Bitcoin surged past $80,000 for the first time since January, reaching $80,400 in early Asian trading on May 4. The breakout was triggered by Iran's peace proposal and President Trump's "Project Freedom" escort through the Strait of Hormuz, which drove Brent crude down from a four-year high to $107, easing inflation fears and pressure on the Federal Reserve. This geopolitical shift spurred a massive wave of buying, liquidating over $303 million in short positions in a single day as sellers scrambled to cover.
Institutional demand amplified the rally. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $630 million in inflows on May 1, with BlackRock alone accounting for $284 million. The rally helped BTC reclaim its bull market support band for the first time in six months. Analysts suggest a daily close above $82,000 could open the path to $92,000, while Standard Chartered and Bernstein maintain year-end 2026 targets of $150,000. However, caution remains—Polymarket odds for hitting $90,000 by end of May stand at just 21%, and the rally was partly fuelled by a short squeeze that may fade.
Meanwhile, Ethereum benefited from a surge in tokenized real-world assets, which tripled to $19.3 billion in Q1 2026 according to CoinGecko. ETH trades near $2,361, up 13% for the month, with long-term forecasts targeting $7,500 to $10,000 as institutional adoption of on-chain assets grows. The combination of Bitcoin's technical breakout and Ethereum's expanding use case underscores a broader bullish trend in the crypto market.
