Bitcoin Reigns & DeFi Deepens

GM Anon!

Morning, crypto folks—your weekly market update’s here to get you up to speed. The vibe’s shifting, and it looks like we’re climbing out of the rut. Some solid updates are rolling in, pointing to a steadier, more optimistic market. From Tesla sticking with its Bitcoin holdings despite a rough Q1 to Vitalik Buterin pitching a major Ethereum overhaul with RISC-V, there’s plenty stirring the pot. 

Regulatory moves and new partnerships are also in the mix, keeping things interesting. Let’s break down what’s driving this cautious upswing and see where the market’s headed.

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TLDR

• Market Surge: Crypto markets rallied, with Bitcoin up 12.4% to ~$95K, Ethereum gaining 13% to $1,800, and Solana jumping 13.4% to $152.

• BTC Dominance: Bitcoin hit a 5-year dominance high, overtaking Alphabet as the 5th largest asset; $2B+ flowed into BTC/ETH ETFs.

• Institutional Moves: Cantor, Softbank, Tether formed a $3B BTC vehicle; sovereigns and whales quietly accumulating, per Coinbase/Bitwise.

• Solana Strength: DeFi Development Corp bought $21.5M in SOL; Galaxy Digital shifted $105M from ETH to SOL; memecoins like LUCE (+78%) soared.

• Ethereum Activity: ETH at $1,758, with 1.2M daily transactions, fees below $1, and Vitalik proposing RISC-V to replace EVM for efficiency.

• Altcoin Action: AI tokens (TAO +47%, HYPE +100%) and Immutable (IMX +42%) rallied; Sui gained 14% with DeFi/gaming momentum.

• Memecoin Frenzy: TRUMP token surged 60% on Trump dinner rumors; Solana’s TROLL topped mindshare, while Ethereum’s Moonkin jumped 70%.

• Regulatory Shifts: SEC delayed Polkadot/Hedera ETFs to June 11; Paul Atkins, new SEC chair, signals pro-crypto stance.

• Other Developments: CME to launch XRP futures May 19; Coinbase/PayPal boost PYUSD; MANTRA burned $80M in tokens.

Market Moves

The crypto market delivered a robust performance this week, seeing significant institutional and retail activity. Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs saw their largest inflows in months, with over $2 billion pouring in during the first few days, signaling renewed investor confidence.

Bitcoin’s market dominance surged to a five-year high, surpassing Alphabet to claim the title of the fifth-largest asset globally. Institutional heavyweights Cantor, Softbank, and Tether further fueled optimism by forming a $3 billion Bitcoin investment vehicle. Additionally, reports from Coinbase and Bitwise revealed discreet Bitcoin accumulation by sovereign wealth funds and global whale groups, with sovereigns reportedly outpacing U.S. investors in strategic buying.

In other crypto developments, MANTRA’s team made headlines by burning $80 million worth of tokens to demonstrate conviction following a market crash.

In broader markets, stocks rallied on trade optimism, but futures weakened as China dismissed U.S. trade talks without the removal of all tariffs. Retail investors capitalized on the dip, buying at the fastest pace in a year, which helped stocks exit “Extreme Fear” sentiment. 

However, the S&P 500 faced its worst earnings revisions since 2020, and 10-year Treasury yields rose above 4.4% amid tariff-related uncertainty. Foreign holdings of U.S. debt also hit their lowest since the mid-1990s. Despite a quieter week, the market’s strength shone through, setting a positive tone.

Ethereum

Ethereum’s hanging tough in a jittery crypto market, with some under-the-radar signs it’s gearing up for something bigger. Sitting at roughly $1,758, down about 1.8%, ETH isn’t grabbing headlines for wild price swings, but the network’s starting to buzz again. 

Daily transactions have climbed back to 1.2 million (7-day average), bouncing from a low near 1.1 million earlier this year. Active addresses are holding steady between 450,000 and 500,000, a solid recovery from March when they dipped below 400,000.

New addresses are showing up at a steady clip of 100,000–120,000 a day, which points to real user growth, even if the retail crowd’s not exactly piling in. That said, on-chain volume’s taken a beating, slumping to $2.5 billion from January’s $9.2 billion peak, with DeFi activity looking pretty subdued lately.

The good news? Transaction fees have nosedived below $1, the lowest in nearly a year. That’s a game-changer for regular users and smaller projects, making it cheaper to tinker and build. It could light a spark for new ideas, especially in quieter times like these.

On the price front, ETH is staring down a big test at $1,895, where the 50-day moving average and a chunk of buyer cost bases sit. Punch through with some gusto, and $2,140’s the next stop; slip up, and it might tumble toward $1,580, especially if Bitcoin keeps hogging the spotlight or macro headwinds kick in.

Then there’s Vitalik Buterin dropping a bombshell, pushing to swap out the Ethereum Virtual Machine for RISC-V, a sleek, open-source architecture that could make the network up to 100x more efficient—think faster zero-knowledge proofs and smoother scaling.

The plan’s bold but practical, keeping Solidity contracts in play through a dual-VM setup or interpreters for older code. With fees at rock bottom, network activity lagging, and rivals like Solana nipping at its heels, Ethereum’s feeling the heat. But between these on-chain flickers and Buterin’s big bet, it’s clear ETH’s got plenty of fight left as it navigates this make-or-break moment.

Market Data Points

After a notable decline and a temporary surge in BSC’s share of bot-driven trading activity, the trend now appears to be reversing—BSC is cooling off, while Solana is steadily reclaiming its market share.

