Summary
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BTC and ETH pulled back after a brief rally and entered a short-term bearish consolidation phase. Total liquidations over the past 24 hours reached approximately $273.8 million, with short positions dominating. The Fear and Greed Index stands around 17, indicating overall cautious sentiment.
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Privacy and DeFi sectors outperformed against the broader downturn. Tokens such as RSC, STIK, and ARIA ranked among the top gainers over the past 24 hours, reflecting structural opportunities in a weak market environment.
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Morgan Stanley’s spot Bitcoin ETF recorded approximately $34 million in inflows on its first trading day, with a fee of 0.14%. Meanwhile, Strategy’s preferred stock issuance (STRC) could fund the purchase of over 2,500 BTC at market prices, highlighting rising corporate demand alongside intensifying distribution competition.
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Stablecoins on Ethereum reached a record high of approximately $180 billion, accounting for around 60% of total supply, resonating with institutional tokenization and RWA narratives.
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Over the next seven days, token unlocks include APT (~$9.44 million, ~1.4% of circulating supply), BABY (~$8.95 million, ~25%), and LINEA (~$3.95 million, ~4.6%).
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BTC — Over the past 24 hours, BTC surged to $72,857 before retracing to around $70,500, approaching intraday lows. Disappointment around ceasefire expectations combined with negative sentiment triggered sharp volatility led by short positions. Total liquidations reached $273.8 million, including $196.7 million in shorts and $77.1 million in longs. Technically, short-term moving averages are diverging downward, MACD remains in a bearish crossover with weakening momentum, and price is trading below EMA7 and EMA21 near the lower Bollinger Band, with declining volume. Overall, short-term downside dominates, while mid-term support remains intact but lacks clear rebound signals. CPI data will be key for repricing rate cut expectations.
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ETH — ETH briefly rallied to $2,270 before quickly retracing to around $2,162. Short-term moving averages are turning downward, showing stronger pressure than BTC. MACD bearish crossover persists with weak momentum. Price remains below EMA7 and EMA21 and close to the lower Bollinger Band, with shrinking volume. ETH appears weaker in the short term and remains in a bearish consolidation phase following a pullback from recent highs. Under tightening risk appetite, it is expected to continue underperforming BTC.
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Altcoins — With BTC pulling back from highs and risk appetite contracting, major altcoins broadly faced selling pressure. During periods of volatility in core assets, capital tends to concentrate in highly liquid, narrative-driven leading tokens and structural sectors, while long-tail assets driven by leverage and sentiment exhibit greater volatility.
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Stablecoins — Total stablecoin supply across the market stands at approximately $315.44 billion, increasing by about $982 million over the past week, or +0.31%. This reflects a modest net inflow, with no significant contraction in liquidity pools.
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Gas Fee — Gas fees remained at extremely low levels for most of the past week, typically well below 1 Gwei, currently around 0.062 Gwei.
Trending Tokens
Over the past 24 hours, the altcoin market followed major assets into a structurally broad decline. Approximately 85% of tokens declined, while only 15% posted gains. Privacy and DeFi sectors stood out, with an average increase of 5.6%, and some tokens such as RSC rising over 65%. The Fear and Greed Index remains at 17. Although slightly recovered from prior extreme fear levels, sentiment is still cautious. Broad altcoin rallies remain highly dependent on consolidation in major assets, with short-term momentum largely driven by follow-through trading.
RSC ResearchCoin (+65.11%, market cap: $21.66 million)
According to Gate data, RSC is trading at $0.108, up 65.11% over 24 hours. ResearchCoin is the native token of ResearchHub, designed to accelerate scientific research by rewarding contributors. The recent surge is driven by heightened interest in the DeSci sector and new incentive mechanisms launched by ResearchHub.
STIK Staika (+50.49%, market cap: $48.03 million)
STIK is trading at $0.3517, up 50.49% over 24 hours. Staika is a blockchain-based M2E and L2E ecosystem that incentivizes healthy lifestyles and learning. Recent ecosystem updates and partnerships with sports brands have attracted new users, driving strong trading volume and price recovery.
ARIA AriaAI (+31.57%, market cap: $121 million)
ARIA is trading at $0.67993, up 31.57%. AriaAI provides decentralized AI computing and data services, optimizing model training and deployment via blockchain. Supported by a major version upgrade and a 754% gain over the past 30 days, ARIA continues to attract strong capital inflows, including whale accumulation.
Key Data Highlights
Morgan Stanley spot Bitcoin ETF sees $34M inflow on day one
According to CoinDesk, Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin ETF (MSBT) recorded over 1.6 million shares in trading volume and attracted approximately $34 million in inflows on its first day, with a low fee of 0.14%. Leveraging its wealth management network, the product aims to onboard traditional investors into Bitcoin.
