Bitcoin price broke above $80,000 on May 4 for the first time since January 31, reaching the level as Consensus 2026 opened in Miami and $630 million in US spot Bitcoin ETF inflows on May 1 gave the move institutional backing.

Bitcoin price climbed above $80,000 on May 4, the day Consensus 2026 opened at the Miami Beach Convention Center. As crypto.news reported, April’s $1.97 billion monthly ETF total was the strongest of 2026, and the move also came alongside improved geopolitical risk sentiment after Trump’s “Project Freedom” military operation lifted risk appetite across global markets. 21Shares chief market strategist Adrian Fritz said $80,000 is “quite a resistance” and that a confident break above it “could spark some momentum” as recent buyers return to profit.

As crypto.news documented, US spot Bitcoin ETFs logged eight consecutive days of net inflows totalling $2.1 billion through April 23, with BlackRock’s IBIT responsible for roughly 75% of all capital entering the category.

CryptoQuant noted the April rally was “powered by buyers who don’t fully trust” the level, with perpetual futures demand dominating over spot accumulation. Strategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, paused its weekly purchases ahead of its May 5 earnings report.

As crypto.news tracked, Bitcoin had previously tested $80,000 twice in 2026 and been rejected both times. Polymarket’s implied probability of $90,000 in May stands at 23%, placing the market in the “possible but not expected” category.

Consensus 2026 runs May 5 to 7 at Miami Beach Convention Center with 20,000 or more attendees, covering tokenisation, stablecoins, and CLARITY Act developments. CCN reported that the conference gives those themes a public stage just as Bitcoin attempts to turn $80,000 from a headline level into support..

Bitcoin extended a fresh rally, testing the $80,000 level for the first time in three months as miners’ profitability improves and large ETF inflows buoy sentiment. The move came with about $270 million in liquidations on leveraged short futures, signaling near-term buying pressure even as risk assets move in tandem with tech shares.

Across markets, Bitcoin still trades well below its October peak around $126,200, keeping investors wary of a full-blown breakout. Yet the latest data points suggest a constructive setup for bulls: rising on-chain profitability for miners, a rebound in market share versus altcoins, and renewed institutional demand into BTC and ETH ETFs. The Bitcoin-to-altcoin dynamic appears to be shifting back toward BTC as investors reassess risk and liquidity conditions in the space.

Key takeaways

• Mining profitability has improved to about $37 per day for a one pentahash/second unit, the highest in months, even as total hashrate has declined roughly 13% in the past quarter.
• Bitcoin dominance reached its strongest level since mid-2025, signaling waning appetite for many altcoins and a focus on BTC-led exposure.
• CoinShares data show combined assets under management for BTC and ETH exchange-traded products at about $147 billion as of April 27; Solana and XRP ETFs remain well under $3 billion each, underscoring concentration in the largest blue-chips.
• Options data points to cautious optimism: call premiums on Deribit outpaced puts by roughly 24% on Monday, suggesting more appetite for upside bets than earlier in the week.
• Friday’s roughly $630 million net inflow into US-listed spot BTC ETFs reinforces renewed institutional demand alongside ongoing mining and hash-rate dynamics.

Mining profitability underpins BTC resilience as hash power retreats

Bitcoin’s latest price action comes amid a rebound in miners’ economics. The measured daily return for a one pentahash/second (PH/s) unit climbed to about $37, a level not seen since late January, highlighting a shift toward profitability even as the network’s total hasrtable contracted by around 13% over the last quarter. The improvement matters because it can alter miners’ behavior—reducing the incentive to liquidate reserves and supporting network security during periods of lower hash power.

Publicly listed mining companies have been balancing debt management with expansion into other growth areas. Notably, Riot Platforms disclosed a sale of Bitcoin worth about $250 million in the most recent quarter, a move that underscores ongoing pressure to optimize balance sheets in a sector characterized by rapid infrastructure costs and shifting capex needs. The combined effect of stronger profitability and selective selling suggests miners may be better positioned to weather downturns while continuing to invest in capacity and energy efficiency.

