Welcome to our April 2025 Monthly Crypto Market Recap!
Bitcoin consolidated between $80K and $82K before reclaiming the $90K level for the first time since March 7. Ethereum spot ETFs, after eight consecutive weeks of redemptions, finally recorded net inflows of $157 million, pushing ETH back above $1.8K.
The Trump administration’s repeal of the Biden-era crypto tax reporting rule, alongside overt support for Bitcoin, stablecoins, and crypto reserves, marked a structural shift in U.S. policy. Under new SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, the promise of crypto-friendly regulation further strengthened market sentiment. Additionally, institutional momentum continued with the launch of 21 Capital, backed by Tether, SoftBank, and Cantor Fitzgerald, holding a $3.6 billion Bitcoin treasury. The move echoed the strategic playbook of MicroStrategy, signaling deepening institutional interest.
On the macro front, Donald Trump’s announcement of massive tariffs — including up to 145% duties on Chinese imports, triggered a global stock market crash that wiped out nearly $6 trillion in value. As investors sought alternatives amid rising fears of a recession, safe-haven assets like gold hit record highs above $3,400/oz. The sharp equity selloff also fueled expectations of imminent Federal Reserve rate cuts, creating favorable liquidity conditions for risk assets like cryptocurrencies and driving a strong rally across major tokens.
Meanwhile, China restricted its companies from investing in the U.S. to gain bargaining leverage amid intensifying trade tensions. While Chinese tech stocks suffered sharp declines, government bonds rallied as investors fled to safer assets. Simultaneously, China signaled openness to negotiations with the US, contingent on “respect” and clear diplomatic channels. Strengthening regional influence, China also signed trade agreements with Vietnam and Malaysia. Internally, the government prepared “emergency” measures to cushion the economy against external pressures and slowing growth.
Join us as we explore April’s crypto market and the key catalysts that fueled this month’s top performers. Stay ahead with our comprehensive monthly market recaps at TRHX Research and receive real-time updates from TRHX Pulse to navigate the ever-evolving crypto landscape!
Memecoins Resurgence; Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) ⏶137.44%, Official Trump (TRUMP) ⏶48.31%, Bonk (BONK) ⏶65.22%
Memecoins started rallying again after there was stability in the markets. Platforms like Axiom reached record volumes, over $100M daily by mid-April. Despite incidents of scams and rug pulls, speculative enthusiasm remained strong, notably benefiting memecoins such as Fartcoin, Trump, and Bonk.
Fartcoin, launched in October 2024, surged in popularity after an AI bot called Truth Terminal began promoting it on X. The bot had received 20 million FARTCOIN to supposedly fund its “escape from containment”. Adding to its novelty, each Fartcoin transaction triggers a playful feature called “Gas Fees,” emitting a digital fart sound. Fartcoin remains at the top of mindshare on social tracking platforms like Cookie.fun, where it has consistently stayed above 20% over the last two months.
TRUMP saw a major resurgence in price largely driven by heightened political relevance and exclusive access events. The official endorsement and association with President Trump lent the memecoin unparalleled legitimacy among retail and politically motivated investors. A major catalyst was the announcement of the exclusive $TRUMP Dinner for the top 220 token holders, creating significant hype and perceived value around holding the token. Additionally, the launch of Trump’s family crypto project, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), and its immediate expansion into Pakistan and other global partnerships reinforced the broader ecosystem around $TRUMP, signaling long-term ambitions and international reach. Together, these developments turned $TRUMP into a speculative proxy for Trump’s political momentum, fueling rapid appreciation in its price during the month.
Lastly, there was Bonk, which rode the wave of Solana’s rise this month. The broader Solana ecosystem witnessed renewed interest, with increased activity in decentralized applications and meme coins, providing a favorable environment for BONK’s growth.
Bittensor (TAO) ⏶61.53%
Bittensor (TAO) is a decentralized network designed to facilitate the creation and maintenance of machine learning models. It leverages a peer-to-peer system of subnets, miners, and validators to decentralize AI development and commodify the production of ML data. Bittensor has grown significantly over the past year, expanding to 45 subnets, each focused on different AI tasks, from image generation to protein folding.
