Market highlights
- Bitcoin negative funding rates hit their highest levels in a year, suggesting shorting.
- Ethereum Foundation’s ETH Rangers Program identified 100 North Korean hackers.
- WLFI sparks backlash on proposed multi-year vesting plan, raising investor concern.
- U.S. CFTC faces criticism over handling of prediction markets and crypto-linked platforms.
- U.S. SEC issued guidance allowing some DeFi interfaces to avoid broker-dealer registration.
- U.K’s Financial Conduct Authority launched a consultation on a crypto regulatory framework.
Macro market overview
Any risk-off sentiment seen throughout the eruption of tensions in the Middle East seemingly disappeared for the week as risk assets rallied, including the S&P 500 and Nasdaq breaking past their late-January all-time highs. Notably, in the S&P 500 breadth is thin, with just 2.4% of companies within the index at highs, which shares similarities to the market structure seen throughout the dot-com bubble. The gains are presumably due to the potential ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, plus Iran’s announcement that the Strait of Hormuz was “completely open”. Stock futures wobbled over the weekend as tensions in the major freight and oil passage escalated when the U.S. Navy fired on and seized an Iranian cargo vessel departing the gulf of Oman. Tehran also targeted vessels over the weekend.
In economic data, the producer price index (PPI) came in under forecast at 0.5% for March, but it wasn’t necessarily data to celebrate. For the 12 months to March 31, 2026, PPI rose 4%, which is the biggest increase in over three years. Much of March’s increase in PPI is attributed to rising oil prices, causing energy costs to rise 8.5% since the war broke out. Oil prices declined by 17% throughout the week, closing around US$87 on Sunday, April 19.
It’s going to be another week where market participants monitor developments in the Middle East and any indications around the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy outlook when Federal Reserve Chair-Designate Kevin Warsh testifies before the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday, April 22. CME’s Fed Watch tool puts the likelihood of rates remaining on hold at the Fed’s April 29 meeting at 99.5%.
Weekly performance: S&P 500 +4.8%, Dow Jones +3.7%, Nasdaq +7.6%.
Looking ahead:
- U.S. core retail sales - Tuesday, April 21
- Fed Chair-Designate Warsh testifies - Wednesday, April 22
- Flash manufacturing and services purchasing managers index (Germany, U.K., U.S.) - Thursday, April 23
Crypto Market Performance
Market Cap: $2.55T (+1.5%)
Sector performance showed small improvements on previous weeks, with all sectors except AI seeing gains. As prices rallied throughout the week, liquidations reached over US$600 million on April 15 alone, with the majority being short positions. The crypto fear and greed index is currently neutral at 55.
Bitcoin (BTC)
- Opened the week at US$70,755 and rallied to a seven-month high of US$78,390 on Friday, April 17 as risk-off sentiment waned on easing Middle East tensions. Bitcoin declined throughout the weekend on renewed uncertainty, closing on Sunday, April 19 at US$73,823. To start the new week, bitcoin is now trading around US$74,980 (+2.3% 7D).
- BTC dominance ranged between 59.4% and almost 60% this week.
- Bitcoin investment products saw inflows of US$1.1 billion.
Bitcoin funding rates (the fee paid by derivatives traders to keep alignment between spot and futures prices) have been negative for a month and just hit their highest levels in a year. Analysts say the setup reflects widespread shorting and could trigger either a short squeeze if prices break higher or a bull trap if momentum fails and reverses.
The U.S. Government moved 8.2 BTC, worth over US$600,000 in bitcoin, tied to the 2016 Bitfinex hack to Coinbase Prime as part of ongoing asset management and restitution efforts. The transfer is small relative to the roughly US$9 billion recovered, and it doesn’t necessarily mean a sale is imminent.
Bitcoin developers proposed BIP-361, a plan to migrate funds to quantum-resistant addresses and eventually freeze coins that remain vulnerable to future quantum attacks. The controversial idea aims to protect users if cryptography is broken, but critics argue it undermines bitcoin’s core principles and could lock inaccessible funds permanently.
In bitcoin buying news:
- Strategy bought 34,164 BTC (US$2.5B and its biggest purchase since November 2024), bringing its total holdings to 815,061 BTC at an average purchase price of US$75,527 per bitcoin. With the recent bitcoin gains, Strategy’s stockpile is back in the black, which saw the company’s stock price gain 10% on Friday, April 17.
Ethereum (ETH)
- Opened the week at US$2,191 and saw upward momentum to a weekly high of US$2,466 as markets perceived tensions easing in the Middle East. Ethereum pulled back over the weekend as uncertainty escalated again. Ethereum is now trading around US$2,320 to start the new week (+2% 7D).
- Ethereum dominance ranged between 11% and 11.5% this week.
- Ethereum-focused funds saw inflows of US$328 million.
