Market overview for Jan. 19: ETF flows, weekly movers, and the tariff fallout

Spot ETFs: where money came in and where it left

According to SoSoValue, the week of Jan. 12–16 ended with a net inflow of $1.42B into spot Bitcoin ETFs. That stands out against the prior week, when the market saw a sizable outflow and analysts started talking about institutional fatigue.

BlackRock’s IBIT remained the main magnet. It brought in about $1.035B for the week, taking the lion’s share of total inflows. Other funds looked more modest: Fidelity’s FBTC posted a solid gain (around $194M), while flows across several products bounced around from day to day.

Ethereum was also positive. Spot ETH ETFs recorded net inflows of $479M. BlackRock’s ETHA led with roughly $219M for the week. The number matters, but the rhythm matters too: ETH had several strong “green” flow days during the week, which helped sentiment when the spot market looked unsure.

Solana continues to expand its presence in the ETF product lineup. Over the same Jan. 12–16 window, SOL ETFs saw net inflows of $46.88M. By product, Bitwise’s BSOL stood out (around $32.23M), followed by Fidelity’s FSOL (roughly $10.97M).

Overall, crypto ETF flows look like a return to the “core set”: BTC as the first choice, ETH as a higher-beta bet, and SOL as the riskier but still market-favorite option.

Who outperformed and who lagged on crypto

If you look at seven-day performance among large caps on CoinMarketCap, the picture is mixed.

Among the top coins by market cap, the best performers were:

• TRX, up about +6.2% on the week.
• ETH, up roughly +5.2%.
• BTC, still positive on the week at around +3.1%.

The weaker names among large caps were:

• BCH, down about −8.7% over seven days.
• DOGE, down roughly −4.4%.
• SUI, among the more noticeable weekly decliners (around −5.3%).

If you step away from the “top list” and look at what people are clicking on most on CoinMarketCap, the moves get sharper. For example, among the most-viewed coins, BLACKWHALE showed up again, and parts of its week looked like a small, isolated bull market of its own.

But the finish was messy. Over the weekend, crypto reacted quickly to negative political headlines. According to YCharts, between Jan. 18 and 19, Bitcoin dropped from $95,099.53 to $92,583.71 (−2.62% in 24 hours).

So the week couldn’t end on an upbeat note, even with strong ETF inflows. Below is what spooked markets.

Markets react to tariff wars and Fed-chair confusion

On Monday, Jan. 19, crypto got a reminder that it lives in the same world as macro. The first thing that rattled markets was expectations. When headlines suggest the next Fed chair still isn’t settled and that “dovish” candidates are losing ground (with the odds of hawk Kevin Warsh getting the job rising to 60%) traders immediately start repricing the future.

In moments like that, demand for defensive assets gets noticeably stronger. In crypto, the pattern is familiar: leverage comes down, large investors rotate into precious metals, and faster profit-taking begins across altcoins.

The second trigger was the restart of tariff wars, this time on the European front. Trump posted a Truth Social message saying that, due to issues related to Greenland, starting Feb. 1 this year the U.S. will impose an additional 10% tariff on all goods exported to the U.S. from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the U.K., the Netherlands, and Finland. The tariff rate is planned to increase to 25% starting June 1. These measures would remain in place until an agreement is reached on a “comprehensive purchase of Greenland.”

Tariff stories spook markets because they revive the inflation and trade-conflict narrative. And that’s exactly what doesn’t pair well with a soft-rate scenario and strong performance in risk assets.

The irony of the week is that ETF flows looked almost perfect, but the market still slid. Apparently, in January 2026 it’s not enough for investors to decide whether to buy Bitcoin. They also need to figure out whether Greenland is even something you can buy and what it would cost.