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Bitcoin flipped back into positive territory for the year, marking its first green print in nearly two months. While its long-term correlation to U.S. equities remains elevated, recent price action suggests BTC is starting to trade less like a tech stock and more like a safe haven. Its narrative as a politically neutral asset appears to be gaining traction. Derivatives data show the rally still has legs, with perpetual funding rates only recently turning positive. Standard Chartered reiterated its bullish call, forecasting a new all-time high around $120,000 in Q2, driven by capital rotation out of U.S. assets, and maintaining a $200,000 target by year-end. Meanwhile, Strategy stepped in aggressively, adding 15,355 BTC (~$1.42B) to their holdings over the past week, bringing their total stash to 553,555 BTC — now worth over $52 billion with BTC trading just north of $95,000.
Equity markets are treading water ahead of potential developments on U.S.-China trade talks. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent placed the onus on China to ease tensions, while President Trump refuted claims from Beijing that no discussions were taking place.
Markets are also bracing for the heaviest stretch of Q1 earnings season, with more than 180 S&P 500 companies set to report this week. Key names include PayPal (Tuesday), Microsoft, Robinhood, and Meta (Wednesday), and Amazon, Riot, and Apple (Thursday).
Macro-wise, the calendar is loaded with labor market and inflation data. Friday’s nonfarm payrolls will headline the week, alongside Q1 GDP and the Fed’s preferred inflation metric (core PCE) due out Wednesday.
The News Room
Record $3.2 billion inflows into Bitcoin funds signal new safe-haven status
Bitcoin investment products saw a breaking $3.4 billion in inflows last week, marking the third-highest weekly total ever and the most significant since December 2024. Nearly 94% of this capital—over $3 billion—went into U.S.-based spot Bitcoin ETFs, with BlackRock’s IBIT capturing more than half of the new funds. Analysts attribute this surge to growing concerns over a weakening U.S. dollar and escalating global trade tensions, prompting investors to view Bitcoin as a safe-haven asset. The influx pushed total assets under management for Bitcoin-related products to $132 billion, a level not seen since February 2025. Bitcoin's price responded with an 8% weekly gain, reaching approximately $94,682. Ethereum also reversed its eight-week outflow trend, attracting $183 million in new investments, while XRP and Sui saw inflows of $31.6 million and $20.7 million, respectively. In contrast, Solana experienced a $5.7 million outflow during the same period.
$330 Million Bitcoin theft triggers sharp 22% Monero rally to 4-year high
Monero (XMR) surged 22% to a four-year high of $328 following a $330 million Bitcoin theft, where 3,520 BTC were illicitly transferred and laundered through six exchanges into Monero to exploit its privacy features. This laundering activity, combined with low liquidity, propelled XMR among the top 10 crypto performers in the last 24 hours. At the time of reporting, XMR had slightly pulled back, trading near $267.
Ethereum researcher proposes 100x gas limit hike for network boost
Ethereum Foundation researcher Dankrad Feist has proposed Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 9698, aiming to increase the network's gas limit by 100 times over the next four years through automated client-side settings. This change could elevate Ethereum's capacity to approximately 3.6 billion gas, supporting around 2,000 transactions per second and 6,000 transactions per block, a significant jump from the current 36 million gas limit. Feist argues that the existing miner/operator voting mechanism for gas limits lacks coordination and predictability, and that a predictable exponential growth pattern would align with advancements in hardware and protocol efficiency. While the proposal has garnered attention, some Ethereum developers, including Lukasz Rozmej and Jochem Brouwer, have expressed concerns about the aggressive growth pace, advocating for a more gradual increase to avoid potential network strain.
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This research is for informational use only. This is not investment advice. Other than disclosures relating to Secure Digital Markets this research is based on current public information that we consider reliable, but we do not represent it is accurate or complete, and it should not be relied on as such. The information, opinions, estimates, and forecasts contained herein are as of the date hereof and are subject to change without prior notification. We seek to update our research as appropriate.
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