🚀 YOU GET A TARIFF

YOU GET A TARIFF, YOU GET A TARIFF & YOU, YOU GET A TARIFF!

Contents

• The Wrap Up
• Overview in This Market
• Movement in the Top 8
• This Week’s Narrative
• Key Advancements
• DeFi Brief
• Memes in Motion
• Airdrop Buzz
• The Wrap Down

The Wrap Up

A chaotic week defined by geopolitical tension and economic disruption. Markets opened the week in decline, rallied midweek on optimism, and then collapsed again following the harsh tariff policy rollout by the Trump administration. Bitcoin emerged as the risk-off asset of choice while altcoins were largely punished. Meanwhile, gold-pegged tokens found strength amid macro uncertainty.

Overview in This Market

Markets sank in anticipation of Trump’s “Liberation Day” and his aggressive tariff plan, with a brief recovery midweek before collapsing again to local range lows. Total crypto market cap dropped 6.51%, from $2.950T to $2.758T.

• Bitcoin (BTC) closed the week 4.21% lower, while
• Ethereum (ETH) followed with a steeper 8.75% decline.

Friday’s sell-off liquidated over $400M in long positions, and Liberation Day itself caused over $500M in total liquidations. Funding rates hovered near flat, with many majors like SOL and XRP slipping into negative territory.

Notable Headlines:

• Tether acquired 8,888 BTC in Q1 2025, pushing its total holdings above 100,000 BTC.
• Michael Saylor’s Strategy purchased 22,048 BTC for $1.92B at $86,969 per coin.
• Marathon Digital filed to sell $2B in stock to fund additional BTC purchases.

What This Means & The Impact:
Expectations surrounding Liberation Day dictated the week’s volatility. Optimism from corporate BTC buys gave bulls brief hope, but the tariff announcement crushed both crypto and equity markets. The S&P 500 fell 5.09%, while the Nasdaq dropped 5.35%.

Bitcoin dominance jumped 1.78% to 62.85%, as traders fled altcoins. Among the few bright spots were tokens like EOS, PENDLE, LAYER, COMP, and GRASS, along with gold-backed assets like PAXG and XAUT, which rallied as gold hit new highs.

Movement in the Top 8

1. Bitcoin (BTC): $76,521.76 | -9.08%
   Bitcoin's resilience amid market turmoil underscores its status as a digital safe haven.
2. Ethereum (ETH): $1,453.89 | -21.77%
   Ethereum's gains reflect strong network activity and anticipation of upcoming protocol upgrades.
3. Tether (USDT): $0.9996 |
   USDT maintains its peg, continuing to serve as a stable refuge during market volatility.
4. BNB (BNB): $548.54 | -8.24%
   BNB's appreciation is driven by increased activity on the Binance Smart Chain and new project launches.
5. USD Coin (USDC): $0.9999 |
   USDC remains stable, reflecting trust in its fully-backed reserves amid market fluctuations.
6. XRP (XRP): $1.80 | -13.43%
   XRP's rise is linked to positive developments in its ongoing legal battles and increased adoption.
7. Solana (SOL): $105.25 | -15%
   Solana's performance benefits from its growing ecosystem and recent network stability improvements.
8. Cardano (ADA): $0.56 | -15%
   Cardano's gains are attributed to successful protocol upgrades and expanding DeFi partnerships.

What This Means & The Impact:
The market's pivot towards Bitcoin highlights a flight to safety amid geopolitical tensions. Altcoins, while showing resilience, face headwinds from broader market sentiment. Stablecoins like USDT and USDC continue to provide safe harbors, maintaining their pegs and reflecting investor caution.

This Week’s Narrative

Trump’s Tariffs Shake Global Markets

• The US government announced reciprocal tariffs on 185 countries, with rates as high as 67% on China and 32% on Taiwan.
• Economists ridiculed the method used to derive tariffs, citing lack of inclusion for service exports.
• The average US tariff rate is now estimated between 22.5–26%, with projected contraction in global trade of $750B, or roughly 1% of global GDP.

What This Means & The Impact:
While many believed Trump’s threats were exaggerated, the scope and scale of the tariffs revealed otherwise. With another round targeting auto parts expected in May, analysts now widely anticipate a global recession. Equities and crypto alike reacted violently. Markets may continue to derisk until policy clarity emerges or sentiment stabilizes.