On-chain and market data add nuance to this narrative. Data from BGometrics indicates miner reserves were at multi-year lows, a proxy for the potential for future selling pressure if reserve tap points rise. Yet the recent profitability rebound helps mitigate that risk, offering a potential counterweight to any renewed reserve release. Meanwhile, hash price, a real-time profitability indicator that blends price and network health, has continued to move in a positive direction, aligning with broader risk-on sentiment.

Taken together, the mining sector’s current momentum is a key piece of the BTC puzzle. It provides a more favorable backdrop for miners to sustain operations and for the network to maintain security as the hash rate fluctuates. When miners are more profitable, the incentive to sell lessens, which can support price stability even amid macro headwinds.

BTC leadership and institutional demand reshape the altcoin narrative

Bitcoin’s market leadership is reflected not only in its price action but also in where institutional capital flows. Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded products (ETPs) now command about $147 billion in assets under management, according to CoinShares data published this week. By comparison, similar products tracking Solana and XRP struggle to surpass $3 billion each, underscoring the heavy tilt toward the largest two crypto assets among institutional buyers. Collectively, BTC and ETH account for roughly 95% of that market, highlighting a persistent concentration risk and a growing perception that the most liquid, regulated vehicles remain the preferred route for large investors.

The tilt toward BTC is mirrored in on-chain dynamics. Bitcoin’s dominance—measuring BTC’s share of total crypto market value excluding stablecoins—has risen to its highest level since mid-2025 as demand for alternative tokens softens. This shift occurs amid a broader cooling in DeFi activity and ongoing concerns around governance tokens, memecoins, and certain decentralized exchange ecosystems following notable security incidents. While the altcoin complex has drawn some attention for diversification, the prevailing appetite among cautious institutions appears to favor BTC-backed exposure and blue-chip assets within the sector.

Market participants have also keenly watched call and put activity in the options market. Deribit data shows call premiums outpacing put premiums by about 24% on Monday, marking a shift from weekend sentiment and signaling greater willingness to bet on upside moves in the near term. While this does not guarantee a sustained rally, it suggests a tilt toward a more constructive risk posture and a willingness among traders to probe higher price levels with defined risk via options.

Equity-style flow data reinforce the story. On Friday, US-listed spot BTC ETFs attracted roughly $630 million in net new money, a sizable vote of confidence from institutional buyers that complements the mining and on-chain improvements driving sentiment. The combination of higher miner profitability, stronger BTC dominance, and robust ETF inflows paints a picture of a crypto market that is rotating back toward BTC leadership after a period of broader altcoin focus.

What to watch next in a BTC-led market backdrop

As investors weigh the ongoing dynamics—mining economics, reserve behavior, ETF demand, and the evolving options curve—the path for Bitcoin will hinge on whether momentum can sustain through broader macro cycles and regulatory developments. A few key watchpoints emerge: how long mining profitability remains supportive as energy costs and efficiency continue to evolve; whether miner balance-sheet strategies shift in response to price movements and reserve levels; and how institutional appetite for BTC and ETH ETFs evolves as new products and regulatory clarity emerge. If the current combination of profitability, dominance, and inflows persists, a move toward new highs or a test of key resistance levels could be on the horizon, with some analysts viewing $85,000 as a plausible milestone should momentum hold.

In the near term, readers should monitor ETF flow data, miner activity, and option-market signals for corroborating evidence of the sentiment shift. Altcoins could remain under pressure if BTC strength broadens, but any sustained improvement in mining profitability and ETF demand would likely keep BTC in the spotlight as the sector navigates a mixed but improving risk environment.

This article reflects data and reporting from Cointelegraph and its referenced sources, including BGometrics, Riot Platforms, HashrateIndex, CoinShares, and Deribit. Readers are advised to conduct their own research before making investment decisions.

