The aughts were a bold time for eyewear. Stars were running around Hollywood in huge bug-eyed shades (very Paris Hilton) and clear, tinted square frames (very Eve), and I simply had to try them all. As a teen, I was completely obsessed with big, wraparound shield frames. (You could hide half of your face behind them—a shy teen’s dream!) I taped a 2006 Dior sunglasses ad starring Kate Moss, in which she wears huge black shield sunnies, onto my bedroom wall for inspiration. Britney Spears also rocked a pair of Dolce & Gabbana shades, and I’ve been on the hunt for them ever since.
The crypto market in 2025 is facing intense turbulence. The capitalization of once-hot trends like meme coins has plummeted. Capital has flowed out of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, driving DeFi’s total value locked (TVL) down from $120 billion to around $87 billion.
In this context, Sonic stands out. It has consistently hit new TVL highs, reaching $1 billion in April after growing nearly 40 times since the beginning of the year. So, what makes Sonic a bright spot amid a stormy market?
Investors Are Pouring Capital into Sonic
Sonic has made its mark with a rapid TVL growth rate, far outpacing better-known blockchains. According to DefiLlama, Sonic reached $1 billion in TVL within 66 days. In comparison, Sui took 505 days, and Aptos needed 709.
This achievement reflects strong capital inflows into the Sonic ecosystem despite the broader DeFi trend of capital withdrawal. Data from Artemis supports this, ranking Sonic as the second-highest netflow protocol this year—trailing only Base, a blockchain backed by Coinbase.
The growth goes beyond TVL numbers. Sonic’s ecosystem is attracting various projects, including derivatives exchanges like Aark Digital and Shadow Exchange and protocols such as Snake Finance, Equalizer0x, and Beets. These projects still have small TVLs, but they have the potential to draw new users and capital, fueling Sonic’s momentum.
However, the question remains: Can this capital inflow remain sustainable while the market fluctuates?
Andre Cronje on Sonic’s Potential and Strengths
Andre Cronje, the developer behind Sonic, shared his ambition in an interview to push this blockchain beyond its competitors.
“Sonic has sub-200 millisecond finality, faster than human responsiveness,” Andre Cronje said.
According to Cronje, Sonic isn’t just about speed. The platform also focuses on improving both user and developer experience. He explained that 90% of transaction fees go to dApp, not to validators, creating incentives for developers to build.
Unlike other blockchains, such as Ethereum, which are limited by long block times, Sonic leverages an enhanced virtual machine that theoretically processes up to 400,000 transactions per second. Cronje acknowledges, however, that current demand has yet to push the network to its full capacity. Still, these technical advantages make Sonic a compelling option for developers seeking more user-friendly dApps.
He also revealed new features on Sonic that have the potential to attract users.
“If your first touch point with a user is to download this wallet and then buy this token on an exchange, you’ve lost 99.9% of your users. They’ll use their Google off-email password, fingerprint, face, whatever it is, to access the dApp and interact with it, and they’ll never need to know about Sonic or token,” Andre Cronje revealed.
Risks and Challenges Ahead
Despite reaching impressive milestones, Sonic is not immune to risk. The price of its token, S, has declined significantly from its peak. According to BeInCrypto, it has dropped around 20% in the past month—from $0.60 down to $0.47—mirroring the broader market’s volatility.
Furthermore, Grayscale recently removed Sonic from its April asset consideration list. This decision reflects a shift in the fund’s expectations and raises concerns about Sonic’s ability to maintain its TVL should investor sentiment deteriorate.
Sonic also faces fierce competition from other high-performance chains like Solana and Base. Although Sonic holds a clear advantage in speed, long-term user adoption will depend on whether its ecosystem can deliver real value, not just high TVL figures.
Layer-1 (L1) coin LTC is today’s top gainer, climbing 10% in the past 24 hours. The double-digit surge comes following a regulatory setback, as the US SEC delayed its decision on Canary Capital’s application for a spot Litecoin ETF.
However, the current LTC token upward momentum may be on shaky ground as technical indicators suggest a potential bearish reversal.
On Tuesday, after the SEC called for public comments on Canary Capital’s application for a spot Litecoin ETF, LTC plunged to a two-week low of $81.03.
However, the resurgence in trading activity across the broader crypto market over the past day has helped LTC rebound from this dip. It now trades at $91.68, with daily trading volume exceeding $850 million.
But, there is a catch. Key technical and on-chain indicators suggest a potential bearish reversal in the short term, as buyer exhaustion appears on the horizon.
For example, despite LTC’s rally, its Chaikin Money Flow (CMF), which measures buying and selling pressure, has declined, forming a bearish divergence. Readings from the daily chart show that this momentum indicator is declining and poised to breach the center line.
A CMF bearish divergence occurs when the price of an asset makes higher highs while the indicator makes lower highs. This suggests that buying pressure is weakening despite rising prices. The trend indicates a potential reversal or loss of upward momentum in the LTC market.
Moreover, on-chain readings show that LTC’s Network Realized Profit/Loss (NPL) is rising, indicating that coin holders are sitting on unrealized gains and may be tempted to sell. At press time, the NPL sits at 1.7 million.
This metric reflects the net profit or loss of all coins moved on-chain, based on the price at which they were last moved. A rising NPL suggests increasing profitability across the network.
This, in combination with LTC’s weakening buy pressure as reflected by its CMF, heightens the risk of short-term selling pressure as traders look to lock in profits.
Can Litecoin Hold Its Gains?
With strengthening bearish pressure, LTC buyers risk facing exhaustion soon. If new demand fails to come into the spot markets to support the LTC token rally, it could lose its current gains and fall to $82.88.
However, a bullish shift in market sentiment could prevent this. If buying activity soars, it could drive LTC’s price to $95.13. A breach of this resistance could catapult the altcoin toward $105.04.
Bitcoin fell below the $80,000 mark on Sunday as investor sentiment weakened across global markets. The move came alongside a spike in daily liquidations, which totaled $590 million.
Heightened anxiety over former President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs and escalating geopolitical tensions weighed heavily on risk assets.
More Traders are Shorting Bitcoin After the Worst Q1 In a Decade
The long-short ratio for Bitcoin dropped to 0.89, with short positions now accounting for nearly 53% of activity. The shift reflects growing skepticism about Bitcoin’s short-term direction.
Traditional markets also suffered sharp losses. The Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, and Dow Jones all entered correction territory last week, posting their worst weekly performance since 2020.
Bitcoin Long-Short Ratio on Sunday, April 6. Source: Coinglass
The broader crypto market lost 2.45% on Sunday, reducing total market capitalization to $2.59 trillion. Bitcoin remains the dominant asset, holding 62% of the market share. Ethereum follows with 8%.
Sunday’s selloff triggered $252.79 million in crypto derivatives liquidations. Long positions made up the bulk of that figure at $207 million. Ethereum traders accounted for about $72 million in long liquidations alone.
Bitcoin’s price remains closely tied to shifts in global liquidity, often reflecting broader macro trends. With U.S. markets set to open Monday, this weekend’s activity signals continued volatility ahead.
That combination raises the risk of stagflation, a situation where policy tools become less effective. Efforts to stimulate the economy can worsen inflation, while measures to control prices can limit growth.
