Macro Trends

This article offers a deep dive into the 2025 altcoin season. It examines a fundamental shift from traditional BTC dominance to a narrative-driven dynamic. It analyzes evolving capital flows, rapid sector rotations, and the growing impact of political narratives – hallmarks of what’s now called “Altcoin Season 2.0.” Drawing on the latest data and research, the piece reveals how stablecoins have overtaken BTC as the core liquidity layer, and how fragmented, fast-moving narratives are reshaping trading strategies. It also offers actionable frameworks for risk management and opportunity identification in this atypical bull cycle.

Gate Research Daily Report: April 14, Bitcoin declined to $84,514, while Ethereum fell to $1,619. Despite the broader market pullback, on-chain activity remains strong, with Ethereum setting a new record by processing $1.18 trillion in stablecoin transfers over the past 30 days—highlighting continued capital flow and user engagement. In contrast, the NFT market continues to shrink, as both trading volumes and active user numbers have declined sharply. The SEC has proposed a new crypto regulatory sandbox, signaling a potential shift toward more flexible and innovation-friendly policymaking. At the same time, Pump.fun has seen its daily trading volume collapse by 99%, and its token "graduation rate" has slowed significantly, reflecting a cooling of speculative fervor on the Solana network. Amid these developments, Gate.com has announced a major brand revamp, unveiling its new Chinese name "Damen" (meaning "The Gate"), which represents its commitment to embracing the next wave of growth in the Web3 era.

Exploring Trump's tariff strategy and its impact on global markets, power dynamics, and economic manipulation.

Compared to the bell curve distribution that technology adoption usually follows, there is a disproportionately high percentage share of those pioneering crypto AI adoption. This can be attributed to self-selection bias from participants already interested in crypto AI, but may also indicate that crypto AI adoption is still dominated by tech enthusiasts and has yet to gain mainstream traction, even within the crypto industry.

Thus far, the only products that have been produced by crypto, and accepted by the rest of the financial system, are stablecoins and Bitcoin. DeFi is yet to take off meaningfully outside of crypto and decouple from trading volumes.

Over the past week, global markets entered a risk-off phase, driven by hawkish Fed expectations and escalating geopolitical tensions. Climbing US Treasury yields weighed on risk asset valuations. Gold and silver, after strong rallies, each saw corrections of more than 10%. The crypto market weakened in parallel, with BTC dropping below $70,000. Meanwhile, crude oil held firm amid expectations of potential supply shocks, and energy factors continued to disrupt the inflation outlook. On the capital front, both BTC and ETH ETFs recorded net outflows, reflecting a slowdown in short-term capital inflows. Nevertheless, total AUM remained at elevated levels, as long-term allocation capital has not exited the market. On-chain, DEX liquidity became increasingly concentrated in leading and highly efficient protocols, with Meteora’s rapid ascent reshaping trading dynamics. Marginal growth in stablecoin supply stemmed from protocol-based assets, and DeFi credit demand shifted primarily back to stablecoin arbitrage and

Gate Research Daily Report: April 15, Bitcoin at $85,284, Ethereum at $1,641.76. Digital asset funds see $7.2B in 3-week outflows. Canada to launch first Solana spot ETFs with staking. Ethereum leads Q1 dApp revenue with over $1B. Bitcoin implied volatility surges as markets remain uncertain on trade policy. JPMorgan launches GBP blockchain accounts to expand global settlement capabilities.

The U.S. dollar not only dominates global trade, but has also become a hidden economic weapon. Whoever controls the dollar, controls the lifeline of the global economy. What’s even more concerning is that this war will expand from the domain of commodities to that of currencies—a global currency devaluation race is now underway.

This article explores the key trends and challenges in the current cryptocurrency market. The author analyzes Bitcoin's position under macroeconomic pressure, discussing the debate over whether it's a risk asset or a safe haven. The article also evaluates Ethereum's current development status and its potential as a productive asset. Additionally, the article discusses emerging productive assets like Hyperliquid's HYPE, and the evolution of DAO governance models. Given the current uncertain macroeconomic environment, the author suggests focusing on development opportunities in new projects.

