After suffering heavy losses in the final trading sessions of 2025, crypto-linked assets are showing signs of recovery on the first trading day of the new year.
One of last year’s defining late-stage trends was persistent selling during U.S. market hours, with digital assets frequently sliding as American equities opened. While it’s still early, trading on the first official session of 2026 suggests a possible shift, with cryptocurrencies advancing alongside U.S. stocks.
Bitcoin rose above the $90,000 level, climbing 2.5% over the past 24 hours to trade near $93,400. Ether gained roughly 4% to around $3,160, while solana and XRP posted similar advances, each up close to 4%.
Risk assets broadly moved higher in the opening session of the year. The Nasdaq added 0.6%, led by strong gains in AI-focused chipmakers, including Nvidia, Broadcom, Micron, and Intel, which rose between 3% and 6%. Commodities also firmed, with silver jumping 3% and both gold and copper edging higher.
Crypto miners that have pivoted toward AI infrastructure saw sharp gains. Hut 8, CleanSpark, and TeraWulf climbed around 10%, while Cipher Mining and IREN advanced roughly 8% each.
Elsewhere, Strategy and Coinbase were up more than 3%, Galaxy Digital jumped 7%, and Circle Financial gained about 4.5%.
