What to Know:

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In recent economic news, President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal tariffs” this month, resulting in a spike in the economic trade policy uncertainty index. This development pushed investors away from riskier assets, like bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell fueled market apprehension with his recent statements, predicting an increase in unemployment alongside economic slowdowns and rising inflation as the effects of tariffs hit consumers. His remarks caused declines in key indices such as the Nasdaq and S&P 500; however, bitcoin managed to rise over 1% in the last 24 hours, while the broader CoinDesk 20 index increased by 1.8% despite cryptocurrencies being viewed as riskier assets.

According to analyst Michael Brown from Pepperstone, the demand for assets offering protection against political instability and trade uncertainties is likely to continue to expand.

Bitcoin has shown stronger performance compared to stock markets, but institutional investors seem to be gravitating towards gold, regarded as a reliable safe haven, which has risen by 11% over the past month.

What to Watch

• Crypto Events:

  • April 17: Activation of penalties for operator misconduct on Ethereum mainnet.
  • April 18: Pepecoin’s second halving.
  • Upcoming BNB Chain mainnet hardfork and Coinbase’s XRP futures listing pending regulatory approval.

• Macro Updates:

  • Upcoming releases on U.S. Census Bureau’s construction data and unemployment claims.

Market Movements

• Current Price (BTC): $84,312
• Current Price (ETH): $1,593.44
• Gold Price: $3,338.30/oz

Bitcoin Dominance: 63.89%
Hashrate: 905 EH/s
CME Futures Open Interest: 138,235 BTC

Stay tuned for further updates!