$BTCended 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.

$BTCreversed 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. $BTCmade 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.

$BTCpassed several stress tests in April

$BTCpassed several stress tests in April, with both macro factors and crypto insider shocks. April saw a record of hacks and exploits, as Cryptopolitan reportedearlier.

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 $BTCattracted mostly whales on the spot and futures markets.

The leading coin gained support from ongoing accumulationby 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 $BTCas of April 20.

$BTCdominance recovered slightly to 58.2%, as interest in altcoins and tokens remained at historical lows. The coming months may continue with a sentiment of $BTCmaximalism, as the rest of the crypto market deals with hacks and the lost trust in DeFi lending.

$BTCoptions point to a relief rally

$BTCoptions markets may be the reason for a short-term relief rally. On May 1, a total of $1.74B in $BTCoptions expired, with another $394M in ETH options.

The $BTCweekly 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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