January 15 Work Commute Podcast — Bitcoin's strength leads to a surge in short covering... Ethereum ETF expectations also expand

On January 15, 2026, the cryptocurrency market continued its upward trend, with Bitcoin rising to $97,265 and Ethereum increasing by 4.73% to $3,366. Amid widespread gains in major altcoins, only TRON experienced a slight decline. The total market capitalization reached $3.29 trillion, with Bitcoin and Ethereum’s dominance expanding to 59.00% and 12.33%, respectively.

The 24-hour total trading volume recorded $172.5 billion. Among them, DeFi trading volume reached $15.5 billion (+31.66%), stablecoin trading volume hit $173 billion (+54.84%), both showing growth; derivatives trading volume also reached $1.4673 trillion, up 39.81% from the previous day, indicating significant market liquidity expansion.

The total leveraged liquidation amount for the day was $136.7 million, of which 88.67% (i.e., $121.21 million) were short positions. This indicates that investors betting on a decline suffered large losses as Bitcoin and major altcoins rose. By coin, Bitcoin had the highest liquidation at $68.98 million, followed by Ethereum at $36.07 million and Solana at $8.55 million. Meme coins like FARTCO and PEPE also experienced short liquidations of $350,000 and $280,000, respectively.

On the policy front, Fidelity submitted an amended application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an Ethereum spot ETF, sparking market expectations for expanded institutional investment channels. Bloomberg reported that internal discussions within the SEC are accelerating, with indications of a possible approval, and JPMorgan also holds an optimistic view. Meanwhile, Vitalik Buterin advocates for simplifying Ethereum staking structures and calls for technical improvements.

Additionally, major project technical releases continue to advance: LayerZero completed the mainnet launch across 42 chains, and Phantom announced the testnet for its ultra-fast network “Sonic.”

In the Korean market, Bitcoin shows a slight premium compared to overseas markets, reflecting optimistic sentiment among domestic investors.