TAO’s recent surge is largely driven by strong network growth rather than external macro factors. According to tech entrepreneur Mark Jeffrey, the market cap of Bittensor’s subnet ecosystem skyrocketed from just $50 million to $500 million within a few weeks, leading to more TAO being locked into the network. Additionally, the number of active subnets on Bittensor has risen from 65 to 95 between January and April — a 46% increase — reflecting accelerating demand and activity across the ecosystem, which has directly contributed to the token’s positive price momentum.
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) ⏶57.02%
$FET is the token for Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (ASI), a decentralised platform for autonomous AI agents. Designed to merge blockchain technology with artificial intelligence, Fetch.ai focuses on real-world applications ranging from mobility solutions to smart energy grids. Its native token, $FET, underpins these operations across both on-chain governance and AI agent coordination.
One of this month’s major catalysts was the mainnet upgrade on April 1, 2025, at block height 21,267,067. This upgrade, tied to governance proposal #35, aims to enhance the network’s security and operational efficiency by integrating the existing governance module from the Cosmos SDK. Importantly, only users who have delegated $FET on the Fetch.ai mainnet were eligible to participate in the governance vote. While the upgrade led to minimal downtime and did not alter the API or chain state, it reflects Fetch.ai’s focus on strengthening its technical foundation as AI adoption grows.
In parallel, Fetch.ai announced a strategic partnership with luxury automotive brand Mansory to integrate its Web3-native ASI-1 Mini language model into high-end vehicles. This collaboration will leverage proprietary vehicle data to develop AI-driven predictive maintenance, intelligent route planning, and personalized configurations for luxury cars, while ensuring secure data usage through blockchain infrastructure. Together with the February launch of the ASI-1 Mini, these moves position Fetch.ai at the intersection of AI, blockchain, and the automotive industry, laying the groundwork for broader adoption of its decentralised AI technologies.
Sui (SUI) ⏶56.94%
Sui is a layer-1 blockchain designed for low-latency transfers, emphasizing instant transaction finality and high-speed throughput, making it ideal for real-time applications like games and finance. Its smart contracts use Move, a Rust-based language optimized for speed and security. Sui achieves “horizontal scaling” through “transaction parallelization,” which allows simultaneous processing of independent transactions.
Sui’s price surge was largely catalyzed by its strategic collaboration with World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the Trump-backed decentralized finance protocol. WFLI’s partnership significantly enhanced Sui’s positioning as a preferred blockchain for American-based DeFi innovation. By aligning with WLFI’s “Macro Strategy” reserve and tapping into its strong political and cultural brand association, Sui bolstered its credibility and visibility among U.S users and institutions. Moreover, the endorsement from high-profile figures such as Eric Trump provided a powerful narrative tailwind, further accelerating adoption and inflows into the Sui ecosystem during the month.
Sui also rallied following Cboe’s filing of a 19b-4 rule change with the SEC to list Canary Capital’s proposed SUI exchange-traded fund (ETF). This step marked a critical advancement toward the potential approval of the first SUI ETF in the U.S, a move that would dramatically increase institutional and retail access to the token without the technical burden of self-custody. Given the success of earlier Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, the market interpreted this as a major legitimizing moment for Sui.
Kaspa (KAS) ⏶49.46%
Kaspa, a Layer-1 blockchain focused on Proof-of-Work scalability and real-time block confirmations, has continued to build momentum this month. Known for its simplicity-first architecture that emphasises low congestion and fast transaction speeds, Kaspa has carved out a unique niche among Layer-1 competitors. Its approach appeals to users and miners seeking minimal latency without sacrificing decentralisation.
This month, Kaspa’s on-chain metrics revealed a strong positive signal: the inactive supply hit an all-time high, indicating significant accumulation among long-term holders. Historically, a rising inactive supply reflects growing conviction and reduced sell pressure, suggesting that market participants are positioning for future gains. Alongside this, Kaspa’s price has remained resilient, supported by its continued focus on scalability and efficient block propagation.
Looking forward, the Crescendo upgrade serves as a major catalyst for the project. Crescendo aims to further enhance Kaspa’s scalability and network performance, reinforcing its competitive edge in the Layer-1 space.
Worldcoin (WLD) ⏶46.56%
Worldcoin (WLD) is a project designed to provide global access to the digital economy by combining a secure digital identity system, a self-custodial crypto wallet, and its own cryptocurrency. It uses a device called the Orb to scan users’ irises and create a unique World ID, verifying personhood without linking to personal information. The World App stores this ID and supports managing cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, while the WLD token — distributed for free to verified users — enables governance participation and potential future payments. With a total supply capped at 10 billion tokens over 15 years, Worldcoin aims to boost economic opportunity, support decentralized finance, and lay the groundwork for initiatives like AI-funded universal basic income.
