Crypto markets have opened 2026 on a much stronger footing after months of weakness, with altcoins and meme coins rebounding and overall sentiment improving.

What Happened: According to Santiment data, improving retail sentiment across major crypto assets is being driven less by hype cycles and more by macro forces, ETF flows, and positioning dynamics.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), up around 3% on the week, is increasingly behaving like a macro asset.

Price action is now closely tied to spot ETF flows, U.S. economic data, and interest rate expectations rather than crypto-native narratives.

While selling pressure has eased and sentiment has improved, $90,000 remains a key psychological level.

Benzinga