This post was most recently updated on May 10th, 2019

April was a good month for bitcoin, opening with a price of around $4,000, reaching the highest at $5,700 and closing at $5,300. An interesting thing is that at least $2.6 billion in Bitcoins left top exchanges during the last month according to a report published from Blocktown Capital on their Twitter page.

Top exchanges have seen net outflow of BTC in April. In April:

Bitfinex: $1.5B OUT

Binance: $250M OUT

Bitstamp: $700M OUT

Bittrex: $60M OUT Is this bc of increased security concerns of funds on exchanges or are investors accumulating/transferring off-exchange to cold storage? pic.twitter.com/ygY4IqbkPV — Blocktown Capital (@BlocktownCap) April 30, 2019

Everybody has been talking about institutions coming to pump the BTC price. But smart money seems to work in another way. The big amounts of BTC getting out of exchanges might be a sign of the smart money flow in the crypto markets.

It seems that the Bitcoin price action is bringing back also it’s popularity. Google trends show an increasing number of queries about bitcoin in the last month, outperforming “Kim Kardashian” queries. Many analysts think that we are in the accumulation stage. A report was published last month, from Adamant Capital pointing that Bitcoin is in heavy accumulation.

Despite the Tether drama in the last week of April, Bitcoin price was not affected that much, recovering quickly the next few days and even reaching a new ATH in 2019. At the time of writing Bitcoin is trading at $5,803 according to coinmarketcap.com, while it is trading at a premium price on Bitfinex above the $6,000 mark.

The sentiment has improved in the crypto community and seems that negative news does not have the impact they had in 2018. Looking at the big picture probably those bitcoins getting out of Exchanges is not just a matter of safety, but a confirmation that the price already bottomed and the new fresh bull run has started.

Some of the recent positive news about crypto in the last month:

1. TD Ameritrade testing BTC trading

2. eTrade adding BTC and ETH

3. French law: Insurers can invest in crypto

4. Samsung creating its own token

5. eToro launches crypto exchange

6. US Tax Payers can get refunds in Bitcoin

7. Amazon launches blockchain service

8. Bakkt acquires Digital Asset Custody company

While Bakkt is still being delayed, they are not leaving a stone unturned to meet the regulators’ requirements.

During every bear market, Bitcoin had an accumulation phase. We might be in this stage right now, and many analysts think that this phase will not last longer than July, this year.

What are your thoughts about the crypto markets right now? Feel free to express your opinion in the comments below.