Active addresses across major ZK rollups have seen a steady decline since mid-2024. Linea and zkSync Era, once dominant in user activity, have sharply cooled off, while Scroll briefly spiked in early 2025 before retracing. Meanwhile, networks like Polygon zkEVM, Starknet, and Loopring continue to show minimal traction by comparison.

Over the past 7 days, Ethereum has dominated net flows, pulling in a significant $185.1M in net inflows—driven by $950.8M in inflows versus $765.7M in outflows. Unichain follows as the next strongest performer, while networks like OP Mainnet, Berachain, and Arbitrum saw the steepest capital outflows.

Daily exchange volume (7DMA) has steadily declined since its early January peak, when it pushed above $125B. After a sharp run-up in Q4 '24, driven by ETF hype and renewed market momentum, volumes have now cooled back to sub-$50B levels—marking a return to pre-rally conditions. This drop in activity reflects broader market consolidation and a pause in retail/institutional participation following the initial surge.

Majors and Memes

Crypto markets caught a strong bid this week, with Bitcoin climbing 12.4% to just shy of $95K and Ethereum tagging $1,800 with a 13% gain. Solana once again took the spotlight, surging 13.4% to $152 on the back of institutional rotation, record on-chain activity, and a $500M convertible note facility from SOL Strategies—the largest financial commitment in Solana's history.

Galaxy Digital rotated $105M from ETH to SOL, while DeFi Development Corp added $11.5M to its SOL treasury, signaling growing conviction in Solana's scalability and ecosystem depth. Memecoins on SOL also heated up, with smart money rotating into LUCE (+78%) and Italianrot (+55%).

AI tokens made a huge comeback. Bittensor (TAO) soared 47% as it reclaimed key resistance levels, Hyperliquid (HYPE) doubled following a validator expansion, and Ethena (ENA) jumped 21% with $4.82B TVL ahead of its Converge mainnet launch.

Sui quietly posted one of the strongest Layer-1 moves, with SUI rallying over 14% and emerging as a standout among the majors. As on-chain volume and new listings pick up, momentum is building behind Sui’s DeFi and gaming push, making it one to watch going into May.

In the meme corner, TRUMP pumped 60% after reports that top holders were offered dinner with the former president, while DOGE and PEPE held firm with modest gains. On Ethereum, Moonkin (+70%) and Shrub (+7.2%) saw accumulation.

Immutable (IMX) also rallied 42% as Web3 gaming adoption swells, with over 5 million users now onboarded via Immutable Passport.

It was a week of clear sector rotation—majors stabilized, memecoins ran wild, and AI, gaming, and emerging L1s like Sui stepped into the limelight.

Mindshare

Mindshare across the Solana meme ecosystem has seen a notable shake-up over the past seven days. Early on, Fartcoin held a dominant lead in attention share—but that momentum faded fast. Around April 22, TROLL surged to the forefront, flipping Fartcoin and locking in the top spot as the most-discussed token heading into the weekend.

Behind the main battle for attention, pwease and TRENCHER experienced mid-week bursts of visibility but couldn’t sustain traction. Italianrot, DARK, and titcoin held more stable ground throughout, reflecting a quieter but consistent interest.

By the end of the week, lower-tier tokens like SIGMA, ice, jellyjelly, and BUTTCOIN began creeping up the attention curve—suggesting early sparks of hype, though none have broken out yet.

In short: the memecoin spotlight on Solana is as volatile as ever, with TROLL seizing mindshare dominance while Fartcoin fades and the rest jostle for visibility.

Smart Money Accumulation

With Bitcoin pushing higher, smart money is once again circling around Solana’s memecoin scene. Capital is rotating steadily into a mix of established names and fresh bets—let’s break it down.

Fartcoin still tops the leaderboard with over $2 million in holdings, barely moving this week but clearly staying in favor with deep-pocketed wallets. Italianrot, on the other hand, is seeing some of the strongest traction—up 55% in holdings over the past seven days, signaling renewed confidence.

LUCE is the standout in terms of percentage growth, jumping 78% week-over-week, while GRIFFAIN also saw a solid 25% increase, with multiple wallets entering. Titcoin continues to attract steady interest as well, with over $1.1M now held and a modest 8% bump in holdings.

Other names like ALON and ICE are holding their ground, while DARK saw some trimming, down -13% on the week.

Bottom line: as Solana gains momentum, smart money is quietly stacking memecoins—favoring both well-known positions and high-velocity newcomers. The rotation is alive and well.

Moving onto the Ethereum ecosystem, the memecoin scene is a mixed bag of quiet builds and subtle power plays. CULT still sits at the top with nearly $728K in smart money holdings, but recent flows show signs of cooling, down -5.36% on the week. 

In contrast, Moonkin burst onto the radar with a massive +70.3% gain—easily the biggest standout in the pack. Shrub (+7.2%), Pin (+6.04%), and Andy (+5.22%) followed with steady accumulation, hinting that smart wallets are rotating into smaller, under-the-radar bets.

Mog and BITCOIN saw the sharpest cuts, both down notably as capital moved elsewhere. Even DOGE, the OG meme, wasn’t immune—down -5.16%. Meanwhile, PEPE held its ground, flat on the week but commanding a massive $22.41M position. JOE dipped slightly, but still maintained a solid smart money footprint.

Overall, Ethereum’s meme flows suggest a quiet rotation—less noise, more positioning.

That wraps up this post—we hope you found the insights valuable. See you next week, anon! 🚀