Ripple Custody entered a strategic partnership with Kyobo Life Insurance on April 15, making Ripple Custody Korea’s first blockchain-based government bond settlement platform for a Tier 1 insurer, targeting a compression of the standard T+2 settlement cycle to near real-time execution.

Ripple Custody signed its first deal with a Korean insurance institution on April 15, partnering with Kyobo Life Insurance, one of the country’s three largest life insurers with approximately $92 billion in assets.

As crypto.news reported, the arrangement targets a compression of Korea’s standard T+2 bond settlement cycle into near real-time on-chain execution. The official Ripple press release confirmed the partnership as a “landmark strategic partnership” and the first of its kind in Korea’s insurance sector.

Jin Ho Park, Senior Executive Vice President at Kyobo Life, said: “Our partnership with Ripple is not simply about digital assets — it’s about validating how traditional financial instruments can operate securely and efficiently on blockchain.”

As crypto.news documented, Ripple added a second Korean institutional deal on April 27, partnering with KBank, the country’s first internet-only lender and Upbit’s exclusive banking partner, to test blockchain-based cross-border remittances.

The two April deals confirm Ripple is building a connected institutional stack across insurance, banking, custody, and stablecoins in Korea. As crypto.news tracked, the partnership does not use Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity product and does not create direct XRP purchase demand from settlement itself, though the RLUSD component could generate XRP Ledger throughput over time.

Paradigm Bitcoin general partner Dan Robinson published a proposal on May 1 for Provable Address-Control Timestamps, or PACTs, a system that lets dormant Bitcoin holders privately timestamp proof of key ownership before quantum computers arrive, creating a potential rescue path for Satoshi Nakamoto’s estimated 1.1 million BTC.

Robinson published PACTs on May 1, framing the design as a hedge against what he calls the Satoshi Problem inside Bitcoin’s quantum threat discussion. The official Paradigm post outlined the dilemma: if quantum computers arrive before Bitcoin adapts, old addresses with exposed public keys face theft.

If Bitcoin rushes a sunset soft fork to freeze those addresses, dormant holders face a forced, public coin migration. PACTs offer a third path, letting holders timestamp proof of ownership silently in 2026 without doing anything further until a rescue mechanism is standardised.

As crypto.news reported, approximately 1.7 million BTC remain in quantum-exposed address types, including Satoshi-linked wallets worth roughly $75 billion.

The proposal builds on BIP-361, authored by Casa CSO Jameson Lopp, which defines a phased migration away from legacy signatures after which unmigrated coins would be frozen.

Bitcoin.com noted that Robinson acknowledged multisig, complex scripts, and hardware wallet support would all require further standardisation, and that Bitcoin may never implement a quantum sunset.

As crypto.news documented, Bitcoin’s quantum debate has been intensifying in 2026 after Blockstream CEO Adam Back argued at Paris Blockchain Week for optional, opt-in quantum-resistant upgrades rather than forced wallet freezes, directly challenging the BIP-361 approach PACTs are designed to complement.

As crypto.news tracked, Naoris Protocol CEO David Carvalho warned that dormant wallets including Satoshi’s would be “ripe for the picking” once quantum computers reach sufficient capability, and that a quantum hack on Bitcoin “would lead to a real loss of trust” in the asset.

ZeroStack CEO Daniel Reis-Faria says the CLARITY Act stablecoin deal reduces investor uncertainty but has not resolved institutional hesitation yet.

The stablecoin deal was finalised on May 1 by Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks, drawing a clear line: crypto platforms cannot pay interest on stablecoins in any way that functions like a bank deposit. Activity-based rewards tied to payments and platform use are still permitted.

As crypto.news reported, the Senate Banking Committee is now targeting a markup during the week of May 11, with a Senate floor vote targeted before the May 21 Memorial Day recess.

“With lawmakers getting closer to a deal on stablecoin rules, that takes away one of the bigger reasons investors have been holding back,” said Daniel Reis-Faria, CEO of ZeroStack.

