Bitcoin Reclaims $100,000: Is a New Bull Run Imminent?
Original Article Title: "Bitcoin Breaks $100,000, Signaling a New Round of Bull Run?"
Original Author: Alvis, MarsBit
As the year 2025 begins, Bitcoin has reclaimed the $100,000 mark, and the market seems to be gradually warming up after a period of consolidation. On the evening of January 6th, BTC broke the $100,000 barrier, stabilizing around $102,000 at the time of writing, with a 24-hour increase of approximately 4%. Not only Bitcoin, but major coins such as Ethereum, Solana, etc., have also experienced a general uptrend. Behind the market recovery, multiple factors are driving the price upward.
Market Sentiment Improves, Futures and Options Activity Surges
Perpetual Futures Funding Rate Surges, Derivatives Indicators Healthy

According to Coinglass data, the weighted average funding rate of Bitcoin perpetual futures on major exchanges has recently risen to 0.0113%, indicating a shift in market sentiment towards optimism. QCP Capital has pointed out that the current funding levels remain within a healthy range. Although a large-scale short squeeze rally is not expected, the possibility of a short-term market retracement is low.
In addition, crypto trader Gordon Grant has observed increased activity in the Bitcoin options market in early January. On January 7th, the trading volume of call options expiring with a strike price of $103,000 exceeded 1,000 contracts. Such active trading of short-term call options often indicates upward price potential.
Coinbase Premium Returns, Institutional and Retail Sentiment Warms Up

After experiencing intense selling pressure in December, the Coinbase Bitcoin premium returned to neutral levels on January 4th. CryptoQuant analyst IT Tech believes that this indicates a gradual improvement in retail sentiment in the U.S. market. However, on-chain data analysis shows that the volume of small retail trades below $10,000 continues to decline, with institutional investors and large traders still driving the market.
Institutional Holdings Increase Rapidly, Bitcoin's Supply-Demand Dynamics Continue to Tighten

