Bitcoin showed signs of recovery on April 30, climbing back above $76,000 after three days of declines. The move came despite significant volatility triggered by the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold interest rates steady.
Price Action and Volatility
The cryptocurrency briefly dipped to $75,000 following the Fed announcement, but it quickly reversed course. By 9:30 a.m. EST, bitcoin had reclaimed the $76,000 mark and even tested resistance around $76,500. However, the rally wasn’t smooth. Shortly after hitting a morning high of $76,365, the price dropped sharply to just under $75,400. From there, it staged a second rally, climbing to an intraday high of $76,528 within eight hours. Although it later settled around $76,300, bitcoin ended the 24-hour period with a 0.7% gain. This puts it on track to close April with a 13% increase — the first positive monthly performance for the top cryptocurrency this year. Its market capitalization rose to roughly $1.53 trillion.
Liquidations and Market Pressure
The reversal wasn’t without casualties. Data shows that $75 million in long positions on bitcoin were liquidated during the period, compared to nearly $17 million in shorts. Across the broader crypto market, leveraged long positions worth $266 million were wiped out, versus $89 million in shorts. The Fed’s decision, though widely expected, initially caused turbulence, but the impact was short-lived.
Institutional Sentiment and ETF Flows
Gracie Lin, CEO of OKX SG, pointed out that the short-term volatility shouldn’t overshadow a broader structural recovery for bitcoin over the past eight weeks. She highlighted continued inflows into U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs as a key indicator. “U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs have pulled in roughly US$3.7 billion between late February and late April — the first sustained inflow period of 2026 after four consecutive months of outflows,” Lin said. She added that despite macroeconomic shocks, bitcoin recently tested the $80,000 level. In Singapore, institutional allocators are focused on whether institutional participation is sustained rather than single Fed decisions.
Potential Headwinds Ahead
Not everyone is optimistic. Sergei Gorev, head of risk at Youhodler, noted that bitcoin has already experienced two consecutive quarters of decline — something he described as “extremely rare.” While crypto downturns have historically been followed by strong recoveries, Gorev warned of potential headwinds. “But we may be facing another negative quarter,” he said. “Every time a new leader replaces the old one at the Federal Reserve, the price of bitcoin begins to decline. We have already seen this happen three times in a row. We are now approaching a new change in leadership at the Federal Reserve.” He added that if bitcoin repeats the pattern of declining after a Fed meeting — as it has done after eight of the last nine meetings — the price could easily fall below $70,000.
