Market regains momentum as BTC rebounds from tariff-driven dip

Hola folks!

Welcome back to our weekly crypto newsletter, which provides the latest buzz, major market moves, and key updates from the crypto world.

After a rocky start triggered by global tariff tensions, the crypto market regained its mojo and recorded one of its strongest weeks. Bitcoin rebounded to $85K. Altcoins followed, with SOL, XRP, ADA, and BNB all posting impressive gains. Even meme coins had their moment, as Fartcoin soared 185% in 30 days.

But the excitement didn’t stop there—XRP’s ETF launched in the US with a bang. Mastercard teamed up with Kraken, while the tokenized real-world assets (RWA) space crossed the $20B mark.

Let’s dive into the week’s biggest stories below.👇

The crypto market had a strong week, with BTC and major altcoins posting double-digit returns. Early in the week, market uncertainty due to trade tariffs pushed BTC to a five-month low of $74,000. However, sentiment quickly rebounded after US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for all countries except China, pushing Bitcoin to $83,000 by mid-week. The bullish momentum continued over the weekend, with BTC reclaiming the $85,000 level following Trump’s decision to exempt smartphones, computers, and chips from the latest round of trade tariffs. 

Adding to optimism, global investment firm VanEck reported that China and Russia have started settling some energy transactions in Bitcoin and other digital assets. This signals the early stages of BTC’s evolution from a speculative investment to a functional monetary tool, especially for nations aiming to reduce their reliance on the US dollar and traditional financial systems.

On the institutional front, XRP was in the headlines with the debut of its ETF, posting $5.4 million in volume, followed by Ripple’s massive $1.25 billion acquisition of prime broker Hidden Road, one of the largest deals in the digital assets sector. Mastercard entered the spotlight with its new partnership with Kraken, enabling European users to spend Bitcoin at over 150 million merchants. In the RWA segment, alternative asset manager Apollo Global Management made a significant seven-figure investment in Plume Network, while the tokenized RWA market surpassed the $20 billion milestone. However, Mantra’s OM token experienced a dramatic crash, plunging 90% from $6.30 to $0.50 and erasing over $5 billion in market capitalization within hours. Also, Hyperliquid L1’s TVL jumped 57% to $489 million.

In other developments, HBAR, the native token of the Hedera network, surged over 30% following the circulation of false news about a partnership with Nvidia, highlighting the market’s sensitivity to rumors. Binance founder CZ has been appointed strategic advisor to the Pakistan Crypto Council. 

In traditional markets, the Dow climbed 5%, the S&P 500 rose 5.7%, and the Nasdaq jumped 7.3%, marking their strongest weekly performances since late 2023 and, in the Nasdaq’s case, since November 2022.

In the altcoin sector, ETH delivered a 5.5% return, while SOL, XRP, ADA, and BNB made gains of 31.4%, 18.9%, 17.3%, and 7.3%, respectively. Fartcoin surged 185% over the past 30 days, defying market volatility. 

Weekly price movement: 

• BTC $84,589 ⏫ 11.04% (7d)

• SOL $132 ⏫ 32.59% (7d)

• ADA $0.64 ⏫ 20.07% (7d)

• BNB $590 ⏫ 9.24% (7d)

• XRP $2.13 ⏫ 22.58% (7d)

(All data here as of 2:00 p.m., 14 April 2025)

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

• With a signature from US President Donald Trump, the DeFi corner of the crypto sector is now freed from the US Internal Revenue Service’s demands that such platforms be treated as brokers and required to track and report user activity. That narrowly focused IRS rule, approved in the final days of former President Joe Biden’s administration, has been formally struck down, according to CoinDesk. 

• Teucrium Investment Advisors’ 2x Long Daily XRP exchange-traded fund (XXRP), the first leveraged XRP product in the US, racked up $5 million in trading volume on its debut on April 8, becoming one of the company’s “most successful” introductions and posting a top 5% performance for a new ETF. The ETF is designed to deliver twice the daily returns of XRP through swap agreements, according to CoinDesk.

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

See you later, folks! 👋

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