Gate Research Daily Report: April 16, The crypto market remained in a choppy trading range today, with Bitcoin slipping 1.54% to $83,782 and Ethereum falling 1.97% to $1,603.38. TRON reported a record-setting $760 million in Q1 revenue, signaling continued strength in on-chain activity and its stablecoin ecosystem. DeFi lending demand surged significantly, while centralized crypto lending (CeFi) saw a steep 68% decline from its 2022 peak, further highlighting the shift toward decentralized finance. On Solana, PumpSwap hit a new all-time high in daily trading volume, driven by a sharp rise in user engagement and transaction activity. Meanwhile, Polygon introduced AggLayer, a cross-chain value aggregation layer aimed at building a new paradigm for an "Internet of Value" across blockchain networks. Solana also upgraded its network by raising the per-block compute limit, boosting performance and continuing its push for scalability.

Gate Research (April 11 – 17, 2025) : This report provides a comprehensive analysis of key developments in the cryptocurrency market and macroeconomic landscape. On April 11, U.S. March PPI came in at 2.7% year-over-year, falling short of both the expected 3.3% and the previous reading of 3.2%. On April 14, the SEC held its second crypto roundtable and announced plans to launch a "crypto regulatory sandbox." On April 15, Canada is set to debut its first spot Solana ETFs, which will allow staking for yield generation. On April 16, it was revealed that only 11% of registered Bitcoin companies in El Salvador are currently operational. On April 17, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered hawkish remarks, indicating that economic policy remains unclear and that crypto regulations may ease. On the same day, Panama approved the use of cryptocurrency for payments in government institutions, becoming the first public authority globally to do so.

Gate Research Weekly Report: This week, cryptocurrency prices entered a recovery phase after a rebound, maintaining a consolidation range. Soneium collaborated with EigenLayer to launch a 10-second Fast Finality Layer, marking a significant improvement in L2 performance. KiloEx fell victim to a flash loan attack losing $7 million, highlighting ongoing DeFi security concerns. Bitcoin miners sold more than 40% of their March BTC production, while sUSD faced an escalating depegging risk that sparked market panic. In a positive development, Panama's capital city became the first to accept cryptocurrency for payments.

Gate Research Daily Report: April 18: Bitcoin is priced at $84,927, while Ethereum edged up to $1,587.17. Solana's DEX trading volume surpassed Ethereum, ranking first across all chains. Circle Research released the Refund Protocol. Ethereum transaction fees hit a five-year low, and the DeFi market lost nearly $49 billion in Q1. Slovenia proposes a 25% crypto tax.

Gate Research Daily Report: On April 21, Bitcoin rose 2.4% to $87,400, and Ethereum increased 0.49% to $1,631, reflecting a gradual recovery in market sentiment. Vitalik Buterin proposed replacing the EVM with RISC-V, potentially ushering in a new wave of technological revolution for Ethereum's execution layer. Canary Capital is seeking approval to launch a staked TRX ETF, signaling the accelerating integration of crypto assets into the traditional financial system. Global retail giant SPAR is piloting crypto payments in Switzerland, further expanding real-world use cases. Hyperliquid is rapidly emerging in the on-chain derivatives market, commanding nearly 70% market share. Tether users have surpassed 450 million, with stablecoin growth remaining robust.

Gate Research Daily Report: On April 22, Bitcoin rose 0.9% to $88,056, with a market dominance of 63.6%, reaching a four-year high. Ethereum fell 3.8% to $1,575. Market risk-aversion sentiment intensified, with gold breaking through $3,480. The Bank of Korea is advancing stablecoin regulatory legislation, Circle has launched a global payment network, and Base chain's daily token creation volume has surpassed Solana for the first time. Pump.fun's graduation rate has rebounded.