23 April 2026 Evening Update: Bitcoin Steadies Near $78K as Ethereum Leads Altcoin Drag

Bitcoin closes the London session near $78,000 and Ethereum is the coin ending the day with a bruise. Bitcoin clawed back from a $77,228 low to settle roughly where it started, while Ethereum dropped 3.5 percent, Solana slid another 3, and Polkadot took a 5 percent beating. Dominance ticked up to 58.22 percent, Fear and Greed is still sitting on 46, and the day finishes looking less like a reversal and more like a market quietly sorting out who it wants to own.

Total crypto market capitalisation is $2.68 trillion, down about 1.5 percent on the day, with 24-hour volume near $108 billion. That is softer than this morning’s $115 billion, the shape of a session that lost momentum after the London fix and never reclaimed it. Bitcoin dominance, its share of that total and the cleanest gauge of whether money is flowing into Bitcoin or fanning out into smaller coins, has climbed to 58.22 percent, the firmest reading since March, and edging up every session this week. The Fear and Greed Index, which blends price action, volatility, social chatter and survey data into a 0-to-100 score, is stuck on 46 for a third day. A week ago it read 32. The needle is not moving today, but the monthly drift is clearly upward.

Bitcoin is trading near $78,010, roughly £57,857 for UK holders, and is down about 1.2 percent over the last 24 hours. The 24-hour range tells a simple story: price touched $79,121 overnight, sellers leaned into it through the London morning, spot fell to $77,228 by early afternoon, and US buyers defended that level hard enough to drag price back to where it started. Volume was heavier on the way down than the way back up, typical of a session with no fresh catalyst and an afternoon of mechanical altcoin selling.

The more interesting footprint is what has not happened this week. Spot ETF flows have stayed net positive on most sessions, futures open interest has ground higher without the funding-rate spikes that typically mark a blow-off top, and dominance has climbed every day. That is the signature of disciplined allocation rather than speculation. Nobody is chasing Bitcoin tonight, and that is precisely why the daily candle is so small. The trend stays intact as long as $77,000 holds, and the $79,300 ceiling has capped every rally this month.

Ethereum is at $2,313, roughly £1,716, and is down 3.5 percent over the past 24 hours. That is the worst print among the majors, most of it in the afternoon, with price working from a $2,405 high down to a $2,295 low before stabilising into the close. The ETH to BTC ratio is now at its lowest reading in weeks. The story underneath is positioning: ETF flows for ether products have been inconsistent for most of April, staking yields have drifted lower as the validator queue stretches, and no scheduled upgrade is close enough to anchor a narrative. When Bitcoin is grinding higher on dominance, Ethereum needs its own story to hold relative ground, and tonight it did not have one. If ether reclaims $2,350 on Asian volume, altcoin pain fades quickly. If not, expect another day of dominance grinding higher.

Solana is at $85.42, down 3.2 percent with an intraday low near $84.68. The fundamental picture is unchanged: network activity is healthy, fees are climbing with a renewed bout of memecoin volume, developer activity is steady. What has changed is positioning. Traders who bought the April bounce are taking money off the table because the altcoin tape has been one-directional for three sessions. Solana remains the cleanest high-beta read on altcoin mood: if dominance stops climbing, it bounces first; if dominance pushes past 58.5 percent in Asian hours, it probably revisits the low $80s.

Polkadot is the worst large-cap performer today, down 5.3 percent at $1.22. DOT has been drifting lower for most of April, and today’s fall owes as much to thin afternoon liquidity as to any fresh news. The token sits well below its weekly average and is the first major name to break its short-term range. Useful as a signal rather than a trade: when a weaker altcoin snaps its range before the stronger ones, capital is exiting the long tail first. Watch whether SOL and AVAX follow in the next session.

XRP is the relative bright spot, at $1.44 and down just 1.0 percent. The 24-hour range has been tight at $1.41 to $1.45 and volume has held near $2.7 billion, a quiet win on a day of broad altcoin pressure. Institutional flows have kept a floor under the token all month. XRP has the lowest beta to Bitcoin among the majors, a feature rather than a bug in a market sorting by quality rather than chasing altseason.

The story worth knowing tonight is not any single coin, it is the shape of the rotation. Bitcoin dominance has risen from roughly 56 percent at the start of the month to 58.22 percent this evening, a shift that represents tens of billions of dollars of relative flow out of altcoins and into Bitcoin. The last time dominance climbed this steadily without Bitcoin printing fresh all-time highs was the back half of 2023, and that period ended with a sharp altcoin rally once the dominance trend exhausted itself.

The dynamic matters because it shapes the next risk-on leg. If dominance keeps climbing and Bitcoin holds above $77,000, the eventual altcoin catch-up trade is likely to be compressed and violent when it arrives, because positioning has thinned out. If dominance stalls near 58.5 percent and Bitcoin chops, the rotation unwinds more gradually, which suits patient capital. Either way, the number to track into Asian hours is not Bitcoin’s price, it is Bitcoin’s share of the market.

Three levels and one event for the overnight session. On Bitcoin, the $77,000 shelf has held every afternoon pullback this week, and a clean break below it opens room to $75,500, where the 50-day moving average sits. A sustained push through $79,300 on Asian volume would be the first real sign that the dominance grind is ready to spill into a fresh leg higher. On Ethereum, $2,295 is the intraday low: a close below it would confirm the relative-strength story is breaking down, while a reclaim of $2,350 would be an early sign of rotation. And watch the Asian equity open for tone. If the Nikkei and Hang Seng open firmer, crypto tends to get a sympathy bid in the first European hour.

Crypto Daily is Cristoniq’s evening market close summary for cryptocurrency, published nightly for informational purposes only. Nothing here is financial advice. Always do your own research before making any investment decisions.