Markets in Chaos: Tariffs, Tokens, and Tumult! 🚨

By James Van Straten (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)

Well, folks, it seems the financial world has decided to take a nosedive into the abyss, and who’s to blame? Why, none other than President Donald Trump and his beloved tariffs. Hong Kong stocks plummeted 14% on Monday, a drop so steep it’s got folks reminiscing about the Asian Financial Crisis of ’97. Taiwan and Japan weren’t far behind, sliding 10% like a couple of kids on a greased-up playground slide. 🎢

Europe? Oh, they’re not doing much better. The FTSE 100, DAX, and CAC 40 are each down more than 5%, proving that misery loves company. And crypto? Don’t even get me started. Bitcoin (BTC) fell 10%, ether (ETH) plunged 22%, and XRP and SOL took a 20% swan dive. Even DOGE, the internet’s favorite joke, is down more than 15%. Bitcoin dominance is up to 63%, a level not seen since early 2021. The CoinDesk 20 index? Down almost 12% in the past day. It’s a bloodbath, folks. 🩸

As for U.S. equities, the S&P 500 is starting the week in bear market territory, down 20% from its all-time high and 5% lower in pre-market trading. It’s on track for what could be the worst three-day performance in its history. China, whose stocks fell 7%, is reportedly considering front-loading stimulus measures to soften the blow. On Friday, they announced a reciprocal 34% tariff on all U.S. goods. Tit for tat, as they say. 🤷‍♂️

“We have massive financial deficits with China, the European Union, and many others,” Trump wrote on Truth Social over the weekend. “The only way this problem can be cured is with tariffs, which are now bringing tens of billions of dollars into the U.S. They are already in effect, and a beautiful thing to behold… We are going to reverse [the deficit], and reverse it quickly. Someday people will realize that tariffs, for the United States of America, are a very beautiful thing!”

So, where can investors seek refuge? For now, it seems to be U.S. bonds. The 10-year note is up 8% year-to-date, while the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) is up 6% as investors pile into government debt, pushing yields lower. This drop in yields is a welcome sign for the U.S. administration.

Seasoned investor Bill Ackman noted that Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick doesn’t appear concerned about a potential economic crash, hinting that Lutnick and Cantor Fitzgerald, the financial services firm he used to head, are long bonds. Ackman suggested on X that they could be positioned to profit from a downturn.

What’s next? Watch for countries scrambling to avoid the tariffs. Some, like Argentina, Taiwan and India, are already showing signs of conceding and removing tariffs on U.S. imports. The uncertainty surrounding these negotiations will likely keep markets volatile as the Volatility S&P 500 Index (VIX) hits 60 in pre-market trading. That’s the highest level since August 2024. These are definitely times to stay alert!

Token Talk

By Shaurya Malwa

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) celebrity Conor McGregor’s crypto token, tied to Real World Gaming DAO (RWG), flopped in its 28-hour presale, raising only $392,315 of its $1,008,000 minimum goal, leading to full refunds of all USDC bids from 668 investors.
RWG blamed “challenging macroeconomic conditions” and the “distracting meme narrative” for the failure, pausing the launch to recalibrate, with refunds processed via Ethereum by 3:53 p.m. on Sunday.

We need to be real.
We didn’t hit our minimum raise.
All bids will be refunded in full.
This is not the end.

— Real World Gaming (@getrealtoken) April 6, 2025

Despite the setback, RWG touted its use of Axis Finance’s sealed-bid auction as a transparent and fair mechanism, though it couldn’t set a clearing price for the REAL token.
McGregor had pitched the token as a “game changer” for crypto, not a celebrity gimmick, while RWG plans a relaunch despite the collapse.

