 at press time after both rising as high as $94,500 and falling as low as $84,580 within the last 30 days, it can be difficult to gauge how the cryptocurrency will fare through the remainder of the month.
The situation is made even more uncertain by the presence of both bullish and bearish factors in the early 2026 market. On the one hand, the start of January featured notable institutional selling, and spot BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have seen more days of outflows than inflows since the New Year.
Specifically, Bitcoin ETFs saw $1.16 billion inflows in the first days of 2026 but then faced $1.12 billion outflows, reflecting fragile institutional sentiment. Indeed, January 6, 7, and 8 have all been net selling days with more than 400 Bitcoins exiting the system, per the data Finbold retrieved from Coinglass.
On the other hand, there is no shortage of potential bullish catalysts, as global political instability could render BTC a particularly enticing investment – especially with gold made somewhat unattractive due to its exceptionally high price, and as the domestic political climate in the U.S. is especially positive.
In the hopes of piercing the uncertainty, Finbold consulted the advanced artificial intelligence (AI) of ChatGPT about where the world’s premier cryptocurrency could find itself on January 31.
ChatGPT sets January Bitcoin price target
Despite the many potential catalysts, the AI model offered a highly conservative and slightly bullish price target for Bitcoin on January 31. Specifically, ChatGPT estimated that the cryptocurrency is likely to rise and trade at $92,000 at the end of the month.
According to the AI, such a forecast reflects the latest pullback, but also the general momentum – which it described as ‘consolidative, not impulsive’ – behind digital assets. Indeed, it claimed that ‘boring, sticky price action wins January.’
When inquired about the rest of 2026, ChatGPT proved decidedly bullish. The advanced large language model (LLM) announced that it considers continued institutional backing a likely trend, while opining the year will feature a climate of moderately lower interest rates in which BTC moves from being a risk asset and toward becoming ‘digital hard money.’
ChatGPT also explained that, in 2026, the post-halving cycle remains important, but that it shall not be as ‘explosive’ as in 2017 or 2021.
Ultimately, the model opted for a $150,000 price target for the entire year, indicating it estimates the late 2025 all-time high would be exceeded.
Featured image via Shutterstock