- The COIN50 index rose by about 11.05% following a strong rally in Bitcoin and Ethereum, which boosted confidence among investors.
- US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $1.7 billion in inflows, the most since October 2025, supported by strong institutional demand.
- In April, memecoins became the best performers after the entire sector rose by about 15.60% following the rally that started in March.
Amid strong sentiment in the cryptocurrency market after Bitcoin (BTC) regained the $81,000 mark this week, Coinbase released the COIN50 Index for April, while the entire crypto market saw strong performance last month.
According to data shared by the government with Coinbase Institutional, the COIN50 Index jumped by about 11.05% in the last month. One of the main reasons for this is the reduction of tensions between countries in the Middle East after the US and Iran returned to peace talks after the end of the biggest war in the last decade.
The rise in the crypto market was seen after the initial shock earlier this year, when Bitcoin fell sharply below $70,000. In April, the price of Bitcoin rose by about 16%, while Ethereum rose by about 14%.
Bitcoin Leads Convergence in Altcoins, Ethereum Follows Leader
After a bear run earlier this year, Bitcoin entered the month of April with about $67,000. By the end of April, the price of BTC had risen to around $76,000. On the other hand, the second largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, started the month at around $2,100 and ended at around $3,300.
After a rough start in 2026, in April, the crypto sector saw a strong institutionalization. Over the past month, Bitcoin ETFs have seen steady growth as US Bitcoin ETFs have recorded nearly $1.7 billion in total moves. The constant inflows into the largest cryptocurrency has boosted investor confidence to a new level and sparked interest in the entire crypto market.
At the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) is trading around $81,505 and 16.58% profit in the last 30 days, according to CoinMarketCap price.
Apart from this, US President Donald Trump announced the end of the major war between the US and Iran, which provided temporary relief to the global energy crisis. Although the Strait of Hormuz remains closed to all commercial shipping, the ceasefire announcement has helped prevent attacks on oil refineries in the Middle East.
In terms of ending this battle, the crypto market has reacted quickly and helped Bitcoin (BTC) rise above $70,000 in the first few days. According to an official tweet, the ceasefire announcement has been “it has helped promote risk-adjusted movements in all markets. “
Memecoin Sector Dominates Crypto Sector with Strong Rally in April
According to a report by Coinbase Institutional, memecoins were the best-performing sector in April after maintaining an uptrend that began in March. In the Coinbase 50 Index, the memecoin group has been in control after a gain of 15.60% in one month.
According to CoinMarketCap, memecoins’ market capitalization is hovering around $39 after jumping nearly 31% in the past 30 days. Daily sales were also up nearly 106%.
Dogecoin, the largest memecoin, has risen more than 20% in 30 days.
DeFi Sector Takes a Hit from Kelp DAO Hack
Although the crypto sector is following the path of recovery, a very sad event happened, which shook the entire DeFi sector for a while. On April 18th, Kelp DAO suffered the worst attack of the year, losing nearly $292 million in rsETH after a hack took advantage of a bridge vulnerability with LayerZero.
This hack has sent shockwaves through the entire DeFi market. People have started withdrawing their money from lending platforms. In no time, Aave has seen the removal of $ 6 billion. The total amount closed in DeFi has dropped by more than $13 billion in just two days. After the hack, many protocols and L2s immediately stopped withdrawing money to avoid “bad debts.”
To solve this problem, Aave has implemented the same time DeFi United program to act quickly and absorb losses.
Bittensor (TAO) Crashes After Massive Subnet Outage
Bittensor (TAO) became the worst performer in April after a controversy surrounding the use of a large subnet. Last month, one of the largest divisions, Convenant AI, announced its exit from the project. It criticized the project’s handling of the project, calling it “decentralization theatre.”
“When one player can stop the air of a subnet, suppress the power of owners in their local area, download services openly without a policy, and use the sale of tokens as a way to enforce compliance, this is not decentralization. It is centralized control and tokenization,” he said in official post from the AI Agreement.
The cryptocurrency fell more than 20% in a very short time, wiping out hundreds of millions in market capitalization.
Arbitrum and Algorand were the most successful
Despite all the challenges in the DeFi sector, Arbitrum and Algorand managed to be the biggest gainers in April with gains of around 37% and 27% respectively.
“ARB, the leading Ethereum L2, benefited from ETH’s strength in April, and ALGO shot up after Google’s Quantum AI paper called it a real-world example of post-quantum cryptography,” said Coinbase Institutional.
Also Read: Bitcoin Surpasses $81K While Altcoins Show Rebound
