Volatility is once again dominating the market as traders prepare for an intense week. Just when we thought things were calming down, geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Iran have once again unsettled the markets. The Strait of Hormuz briefly reopened but then closed again, and that was enough to set everything in motion once more according to the headlines.

Bitcoin is playing an interesting game of ping-pong. It nearly reached $78,000 when news of the strait reopening circulated, but then retreated. It now hovers around $77.84K with a slight 0.37% drop in 24 hours. Ethereum behaves similarly, at $2.32K with a 0.77% decline. Bitcoin’s dominance remains high near 60%, so altcoins are mainly following the overall market trend without making much noise on their own.

What’s interesting is what’s happening with certain specific tokens. BLUR rose significantly recently after the Foundation news, but now is down 3.20% in 24 hours. Even more interesting is what we see in the meme sector. BOME has been on many traders’ radar lately, especially with all the dynamics around these tokens. Although BOME is down 5.23% in the short term, overall interest in the meme sector remains. NEIRO and PNUT are also in the red, but people are still paying attention to these movements.

There’s a darker story with RAVE, which collapsed 96% recently after investigations into price manipulation. That was pretty brutal and a reminder that not everything that rises in crypto is legitimate. In contrast, AAVE has recovered some of its losses and is now nearly flat with a +0.12%, after the issues caused by the KelpDAO exploit.

AST EROID is another token that has generated buzz. Although the current market cap is around $126.94M, the initial movement was quite strong when Elon Musk approved it as SpaceX’s mascot. That shows how backing from a well-known figure can move crypto markets.

This week promises to be intense. We have the Senate hearing on Tennessee’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, the Hong Kong Web3 Carnival starting today, and the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran expiring on April 21. Prediction markets still assign a high probability that negotiations will continue, but uncertainty remains the dominant factor.

On the regulatory side, the SEC accepted a new proposal from the NYSE to introduce trading of tokenized securities with on-chain settlement. That’s an interesting move for institutional adoption, although it hasn’t yet generated the same buzz as other headlines.

Token unlocks are also something to watch this week. ZRO has a 5.34% unlock (~$40.4M), KAITO a 4.93% (~$8.1M), and more scheduled movements in the coming days. All of this contributes to the volatility we’re seeing.

My feeling is that markets will continue to be driven by macroeconomic news for a while. Geopolitics is front and center, and any change in negotiations between the U.S. and Iran could move markets significantly. Keep an eye on BOME and other meme tokens, because these sectors tend to have amplified movements during general volatility. For now, prudence seems to be the best strategy.