Donald Trump announced today that he’s instituting a 90-day pause on all tariffs except those on China. Bitcoin has surged over $80,000, while altcoins like XRP, Solana, and Cardano surged more than 10% in just minutes of the announcement.
The Dow Jones and stock market reacted similarly, surging by 2,000 points after the news. The US President has now added a total of 125% tariff on China, while pausing others.
Today, however, Trump has made a surprising reversal. Although he is increasing tariffs against China to 125%, he is repealing those on other nations.
Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately. At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off…
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) April 9, 2025
This news immediately caused a substantial rally in the markets. At 1:30 PM Eastern Time, the Dow Jones responded by shooting upwards over 2000 points, and this was mirrored in other high-profile stocks.
Dow Jones Reacts to Tariff Relief. Source: Google Finance
Still, the erratic nature of Trump’s tariff strategy has left more than a few open questions. In his announcement, Trump only mentioned China’s retaliation strategy by name, lumping all other countries together.
However, a few crucial markets, like the EU, also retaliated. It is currently unclear how Trump will treat other actors, as China is his main target.
Open questions like this may continue to cause market uncertainty. As analyst Joe Wiesenthal pointed out, Trump has already caused a lot of economic chaos with his tariff threats alone.
Will he retaliate against nations other than China? Will former allies continue pulling away from the US? These live questions may frustrate long-term economic gain
Méliuz, a Brazilian firm, became the largest corporate Bitcoin holder in Latin America after a $28.6 million purchase. The company bought BTC at the price of $103,864, so its investment has already grown.
Still, there are growing concerns about the number of businesses that, like Méliuz, recently pivoted entirely to crypto acquisition. Despite the benefits, it’s a risky decision, and participating companies might not be able to stand the volatility.
Still, despite the worldwide appeal, most of the biggest firms are US-based. Nonetheless, Méliuz’s recent purchase is interesting, as the firm is now Latin America’s top corporate Bitcoin holder:
“There is no public company in Latin America with more Bitcoin than Méliuz! After delivering a yield of 44% to our shareholders in the last 36 days, we now have almost 600 BTC. We purchased R$158 million ($28.7 million USD) by issuing new shares, and we’re just getting started!” the firm claimed over social media.
Méliuz also noted with pride that it purchased more Bitcoin than MicroStrategy today.
Méliuz is currently the largest corporate Bitcoin holder in Latin America and the 36th-largest holder worldwide.
Its main business was providing cashback and discount coupons for online and in-store purchases, but it pivoted to be a Bitcoin-first company. This, too, is part of a global phenomenon.
Still, there are growing concerns about this trend. How many corporate holders like Méliuz can Bitcoin really handle?
Earlier today, Anthony Pompliano announced a $1 billion merger to create a new firm offering “Bitcoin-native financial services.” Although the community reacted with hype, there’s growing speculation of a bubble, and the firm’s stock dropped 24%:
Overall, economic experts are becoming extremely concerned about so many companies worldwide pivoting to a Bitcoin-first strategy.
During macroeconomic distress, the extreme volatility of the crypto market and unstable economies of the traditional market could severely impact companies that try to balance both boats.
There has been a sharp decline in daily active addresses across Smart Contract Platforms (SCPs) in recent months, raising concerns among investors and developers.
Meanwhile, Ethereum’s Pectra Upgrade could be the turning point, with crypto analyst Jamie Coutts calling the current state a cleansing of the ecosystem.
SCPs See Sharp Decline in Active Users
Jamie Coutts, who built Bloomberg Intelligence’s crypto research product, says this is the worst decline ever recorded in the history of SCPs.
He also notes that it is far worse than the 2022-2023 bear market, with daily active addresses dropping 40.5% in just five months.
“This is the largest usage collapse in SCP history,” wrote Coutts.
Coutts’ analysis provides a deeper look at the broader crypto ecosystem, which is simultaneously witnessing an uptick in global liquidity and an all-time high in stablecoin market cap.
While the sector seems to be experiencing a shakeout, Coutts says this decline does not indicate the death of smart contract platforms. Rather, it is a necessary cleansing of the ecosystem.
The analyst attributes the drop in daily active addresses to several key factors, including the rise of artificial activity.
“Much of the past cycle’s growth was artificial: Usage inflated by bots and Sybil farms, Incentive programs created temporary traction without stickiness. The unwind reflects a cleansing of fake activity, not the death of the sector,” Coutts explains.
The rise of bots and Sybil attacks, where bad actors create multiple fake identities to manipulate a platform’s usage metrics, has artificially inflated the activity numbers across various smart contract platforms.
Now, as these fake users are being weeded out, the real growth potential of SCPs is becoming clearer.
Moreover, this trend suggests that SCPs with weak application ecosystems or limited use cases will face significant valuation compression. This is especially true without stablecoin integration or real-world asset (RWA) applications.
Coutts notes that many SCP tokens risk valuation compression if their platforms do not offer high throughput, low-cost, and real settlement capabilities.
The market will likely reward mature platforms capable of supporting real economic activity. These include stablecoin transactions, payments, and AI-native applications.
