After a quiet and frustrating end to 2025, the crypto market entered the new year with something traders have been missing for weeks: movement.
In the early trading spaces of 2026, Kraken VP of Growth Matt Howells-Barby spoke with professional trader Dentoshi to assess whether the early January price action is just another false start – or the start of a more tradeable environment.
With Bitcoin attempting to reclaim key levels, ether already showing relative strength, and altcoins breaking long-standing downtrends, the conversation has focused less on the macro and more on what the charts are actually doing.
As always, this discussion is for educational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice.
Bitcoin: A new annual opening, but conviction remains necessary
The session opened with Bitcoin, where Dentoshi highlighted the importance of new annual opening as a new benchmark for traders. After weeks of extremely low volatility and repeated rejections near the same levels, BTC spent much of the last month locked in a tight range.
Dentoshi noted that prolonged compression often precedes expansion – but direction matters more than speed.
“We’ve been sitting here for so long. When a movement comes, whether it’s up or down, you really have to believe in it.”
Although BTC has yet to convincingly reclaim its major moving averages, Dentoshi pointed out that the first signs are starting to appear on lower timeframes. A sustained recovery from the 2025 annual open, combined with a bullish EMA structure, could open the door for a push towards the next major resistance zone. Conversely, a failure at current levels would likely result in a wave of recent lows and potentially better entries.
The takeaway: Volatility is likely ahead – but bitcoin still needs confirmation before traders can follow through.
Ether leads the majors as momentum builds
Where bitcoin remains undecided, ether is already doing what BTC has not done.
Dentoshi highlighted that ETH is down back above key EMAs and could start turning them into supporta structural shift that traders have been waiting for since late 2025. While near resistance remains a risk, ether’s relative strength stands out – especially given how many altcoins have historically relied on the health of ETH to maintain bullish momentum.
“ETH is already achieving what we want to see in BTC. This gives it more strength – and that’s a good sign for alts as well.”
Matt added that broader sentiment around ether in 2026 seems significantly more constructive than for other majors. While long-term projections should always be treated with caution, conviction matters – and markets tend to reward rallies that people are willing to buy.
For now, Dentoshi has highlighted a level by level approachlooking to see if ETH can cleanly reclaim its nearby resistance rather than assuming an immediate move higher.
Altcoins: from total apathy to the first structural changes
One of the most notable changes this session was the large number of altcoin charts that started to look similar.
After nearly three months of persistent decline following the October 10 sell-off, Dentoshi pointed out that many alts are now trying to recover from long-standing downtrends.
This includes both memes and non-memes, an important distinction.
“This force is not isolated. Many parts structurally do the same thing.” PEPEwhich has been one of the most powerful engines from the lowest, as well as ENA, PINGOU and other assets from deeply oversold conditions to the main EMA clusters.
The “gap-filling” setup Dentoshi is watching closely
A key educational moment in the course came when Dentoshi explained a concept she uses frequently: the Closing the gaps in the EMA.
When an asset returns to a longer-term downtrend, the price often moves from one EMA to another, “closing” the gap between them. These setups can occur over multiple time frames and, when aligned with support/resistance and broader market strength, offer high probability trades.
“When an asset resumes a trend that pushed it lower, it often trades towards the next EMA and fills the gap.”
Dentoshi noted that many altcoins are now entering exactly this phase, with prices reclaiming daily EMA trends and potentially targeting higher moving averages if conditions remain favorable.
Be careful: these devices only work if the market as a whole remains constructive – and abrupt rejections would quickly invalidate the thesis.
Zcash: An aberrant graph that still raises questions
Zcash (ZEC) remains one of the most confusing charts on the market.
Although it showed unusual strength after October – even reaching yearly highs when most assets were slumping – recent price action has diverged from that of the rest of the altcoin complex. As ETH and others attempt to recover from trends, ZEC has weakened to critical levels.
“You really don’t want to see that much weakness when the rest of the market is moving.”
Dentoshi explained that ZEC now finds itself at a decisive inflection point. Maintaining current support could allow the structure to stabilize, but failure would likely confirm a broader trend reversal – and potentially mark the end of its relative outperformance.
Both speakers cautioned against emotional attachment to previous winners, highlighting the risk of “round-tripping” profits by forcing trades on charts that no longer behave cleanly.
Improving Weak Charts Is a Healthy Sign
Interestingly, some of the weaker charts from late 2025 are also starting to recover their structure. Dentoshi cited examples like XRP Adjacent Coins and Newly Listed Assets such as MONADwhere logical breaks, retests and diagonal structures finally start to hold.
“A tradable market is one where logical levels matter again.”
This change – from randomly increasing levels to technically respectful price action – could signal a gradual transition to an environment in which traders can operate with more confidence.
DOGE confirms broader theme
To round out the altcoin discussion, Matt brought up Dogecoin – and the result reinforced the broader conclusions.
DOGE is also breaking out of a long-standing downtrend, reclaiming a structure whose prices have been capped for months. Although it is still early, the consistency between the charts suggests that this is not isolated speculation, but a coordinated change in market behavior.
“They all do the same thing. After a long downtrend, these gap-filling environments appear again and again, and they are usually profitable strategies.”
What to watch next
At the end of the session, both speakers agreed that the next few days will be critical. With BTC and ETH penetrating key resistance zones and global markets reopening, sustainability will matter more than the initial move.
Dentoshi Checklist for Traders:
- Identify assets that date back logical and significant dips
- Monitor EMA Recovers Over Multiple Time Frames after leaving these lowest
- Be aware of unlocked tokens and catalysts
- Let BTC and ETH confirm their strength before assuming continuation
After months of turbulence, the market is finally offering something new: opportunities – under conditions.
Watch the replay and follow
Watch the full replay on YouTube:
You can follow @Dentoshi on @KrakenFX And @KrakenPro for upcoming trading spaces and market commentary. The full replay of the session is available on X. We will be back soon with the next episode of Trading Spaces.
