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Bitcoin (BTC) danced around $80,000 at the April 8 Wall Street open as US stock markets staged a fresh recovery, but unresolved tensions between China and the US continue to put a damper on BTC’s upside.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Hayes: Bitcoin can repeat historic China inflows

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC price volatility cooling while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index gained up to 4.3% in the first few hours of trading.

Stocks built on a strong rebound that had accompanied the start of the week’s TradFi trading, alleviating fears of a 1987 “Black Monday” style crash. 

US trade tariffs nonetheless stayed top of the agenda for traders, who in particular eyed the ongoing war of words with China.

Ripple’s $1.25 billion acquisition of prime broker Hidden Road is a “defining moment” for the blockchain payments company, potentially unlocking more use cases for the XRP Ledger among institutions, said David Schwartz, Ripple’s chief technology officer. 

“Ripple’s acquisition of Hidden Road is a defining moment for the XRP Ledger and XRP,” Schwartz said on social media on April 8. 

Hidden Road is a prime brokerage and credit network with more than 300 institutional customers. On a typical day, it clears more than $10 billion and processes more than 50 million transactions across traditional rails. 

“Now imagine even a portion of that activity on the XRP Ledger — and that’s exactly what Hidden Road plans on doing — not to mention future use of collateral and real-world assets tokenized on the XRPL,” said Schwartz. 

Source: Ripple

Opinion by: Jay Jog, co-founder of Sei Labs 

When CryptoKitties crashed the Ethereum network in 2017, the industry learned a hard lesson about blockchain scalability. Today, with over $100 billion locked in decentralized finance (DeFi) and millions of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) being traded, that lesson is more relevant than ever. The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) — the engine that powers this activity — is reaching its limits.

So far, the crypto community’s answer has been layer 2 solutions — separate chains that process transactions and report back to Ethereum. But what if the community’s been looking for answers in the wrong place?

Layer 2s are not the solution

Layer 2 blockchains have long been touted as the solution to the EVM’s performance challenges, given their ability to offload the computational work from Ethereum to a secondary chain. Layer-2 solutions have proven to be nothing more than a “quick fix” instead of a permanent solution, as many hoped for. As Gemini reported, a new layer 2 appeared every 19 days in 2024, indicating that the competitive landscape is creating more problems instead of solving them.

Layer 2 solutions come with their own challenges, primarily tied to centralization and interoperability. Many of today’s layer 2 blockchains run with centralized sequencers that could expose the network to transaction censorship, transaction reordering and more. Additionally, Vitalik Buterin stated in a recent blog post that layer 2s are struggling to maintain interoperability. This called attention to the disorganized state of layer 2s, further contributing to liquidity fragmentation and a complex user experience. 

Despite the ongoing market meltdown on US trade tariffs, executives at major cryptocurrency firms Messari and Sygnum are bullish on institutional Bitcoin adoption later in 2025.

Speaking on a panel at Paris Blockchain Week on April 8, Messari CEO Eric Turner and Sygnum Bank co-founder Thomas Eichenberger said they expect a significant shift in the banking sector’s involvement with crypto in the second half of the year.

According to the executives, the global banking push into Bitcoin (BTC) services has great potential to happen in the second half of 2025 as regulators embrace crypto, including stablecoins and crypto services by banks.

“I think we’re probably looking at a muted Q2, but I’m really excited for Q3 and Q4,” Messari’s Turner said during the panel discussion moderated by Cointelegraph CEO Yana Prikhodchenko, forecasting “really interesting” things coming to the crypto market in 2025.

Crypto adoption is not just about Trump

While some investors focus on the pro-crypto stance of US President Donald Trump, Turner emphasized that broader regulatory momentum is what matters most.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) has announced the launch of a new Bitcoin futures derivative product.

According to an April 7 announcement, Cboe plans to launch the FTSE Bitcoin Index futures on April 28, which is based on the VanEck Bitcoin Strategy ETF (XBTF), if approved by regulators.

The new product will be cash-settled, and like XBTF, it will represent one-tenth of the value of the FTSE Bitcoin Index. The futures will settle on the last business day of each month.

This is the first product that was launched as a result of Cboe’s collaboration with the London Stock Exchange Group’s index subsidiary, FTSE Russell. The new Bitcoin derivative product is reportedly meant to complement its recently launched Bitcoin options offerings Bitcoin US ETF Index Options (CBTX) and Bitcoin US ETF Index Options (MBTX). Catherine Clay, global head of derivatives at Cboe, said:

Related: Largest ever CME gap has just printed in Bitcoin futures

Dubai’s real estate and crypto regulatory authorities have signed a new agreement aimed at expanding digital asset adoption in the real estate sector.

On April 6, the Dubai Land Department (DLD) announced an agreement with the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). According to the announcement, the agreement will link Dubai’s real estate registry with property tokenization through a governance system. 

The agreement aims to improve digital infrastructure and attract global investment by enhancing market liquidity and property management efficiency.

It also aims to support Dubai’s broader economic strategy, which includes a goal of doubling the city’s gross domestic product over the next decade.

