The Weekly Wrap
Over the last 7 days:
- Bitcoin (BTC) up 2.70%
- Ethereum (ETH) up 3.14%
- XRP down 2.21%
- Solana (SOL) down 3.19%
Other movers:
Total Market Cap is up 1.97% since last Wednesday sitting at 2.48T
ETF Flows
Institutional demand picked up last week.
BTC ETFs recorded $786M in inflows, bringing total assets to $94.9B. ETH ETFs saw $187M in inflows, with total assets now at $13B.
April 6 stood out, with $471M flowing into Bitcoin ETFs, the largest single-day inflow since late February. BlackRock’s IBIT led with $181.9M, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC at $147.3M.
Bitcoin vs Gold vs Nasdaq YTD.
🟡 Gold: +9.75%
🔵 NASDAQ: flat (+0.11%)
🟠 Bitcoin: -15.33%
Gold continues to lead, holding onto gains despite recent volatility and reinforcing its role as a safe haven during uncertain conditions. Equities have struggled to find direction, with the NASDAQ chopping around and sitting roughly flat on the year. Bitcoin remains the laggard, still down double digits, reflecting its sensitivity to broader risk-off conditions.
Source: Tradingview, BTC, GOLD, NASDAQ
Macro
Markets this week were driven almost entirely by geopolitics.
Oil & Inflation
Oil remains a key driver of the macro narrative.
Prices surged during the conflict, briefly pushing above $100, before pulling back on ceasefire news. Since then, oil has stabilised near the top of its range, reflecting ongoing uncertainty around supply. This matters because energy is feeding directly into inflation.
US CPI for March came in at 3.3% annually, the highest since April 2024, driven largely by a 10.9% surge in energy costs. Core inflation remained more contained, suggesting underlying pressures are still relatively stable. US Markets are now pricing minimal rate cuts in 2026, with central banks likely to stay patient unless conditions materially change.
Australia
The RBA lifted the cash rate to 4.10% back in March, citing ongoing inflation risks and global uncertainty. Officials have flagged that sustained oil prices near $100 could push CPI higher in the near term. Markets are now watching the May 5 meeting, with another hike still on the table. We are sitting at a 62% chance of another hike. Australia’s latest CPI sits at 3.7%, with the next update due April 29.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin is up 2.70% over the past 7 days.
Bitcoin is pushing back toward the top of its current range, with price now testing resistance around the $74K level. This is a key area. A clean break higher would likely require supportive macro or geopolitical developments, while failure here could see price reject and rotate back toward the range lows.
As it stands, this looks like a typical range setup. Either we break out with momentum, or sweep liquidity above resistance before moving lower again.
Source: Tradingview BTC/USDT
Etherum
ETH is also in the green the past 7 days up 3.14% holding its position as the second-largest digital asset. The network continues to lean heavily toward staking.
There are now over 975,000 active validators, securing roughly 35.7 million ETH, with no meaningful exit queue. This suggests participants are opting to remain staked and earn yield, rather than exit positions. Around 33% of ETH supply is now staked, generating an estimated 3–4% APR, reinforcing Ethereum’s positioning as a yield-bearing asset. For capital seeking onchain yield, staked ETH is increasingly becoming a baseline allocation.
Percentage of ETH staked:
Source: Theblock.io
At the same time, institutional demand appears to be building, with validator entry queues expanding, pointing to continued interest in staking and long-term network participation.
Staying on the institutional side, there was a setback this week. A planned $1.6B SPAC merger between Dynamix Corporation and Ethereum treasury firm The Ether Machine was terminated due to market conditions. The Ether Machine currently holds over 496,000 ETH, valued at more than $1.1B.
Altcoins
Over the past 7 days, altcoins have been mixed with pockets of strength starting to emerge.
- DeFi led the move, up +6.87%
- Gaming followed at +3.72%
- Memecoins climbed +3.22%
- RWA dipped slightly (-0.66%)
- AI cooled off (-0.83%)
DeFi was the standout this week, driven in part by HYPE, which surged over 20%, pulling the sector higher and bringing attention back to the space.
Source: Coingecko categories
Bitcoin dominance is at 59.71%, virtually unchanged, while the CMC Altcoin Season Index sits at 34/100, squarely in "Bitcoin Season" territory still.
NEAR & ARB
Two ecosystems worth watching this week, for very different reasons.
NEAR is quietly going through a major shift.
Token emissions were halted in February, effectively removing inflation, while fee revenue has ramped up to an estimated $34M annualised. Activity is being driven by “intents”, now processing over $2B in monthly volume, with the majority coming from stablecoins. The key shift here is structural.
NEAR has moved from an inflationary model to something closer to breakeven or even deflationary, with no remaining VC or team unlocks. Despite this, the market is still pricing it significantly below prior highs, while early ETF filings from firms like Bitwise and Grayscale suggest growing institutional interest.
Arbitrum (ARB), on the other hand, is seeing momentum return on both price and usage.
ARB recently broke out of a short-term range with a BOS (break of structure), pushing to a two-month high before a slight pullback, with price still holding higher on increased volume. That move is being supported by network growth.
Partnerships and expansion into regions like Latin America are driving user adoption, with platforms like Eldorado reportedly onboarding over 1 million users. In markets facing inflation and limited access to USD, Arbitrum is increasingly being used for real-world payments and transfers. There are also ongoing developments around stablecoins and AI-linked protocols building on the network, adding to the broader use case.
One thing to watch is supply. ARB is part of a broader token unlock cycle this week, with additional tokens entering circulation. While relatively small as a percentage of supply, unlocks can still influence short-term price action
This Week's Insights
A $280M exploit on Drift this week didn’t break the code, it broke trust. The attacker used legitimate access to drain funds, highlighting how crypto risk is shifting beyond smart contracts.
Read more about this weeks insights on: What Happened in the $280M Drift Protocol Hack?