Key Advancements

• Circle filed its S-1 with the SEC, officially kickstarting its IPO process.
• Justin Sun accused FDUSD issuer First Digital Trust of insolvency, which the firm has denied.
• BioDAO launched Bio V1 on Solana and Base to integrate AI agents and fund biotech R&D.
• Web3 security tool Harpie shut down after failing to reach profitability.
• Treasure DAO announced a strategic restructure due to financial stress.

What This Means & The Impact:
Circle’s IPO signals the continued mainstreaming of stablecoin issuers. However, investors are questioning its heavy dependence on US treasury yields and slim 10% margins. The contrast to Tether’s high profitability casts doubt on Circle’s valuation. Meanwhile, DAO restructures and shutdowns reveal the growing pains of Web3 startups adapting to real market pressures.

DeFi Brief

• Ostium, a cross-market DEX for commodities, forex, stocks, and crypto, launched a points rewards program tied to trading volume and referrals. Retroactive points will be distributed to early users.
• The exploiter of zkLend, a Starknet-based lending protocol, was apparently phished while trying to launder the 2,930 ETH stolen, according to on-chain messages.
• Frax Finance announced its expansion to Solana, deploying both frxUSD and FXS.
• HyperUnit enabled direct ETH deposits from Ethereum mainnet into the Hyperliquid trading ecosystem. These deposits can now interact with HyperEVM, similar to BTC flows.
• Mantle launched Mantle Banking, offering fiat on/off ramps, multi-currency accounts, high-yield products, RWA access, and virtual cards.
• Babylon, a Bitcoin staking protocol, introduced its tokenomics: an 8% annual inflation split evenly between BABY stakers and BTC stakers.
• f(x) Protocol launched fxSAVE, a yield-bearing token built on their wstETH strategy, offering auto-compounded returns from USDC or fxUSD deposits.

What This Means & The Impact:
The expansion of on-chain access to real-world assets and traditional financial markets is gaining momentum. Protocols like Ostium and Mantle are bridging the gap between TradFi and DeFi. Babylon’s novel incentive split, along with infrastructure upgrades on Hyperliquid and Solana, show DeFi is deepening and diversifying beyond yield farming.

Memes in Motion

• A sharp leverage cap reduction on Binance triggered a cascade of liquidations for ACT, an AI-themed memecoin.
• This resulted in a 50%+ crash in ACT’s price within hours, dragging multiple memecoins down with it.
• Many traders were caught off guard, as leverage adjustments were rolled out suddenly without warning.

What This Means & The Impact:
Memecoin markets remain hyper-fragile, particularly when reliant on centralized derivatives infrastructure. Sudden leverage changes have real and immediate impacts on price action. This week’s incident is a stark reminder that risk management — especially in speculative corners of the market — is non-negotiable.

Airdrop Buzz

• Initia, an interwoven modular rollup network, opened claims for its INIT token, distributing 5% of total supply to early testers, advocates, and active participants.
• Definitive, an on-chain trade terminal, announced the EDGE token airdrop, with 16% of total supply allocated to early users and on-chain traders — including those active on Hyperliquid and Jupiter.
• PumpBTC, a Bitcoin-native DeFi protocol, began claim distribution for its PUMP token. The airdrop will remain open for the next 30 days.

What This Means & The Impact:
With modular rollups, trade terminals, and Bitcoin-native DeFi all getting involved, the latest airdrop wave is broader and more diversified than ever. Projects are rewarding not just early testers, but cross-chain and high-volume participants. Savvy users will benefit most by actively checking eligibility across platforms before claim windows close.

The Wrap Down

Despite the week’s chaos, some signals remain clear — Bitcoin continues to hold its ground as a hedge, even as global macro forces rattle the broader market. With altcoins bleeding and stablecoins gaining traction, capital rotation is underway. Meanwhile, real-world asset integration, on-chain yield infrastructure, and modular scaling solutions are quietly building the foundation for the next cycle.

Your Trusted Crypto Research Team‍Crypto Research Australia – CRA‍"In uncertainty lies opportunity — if you know where to look."