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Bitcoin Lethargic as May Starts, Though Month Could Prove Pivotal
The largest cryptocurrency is up 1.3% so far in May, a month where returns historically have averaged 27%. But at least one analyst suggests the price could still drop as low as $32,000.
Updated May 11, 2023, 6:07 p.m. Published May 2, 2022, 7:45 p.m.
Bitcoin (BTC) has started off May with the same listless price action that prevailed for most of April, although analysts say the coming month could prove decisive.
The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is up 1.3% through the first two days of May, changing hands around $38,310 as of press time.
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Historical data shows that May is typically a strong month for bitcoin, with gains averaging 27% over the past 11 years.
A repeat in 2022 would be welcomed by bitcoin bulls, especially after April's 17% rout – the cryptocurrency's worst monthly performance so far this year. Bitcoin has declined over the past four weeks alongside weak U.S. stock markets, and lately it has been especially correlated with the tech-focused Nasdaq 100 Index.
- Alex Kuptsikevich, senior market analyst at FxPro, estimates BTC will end May somewhere between $32,000 and $48,000.
- “A more local view of the dynamics of the first cryptocurrency indicates an ongoing struggle around the $38K mark,” said Alex Kuptsikevich. “This struggle will decide which of the above levels the price will be closer to at the end of the month.”
- IntoTheBlock analysts see macroeconomic conditions impacting crypto’s outlook through the rest of 2022.
- “Both bitcoin and [ether] saw net outflows from centralized exchanges in the hundreds of millions,” wrote IntoTheBlock in a newsletter, “suggesting buyers continue to accumulate on their private addresses.”
- CoinDesk’s Omkar Godbole reported earlier Monday that bitcoin is historically immune to the “should I sell in May?” sentiment prevalent in some other assets. In the past 11 years, seven of them saw bitcoin trade higher in May.
- Ether (ETH), the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain, was down 0.4% in the past 24 hours, trading at $2,803.
- U.S. stocks are down Monday. The S&P 500 was down 0.78% and the Nasdaq was down 0.5%.
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- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
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Coinbase Sees Crypto Recovery Ahead as Liquidity Improves and Fed Rate Cut Odds Climb
The crypto exchange also took note of a so-called AI bubble that continues to go strong and a weaker U.S. dollar.
What to know:
- Coinbase Institutional is seeing a potential December recovery in crypto, citing improving liquidity and a shift in macroeconomic conditions that could favor risk assets like bitcoin.
- The firm's optimism is driven by rising odds of Federal Reserve rate cuts, with markets pricing in a 93% chance easing next week, and improving liquidity conditions.
- Several recent institutional developments, including Vanguard's crypto ETF policy reversal and Bank of America's greenlighting of crypto allocations, have contributed to bitcoin's rebound from recent lows.
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