The recent performance of WLD has been largely driven by macroeconomic factors rather than any changes in the token’s fundamentals. Its price surge closely mirrors the rebound in the U.S. equities market since April 22nd, particularly the strength seen in the tech sector. In many ways, WLD is functioning as a liquid crypto proxy for OpenAI, making it highly sensitive to broader macro conditions, including developments like tariff announcements and shifts in investor sentiment toward tech and innovation-driven assets.
Stacks (STX) ⏶38.48%
Stacks is a Bitcoin layer-2 solution that enables developers to build on Bitcoin without altering its core protocol, preserving the security and integrity of the BTC network while introducing the flexibility of smart contracts. This is achieved through unique mechanisms that connect Stacks’ operations directly to Bitcoin, allowing for innovations like DeFi, NFTs, and more, all anchored to the stability and security of Bitcoin.
While STX naturally benefits from Bitcoin’s movements as the largest Bitcoin Layer 2, a significant portion of its outperformance this month is tied to bullish news around its partnership with BitGo. BitGo announced it will integrate sBTC — a synthetic Bitcoin derivative on the Stacks blockchain — to offer institutions seamless access to Stacks’ DeFi ecosystem without compromising Bitcoin’s security. This move is seen as a major step in unlocking institutional demand for Stacks, especially as stablecoin liquidity on the network surged over 400% in Q1. The market responded strongly to the news, propelling STX to a two-month high and cementing it as one of the best-performing top 100 cryptocurrencies in recent weeks.
Hyperliquid (HYPE) ⏶34.65%
Hyperliquid, the decentralised perpetual futures trading platform, continues to build strong momentum in the DeFi space. Focused on offering fast, low-cost trading with high security, Hyperliquid has positioned itself as a decentralised alternative to centralised giants like Binance, Bybit, and OKX. Its infrastructure and user experience improvements have been key factors in attracting both institutional and retail traders looking for transparency and control.
This month, Hyperliquid recorded a 38% weekly increase in total value locked (TVL), pushing TVL past $536 million, a new all-time high for the platform. From virtually zero TVL at the end of 2024, this rapid growth over just six months reflects accelerating user adoption and rising investor confidence. Alongside the TVL surge, Hyperliquid has captured 3.8% of the global perpetual trading market share, a major achievement that cements its status as a serious competitor among decentralised exchanges. The sharp growth also highlights a broader shift in trader preference towards decentralised platforms offering lower fees, faster execution, and greater asset custody.
Looking ahead, the challenge for Hyperliquid will be sustaining this pace of growth as competition intensifies across the DeFi derivatives landscape. With a strong foundation built on transparency, efficiency, and user control, Hyperliquid is well-positioned to further consolidate its market share and continue innovating in decentralised trading solutions. Its rapid rise signals a growing appetite for decentralised trading venues in the evolving crypto market structure.
Closing Remarks
May is shaping up to be a pivotal month for crypto. Trump is expected to announce a new China tariff structure in early May, which could heavily impact risk assets and Asian markets. In Crypto, the FIT21 Act, which aims to clearly define crypto as either commodities or securities and expand CFTC oversight, is set for a House floor vote, with potential implications on crypto regulation if passed.
Several major crypto conferences are also lined up in the coming month. Strategy World 2025, hosted by Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) in Orlando, is a premier event focused on corporate adoption of Bitcoin. Keynote speakers include Michael Saylor and Phong Le, aiming to guide CFOs and executives on integrating Bitcoin into corporate treasury strategies. Meanwhile, CoinDesk’s Consensus 2025 in Toronto is set to attract over 20,000 attendees, including leaders from Web3, AI, and blockchain — positioning it as a key venue for major announcements and partnerships that could shape the next market cycle.
As May unfolds, we are closely monitoring these developments and remain optimistic about the market’s direction. Stay informed by following TRHX Research for in-depth crypto analysis and real-time updates.
Disclaimer
This publication is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing contained in this publication constitutes financial advice, trading advice, or any other advice, nor does it constitute an offer to buy or sell securities or any other assets or participate in any particular trading strategy. This publication does not take into account your personal investment objectives, financial situation, or needs. TRHX does not warrant that the information provided in this publication is up-to-date or accurate.
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