By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)

President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration is nearing, and the crypto world is buzzing. Bitcoin is holding above $100,000, and altcoins like solana (SOL), cardano (ADA), chainlink (LINK), XRP and litecoin (LTC) are shining as it's not just about a potential strategic bitcoin reserve anymore. Reports suggest Trump could announce crypto as a policy priority.

Things are heating up for ether too. A blockchain address associated with Trump's World Liberty Finance (WLF) project snapped up nearly $10 million of ETH this week, according to Arkham Intelligence. And keep your eyes on layer-1 blockchain Near Protocol's NEAR. The token's supply dynamics look bullish, with the ratio of staked to unstaked NEAR rising, according to data source Flipside.

Overall, the outlook for the crypto market is bullish, as Wednesday's U.S. CPI report has eased inflation concerns, allowing traders to focus on Trump's swearing-in. On-chain analysis from 21Shares shows there's still plenty of upside left for BTC.

That said, consider the possibility of a price drop if a major announcement doesn't materialize on Trump's first day.

"The macroeconomic backdrop remains supportive, with unemployment trending downward, inflation showing signs of easing, and the market riding a wave of enthusiasm tied to Trump’s inauguration," Valentin Fournier, an analyst at BRN, said. "We maintain a bullish outlook for Q1, though a correction could happen this week if the new administration doesn't outline a solid action plan."

Note that BTC is trading at a discount on Coinbase relative to Binance in a sign of weak demand from U.S. investors. Plus, Arkham Intelligence data shows a whale moved BTC worth over $1 billion to Coinbase on Thursday. Transfers to exchanges typically represent an investor intention to sell.

And watch out for inflation worries creeping back. The U.S. PPI, which shows price pressures building up in the pipeline, rose above the CPI in December for the first time since 2022. Stay alert!

What to Watch

Crypto

Jan. 17: Oral arguments at the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in KalshiEX LLC v. CFTC, where the CFTC is appealing the district court's ruling favoring Kalshi's Congressional Control Contracts.

Jan. 23: First deadline for a decision by the SEC on NYSE Arca's Dec. 3 proposal to list and trade shares of Grayscale Solana Trust (GSOL), a closed-end trust, as an ETF.

Jan. 25: First deadline for SEC decisions on proposals for four new spot solana ETFs: Bitwise Solana ETF, Canary Solana ETF, 21Shares Core Solana ETF and VanEck Solana Trust, which are all sponsored by Cboe BZX Exchange.

Feb. 4: MicroStrategy Inc. (MSTR) reports Q4 earnings before the market opens.

Macro

Jan. 17, 8:30 a.m.: The U.S. Census Bureau releases December's Monthly New Residential Construction report.

Building Permits (Preliminary) Est. 1.46M vs. Prev. 1.493M

Building Permits MoM (Preliminary) Prev. 5.2%

Housing Starts Est. 1.32M vs. Prev. 1.289M

Housing Starts MoM Prev. -1.8%

Token Events

Governance votes & calls

ApeChain is voting on a revamped governance process for 75% of the on-chain treasury to be directed to DAO treasury contract and the remaining 25% to the Ape Foundation for administrative and support purposes. Voting began Jan. 17 and will last for 13 days.

The Aave DAO is discussing a joint incentive program with Polygon that would require $3 million to enhance liquidity and adoption of Aave on the Polygon blockchain.

Unlocks

Jan. 17: ApeCoin (APE) to unlock 2.16% of its circulating supply, worth $18.1 million

Jan. 17: QuantixAI (QAI) to unlock 4.79% of its circulating supply, worth $21.28 million

Jan. 18: Ondo (ONDO) to unlock 134% of its circulating supply, worth $2.19 billion

Jan. 21: Fasttoken (FTN) to unlock 4.6% of circulating supply worth $76 million

Token Launches

Jan. 17: Solv Protocol (SOLV) to be listed on Binance.

Conferences:

Day 12 of 14: Starknet, an Ethereum