April 2026 witnessed a remarkable market rebound, but with a stark divergence between the two largest cryptoassets. Bitcoin surged 11.85% from $68,219 to $76,306, while Ethereum managed only a 7.28% gain, moving from $2,103 to $2,256, according to on-chain data from CryptoQuant. The rally was clearly Bitcoin-led, fueled by a structural shift in institutional demand. The Coinbase Premium Index flipped from negative to positive, indicating renewed interest from US-based institutions, while persistent exchange outflows reduced sell-side supply. This dual dynamic of constrained supply and robust demand pushed BTC toward the psychological $80,000 threshold. “If ETH begins to show sustained spot demand similar to BTC, broader altcoin participation may follow. Until then, Bitcoin dominance is likely to persist,” noted an analyst at CryptoQuant.
Yet, beneath the surface of price action, the Ethereum network is quietly overtaking Bitcoin in a different metric. Market expert Nomad highlighted on social platform X that Ethereum now moves more value on-chain than Bitcoin, with average daily transaction volume exceeding $17 billion versus Bitcoin’s $16 billion. This growth is propelled by Ethereum’s expanding role in decentralized finance, stablecoins, and tokenized assets, which generate a high volume of smaller but frequent transactions. In contrast, Bitcoin’s network remains dominated by larger, less frequent transfers as a store of value. Nomad anticipates that Ethereum will soon move “multiple times the amount of money” compared to any other blockchain. Meanwhile, accumulation data from CryptoQuant analyst CW reveals that large investors have been accumulating ETH for over two years, even as the price oscillated between $2,200 and $4,800. The accumulation addresses’ realized price now sits near the current trading level of $2,381, making this a critical juncture for the altcoin’s near-term future.
