Crypto Market Update: Cryptocurrencies Rally Alongside Bitcoin ETF Inflows

Analysts at Amberdata have highlighted four interconnected trends from the week ended on April 19, all of which indicate that the post-rally recovery driven by derivatives is ending. Exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows are providing spot support, but perpetuals are showing weakness, with DeFi lending stressed and stablecoin supply contracting.

Simon-Peter Massabni, head of business development at XS.com, said Bitcoin’s recent ascent is being fundamentally driven by a significant return of liquidity to the market.

“Funds continue to flow into Bitcoin spot funds, Bitcoin hoarding companies have accelerated their purchases, and on-balance volume is growing,” he explained in an email.

“Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded their sixth consecutive day of positive net inflows yesterday. According to SoSo Value data, these ETFs attracted more than a quarter of a billion dollars this week through yesterday’s session, following a week that saw nearly a billion dollars in inflows,” Massabni continued.

He added that while Bitcoin is gaining despite geopolitical volatility, a definitive ceasefire in the Middle East would likely serve as a powerful catalyst to accelerate a return to previous record highs.

“This bullish trajectory is further supported by the fundamental strength of the U.S. economy and prevailing risk-on sentiment across broader equity markets, suggesting a recovery could arrive ahead of consensus projections.”

Ether (ETH) was priced at US$2,399.44, up by 3.4 percent over the last 24 hours.

Altcoin price update

XRP (XRP) was priced at US$1.44, up by 1.6 percent over 24 hours.

Solana (SOL) was trading at US$87.37, trading 2.7 percent higher over the past 24 hours.

Today’s crypto news to know

Tron founder drags Trump-linked crypto project to federal court

An escalating feud between Tron founder Justin Sun and the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial has officially spilled into federal court. Sun, who became the project’s largest individual backer after dropping US$75 million on WLFI tokens late last year, filed a lawsuit in California on Tuesday (April 21).

He alleges that the development team maliciously blacklisted his wallet, stripped his voting rights and threatened to unilaterally destroy his holdings without any formal recourse.

The relationship initially soured last September when the project froze his assets after he allegedly moved portions of his stack, an action Sun claims was done with absolutely no intent to sell.

The billionaire investor has publicly accused World Liberty leadership of acting as bad faith operators who baked a secret confiscation backdoor into the protocol’s smart contracts.

The high-profile controversy has decimated investor confidence in the platform. The WLFI token is currently trading around US$0.08, a 76 percent collapse from its all-time high.

Kalshi, Polymarket announce US crypto perpetual futures launches

Prediction market Kalshi plans to launch cryptocurrency trading services in the US, including perpetual futures regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

CEO Tarek Mansour revealed the launch date, April 27, of a product under the codename “Timeless” on April 13.

On Tuesday (April 21), the Information, citing sources familiar with the situation, confirmed that Kalshi is preparing to launch perpetual futures, a type of derivatives contract without a fixed expiration date, tied to a handful of cryptocurrencies. Also on Tuesday, rival prediction market Polymarket announced the upcoming launch of perpetual futures trading on X, although the company did not provide additional information, such as a launch date.

CFTC Chair Michael Selig has been supportive of onshoring perpetual futures for digital assets, confirming the CFTC’s efforts to get perpetual futures in the US “in the next month or so” at the Milken Institute’s Future of Finance conference, which took place on March 3.

British financial watchdog raids undercover crypto trading rings

Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is ramping up its offensive against unregulated digital asset operators, executing a coordinated sweep across eight suspected illegal peer-to-peer crypto trading hubs in London.

Reuters reported that the operation saw the financial regulator team up directly with local police and tax officials to issue formal cease and desist orders at every targeted location.

Investigators suspect these decentralized peer-to-peer networks, which deliberately bypass centralized, compliant exchanges, are actively providing pathways for criminals to launder funds and finance illicit activities.

The FCA notes that evidence seized during the on-site inspections is already being funneled into several ongoing criminal investigations. Currently, operating a peer-to-peer crypto brokerage requires strict registration in the UK, yet authorities confirm there is not a single legally registered entity of this kind currently operating in the country.

The crackdown conveniently coincides with the regulator’s push for broader, comprehensive rules governing the entire crypto industry, which are slated to take full effect by October 2027.

QCAD digital token lists on Kraken trading platform

The QCAD digital token has been listed on the Kraken crypto asset trading platform, as per an announcement from Stablecorp Digital Currencies. Kraken, which is one of the world’s oldest crypto trading venues, operates in Canada as a registered restricted dealer. This new listing enables QCAD trading on the platform, providing a Canadian dollar-denominated tool to facilitate digital asset transaction settlements.

Tempo launches enterprise advisory service for stablecoin payouts

Tempo, an L1 chain backed by Stripe and Paradigm and valued at US$5 billion, launched an enterprise stablecoin advisory service on Monday (April 20) to help design partners integrate stablecoin payouts into live production.

Tempo’s three core payment features are dedicated payment lanes, Tempo Zones for private payments and payments metadata. The platform’s design partners — DoorDash (NASDAQ:DASH), Stripe, Coastal Community Bank, ARQ and Fifth Third Bank — use these for production stablecoin flows.

DoorDash exemplifies the first major production rollout, validating Tempo’s payments-first design. It’s now using Tempo to settle merchant and driver payments across more than 40 countries in sub-seconds at fixed USD fees.

Annual merchant volume targeted exceeds US$75 billion.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.

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