April 17 Crypto Morning Report: ORDI Surges 190%! BlackRock Buys 290 Million BTC, Mining Companies Record Selling Spree

On April 17, 2026, the crypto market continued its strong momentum under the dual influence of geopolitical tensions and expectations of loose liquidity. BTC held steady at $74,500, ETH remained above $2,200, and the leading BRC-20 token ORDI skyrocketed 190% in a single day, igniting a frenzy across the market, with altcoin rotations reaching a climax.
$ORDI

1. Altcoin Fest: ORDI Becomes a Legend, ETF Funds Flood In

The pattern of "BTC stable, altcoins soaring" has been further reinforced:

- ORDI's Epic Rally: Violently broke through from around $3.5 to $10.7, a 24-hour increase of over 190%, becoming the most eye-catching target in the entire market, driving a collective explosion in the Ordinals/BRC-20 sector.
- ETF Funds Increasing Positions: SOL ETF saw a net inflow of $15.5 million in a single day, nearly tripling from the previous day; XRP ETF net inflow reached $11.87 million. Both major altcoin ETFs expanded simultaneously, confirming that institutional funds are shifting toward high-elasticity assets.
- U.S. Stock Crypto Stocks Follow Suit: S&P 500 broke through 7,051 points to hit a new all-time high, MARA surged 10.32%, MSTR rose 3.76%, and market risk appetite continued to heat up.

2. Geopolitical Play: Tensions Peak, Market Bets on Agreement

Unusual signs of division appeared in geopolitical tensions:

- Iran's Revolutionary Guard issued an "unprecedented stern warning," announcing from noon the next day controls on all ships passing through the Strait of Mandeb, spreading geopolitical risk from the Strait of Hormuz to the Red Sea's throat.
- Trump declared on the same day that a U.S.-Iran agreement would be announced "soon," bringing "free oil + free Hormuz," claiming current oil prices are only half of expectations.
- The market clearly trusts Trump's optimistic statements more. Despite Iran's threats, U.S. stocks and crypto markets still rose across the board, pricing in "a final peace agreement will be reached."

3. On-Chain Extremes: BlackRock Continues Accumulation, Mining Companies Sell Collectively in a "Surrender" Mode

On-chain data shows a stark polarization:

- BlackRock's Persistent Buying: This week, they made a second large-scale withdrawal, transferring 3,899 BTC and 839 ETH from Coinbase, worth about $292 million, all moved into self-held addresses, demonstrating long-term holding confidence.
- Record Mining Sell-Offs: North American listed miners sold over 32k BTC in Q1, exceeding the total for all of 2025 and even surpassing the sell-offs during the 2022 bear market. The main reason is mining costs inverted (around $80k per BTC), forcing miners to sell BTC to fund AI/HPC transitions. The related industry has signed contracts worth over $70 billion.

4. Macro and Industry: Rate Cut Expectations Strengthen, Regulatory Progress Steady

- Federal Reserve Board Member Mester explicitly stated that this year they are inclined to cut rates three times, "possibly four," further reinforcing market expectations of easing. CME interest rate futures have priced in 2.8 rate cuts for the year.
- Tennessee's Bitcoin Reserve Bill will hold a hearing on April 20, marking the latest development in U.S. state-level BTC reserve legislation.
- Google is negotiating with the Pentagon to deploy Gemini in classified military environments, with terms mirroring a contract template previously rejected by OpenAI. Major AI firms are showing clear divisions on militarization issues.

Overall, the market is currently in a liquidity-driven altcoin golden period, but two major risks should be watched: first, a sudden deterioration of geopolitical tensions breaking peace expectations; second, persistent selling by miners increasing BTC selling pressure. Participants in altcoin trading must strictly control positions and implement stop-loss and take-profit strategies. $BTC $ETH #Allbirds转型AI