Wall Street sank on Monday as political pressure on the Federal Reserve intensified. The Dow (-2.48%), S&P 500 (-2.36%), and Nasdaq (-2.55%) all closed sharply lower after President Donald Trump reignited attacks on Fed Chair Jerome Powell, calling him "Mr Too Late" and demanding immediate rate cuts through a post on the Truth Social platform. The renewed rhetoric sparked concerns over the Fed’s independence and drove a broad sell-off across equities and the US dollar. Bond yields climbed, with the 10-year Treasury yield rising to 4.41% while gold surged to a new record above $3,490.
In crypto, the global crypto market cap increased 3% over the week end to $2.75tn, though in the past 24 hours it is down 0.2%. The total crypto market 24h volume increased 28% to $86.5bn. Bitcoin is up 1% in the past day, now trading around $88,200, having gained 3% during the week end. Ether on the other hand is down 4% in 24 hours, currently trading around $1,580, as on-chain activity points to growing selling pressure:
According to Lookonchain and Arkham Intelligence data, a wallet linked to the Ethereum Foundation transferred 1,000 ETH ($1.58m) to Kraken, while Galaxy Digital deposited 65,600 ETH ($105m) to Binance and withdrew 752,240 SOL (~$98m), signaling a possible rotation. Additionally, a whale reportedly sold 2,056 ETH and opened a 10x leveraged short position on HyperLiquid, adding to bearish momentum, all in the past 6 hours.
In the past 24 hours, crypto liquidations increased by 20% and totaled $258.2m, with 58% of them long positions.
According to data from Farside Investors, U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs saw strong inflows on April 21, 2025, totaling $381.3 million. ARKB led the gains with $116.1 million in net inflows, followed by FBTC (+$87.6m), BITB (+$45.1m), IBIT (+$41.6m), and GBTC (+$36.6m). Other funds also contributed positively, including HODL (+$11.7m), EZBC (+$10.1m), and BTC (+$32.5m), reflecting renewed investor confidence across the sector. US Ethereum spot ETFs posted net outflows of $25.4 million, entirely driven by Grayscale’s ETHE product. All other issuers reported no activity for the day.
Over the past 2 weeks, Galaxy Digital deposited 65,600 ETH ($105.48m) to Binance and withdrew 752,240 SOL ($98.37m) according to Lookonchain and Arkham Intelligence data.
Strategy disclosed in its latest Form 8-K filing with the US SEC that it purchased an additional 6,556 BTC between April 14 and 20 for a total of $555.8 million, paying an average price of $84,785 per coin. Strategy's total BTC holdings now amount to 538,200 BTC.
$TRUMP, the memecoin launched by Donald Trump, has climbed over 11% since Friday, despite a major token unlock that released 40 million new tokens into circulation. Before the unlock, the token had 636,000 holders—though just 12,285 wallets held more than $1,000 worth of $TRUMP. The $320 million unlock was widely expected to weigh on prices due to the sudden supply increase, but the opposite occurred.
Kraken has launched forex perpetual futures contracts on its Kraken Pro platform, marking a move deeper into traditional markets. Announced April 18, the exchange introduced EUR-USD and GBP-USD pairs with up to 20x leverage.
Solana’s decentralized exchanges (DEXs) are outpacing Ethereum’s in trading activity, with 24-hour volume currently nearly 40% higher. This trend is even more pronounced on the weekly timeframe, where Solana’s DEX volume over the past 7 days is now 58% greater than Ethereum’s.
Paul S. Atkins was officially sworn in as the new SEC Chairman on April 21, marking a pivotal shift in US crypto policy. Known for his pro-market stance and past work advancing digital asset best practices, Atkins is expected to take a more crypto-friendly regulatory approach under President Trump’s administration.
Metaplanet bought 330 BTC worth $28.2m, bringing total holdings to 4,855 BTC.
On April 18, 2025, cryptocurrency exchange eXch announced it will voluntarily shut down on May 1 after reports alleged the firm was used to launder funds from the Bybit hack.
Spar supermarket in Zug now accepts Bitcoin through the Lightning Network.
South Korea’s crypto market capitalization has more than doubled since October 2024, surpassing $74 billion as of Q1 2025. Daily trading volumes on the country’s top five exchanges averaged $12 billion in December—outpacing the combined activity of the KOSPI and KOSDAQ. One of South Korea's largest banks, Hana Bank found that over 30% of wealthy Koreans now favor crypto for long-term gains, while younger investors increasingly shun domestic stocks. In response, regulators plan to release formal crypto investment guidelines by Q3 2025, as political pressure mounts to ease restrictions in line with US trends.