3 Reasons Why Bitcoin, ETH, XRP Sentiment Is Turning Bullish In 2026

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

Trump Tariffs Allowed To Stand For Now, But Polymarket Traders Predict Only 25% Chance Of SCOTUS Approval

The U.S. Supreme Court did not issue a ruling Friday on President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, as traders price in a 75% chance that the Supreme Court ultimately rules in favor of Trump’s tariffs.

Polymarket Shows 25% Odds Trump Wins Tariff Case

The court has not announced when it will decide the case.

Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose “reciprocal” tariffs on goods from nearly every foreign trading partner, citing trade deficits as a national emergency.

He used the same law for duties on China, Canada, and Mexico, citing fentanyl trafficking.

Trump imposed the duties by invoking a 1977 law meant for national emergencies, and…

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Pudgy Penguins Spikes 19% In A Week: Why Do DOGE, SHIB Lag Behind?

Pudgy Penguins (CRYPTO: PENGU) jumped 19% over the past week, outperforming meme coin peers such as Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) and Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB).

CryptocurrencyTickerPriceMarket Cap7-Day TrendDOGESHIB5Pudgy Penguins(CRYPTO: PENGU)$0.01201$755 million+18.8%Dogecoin(CRYPTO: )$0.1390$23.4 billion+5.9%Shiba Inu(CRYPTO: )$0.08705$5.12 billion+12.3%

Trader Notes: Altcoin Sherpa described PENGU as a “promising reversal setup,” pointing to an inverted head-and-shoulders pattern forming at higher-time-frame support.

The trader said the move may require patience but views the potential rebound as one of the higher-priority trade setups this year.

MacroCRG said PENGU is trading at a solid…

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The United States Could Start Buying Bitcoin In 2026

Cathie Wood is betting that politics, not just markets, could be the catalyst that pushes the United States into actively buying bitcoin.

The ARK Invest founder said this week that cryptocurrency has become a durable political issue for President Donald Trump, one that could shape policy decisions as the White House looks ahead to the 2026 midterm elections. 

In Wood’s view, that dynamic increases the odds that the federal government eventually moves beyond holding seized BTC and begins purchasing BTC outright for a national strategic reserve.

Crypto was “part of the reason he won the presidency,” Wood said on a recent episode of ARK’s Bitcoin Brainstorm podcast….

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South Korea To Approve Spot Bitcoin ETFs In Policy Shift

South Korea is reportedly preparing to open its financial markets to spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) this year, marking a shift in the country’s long-standing approach to digital assets as regulators accelerate work on a comprehensive new crypto law.

The plan was outlined in the government’s newly released 2026 Economic Growth Strategy, with the Financial Services Commission (FSC) taking the lead on implementation. 

If approved, spot bitcoin ETFs would become available to domestic investors for the first time, placing South Korea alongside markets such as the United States and Hong Kong, where similar products have already attracted billions of dollars in… Read more on BitcoinMagazine

Empowering Peer-to-Peer Bitcoin Exchange Through Social Networks

In an era where centralized exchanges dominate cryptocurrency trading, Vexl stands out as a peer-to-peer (P2P) application designed to connect Bitcoin users within their personal networks for direct, non-custodial trades. The app facilitates buying and selling Bitcoin without intermediaries, emphasizing in-person meetings for cash exchanges while also supporting fiat transfers arranged privately between users.

As Viliam Klamarcik, CEO of Vexl, explained in an interview with Bitcoin Magazine, “we are an application that helps people to buy and sell Bitcoin directly with each other, without any intermediaries, without KYC. Vexl works without custody, so peer-to-peer, but what’s…

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The Bet On InfoFi Is Changing — From Paying For Posts To Pricing Credibility

InfoFi arrived last year with a big ambition: put a price on information itself. Platforms rewarded users for commentary and social engagement, transforming posts and attention into tradeable value. The model took off, but now as spam rises and yields start to shrink, it faces its first real test.

In 2026, InfoFi is still bubbling, but splitting. One side of the market is drifting toward content arbitrage, where posts become inventory and the focus is on engagement and rewards. The other is evolving into signal infrastructure that filters, ranks, and verifies information before it reaches markets, rewarding credibility over volume.

That divergence is re-shaping the market, and the…

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