AI tokens outpace memecoins as crypto comeback strengthens: Crypto Daybook Americas

By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)

As bitcoin BTC $ 93,865.60 clings to recent gains above $93,000, capital shifts from memecoins to utility tokens, with assets supposedly linked to artificial intelligence (AI) leading the charge.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy .

CoinDesk's Culture and Entertainment Select Index, Metaverse Select Index, 10 Capped ex-Bitcoin Index, and the DeFi Select Index have gained over 4% each over the past 24 hours. The CoinDesk Meme Select Index was little-changed to negative, pausing its recent rally.

It shows capital rotating into substance, or established sub-sectors with utility, such as DeFi and metaverse, rather than speculative, jokey cryptocurrencies. That's a strong signal for the sustainability of crypto's recent bounce.

Among individual tokens, AI-linked coins have done well in the past 24 hours. For instance, Render Network's RENDER climbed 20%, becoming the best performer among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap. Render is a leading decentralized GPU compute platform for applications ranging from 3D rendering to machine learning and generative AI. Smaller AI tokens such as Virtuals Protocol's VIRTUAL token have risen over 6%

Layer-1 blockchain Sui's native coin, SUI $ 1.9759, has rallied over 15% on expectations of privacy tech, rivalling gains in Provenance Blockchain's HASH token. Payments-focused XRP jumped 10% to its highest in nearly two months, while Solana's sol SOL $ 139.27 remains locked in a multimonth range despite the recent bounce.

These moves are consistent with the renewed optimism for AI and high-beta tech stocks on Wall Street.

Antonio Di Giacomo, senior market analyst at XS.com, said that increased geopolitical tensions and impending economic data, particularly Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, warrant attention.

"Markets remain on alert amid rising geopolitical tensions following the U.S. offensive against Venezuela, a factor that has heightened perceptions of systemic risk and curbed enthusiasm for riskier assets, including cryptocurrencies," he noted, adding that a weak payrolls figure could influence the Fed's monetary policy and investor risk appetite.

Other analysts said that continued gains in the crypto market depend on bitcoin ETF inflows, which have begun 2026 on a positive note, accumulating over $1 billion in the first two trading days. These inflows need to continue to keep the market bid.

In traditional markets, futures tied to the Nasdaq 100 and the S&P 500 were little changed, suggesting a cautious open after Monday's gain. The Nasdaq index has been consolidating in a narrowing price range (see Technical Analysis section). The direction in which it is eventually resolves will likely determine the next move and influence the crypto market accordingly. Stay alert!

Read more: For analysis of today's activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today

What to Watch

For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk's "Crypto Week Ahead".

Crypto Nothing scheduled.

Macro Jan. 6, 7 a.m.: Mexico Dec. Consumer Confidence (Prev. 44.2). Jan. 6, 8 a.m.: Brazil Dec. S&P Global PMI. Services (Prev. 50.1); Composite (Prev. 49.6). Jan. 6, 9:30 a.m.: Canada Dec. S&P Global PMI. Services (Prev. 44.3); Composite (Prev. 44.9). Jan. 6, 9:45 a.m.: U.S. Dec. (Final) S&P Global PMI. Services Est. 52.9; Composite Est. 53.

Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data) Nothing scheduled.

(Estimates based on FactSet data)

Token Events

For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk's "Crypto Week Ahead".

Governance votes & calls SSV Network DAO is voting to expand its market-making program, increasing the total allocation to 300,000 SSV ($1.3 million) to secure a 12–18 month agreement with a top-tier market maker for improved liquidity. Voting ends Jan. 6. Compound DAO is voting to top up reward contracts on Arbitrum and Unichain to maintain user incentives, following a correction to a previous proposal. Voting ends Jan. 6. TrueFi DAO is voting to authorize a comprehensive protocol rebrand and mint the remaining TRU supply to recapitalize the treasury. Voting ends Jan. 6. Aave is voting on a proposal to onboard April 2026 maturity Principal Tokens for Ethena’s USDe and sUSDe to the V3 Plasma Instance. Voting ends Jan. 6.

