As of 14:00 on April 18, 2026, Bitcoin rose to a daily high of $78,320 intraday, then remained in consolidation above $77,000, with a 24-hour gain of over 3%; Ethereum also strengthened in tandem, with an intraday gain of 3.42%, outperforming Bitcoin. The two leading cryptocurrencies worked together to drive an overall market rebound, ending the prior pattern of consolidation and weakness.

The core drivers behind this round of rebound come from an improvement in macro liquidity expectations and a two-way game involving institutional funds. The probability that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged in April is over 92%. The market has already begun pricing in expectations for a rate cut in June. The U.S. dollar and U.S. Treasury yields have weakened, directly boosting risk asset appetite. In terms of Bitcoin, the divide between bulls and bears is especially clear: on one hand, the Q1 sell-off volume by mining firms exceeded that of all of 2025, and some sovereign funds have also reduced holdings; on the other hand, institutions represented by Strategy continue to add positions, with total holdings reaching 780,900 coins, and the proportion of long-term holding addresses has continued to rise. Meanwhile, the number of active on-chain addresses has fallen to the lowest level in nearly 8 years, indicating that short-term speculative capital has basically exited the market, which is now dominated by long-term holders.

Ethereum’s relative strength has more solid fundamental support. Recently, Ethereum ETFs have continued to record net capital inflows, with weekly inflows reaching a new high since 2026. At the same time, the daily trading volume on the mainnet has surged by 41% within a week. On-chain activity has rebounded significantly, and the recovery of the DeFi and tokenized asset ecosystems provides stronger upward upside elasticity for its price.

In the short term, Bitcoin needs to hold above the $78,000 level in order to open up room to push toward $80,000, while Ethereum should watch the key resistance level at $2,400. At the end of the month, the Federal Reserve’s FOMC interest rate decision and the advancement of the Regulatory Bill will become the core variables determining the market’s mid-term direction. Investors should be alert to volatility risks brought about by revisions to liquidity expectations.$BTC ‌$ETH ‌