Bitcoin breaks $95K as crypto market cap surges past $3T

Hola folks!

Welcome back to your weekly dose of crypto insights, major trends, market moves, and must-know updates from the crypto world.

In the week that passed, the crypto market roared back to life. Bitcoin smashed past the $95,000 mark for the first time in two months, driven primarily by a $3 billion inflow into US spot Bitcoin ETFs and positive geopolitical developments. 

Altcoins joined the rally, DeFi saw explosive growth, and meme coins also had their moment. With total crypto market capitalization reclaiming the $3 trillion milestone and big moves from both traditional and crypto giants, the bullish momentum is back! Read on as we explain the key highlights for you.

BTC had a strong week, gaining around 7.8% and finally crossing the $95,000 mark for the first time in two months. The rally coincided with a significant inflow of $3.06 billion into US spot Bitcoin ETFs. Geopolitical events added momentum, especially after US President Donald Trump announced a partial easing in the US-China trade standoff. The surge in momentum continued as Cantor Fitzgerald’s new chairman Brandon Lutnick announced the formation of "Cantor Equity Partners" in collaboration with SoftBank, Tether, and Bitfinex, aiming to launch 21 Capital with an initial $3 billion in Bitcoin investment. The overall positive sentiment also helped to push the total crypto market capitalization above the $3 trillion mark for the first time in six weeks.

In the DeFi sector, Unichain stood out with a 45% increase in DeFi TVL to $464 million after launching a $21 million liquidity incentive campaign on April 15, resulting in a whopping 5,000% growth since then. 

Stablecoins on Solana hit a new all-time high with a $13.11 billion market cap, marking a $400 million weekly increase. In the memecoin space, the TRUMP token spiked 60% following news of a private dinner event for its top 220 holders, while Fartcoin reclaimed a $1 billion market cap. Additionally, Hyperliquid’s TVL hit an all-time high above $700 million, and the Bittensor subnets' total market cap crossed $570 million, marking a 100x increase from its February launch.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin suggested replacing the EVM with RISC-V, an open-source computer architecture. Buterin believes that adopting RISC-V could significantly enhance the efficiency of Ethereum’s execution layer, address major scaling challenges, and simplify the overall system architecture. 

Meanwhile, broader financial markets rallied last week alongside crypto, driven by the same geopolitical optimism. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 2.5%, the S&P 500 jumped 4.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite soared 6.7%.

Altcoins also had a strong week, with several tokens delivering impressive returns. Sui led the pack with a staggering 63% weekly gain, while ETH, ADA, and XLM posted healthy gains of 9.3%, 11.3%, and 13%, respectively.

Weekly price movement: 

• BTC $94,792 ⏫ 8.30% (7d)

• ETH $1,808 ⏫ 9.81% (7d)

• SUI $3.71 ⏫ 64.68% (7d)

• ADA $0.72 ⏫ 12.00% (7d)

• XLM $0.29  ⏫ 13.07% (7d)

(All data here as of 1:20 p.m., 28 April 2025)

Before we conclude, here’s a quick look at some important news from around the crypto world.

• CME Group is rolling out XRP futures on May 19th as it continues to expand its suite of crypto products, the world’s largest derivatives exchange said in a press release. Pending regulatory approval, traders will be able to trade two contract sizes: 2,500 XRP and 50,000 XRP. The contracts will be cash-settled and based on the CME CF XRP-Dollar Reference Rate, which tracks XRP’s price daily at 4 p.m. London time, according to CoinDesk.

• Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin, has raised its stake in the Juventus Football Club to over 10% after expanding its stake in the Italian giant earlier in April. The latest move gives Tether Investments, the firm’s investment arm, 6.18% of voting rights. That cements Tether as a significant shareholder and hints at deeper involvement in the governance and financial future of one of Europe’s most storied sports institutions, according to CoinDesk.

That’s it for now. Thanks for sticking around.

See you later, folks! 👋

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