Unlocks No major unlocks.

Token Launches Jan. 6: Brevis (BREV) to be listed on Binance, Bitget, OKX, MEXC, LBank, Gate, and others. Jan. 6: Rain (RAIN) to be listed on KuCoin.



Conferences

For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk's "Crypto Week Ahead".

Nothing scheduled.

Market Movements

BTC is down 0.71% from 4 p.m. ET Monday at $93,425.15 (24hrs: +0.61%)

ETH is down 0.5% at $3,221.91 (24hrs: +1.79%)

CoinDesk 20 is down 0.3% at 3,047.78 (24hrs: +3.34%)

Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is up 2 bps at 2.85%

BTC funding rate is at 0.0037% (4.0537% annualized) on Binance

DXY is unchanged at 99.35

Gold futures are up 0.44% at $4,456.40

Silver futures are up 1.83% at $77.56

Nikkei 225 closed up 1.32% at 52,518.08

Hang Seng closed up 1.38% at 26,710.45

FTSE 100 is up 0.58% at 10,062.63

Euro Stoxx 50 is down 0.24% at 5,909.44

DJIA closed on Monday up 1.23% at 48,977.18

S&P 500 closed up 0.64% at 6,902.05

Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.69% at 23,395.82

S&P/TSX Composite closed up 1.06% at 32,220.00

S&P 40 Latin America closed up 2.07% at 3,222.70

U.S. 10-Year Treasury rate is down 2 bps at 4.16%

E-mini S&P 500 futures are unchanged at 6,939.75

E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are unchanged at 25,585.50

E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 0.2% at 49,129.00

Bitcoin Stats

BTC Dominance: 58.98% (-0.16%)

Ether-bitcoin ratio: 0.0345 (0.42%)

Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 1,032 EH/s

Hashprice (spot): $39.90

Total fees: 2.79 BTC / $259,967

CME Futures Open Interest: 111,130 BTC

BTC priced in gold: 21 oz.

BTC vs gold market cap: 6.25%

Technical Analysis

Solana and Nasdaq's daily price swings in candlestick format. (TradingView)

The chart shows SOL's and Nasdaq's daily price swings in candlestick format.

Despite the 11% gain since the start of the year, SOL remains trapped in a multiweek sideways channel. A potential breakout would confirm a bearish-to-bullish trend change.

The Nasdaq is consolidating in a contracting triangle — a tightening price range signaling indecision. Whichever way it breaks will likely dictate the index's next major move.

Crypto Equities

Coinbase (COIN): closed on Monday at $254.92 (+7.77%), unchanged in pre-market

Circle Internet (CRCL): closed at $84.80 (+1.59%), +0.51% at $85.23

Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $26.30 (+6.26%), -0.53% at $26.16

Bullish (BLSH): closed at $41.48 (+5.65%), unchanged in pre-market

MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $10.59 (+6.86%), -0.76% at $10.51

Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $14.79 (+4.45%), -0.27% at $14.75

Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $16.73 (+4.63%)

CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $12.30 (+6.49%), -0.81% at $12.20

CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI): closed at $45.96 (+9.30%), -1.11% at $45.45

Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $15.67 (+3.09%)

Crypto Treasury Companies

Strategy (MSTR): closed at $164.72 (+4.81%), -0.18% at $164.43

Semler Scientific (SMLR): closed at $21.06 (+18.45%)

SharpLink Gaming (SBET): closed at $10.27 (+5.99%), -0.39% at $10.23

Upexi (UPXI): closed at $2.27 (+18.85%)

Lite Strategy (LITS): closed at $1.53 (-0.65%)

ETF Flows

Spot BTC ETFs

Daily net flows: $697.2 million

Cumulative net flows: $57.76 billion

Total BTC holdings ~1.3 million

Spot ETH ETFs

Daily net flows: $168 million

Cumulative net flows: $12.69 billion

Total ETH holdings ~6.11 million

Source: Farside Investors

While You Were Sleeping