Bitcoin falls toward $80K and prints ‘death cross’ as US stocks mimic 2020 COVID-19 crash

Bitcoin (BTC) hit new monthly lows at the April 3 Wall Street open as US unemployment data added to pressure on risk assets.

BTC/USD 4-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Bitcoin gives early April gains as stocks plummet

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView confirmed the first trip below $82,000 for BTC/USD since the start of the month.

After initially surging as high as $88,580 as the US government unveiled reciprocal trade tariffs, Bitcoin soon ran out of steam as the reality of the stronger-than-expected measures hit home.

US stocks then followed, with the S&P 500 down over 4% on the day at the time of writing.

“Today’s -3.7% drop puts the S&P 500 on track for its largest daily decline since the 2020 pandemic lockdowns,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter wrote in part of a <a

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ParaSwap rebrands to Velora, introduces intent-based DEX trading feature

Decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator ParaSwap announced its rebrand to Velora and is moving on to a new intents-based trading feature.

According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, Velora’s just introduced its Delta v.2.5 upgrade. This supposedly results in improved flexibility and agility in trade execution on the DEX.

Paraswap has seen 18,000 monthly active users over the last month with 4.3 million smart contract interactions over the past 365 days, according to TokenTerminal data. The platform first introduced intents-based trading back in the summer of 2024, with hopes that it would mitigate the negative impact of maximum extractable value (MEV) bots.

Since then, ParaSwap submitted orders in three steps. First the order is preprocessed defining the expected trade price, then this is submitted to an auction to determine the most efficient execution strategy considering liquidity and timing. The winning agent executes the trade while taking the

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How zero-knowledge proofs can make AI fairer

Opinion by: Rob Viglione, co-founder and CEO of Horizen Labs

Can you trust your AI to be unbiased? A recent research paper suggests it’s a little more complicated. Unfortunately, bias isn’t just a bug — it’s a persistent feature without proper cryptographic guardrails.

A September 2024 study from Imperial College London shows how zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) can help companies verify that their machine learning (ML) models treat all demographic groups equally while still keeping model details and user data private. 

Zero-knowledge proofs are cryptographic methods that enable one party to prove to another that a statement is true without revealing any additional information beyond the statement’s validity. When defining “fairness,” however, we open up a whole new can of worms. 

Machine learning bias

With machine learning models, bias manifests in dramatically different ways. It can cause a credit scoring service to rate a person differently

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Trump’s pick for SEC chair makes it out of committee

Lawmakers in the US Senate Banking Committee voted to advance the nomination of Paul Atkins to be a member of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), paving the way for a full floor vote in the chamber.

In an April 3 executive session of the banking committee, lawmakers voted 13-11 for Atkins to serve two consecutive terms as an SEC commissioner, taking over former Chair Gary Gensler’s term and another term ending in 2031.

Atkins’ nomination will soon go to the Republican-controlled Senate for a full floor vote, where many experts suggest he is likely to be confirmed.

Senator Tim Scott addressing lawmakers on April 3. Source: US Senate Banking Committee

Before calling for a vote, committee chair Tim Scott said Atkins would bring “much-needed clarity for digital assets.” Ranking member Elizabeth Warren reiterated earlier concerns about Trump’s

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Beyond the hype: How Bitcoin stays true to its values

Bitcoin’s (BTC) journey from a radical experiment to a trillion-dollar asset has been fueled by grand narratives: Digital gold, decentralized money and an alternative financial system. Beyond the hype, how does Bitcoin remain true to its core values? 

That’s the central theme of the latest episode of The Clear Crypto Podcast, where hosts Nathan Jeffay and Gareth Jenkinson are joined by Charlie Spears, co-founder of Blockspace Media, to unpack Bitcoin’s evolving role in the global financial system.

Bitcoin’s evolution

From the outset, Bitcoin was designed as a decentralized alternative to traditional money.

But as adoption has surged, so too has the debate over its scalability and usability. Jenkinson began the conversation by explaining the origins of the original cryptocurrency and how that has shifted over time:

“It started out as digital gold and electronic money, and it was supposed to be that. And this is

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Trump 'Liberation Day' tariffs create chaos in markets, recession concerns

US President Donald Trump introduced a slew of tariffs on April 2, sending markets into a tailspin and dividing crypto observers as to their possible long-term effects. 