“…going forward, value will concentrate in platforms that enable high-throughput, low-cost, real settlement and agentic automation,” he added.
Ethereum Staking Surge Post-Pectra
Interestingly, these predictions align with the recent Ethereum Pectra upgrade, which went live on May 7, 2025.
The Pectra upgrade introduces key features that could help Ethereum, the largest smart contract platform, stay ahead in this playing field. Specifically, the upgrade improves Ethereum’s staking model and validator operations.
CryptoQuant recently indicated a notable spike in ETH staking around the Pectra Upgrade news. Specifically, before the Pectra upgrade news, ETH staking saw a net outflow of around 1.02 million ETH, reflecting uncertainty.
However, after the news, staking rebounded with a 627,000 ETH inflow, signaling renewed market confidence in the Ethereum staking ecosystem.
“Before Pectra News (Nov 16 – Feb 15): ETH staking dropped from ≈34.88M to 33.86M ETH, a net outflow of ~1.02M ETH. This period reflects market uncertainty and mild unwinding of staking positions ahead of the upgrade. After Pectra News (Feb 16 – May 16): Total ETH staked rose from 33.78M to 34.41M ETH — a net inflow of ~627K ETH. Indicates renewed confidence in the staking process following the upgrade,” wrote CryptoQuant analyst Kripto Mevsimi.
ETH Staking before and after Pectra Upgrade news. Source: CryptoQuant
In the same tone, Bohdan Opryshko, co-founder and COO at Everstake, told BeInCrypto that the Pectra upgrade may be Ethereum’s most institution-friendly update. He says the upgrade is the clearest signal that Ethereum is ready for conservative capital.
“For the first time, institutions can stake at scale with operational clarity and reduced complexity. It’s a green light for conservative capital to get involved in native Ethereum staking,” Opryshko told BeInCrypto.
Further, Pectra’s introduction of smart accounts allows Ethereum wallets to execute smart contract logic. This could drive stablecoin integration.
At the same time, it could enhance scalability. This would make Ethereum better suited to handle real economic activities such as payments and financial transactions.
Nevertheless, Coutts highlighted a divergence between price action and network activity, a common phenomenon in the crypto space. While markets stabilize, activity on many SCPs remains stagnant.
Coutts notes that this divergence will not last. More sophisticated capital will increasingly flow toward platforms that anchor real economic behavior, especially via stablecoin flows and payments.
“Markets may be stabilizing, but activity is not,” More sophisticated capital will increasingly rotate toward chains that anchor real economic behavior, especially via stablecoin flows, payments, and AI-native applications,” Coutts says.
Finally, Coutts predicts that a liquidity-driven rally will return, fueled by the significant liquidity expected to enter the system in the coming months.
However, he cautions that the value will likely accrue to a subset of SCPs that can deliver tangible value through real-world applications and stablecoin integration. This sentiment aligns with the structural upgrades brought by Ethereum’s Pectra fork.
The past week has seen a notable surge in crypto trading activity, fueled by improving market sentiment and investor confidence. This uptick is reflected in the 3% increase in the global crypto market capitalization over the last seven days.
As attention returns to altcoins, several lesser-known tokens have emerged as standout performers. According to Coingecko’s data, here are three top gainers to keep an eye on for the third week of July:
Epic Chain (EPIC)
EPIC has surged by 155% over the past week and is currently trading at $2.50. On the daily chart, the altcoin’s Elder-Ray Index has consistently printed prominent histogram bars over the last four days, indicating strong accumulation by market participants.
The indicator stands at 2.28 at press time, reflecting sustained bullish momentum.
The Elder-Ray Index measures the strength of bulls and bears in the market by analyzing the difference between an asset’s price and its exponential moving average (EMA). A positive Elder-Ray reading occurs when the bulls are dominant, meaning the price is trading above the EMA, indicating strong buying momentum.
This suggests that EPIC buyers are in control and may continue to push prices higher in the short term. In this scenario, the altcoin could rally above $2.63.
However, if demand plunges, EPIC could reverse current gains and fall to $2.21.
Mango Network (MGO)
Layer-1 (L1) coin MGO is another top gainer to watch this week. Trading at $0.0272 at press time, the altcoin is up by 128% over the past week.
MGO’s triple-digit rally today has pushed its price above the 20-day exponential moving average (EMA). This key moving average now forms dynamic support below the token’s price at $0.017.
The 20-day EMA measures an asset’s average price over the past 20 trading days, giving weight to recent prices. When price trades above the 20-day EMA, it signals short-term bullish momentum and suggests buyers are in control.
MGO could extend its rally to trade at $0.029 if this continues.
However, if profit-taking resumes, the coin’s price could fall below $0.026.
ZORA
ZORA is one of the top crypto gainers to watch this week. At press time, the token trades at $0.0211, up by almost 90% in the past seven days.
Over the past 24 hours, ZORA has noted 40% gains. During the review period, the token’s trading volume surged by 293%, reaching $161.17 million. The increase in the token’s price and trading volume indicates strong bullish momentum and heightened investor interest.
This trend suggests that market participation is backing the price rally. If it continues, ZORA’s price could breach $0.0215 and climb toward $0.0253.
