Retail Is Bearish, but $1.7B in Institutional Inflows Pushed BTC Above $97K

The cryptocurrency market has been seeing notable gains as January kicked off, especially in the past three days. The retail sector, however, continues with its mixed reactions, mostly bearish.

The total crypto market cap grew by over $300 billion over the past two weeks, according to CoinMarketCap. Its value reached a two-month high of $3.3 trillion late on Wednesday, Jan. 14, before a decline to the current level of $3.26 trillion.

Bitcoin BTC $96 338 24h volatility: 1.5% Market cap: $1.92 T Vol. 24h: $66.62 B also touched a local high of $97,860, but with a mild retreat, it’s currently trading close to $92,300.

Ethereum ETH $3 323 24h volatility: 0.2% Market cap: $400.73 B Vol. 24h: $31.96 B has also been showing strength as it reached a local high of almost $3,400 on Jan. 14.

According to Santiment data, BTC and ETH prices reached their local highs while retail investors started to show bearish sentiment.

Santiment expects the FUD among the crowd to push Bitcoin above the $100,000 mark for the first time since mid-November.

What’s Pushing Bitcoin Now?

Historically, the bearish sentiment from the retail crowd has usually acted as a bullish catalyst for the Bitcoin price.

Moreover, the recent rally has brought the CMC fear and greed index to the 54 mark for the first time since Oct. 10, 2025.

However, it’s not just about sentiments.

Multiple catalysts, such as the inflows into the spot BTC exchange-traded funds, short liquidations and the most recent US Consumer Price Index data, have been adding to the bullish momentum.

According to data from SoSoValue, the US-based spot BTC ETFs saw a net inflow of $843.6 million on Jan. 14. This brings the week’s inflows to $1.71 billion.

Coinspeaker also reported that the US CPI came in at a 2.7% year-over-year increase for December 2025, aligned with the expectations from economists. Bitcoin rose to $96,000 soon after the report was released. This also triggered massive short liquidations, worth $595 million between Jan. 13 and 14.

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