Related: Mantra and Damac sign $1B deal to tokenize Middle Eastern assets

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are often praised for offering around-the-clock trading access, but that constant availability may have contributed to a steep sell-off over the weekend following the latest US trade tariff announcement.

Unlike stocks and traditional financial instruments, Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies enable payments and trading opportunities 24/7 thanks to the accessibility of blockchain technology.

After a record-breaking $5 trillion was wiped from the S&P 500 over two days — the worst such drop on record — Bitcoin remained above the $82,000 support level. But by Sunday, the asset had plummeted to under $75,000.

Sunday’s correction may have occurred to due Bitcoin being the only large tradable asset over the weekend, according to Lucas Outumuro, head of research at crypto intelligence platform IntoTheBlock. 

“There was a bit of optimism last week that Bitcoin might be uncorrelating and fairing better than traditional stocks, but the [correction] did accelerate over the weekend,” Outumuro said during Cointelegraph’s Chainreaction live show on X, adding:

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly disbanding the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET).

NCET’s disbandment was noted in a four-page memo by United States Deputy General Todd Blanche, according to a Fortune journalist who claims to have seen the document in an April 8 report. The official is quoted saying in the note:

Blanche is the second-highest-ranking official in the DOJ and served as US President Donald Trump’s defense attorney in high-profile cases, including the New York hush money case and federal cases related to classified documents and the 2020 election.

Related: Trump tariff negotiations are ‘all about’ China deal — Raoul Pal

What is the NCET?

The NCET’s launch was established in October 2021 under President Joe Biden. At the time, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said that the unit was aimed at going after platforms “that help criminals launder or hide their criminal proceeds.” She said:

Blockchain-based payments network Ripple announced it has acquired crypto-friendly prime broker Hidden Road in one of the largest mergers in the cryptocurrency industry to date.

Ripple is acquiring Hidden Road in a $1.25 billion deal, the company officially announced on April 8.

The deal will make Ripple the first crypto firm to own and operate a global, multi-asset prime broker. According to the company’s April 8 announcement, the acquisition is expected to position Ripple as the world’s largest non-bank prime broker, with Hidden Road currently clearing more than $3 trillion across more than 300 institutions.

The acquisition also aims to reinforce the position of Ripple USD (RLUSD), an institution-focused stablecoin launched by Ripple in December 2024.

Ripple has been a Hidden Road customer for years

Ripple has been a customer of Hidden Road for years and “knows their breadth of expertise firsthand,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in an X post on April 8.

Weekly active developers in the crypto space dropped by almost 40% in one year as “narrative-led” developments took over the industry. 

Crypto data and analytics platform Artemis Terminal shows that on March 17, 2024, the number of active developers tagged on open-source repositories in a week was 12,380. The number dropped to around 7,600 on March 16, signaling a 38.6% drop in weekly active developers in one year. 

The number of active developers working across over 1,500 ecosystems is used as an indicator of the Web3 ecosystem’s overall health. Developer activity suggests increased innovation and maintenance of protocols, which contributes to long-term sustainability. 

Weekly active developers in the crypto space. Source: Artemis Terminal

Community calls for more developer-led narratives

The drop in developer activity across the Web3 space spurred calls for more developer-led narratives on social media. 

Key takeaways

ChatGPT can analyze crypto news headlines and generate actionable trade signals, helping traders make faster and more informed decisions.

Well-crafted prompts are essential — the more specific your instructions, the more accurate and useful ChatGPT’s responses will be.

News-based signals work best when combined with broader market context, like Bitcoin trends or altcoin momentum, for a complete trading picture.

AI is a tool, not a guarantee — always verify its insights with other research, charts and risk management practices before executing trades.

The cryptocurrency market moves fast, and staying ahead of the curve can feel overwhelming — especially for beginners. News plays a huge role in driving crypto prices, but how do you sift through the noise and turn it into actionable trade signals? 

Global trade tensions triggered by US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff measures may come to an end with a potential deal with China as investors remain concerned about escalation from both sides.

Trump’s April 2 announcement of reciprocal import tariffs sent shockwaves through global equity and crypto markets. The measures include a 10% baseline tariff on all imported goods, effective April 5, with higher levies — such as a 34% tariff on Chinese imports — set to begin on April 9.

However, the tariff negotiations may only be “posturing” for the US to reach an agreement with China, according to Raoul Pal, founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor.

“In the end, almost all the other tariff negotiations and rhetoric are all about getting China to agree a deal,” Pal wrote in an April 8 X post, adding:

Source: Raoul Pal

A maximal extractable value (MEV) bot lost about $180,000 in Ether after an attacker exploited a vulnerability in its access control systems. 

On April 8, blockchain security firm SlowMist reported that the MEV bot lost 116.7 Ether (ETH) because of the lack of access control. Threat researcher Vladimir Sobolev, also known as Officer’s Notes on X, told Cointelegraph that an attacker exploited a vulnerability in the bot, causing it to swap its ETH to a dummy token. 