At a special event at the White House, Trump signed an executive order and claimed emergency powers, leveling reciprocal tariffs at every country that has a tariff on US goods, starting at a 10% minimum.

The long-term effect that this swathe of new taxes could have on global markets is unknown. The uncertainty is compounded by the ambiguous methodology the Trump administration used to determine the tariff rates. 

Some believe that the crypto market is due for a boom as investors seek an alternative for traditional investments. Others note the effect tariffs could have on mining equipment, hampering profitability. More still are concerned about the broader impact of tariffs and a possible recession. 


Trump’s tariffs

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Wintermute transfers $75M FDUSD since depegs, in $3M arbitrage opportunity

Market makers’ blockchain transactions point to a potential $3 million arbitrage opportunity related to the depegging of the FDUSD stablecoin.

The First Digital US dollar-pegged stablecoin (FDUSD) depegged on April 2, after Tron founder Justin Sun claimed that the stablecoin issuer was insolvent.

Market marker Wintermute transferred over 75 million FDUSD tokens back to First Digital within a day since the stablecoin depegged to $0.87.

Source: Lookonchain

“Since $FDUSD depegged, #Wintermute has transferred 75M $FDUSD to First Digital Labs,” wrote blockchain intelligence platform Lookonchain, in an April 3 X post, adding:

“They likely bought $FDUSD at a discount during the depeg and redeemed it 1:1 through First Digital—making a solid profit.”

Source: Lookonchain

Wintermute with over 31 million FDUSD tokens from Binance right after the depegging occurred. “Assuming they bought $FDUSD near the bottom at $0.90,

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CEX listings outperform Nasdaq and Dow IPOs with 80% average returns

Cryptocurrency listings have outperformed the average of traditional stock listings, despite recent community criticism regarding the manipulation potential of token listings on centralized exchanges.

Token listing procedures on centralized cryptocurrency exchanges (CEXs) drew significant controversy after Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, co-founder and former CEO of Binance, called the process flawed after disappointing performances of some token listings.

Despite the criticism, crypto exchanges have outperformed traditional stock exchanges in terms of listings with positive returns on investment (ROI) and average ROI, according to an April 3 CoinMarketCap report shared exclusively with Cointelegraph.

Over the past 180 days, crypto exchange listings had an average return of over 80%, outperforming the largest traditional stock indexes such as the Nasdaq and Dow Jones, as well as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).

CEX listings, top indexes, average ROI. Source: CoinMarketCap

The 80% return refers to the average performance of all listed

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US sanctions 8 crypto wallets tied to Garantex, Houthis

The US Treasury Department sanctioned eight cryptocurrency wallet addresses linked to Russian crypto exchange Garantex and the Houthis.

The United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned eight crypto addresses that data from blockchain forensic firms Chainalysis and TRM Labs had linked to the organizations. Two are deposit addresses at major crypto platforms, while the other six are privately controlled.

Visualization of transaction flow related to OFAC sanctions. Source: Chainalysis

The addresses in question reportedly moved nearly $1 billion worth of funds linked to sanctioned entities. Most of the transactions funded Houthi operations in Yemen and the Red Sea region.

Slava Demchuk, a crypto-focused money laundering specialist and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime consultant told Cointelegraph that “the inclusion of Houthi-linked wallets reflects a broader recognition of

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Crypto donations top $1B in 2024, gain traction after Myanmar, Thailand quake

Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao donated over half a million dollars worth of crypto to the earthquake disaster relief effort in Thailand and Myanmar, in another testament to the growing utility of blockchain-based emergency charity efforts.

Zhao donated 1,000 BNB (BNB) tokens worth almost $600,000 to the disaster relief funds for the region on March 3, blockchain data shows.

Zhao donates 1,000 BNB. Source: BscScan

“Sent 1000 BNB for the donation for Myanmar and Thailand,” wrote Zhao in an April 3 X post.

The crypto donation comes after Thailand and Myanmar were hit by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake on March 28, causing severe damage to buildings and widespread flooding.

Related: 70% chance of crypto bottoming before June amid trade fears: Nansen

At least 2,719 people have been confirmed dead in Myanmar and 18 in Thailand, with

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