$BTC ended April in the green, with 11.87% net growth. The leading coin closed in the green for the second month in a row and completed the most successful month for the year to date.
$BTC reversed some of the deep losses from February and moved up to $76,960.11 in early May. The coin has accrued 12.94% in gains for Q2 to date, leading to more bullish expectations of a price reversal.
The recent monthly gains arrived after a five-month streak of net losses. Based on the fear and greed index at 26 points, traders are still not confident to set up large long positions. However, April achieved a reversal, abandoning the ‘extreme fear’ trading from the previous month.
Historically, April has mostly been a positive month for $BTC, with only five years with a red monthly candle. $BTC made a similar return in April 2025, paving the way for the all-time highs later in the year. May is a more bearish month on a five-year time frame, with deeper losses and shocks.
$BTC passed several stress tests in April
$BTC passed several stress tests in April, with both macro factors and crypto insider shocks. April saw a record of hacks and exploits, as Cryptopolitan reported earlier.
Oil shocks and the uncertainty of the situation in the Strait of Hormuz also led to fearful trading. Trader interest shifted to stocks and oil futures, while $BTC attracted mostly whales on the spot and futures markets.
The leading coin gained support from ongoing accumulation by whales and some cohorts of retail wallets. Demand also came from treasury companies, with Strategy performing its third-largest weekly purchase in history, adding 34,164 $BTC as of April 20.
$BTC dominance recovered slightly to 58.2%, as interest in altcoins and tokens remained at historical lows. The coming months may continue with a sentiment of $BTC maximalism, as the rest of the crypto market deals with hacks and the lost trust in DeFi lending.
$BTC options point to a relief rally
$BTC options markets may be the reason for a short-term relief rally. On May 1, a total of $1.74B in $BTC options expired, with another $394M in ETH options.
The $BTC weekly event expired with a put/call ratio of 1.1, suggesting cautious positioning and downside protection. The relatively small event for the new month still suggested prevailing downside protection.
Ahead of the options expiry event, the market was close to the maximum pain point of $76,000 per $BTC.
Put options have now shifted to $75,500, setting up a higher level of downside protection.
The biggest accumulation of call options is at $79,500-$80,000 per $BTC, which is seen as a level potentially triggering a breakout.
Options markets still signal cautious downside protection rather than an upcoming bull market. The weekly options’ expiry near maximum pain may lead to a gamma squeeze, as traders abandon the attempt to push the price to the maximum pain point, where the most options expire worthless.
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