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Every chain is an island: crypto’s liquidity crisis

Opinion by: Jin Kwon, co-founder and chief strategy officer at Saga

Crypto has come a long way in boosting transaction throughput. New layer 1s (L1s) and side networks offer faster, cheaper transactions than ever before. Yet, a core challenge has come into focus: liquidity fragmentation — the scattering of capital and users across an ever-growing maze of blockchains.

Vitalik Buterin, in a recent blog post, highlighted how scaling successes have led to unforeseen coordination challenges. With so many chains and so much value splintered among them, participants face a daily tangle of bridging, swapping and wallet-switching.

While these issues affect Ethereum, they also affect nearly every ecosystem. No matter how advanced, new blockchains risk becoming liquidity “islands” that struggle to connect with one another.

The real costs of fragmentation

Liquidity fragmentation means there is no single “pool” of assets for traders, investors or decentralized finance (DeFi) applications to tap into.

UK firm buys $250M Bitcoin as analysts eye quiet Easter weekend

Whales and institutions are increasing their Bitcoin holdings ahead of Easter, as market analysts predict a weekend with less volatility after two weeks of heightened volatility driven by escalating global trade tensions.

London-based investment firm Abraxas Capital acquired 2,949 Bitcoin (BTC) worth more than $250 million during the four days leading up to April 19.

In the latest transaction, the firm bought over $45 million worth of Bitcoin from Binance on April 18, according to crypto intelligence firm Lookonchain, citing Arkham Intelligence data.

Source: Arkham Intelligence, Lookonchain

The investment came days after Michael Saylor’s Strategy bought $285 million worth of Bitcoin at an average price of $82,618 per BTC, as the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holders signal continued confidence in Bitcoin, amid global tariff uncertainty.

Large Bitcoin investors, or whales, continue accumulating, absorbing over <a

Bitcoin can reach $138K in 3 months as macro odds see BTC price upside

Bitcoin (BTC) faces “unprecedented” US dollar correlation as new BTC price research gives a $75,000 floor.

In one of his latest analyses on April 18, network economist Timothy Peterson calculated that BTC/USD may rise as high as $138,000 within the next three months.

BTC price probabilities give bulls the upper hand

Bitcoin is navigating highly unusual macroeconomic conditions as a result of the ongoing US trade war, but history still offers clues as to where BTC price action may head next.

For Peterson, the US High Yield Index Effective Yield, currently at over 8%, holds the key.

“This has happened 38 times since 2010 (monthly data),” he summarized.

“3 months later: Bitcoin was up 71% of the time. The median gain was +31%. If it went lower, the worst loss was -16%.”US High Yield Index Effective Yield. Source: Timothy Peterson/X

With BTC/USD performance

Crypto, DeFi may widen wealth gap, destabilize finance: BIS report

The growing adoption of cryptocurrencies may pose risks to the traditional financial system and exacerbate wealth inequality, according to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

In an April 15 report, the BIS warned that the number of investors and amount of capital in crypto and decentralized finance (DeFi) have “reached a critical mass,” with investor protection becoming a “significant concern for regulators.”

The size of the crypto market signals that authorities should be worried about the “stability of crypto over and above the role it may have for TradFi and the real economy,” the report states, highlighting the role of stablecoins, which the BIS said have “become the means through which participants transfer value within crypto.”

BIS report on crypto and DeFi’s functions and financial stability implications. Source: BIS

The report calls for targeted

$400M Web3 investment fund ABCDE halts new investments, fundraising

Web3 and blockchain-focused investment fund ABCDE is halting new investments, but the $400 million fund remains committed to supporting its existing projects.

In an April 19 X post, ABCDE co-founder and Huobi exchange founder Du Jun said the $400 million fund will no longer invest in new projects or raise capital for the second phase of the fund.

However, Jun said the fund will continue to “post-investment support and exit arrangements of existing projects” to ensure the firm’s commitment to entrepreneurs and liquidity providers (LPs).

“My personal work focus will also gradually shift from financial investment in the primary market to strategic investment-led and deep incubation-based, focusing more on industrial synergy and long-term value creation,” Jun added.

