Bitcoin Surges Toward $80,000: Three Key Drivers Behind the Rally

Bitcoin’s price is on track to hit $80,000 within days, according to Gabe Selby, head of research at CF Benchmarks. Selby attributes the surge to deep-pocketed institutional investors—not retail traders chasing short-term gains.

“Major institutions are behind the move,” Selby stated in a note shared with DL News. “This is more institutional allocator money, such as advisers and major wealth channels, as opposed to short-term retail or hedge fund basis trade flows.”

Bitcoin’s Recent Performance and Market Context

Bitcoin has rallied about 10% over the past month, currently trading near $78,000. Despite this gain, it remains roughly 38% below its October 2025 peak of $126,000, even as the US stock market reached a fresh all-time high in April.

Institutional Inflows Drive Bitcoin ETF Growth

US spot Bitcoin ETFs have attracted $2.5 billion in net investment in April, according to DefiLlama data. This follows March’s $1.3 billion inflow, marking the end of a four-month streak of outflows.

The standout was a $660 million inflow on 17 April, the largest daily inflow since late 2025. BlackRock’s IBIT captured roughly 85% of the total flow.

Three Bullish Signals Fueling Bitcoin’s Rally

1. Strategy’s Massive Bitcoin Acquisition

Selby highlights one dominant buyer driving the rally: Strategy. The company recently purchased 34,164 Bitcoin worth about $2.5 billion, bringing its total holdings to over $60 billion. This accumulation occurred roughly 40% below Bitcoin’s October 2025 peak.

Around 85% of the purchase was funded through Strategy’s STRC preferred equity, a security offering an 11.5% dividend backed entirely by Bitcoin holdings. Satish Patel, an investment analyst at CoinShares, noted that STRC is increasingly behaving like a stable-income instrument, anchored around par value rather than a volatile Bitcoin proxy.

Dividends are classified as a return of capital, providing tax advantages that appeal to higher-bracket investors.

2. Bitcoin Passes Stress Test Amid DeFi Exploit

Bitcoin also weathered a major weekend stress test. A nearly $300 million exploit in a major decentralized finance protocol triggered withdrawals of around $10 billion across crypto projects.

Selby emphasized that in previous cycles, such an event would have triggered rapid contagion. This time, Bitcoin’s sentiment remained robust, with damage largely contained to a handful of projects.

3. Stock Market Strength Boosts Crypto Assets

Strength in equities is once again lifting cryptoassets, Selby noted. Bitcoin’s 90-day rolling correlation with the Nasdaq 100 has climbed from 0.49 in early October to 0.58 by 21 April.

For Selby, this indicates a return of risk appetite in the broader market—with Bitcoin riding that wave. His perspective aligns with economist Ed Yardeni, who stated in a note on Thursday that “sentiment has turned more positive” despite global instability and elevated oil prices.

Current Market Movements

As of the latest data:

• Bitcoin is down 0.6% over the past 24 hours, trading at $77,812.
• Ethereum is down 1.6% over the past few hours, valued at $2,314.

What We’re Reading

• Memecoins post a 20% rally, but analysts caution against calling it a comeback — DL News
• Investor excitement grows around Bitcoin treasury company Strategy’s STRC bond — should you buy?