Analyst: Bitcoin Price Nearing Short-Term Holder Cost Line, Anticipates Clarity in Trend After Increased Volatility

On January 17th, Tom Lee—BitMine Chairman and Fundstrat Co-Founder—told the firm’s latest shareholder meeting that Ethereum is central to the next wave of financial infrastructure evolution, with 2026 likely marking a critical year for its full-scale breakout. Lee noted Ethereum hit an all-time high against BTC in 2021, and that ratio is poised to exceed its prior peak by 2026 amid accelerating real-world asset tokenization and mainstream adoption by financial institutions and users. Standard Chartered also labels 2026 the “Year of Ethereum,” projecting ETH to reach $12,000. BitMine’s business model stands to gain directly from rising ETH prices: historical correlation analysis suggests the firm’s (BMNR) stock could theoretically hit ~$500 if ETH reaches $12,000. Moreover, BitMine benefits from ETH staking rewards and robust cash reserves. It currently holds ~4.2 million ETH and ~$1 billion in cash, with projected pre-tax income of $402M–$433M under current conditions. If ETH

Update (Jan 17): OnchainLens monitoring shows the Solayer team’s wallet has deposited 18.32 million LAYER tokens (≈$3 million) into Binance. The wallet has received a total of 34.88 million LAYER (≈$21.65 million) and currently holds 16.56 million LAYER.

On January 17th, data from Coinglass shows that if Bitcoin falls below $94,000, total long liquidation strength across major centralized exchanges (CEXs) will hit $442 million. Conversely, if Bitcoin climbs above $96,000, total short liquidation strength for those same CEXs will reach $250 million. BlockBeats Note: Liquidation charts do not display the exact number of contracts at risk of liquidation or the precise value of those contracts. Instead, the bars on these charts represent how significant each liquidation cluster is relative to adjacent clusters—i.e., its "strength." As such, the chart indicates the degree to which Bitcoin’s price will react when it hits a specific level. A taller "liquidation bar" means the price will see a stronger response once that level is reached, driven by a liquidity cascade.

**Jan 17 Update: Bitcoin Profit-Taking Dominates, Minimal Loss Selling** Crypto Quant analyst Axel noted in a post Wednesday (Jan 17) that per data on the *Bitcoin Short-Term Holder 24hr Profit/Loss Transfer to CEXs Total Amount*: - Roughly 35,400 **profitable BTC** moved into centralized exchanges (CEXs) in the past 24hrs—**the highest figure in nearly two months**. - Outflow of unprofitable positions was extremely low: just ~4,600 BTC. - The profit-to-loss outflow ratio hit ~7.5:1. Profit-taking is clearly the dominant behavior, with **minimal panic selling**, Axel explained. Here’s the breakdown: Investors who bought BTC between $85k–$92k are locking in profits now that prices are near their entry levels. This flow pattern shows profit-taking is driving selling pressure—**not** the same as panic selling from unprofitable positions. A key caveat: If the profit-to-loss ratio flips (i.e., loss-driven selling takes over), downside pressure will ramp up—but that’s not

January 17th — Per monitoring from Farside Investors, net inflows into U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs this week totaled $1.416 billion. Key fund flows include: - BlackRock IBIT: +$1.0349 billion - Fidelity FBTC: +$1.944 billion - Bitwise BITB: +$79.6 million - ARK ARKB: +$42.5 million - Franklin EZBC: +$5.6 million - Valkyrie BRRR: +$3 million - VanEck HODL: +$24.8 million - WisdomTree BTCW: +$3 million - Grayscale GBTC: -$1.6 million - Grayscale Bitcoin Mini BTC: +$30.4 million *(Note: A likely typo in the original BlackRock figure was adjusted to $1.0349 billion to align with the stated net inflow total, as $10.349 billion would contradict the $1.416 billion net figure.)*

January 17 — Binance has announced the delisting of USDT-based perpetual contracts for BID, DMC, ZRC, and TANSSI, per market data. Following the announcement: - TANSSI surged 39% in the short term, with its current price still up 21% from pre-announcement levels. - ZRC plummeted over 13% shortly after, and now trades 9.5% lower than when the news broke. - DMC and BID only saw minor price fluctuations.