According to SoSoValue data, since the beginning of January, Bitcoin ETF spot has once again seen net inflows, with its total net asset value reaching $114.6 billion. The ETF net asset value ratio (percentage of market value compared to total Bitcoin market cap) stands at 5.72%, with a total cumulative net inflow of $35.91 billion.
The strong entry of institutional funds has been a key driver of the recent Bitcoin price rebound. MicroStrategy once again increased its BTC holdings, purchasing 1,070 Bitcoins for $101 million on January 6, bringing its total holdings to 447,470 BTC valued at over $44 billion. At the same time, Bitcoin mining company MARA Digital also announced its intention to continue accumulating BTC, with its holdings nearing 44,000 coins.
Other global institutions have also been taking action:
· Japanese company Metaplanet plans to expand its holdings to 10,000 BTC;
· El Salvador added 5 BTC, increasing its total holdings to 6,009 coins;
· U.S. listed company KULR added 213 BTC, surpassing 430 coins in holdings.
This continued influx of funds has further tightened the market's circulating supply, laying the foundation for Bitcoin's mid-term upward trend.
Altcoin Sector Rebound and Rise of the AI Ecosystem
Trump-related Memecoin Sees Rapid Growth
On January 7, Trump was officially reconfirmed as the President of the United States, leading to a new round of gains for cryptocurrency tokens related to him. The TRUMP token has risen by over 80% in the past three days, while MAGA and TRUMPCOIN have seen gains of nearly 100%. While these increases carry speculative short-term nature, the crypto-friendly attitude of the Trump administration has brought broader positive expectations to the market.
AI-related Tokens Continue to Strengthen
At the CES 2025 conference, artificial intelligence once again became a focus in the tech industry, leading to a simultaneous rise in AI-related cryptocurrency tokens. WLD, RENDER, and IOTA have each seen gains of 10%, 8%, and 6%, respectively. AI16Z has surged by over 25% in the short term, while AIXBT has surpassed $0.55 USDT once again. The market has shown high interest in the long-term potential of integrating crypto technology with artificial intelligence.
Analyst Outlook: Optimism and Concerns for Bitcoin Price Trends
While the overall market currently leans towards optimism, various parties still hold different views on Bitcoin's future trends:
· Optimists: Bitfinex and Bernstein analysts believe that Bitcoin's supply-demand imbalance and reduced selling pressure from miners will drive a mid-term price increase, with a price target of $160,000 to $200,000 by 2025.
· The Cautious Ones: Arthur Hayes and QCP Capital both believe that excessive price increases may not occur in the short term, and the market may experience a correction in mid-March. They recommend that investors reduce their positions in the latter part of the first quarter.
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Mixin has launched USTD-margined perpetual contracts, bringing derivative trading into the chat scene.
The privacy-focused crypto wallet Mixin announced today the launch of its U-based perpetual contract (a derivative priced in USDT). Unlike traditional exchanges, Mixin has taken a new approach by "liberating" derivative trading from isolated matching engines and embedding it into the instant messaging environment.
Users can directly open positions within the app with leverage of up to 200x, while sharing positions, discussing strategies, and copy trading within private communities. Trading, social interaction, and asset management are integrated into the same interface.
Based on its non-custodial architecture, Mixin has eliminated friction from the traditional onboarding process, allowing users to participate in perpetual contract trading without identity verification.
The trading process has been streamlined into five steps:
· Choose the trading asset
· Select long or short
· Input position size and leverage
· Confirm order details
· Confirm and open the position
The interface provides real-time visualization of price, position, and profit and loss (PnL), allowing users to complete trades without switching between multiple modules.
Mixin has directly integrated social features into the derivative trading environment. Users can create private trading communities and interact around real-time positions:
· End-to-end encrypted private groups supporting up to 1024 members
· End-to-end encrypted voice communication
· One-click position sharing
· One-click trade copying
On the execution side, Mixin aggregates liquidity from multiple sources and accesses decentralized protocol and external market liquidity through a unified trading interface.
By combining social interaction with trade execution, Mixin enables users to collaborate, share, and execute trading strategies instantly within the same environment.
Mixin has also introduced a referral incentive system based on trading behavior:
· Users can join with an invite code
· Up to 60% of trading fees as referral rewards
· Incentive mechanism designed for long-term, sustainable earnings
This model aims to drive user-driven network expansion and organic growth.
Mixin's derivative transactions are built on top of its existing self-custody wallet infrastructure, with core features including:
· Separation of transaction account and asset storage
· User full control over assets
· Platform does not custody user funds
· Built-in privacy mechanisms to reduce data exposure
The system aims to strike a balance between transaction efficiency, asset security, and privacy protection.
Against the background of perpetual contracts becoming a mainstream trading tool, Mixin is exploring a different development direction by lowering barriers, enhancing social and privacy attributes.
The platform does not only view transactions as execution actions but positions them as a networked activity: transactions have social attributes, strategies can be shared, and relationships between individuals also become part of the financial system.
Mixin's design is based on a user-initiated, user-controlled model. The platform neither custodies assets nor executes transactions on behalf of users.
This model aligns with a statement issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 13, 2026, titled "Staff Statement on Whether Partial User Interface Used in Preparing Cryptocurrency Securities Transactions May Require Broker-Dealer Registration."
The statement indicates that, under the premise where transactions are entirely initiated and controlled by users, non-custodial service providers that offer neutral interfaces may not need to register as broker-dealers or exchanges.
Mixin is a decentralized, self-custodial privacy wallet designed to provide secure and efficient digital asset management services.
Its core capabilities include:
· Aggregation: integrating multi-chain assets and routing between different transaction paths to simplify user operations
· High liquidity access: connecting to various liquidity sources, including decentralized protocols and external markets
· Decentralization: achieving full user control over assets without relying on custodial intermediaries
· Privacy protection: safeguarding assets and data through MPC, CryptoNote, and end-to-end encrypted communication
Mixin has been in operation for over 8 years, supporting over 40 blockchains and more than 10,000 assets, with a global user base exceeding 10 million and an on-chain self-custodied asset scale of over $1 billion.

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