Sobolev said this was done through a malicious pool created by the attacker within the same transaction. The threat researcher added that this could have been prevented if the MEV owner implemented stricter access controls. 

Just 25 minutes into the exploit, the MEV’s owner proposed a bounty to the attacker. The owner then deployed a new MEV bot with stricter access control validation. 

Sobolev compared the exploit to a similar incident in 2023, where MEV bots lost $25 million after being exploited. On April 23, 2023, bots who performed sandwich trades lost their crypto to a validator that went rogue. 

Update 1:17 pm UTC: This article has been updated with the corrected US dollar figure that the user paid at the time.

One presumably panicked Bitcoin user paid nearly 0.75 BTC (nearly $60,000 at the time) in a replace-by-fee (RBF) transaction fee.

The transaction in question was sent about 30 minutes after midnight UTC on April 8. It was the second attempt at performing an RBF that changed the transaction's target address, sending 0.48 Bitcoin ($37,770) with 0.2 BTC of change ($16,357).

Second Bitcoin RBF transaction. Source: Mempool.Space

Anmol Jain, vice president of investigations at crypto forensics firm AMLBot, told Cointelegraph that the original transaction featured a “default or conservative” fee. The first RBF raised the fee to nearly double the amount and changed the output address.

Bitcoin could begin to take market share from gold over the next decade as a hedge against inflation and geopolitical uncertainty, according to Blockstream CEO Adam Back.

Speaking during a fireside chat with Cointelegraph managing editor Gareth Jenkinson at Paris Blockchain Week 2025, Back said rising inflation and monetary instability across global economies will drive broader Bitcoin (BTC) adoption.

He compared the cryptocurrency to gold, noting its scarcity and growing recognition as a store of value despite its 30% correction from its all-time high above $109,000.

“Bitcoin has the advantage of being like gold — it’s a scarce asset but also undergoing an adoption curve,” he said.

Inflation continues to plague global economies, with major currencies like the US dollar and the euro seeing their supplies rise by more than 50% over the past five years — a development that may drive Bitcoin’s adoption as a hedge against monetary destabilization, according to Back.

Cathie Wood’s investment firm ARK Invest is showing a mixed reaction to the United States’ latest trade tariffs, offloading shares of its spot Bitcoin ETF while increasing its position in Coinbase.

ARK has acquired $26.6 million of Coinbase (COIN) stock since US President Donald Trump announced new trade tariffs on April 2, according to trading data seen by Cointelegraph.

The purchase includes a $13.2 million COIN buy on April 7 and another $13.3 million purchase on April 4.

Despite this bullish move on Coinbase, ARK simultaneously sold $12 million of its ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) on April 7. ARKB was one of the spot Bitcoin ETFs that launched in the United States in January 2024.

ARKW still offers $142 billion of indirect exposure to Bitcoin

ARK’s $12 million ARKB sale from its Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) fund is one of the largest daily ARKB sales by the firm.

Opinion by: William Campbell, advisory lead at USDKG

Stablecoins were heralded as a breakthrough in the cryptocurrency space as a way to marry the lightning-fast, borderless nature of digital assets with the stability of traditional currencies. They achieve this by pegging their value to reserves like fiat currencies or commodities. Stablecoins are engineered to maintain a fixed exchange rate, typically one-to-one, with the underlying asset.

What does “stability” mean? At its core, stability demands three pillars:

Reliable collateral: The tangible assets that back the token.

Transparency: The ability for anyone to independently verify reserves.

China’s response to America’s sweeping trade tariffs could result in capital flight to Bitcoin and crypto, according to BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes.

“If not the Fed [Federal Reserve], then the PBOC [People’s Bank of China] will give us the Yahtzee ingredients,” said Hayes on X on April 8 in reference to the catalyst needed to resume the crypto market bull run.

Hayes said that if the Chinese central bank devalued its currency, the yuan, the “narrative [is] that Chinese capital flight will flow into Bitcoin,” adding that “it worked in 2013, 2015, and can work in 2025.” 

Bybit co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou said that China will try to lower the yuan to counter the tariff, adding that historically, whenever the yuan drops, “a lot of Chinese capital flows into BTC,” which is bullish for Bitcoin (BTC).

The yuan has weakened against the greenback since 2022. Source. Google Finance

A Nigerian court has reportedly delayed the country’s tax evasion case against Binance until April 30 to give time for Nigeria’s tax authority to respond to a request from the crypto exchange.

Reuters reported on April 7 that a lawyer for Binance, Chukwuka Ikwuazom, asked a court the same day to invalidate an order allowing for court documents to be served to the company via email.

Binance doesn't have an office in Nigeria and Ikwuazom claimed the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) didn’t get court permission to serve court documents to Binance outside the country.

"On the whole the order for the substituted service as granted by the court on February 11, 2025 on Binance who is ... registered under the laws of Cayman Islands and resident in Cayman Islands is improper and should be set aside," he said.

FIRS sued Binance in February, claiming the exchange owed $2 billion in back taxes and should be made to pay $79.5 billion for damages to the local economy as its its operations allegedly destabilized the country’s currency, the naira, which Binance denies.