Abstract

• Tariff Policy Dominates Market Sentiment
  Cryptocurrency prices were significantly impacted by U.S. government tariff policies in April. Following the introduction of new tariffs on April 2, BTC and ETH experienced sharp declines of over 10% within a short period, leading to substantial liquidations of long positions in the derivatives market and significant outflows from spot ETFs. However, as tariff policies became more moderate and the U.S. government engaged in negotiations with multiple countries, market confidence gradually recovered. By the end of April, BTC had rebounded to the $90,000 level, and the Fear & Greed Index rose from 18 to 72. Overall, April was a policy-driven month, with U.S. government decisions playing a notable role in shaping price movements across both cryptocurrency and global financial markets.

• Robust On-Chain Activity Defies Macro Volatility
  Despite the pronounced impact of U.S. tariff policies on cryptocurrency prices, the fundamentals of major blockchain projects remained largely unaffected. Both before and after the tariff announcement, Solana and Ethereum maintained robust transaction volumes, with Solana processing over 90 million transactions and Ethereum exceeding 1 million. In the lending and staking sectors, platforms like Aave, Lido, and EigenLayer saw growth in their Total Value Locked (TVL). The decentralized exchange (DEX) landscape continued to be dominated by Uniswap and Raydium, while in the perpetual DEX space, Hyperliquid recorded $6.3 billion in trading volume, marking a 13.4% month-over-month increase.

• Infrastructure Upgrades and Strategic Partnerships
  Performance optimization remained a key focus for public blockchains in April. Solana successfully implemented its SIMD-0207 upgrade, increasing the computational unit limit per block to 50 million, a roughly 4% improvement. Meanwhile, Soneium, a blockchain network backed by Sony, announced partnerships with AltLayer and EigenLayer, reducing its transaction finality time from 15 minutes to under 10 seconds.

• Funding Slowdown Amid Mega-Deals
  In terms of fundraising, the total project funding in April amounted to $2.37 billion, marking a significant decrease compared to March. The largest single financing event of the month was Ripple’s $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road. This move not only allows Ripple to quickly fill the gaps in its institutional service offerings but also strengthens its systemic capabilities in crypto market compliance, liquidity, and settlement efficiency.

• Security Risks Persist
  Regarding security, the Web3 industry experienced a total of 18 security incidents in April, with cumulative losses reaching $21.1 million. Among these, the DEX perpetual contract project KiloEx suffered a direct loss of $8.44 million due to a security breach. The blockchain ecosystem continues to face significant systemic risks in areas such as high-frequency trading, reliance on oracles, and protocol complexity.

• May 2025 Market Outlook
  Looking ahead to the crypto industry in May, firstly, several high-market-cap token projects are set to undergo substantial token unlocks. PYTH leads with an unlocked amount of $403 million, representing 28.33% of its circulating market capitalization, which could introduce potential selling pressure to the broader market. Simultaneously, May will be a period of intensive activity for the Web3 ecosystem. The Ethereum Pectra upgrade on May 7th, the SEC cryptocurrency roundtable on May 12th, and the Accelerate 2025 summit on May 22nd are all important events for the crypto industry. These events will reflect shifts in industry trends, and investors are advised to maintain close attention.

Disclaimer
Investing in the crypto market involves a high level of risk. Users are advised to conduct independent research and fully understand the nature of any assets and products before making investment decisions. Gate.io assumes no responsibility for any losses or damages resulting from such investment activities.