This launch reflects intensifying competition among major Wall Street firms in crypto asset management. The aggressive fee strategy targets market share from early leaders such as BlackRock and Fidelity. While initial inflows are smaller compared to incumbents, Morgan Stanley’s distribution network presents significant long-term potential. The market is shifting from expansion to competition on channels and fees, which may ultimately provide more stable institutional support for Bitcoin.
Strategy’s STRC issuance could fund purchase of over 2,500 BTC
According to BitcoinTreasuries, Strategy’s preferred stock issuance raised sufficient capital to acquire over 2,500 BTC at current prices, equivalent to five times daily miner supply.
Strategy continues to convert traditional financing into Bitcoin demand, representing one of the strongest structural buy-side forces in the market. This supply-demand imbalance provides strong price support and may serve as a model for other listed companies. As long as financing channels remain open, this structural demand is likely to persist.
Canary Capital files for spot PEPE ETF
According to The Block, Canary Capital has filed an S-1 with the SEC to launch a spot PEPE ETF. The filing explicitly states that PEPE is a meme token with no utility and a supply exceeding 420 trillion.
This move reflects growing institutional interest in highly liquid meme assets. However, given the SEC’s strict stance on altcoin ETFs, approval remains unlikely in the near term. The filing should be viewed as a strategic positioning effort to test regulatory boundaries.
Weekly Focus
US–Iran ceasefire expectations drive volatility and risk sentiment shifts
Geopolitical developments in the Middle East and energy prices have become key drivers of both crypto and traditional markets. Reports of a potential two-week ceasefire boosted risk appetite, leading to gains in equity futures, a pullback in oil prices, and a rebound in BTC above $72,000 and ETH above $2,200.
However, uncertainty remains around negotiation terms and oil supply routes such as the Strait of Hormuz. As a result, markets exhibit event-driven volatility. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded approximately $471 million in inflows on April 6, signaling continued institutional positioning despite volatility. Prediction markets also saw increased activity around geopolitical scenarios, highlighting the transmission from events to expectations to market risk appetite.
The Treasury exploring stricter stablecoin regulation
The Treasury is reportedly preparing a regulatory framework involving FinCEN and OFAC, requiring issuers to implement transaction monitoring, freezing capabilities, and compliance controls.
If implemented, stablecoins would move closer to regulated financial infrastructure, impacting issuer operations, product design, and cross-border use. This could increase institutional adoption while limiting fully censorship-resistant use cases.
Ethereum stablecoin supply reaches $180B
Data widely cited this week shows Ethereum stablecoin supply reaching approximately $180 billion, accounting for around 60% of the global total. Including EVM ecosystems such as Arbitrum and Base, the share increases further.
Ethereum continues to serve as the primary settlement layer for dollar liquidity. Institutional initiatives in tokenized funds and on-chain cash management are increasingly integrating traditional finance with DeFi infrastructure.
Funding Weekly
According to RootData, multiple crypto projects announced funding between April 3 and April 9, focusing on Layer1, RWA infrastructure, payments, and reward systems.
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Pharos Network raised approximately $44 million in Series A funding, bringing total funding to around $52 million. It focuses on institutional-grade RWA settlement infrastructure.
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GoSats raised $5 million in Series A, targeting Bitcoin and gold reward systems integrated with consumer payments.
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Polygon Labs is reportedly exploring up to $100 million in new funding for payment-related expansion, pending confirmation.
Next Week Outlook
Token Unlocks (April 10–16, 2026)
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APT: ~$9.44 million (~1.4% of circulating supply)
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BABY: ~$8.95 million (~25%)
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LINEA: ~$3.95 million (~4.6%)
Reference:
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Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/BTC_USDT
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Farside Investors, https://farside.co.uk/btc/
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Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/ETH_USDT
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Gate, https://www.gate.com/crypto-market-data
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CoinGecko, https://www.coingecko.com/en/cryptocurrency-heatmap
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CoinGecko, https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories
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DefiLlama, https://defillama.com/stablecoins
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Etherscan, https://etherscan.io/gastracker
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Rootdata, https://www.rootdata.com/Fundraising
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Tokenomist, https://tokenomist.ai/
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CoinDesk, https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/04/08/bitcoin-u-s-stock-futures-surge-on-a-two-week-u-s-iran-ceasefire
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CoinDesk, https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/04/07/bitcoin-etf-inflows-hit-highest-level-since-february
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Yahoo Finance, https://finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/investing/article/bitcoin-and-ethereum-price-today-wednesday-april-8-2026-prices-rise-after-us-iran-ceasefire-announcement-113837833.html
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