At 6:00 PM Eastern time, Bitcoin (BTC +2.35%) rose 2.5% to $78,292.38, taking it to a 12% monthly gain. Ethereum (ETH +1.59%) gained 1.6% to $2,296.05 and Solana (SOL +0.84%) inched 1.0% higher to $83.72.

Crypto market movers

Spot Bitcoin ETFs reversed course today, recording $4.5 million in net inflows after three consecutive days of losses. The change reflects Bitcoin’s strength as the lead crypto held above $78,000 for the first time since February.

Key crypto stocks also gained, with Circle Internet Group finishing the day up 9.71% at $99.70. The company is due to report Q1 earnings on May 11.

What this means for investors

With major stock indexes trading close to all-time highs, the cryptocurrency market also pushed higher. The crypto market cap increased by 2.2% to $2.68 trillion today, showing resilience despite fading hopes for any imminent Federal Reserve rate cuts.

There are two conflicting forces driving crypto prices at the moment. On the one hand, crypto is sensitive to shifts in risk sentiment, so unease over inflation and high oil prices has weighed on prices. On the other hand, Bitcoin has shown a close correlation with tech stocks in recent years, and megacap techs are soaringa.

A report from crypto-data platform CoinGecko showed massive growth in real-world asset tokenization, which is a way to record ownership on the blockchain. The report said that the value of tokenized assets has more than tripled since 2025, reaching $19.3 billion in Q1 2026. This could be a significant long-term value driver for programmable blockchains like Ethereum and Solana.