Source: Du Jun

The announcement comes nearly three months after ABCDE’s last investment into an Ethereum layer-2 (L2) solution, Soon (Solana Optimistic Network), which<a

Base creator Jesse Pollak admits ‘Base is for pimping’ art was a mistake

The creator of Ethereum layer 2 blockchain Base, Jesse Pollak, has apologized following backlash over posting digital artwork that controversially played on Base’s tagline, “Base is for everyone.”

Several social media users found the artwork offensive and inappropriate.

“It was a single phrase among many, but I’ll own this was a mistake and apologize,” Pollak said in an April 18 X post referring to his decision to reshare a GIF image that featured the phrase “Base is for…” followed by a rotating sequence of words, including both controversial terms like “pimping” and “squirting,” as well as more neutral ones like “art,” “minting,” and “ideas.”

Pollak says he appreciates “provocative art”

Pollak emphasized that the artwork was made by a creator, not him, and specifically apologized for the image featuring the phrase “Base is for pimping.”

Pollak said that while he wants to support artists building on Base and admits he

Tariffs, explained: How they work and why they matter

What are tariffs?

Tariffs are taxes placed on imported goods by a government or a supranational union. Occasionally, tariffs can be applied to exports as well. They generate government revenue and serve as a trade regulation tool, often to shield domestic industries.

Four main categories of tariffs are:

Ad valorem tariffs: These are calculated as a percentage of the good’s value. For instance, a 20% tax might be placed on $100 of goods.Specific tariffs: These are fixed fees based on the quantity of goods. For example, there might be a tariff of $5 per imported kilogram of sugar.Compound tariffs: These combine a specific duty and an ad valorem duty applied to the same imported goods. Both tariffs are calculated together to determine the total tax. For example, a country might place a tariff on imported wine at $5 per liter plus 10% of the

Read More at https://cointelegraph.com/explained/tariffs-explained-how-they-work-and-why-they-matter?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound

Trump firing Powell would be a ‘very bad precedent to set’ — Pompliano

Crypto entrepreneur Anthony Pompliano says that US President Donald Trump shouldn’t follow through on his recent threat to fire the head of the US Federal Reserve, saying it would set a dangerous precedent — especially considering the true motive behind it.

“I do not believe that the President of the United States should come in and unilaterally fire the Fed President,” Pompliano said in a video posted on X on April 18.

Firing over disagreement is a slippery slope, says Pompliano

Pompliano said, “Where you have a disagreement and then the firing, I think that’s not really the area that we want to go into.”

“The idea of firing the Fed chairman is a very bad precedent to set this way.”

It comes after Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social to accuse Fed chair Jerome Powell of being too slow to cut

Lyn Alden lowers Bitcoin forecast after ‘tariff kerfuffle,’ eyes liquidity

Macroeconomist Lyn Alden expects Bitcoin to finish 2025 higher than its current price of around $85,000, though she says it would have been much higher if not for US President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement in February.

“Before all this tariff kerfuffle, I would have had a higher price target,” Alden told Natalie Brunell on the April 17 episode of Coin Stories. “My guess is that we end up higher at the end of the year than we are now, at least,” she added.

Bitcoin’s 24/7 trading bolsters volatility when TradFi “freaking out”

However, she said that a “massive liquidity unlock” could be the catalyst needed for Bitcoin (BTC) to reach more optimistic targets, similar to those before the tariffs were introduced.

For example, if the US bond market “broke” and the US Federal Reserve had to step in with measures like yield curve control

Firing Jerome Powell will crash financial markets — Sen. Elizabeth Warren

US Senator Elizabeth Warren warned that if President Donald Trump eventually moves to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, it could undermine investor confidence in the integrity of US capital markets and trigger a financial crash.

During an appearance on CNBC, the Massachusetts Senator said the President does not have the legal authority to remove Powell from his position. Moreover, removing Powell would weaken the financial infrastructure of the US, Warren added:

“If Chairman Powell can be fired by the President of the United States, it will crash the markets. The infrastructure that keeps this stock market strong and, therefore, a big part of our economy strong, and a big part of the world economy strong, is the idea that the big pieces move independently of politics.”

“If interest rates in the United States are subject to a president who just wants to wave his magic wand,