Derivatives Positioning

Total bitcoin futures liquidations hit $58.8M in the past 24 hours, with longs accounting for nearly 75% of the tally. The figures show the positioning was bullish heading into the week, but not out of the ordinary.
Open interest in ether futures is holding near the recent record high of 2.24 million ETH while prices are falling as traders short in a slumping market.
ETH, XRP, BNB, SOL, TRX, DOGE and ADA are seeing negative perpetual funding rates, representing a bias for bearish short positions.
In Deribit’s options market, traders chased short-duration BTC puts at strikes ranging from $78K to $70K. Both BTC and ETH options showed pricier puts out to the June expiry.

Market Movements

BTC is down 8.12% from 4 p.m. ET Friday at $77,310.66 (24hrs: -6.59%)
ETH is down 16.7% at $1,514.40 (24hrs: -15.4%)
CoinDesk 20 is down 13.63% at 2,169.30 (24hrs: -11.83%)
Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is down 10 bps at 2.92%
BTC funding rate is at 0.0059% (2.1374% annualized) on Binance

DXY is down 0.11% at 102.91
Gold is up 0.85% at $3,037.6/oz
Silver is up 2.85% at $29.95/oz
Nikkei 225 closed -7.83% at 31,136.58
Hang Seng closed -13.22% at 19,828.30
FTSE is down 4.7% at 7,676.63
Euro Stoxx 50 is down 6.32% at 4,570.18
DJIA closed on Friday -3.98% at 38,314.86
S&P 500 closed -5.97% at 5,074.08
Nasdaq closed -5.82% at 15,587.79
S&P/TSX Composite Index closed -4.69% at 23,193.50
S&P 40 Latin America closed -6.47% at 2,294.60
U.S. 10-year Treasury rate is down 3 bps at 4%
E-mini S&P 500 futures are down 3.98% at 4,906.75
E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are down 4.3%% at 16,785.50
E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average Index futures are down 3.82% at 37,057.00

Bitcoin Stats:

BTC Dominance: 63.60 (0.45%)
Ethereum to bitcoin ratio: 0.01957 (-2.93%)
Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 897 EH/s
Hashprice (spot): $42.40
Total Fees: 4.31BTC / $354,774
CME Futures Open Interest: 137,695 BTC
BTC priced in gold: 25.1 oz
BTC vs gold market cap: 7.12%

Technical Analysis

XRP has dived below the horizontal support line at $1.95, confirming a head-and-shoulders bearish reversal pattern.
The breakdown could bring a notable downtrend to $1.07.

Crypto Equities

Strategy (MSTR): closed on Friday at $293.61 (+4.01%), down 8.56% at $268.48 in pre-market
Coinbase Global (COIN): closed at $160.55 (-5.98%), down 7.91% at $147.85
Galaxy Digital Holdings (GLXY): closed at C$13.53 (-10.28%)
MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $11.30 (+0.62%), down 9.65% at $10.21
Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $7.14 (-2.19%), down 6.02% at $6.71
Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $7.18 (+0.42%), down 6.82% at $6.69
CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $7.32 (-1.21%), down 8.61% at $6.69
CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI): closed at $12.32 (-3.37%), down 7.95% at $11.34
Semler Scientific (SMLR): closed at $33.85 (-0.62%), down 12.85% at $29.50
Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $44.63 (+4.69%)

ETF Flows

Spot BTC ETFs:

Daily net flow: -$64.9 million
Cumulative net flows: $36.16 billion
Total BTC holdings ~ 1.12 million.

Spot ETH ETFs

Daily net flow: $2.1 million
Cumulative net flows: $2.37 billion
Total ETH holdings ~ 3.38 million.

Overnight Flows

Chart of the Day

The number of users drawing flash loans from Aave, the leading decentralized finance protocol, rose to 307, the highest since early August 2024.
Flash loans leverage Ethereum’s atomicity, allowing users to borrow without posting collateral for a fee on condition the loan is repaid in in the same transaction in which you borrowed in the same transaction in which the user borrowed funds.
These types of loans are usually drawn for arbitrage trades that seek to profit from price discrepancies between two markets.

In the Ether

2025-04-07 14:30