The institutional hesitation that remains

But Reis-Faria stopped short of calling this a turning point. “Right now, it’s not the rules themselves. It’s not knowing how they’re going to play out over time. That’s what’s keeping larger players from stepping in,” he said.

As crypto.news documented, JPMorgan had previously described CLARITY Act passage by midyear as a “key positive catalyst” for digital asset markets. The SEC, CFTC, and Treasury are directed to jointly issue implementation rules within one year. That one-year window is precisely the ambiguity Reis-Faria is pointing to.

Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger said the yield resolution “brings us meaningfully closer to comprehensive market structure legislation becoming law” and urged the committee to move without delay.

As crypto.news tracked, five steps remain: Senate Banking markup, committee vote, a 60-vote floor threshold, reconciliation with the Agriculture version, and reconciliation with the House text.

“This advancement helps, but it’s not a full shift yet,” Reis-Faria said. “Until there’s more clarity, you’re still likely to see a more cautious approach from bigger players.”

As crypto.news noted, Standard Chartered estimated that uncapped stablecoin yield could redirect up to $500 billion in deposits from traditional banks by 2028, explaining the banking lobby’s sustained resistance throughout negotiations.

Capital B raised 1.1 million euros ($1.28 million) through a warrant issuance subscribed by Blockstream CEO Adam Back, extending the cryptographer’s backing of the French-listed Bitcoin treasury company.

Back subscribed to 10 million subscription warrants at $0.13 each, according to a Monday announcement from Capital B. Each warrant gives Back the right to buy one new share of future company stock at the exercise price of $0.98, corresponding to the company’s market net asset value (mNAV) of 1.1 per share, the company said.

The deal would increase Back’s exposure to Capital B, where he is already one of the company’s largest strategic investors. Back now holds over 39.5 million shares or 9.97% of Capital B’s shares on a fully diluted basis. Back is best known as the inventor of Hashcash, the proof-of-work system cited in the Bitcoin white paper.

The raise comes as some Bitcoin treasury companies continue seeking capital for accumulation strategies, while others are using derivatives or asset sales to manage balance sheet risk during Bitcoin’s downturn. Capital B and the United Kingdom-based Connecting Excellence Group (XCE) were the only Bitcoin treasury companies to raise capital in Europe over the past month.

XCE’s $794,000 capital raise on April 23 was also backed by Adam Back.

Capital B raises $1.28 million from Adam Back. Source: Capital B

Capital B shares rise 6% after capital raise announcement

Capital B said the new capital will be used to “accelerate” its Bitcoin treasury strategy, which was perceived as a positive signal from shareholders.

Capital B’s stock price rose by over 6.5% on Monday, but is still down over 16% since the beginning of 2026, data from Yahoo! Finance shows.

Capital B (ALCB.PA) stock price, year-to-date chart. Source: Yahoo! Finance

Capital B is the 25th largest Bitcoin treasury company, holding 2,943 BTC currently worth about $234 million, according to Bitcointreasuries.net data.

Related: Adam Back says Bitcoin’s post-quantum shift may reveal true Satoshi stash

Other Bitcoin treasury companies are reducing the balance sheet risk associated with Bitcoin’s downturn.

On April 24, Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin treasury company Nakamoto announced an actively managed Bitcoin derivatives program seeking to generate recurring income from volatility and hedge part of its corporate BTC holdings against downside exposure.

Nakamoto is the 20th-largest Bitcoin treasury firm and the largest to disclose selling part of its holdings earlier this year. The company announced a sale of 284 Bitcoin (worth about $20 million at the time) in a March 30 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. 

A month earlier, in February, Bitcoin treasury company Genius Group said it liquidated its entire treasury holdings of 84 BTC for about $5.7 million, which it used in repaying an $8.5 million debt obligation, according to an SEC filing. 

Magazine: Bitcoin vs. the quantum computer threat — Timeline and solutions (2025–2035) 

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