The Ethereum Foundation’s ETH Rangers Program identified around 100 North Korean IT workers embedded across more than 50 crypto projects, using fake identities to gain access to systems and payments. The six-month effort helped expel operatives, recover US$5.8 million in victim’s funds and exposed a growing insider threat tied to state-linked cyber activity.
In Ethereum buying news:
- BitMine bought 101, 627 ETH this week, in its largest purchase this year. This brings the company’s holdings to almost 5 million ETH, worth US$11 billion. The company posted a US$3.8 billion quarterly loss this week due to ETH’s recent weak performance.
Altcoins
The altcoin season index is currently 39, which is bitcoin season.
Bridge to Solana
- XRP gained 4%. This week, the token’s functionality expanded to Solana via wrapped XRP (wXRP), a token minted 1:1 after users deposit native XRP with a regulated custodian. The integration enables XRP holders to access Solana’s DeFi ecosystem, including trading and lending, expanding its utility beyond the XRP ledger.
No TRUMP card
- World Liberty Financial (WLFI) declined by 2.4%. The Trump-linked cryptocurrency drew backlash this week when the team proposed a multi-year vesting plan that would keep most WLFI tokens locked until after President Trump’s second term. Critics argue it limits liquidity and entrenches insider control over governance and token distribution.
- TRUMP gained 0.3%. The announcement of President Trump’s latest TRUMP meme coin gala did little to move prices, with VIP access costing roughly 90% less than the previous event. Some attendees qualified with about US$300,000 worth of TRUMP tokens versus millions before. The declines reflect the token’s poor price performance and cooling investor interest despite ongoing efforts to drive engagement.
Fishy business
- Aave declined by 9.3% due to a US$300 million exploit of Kelp DAO’s rsETH bridge triggered, which a broader DeFi contagion. Attackers used the asset on Aave, raising fears of bad debt. Investors rapidly withdrew capital, with US$6.2 billion exiting Aave, draining liquidity and sparking panic as some investors struggled to withdraw funds. The hack has been attributed to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.
Crypto ETF News
Digital asset investment products saw US$1.4 billion of inflows on risk-on sentiment following optimism around tensions easing in the Middle East. It’s the third straight week of inflows, and the largest since January.
In altcoins, XRP and Solana saw outflows of US$56 million and US$2.3 million, respectively.
Goldman Sachs filed to launch a bitcoin income exchange-traded fund (ETF) tied to selling options tracking bitcoin’s price. The fund will allocated 80% of its net holdings to assets that provide exposure to the cryptocurrency, including spot ETFs.
Other crypto news
- Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Mike Selig faced bipartisan criticism from lawmakers at a House Agriculture Committee hearing over the agency’s handling of prediction markets and crypto-linked platforms like Hyperliquid. Lawmakers raised concerns about potential insider trading and systemic risks. Selig defended the sector but pledged stricter oversight and said the agency is working on prediction markets rules that will be made available for public comment soon.
- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued new guidance allowing certain DeFi user interfaces to avoid broker-dealer registration, provided they don’t custody funds, solicit trades or steer users. The move signals a more permissive stance on DeFi, with regulators advancing crypto policy even as the CLARITY Act remains stalled in the Senate.
- The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority launched a consultation on a comprehensive crypto regulatory framework covering trading platforms, staking, lending and custody, as part of plans to bring the sector under full oversight by 2027. The rules aim to boost consumer protection, reduce market abuse and support innovation.
- Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger signed a law requiring dormant crypto assets to be transferred to the state in their native form rather than liquidated, after five years of inactivity. The state must hold assets for at least one year before any sale, protecting owners from forced liquidation during market downturns.
- Pakistan lifted its eight-year ban on crypto banking, allowing financial institutions to serve licensed digital asset firms under strict compliance rules. The shift follows new legislation and partnerships with Binance and Trump-linked World Liberty Financial, signaling a broader push to integrate crypto into the country’s economy.
- Visa has joined Stripe’s Tempo blockchain network as an “anchor validator,” operating its own node to help validate transactions and support stablecoin payment infrastructure. Alongside partners like Zodia Custody, the move signals deeper institutional involvement in blockchain, as Visa expands its role in on-chain payments and real-time financial systems.
- Tether launched tether.wallet, a self-custodial crypto wallet supporting USDT, bitcoin, tokenised gold (XAUT) and USAT, allowing users to hold and transfer assets without intermediaries. The app simplifies payments using human-readable usernames and native-asset fee payments, marking Tether’s push into consumer wallets and crypto transactions.
- Solana-based DeFi platform Drift secured a US$148 million recovery package led by Tether after a roughly US$280 million exploit, with funds structured as credit, grants and liquidity support. As part of its relaunch, Drift will replace Circle’s USDC with USDT, citing dissatisfaction with Circle’s response during the hack.
from Caleb & Brown Cryptocurrency Brokerage.
