The trading platform Ox.fun, associated with Three Arrows founder Su Zhu, allegedly increased the supply of OX tokens from approximately 4 billion to nearly 9.8 billion without making an official announcement.
Following the collapse of Three Arrows Capital (3AC), Su Zhu faced imprisonment, further fueling concerns about Ox.fun’s credibility. However, subsequent details offer additional context.
Ox.fun Increases Total Supply of OX Tokens
According to posts on X, users accused Ox.fun of discreetly increasing the total supply of OX tokens from around 4 billion to more than 9.8 billion without prior disclosure. Data from Ox.fun’s official dashboard and Etherscan, a reputable blockchain analysis tool, verified this change.
Moreover, according to a December 2024 post from Ox.fun on Twitter, the original OX supply was verified as 4.2 billion.
The supply increase has not yet significantly impacted the price of OX tokens at the time of this writing. However, it has caused the token’s market capitalization to surge from under $5 million to approximately $17 million. In other words, users online said the project quietly inflated its value without any formal announcement.
Many community members argue that increasing the token supply without disclosure indicates opaque behavior. They think it may be a signal for a rug pull.
Users also expressed their frustration over the lack of response initially from the project’s leaders.
“I love how @OXFUNHQ @zhusu continue to be dead silent about doubling the circulating supply of $OX overnight. I sincerely think they were just hoping that simply no one would notice. True regards,” commented an X user.
Ox.fun Claims It Announced OX Supply Surge
Ox.fun finally responded to the accusations, stating that the increase had been previously disclosed. The project explained that the increase in supply to 9.8 billion tokens was announced on April 1, 2025, as part of the “Ox Seasons” program. According to Ox.fun, Ox Seasons was announced through all social media platforms.
“Importantly, the tokens are locked in the OX treasury multisig (0x4B214e2a2a9716bfF0C20EbDA912B13c7a184E23) and will only be distributed to users at the end of the Seasons program, exactly as outlined in our docs.” stated Ox.fun
Allocation of 6 Billion Additional OX Tokens. Source: Ox.fun
The team emphasized that this move, by disabling the smart contract’s mint function, was intended to ensure transparency and prevent future token minting.
However, the community remains skeptical due to the delayed communication, questioning whether Ox.fun has been as transparent as it claims.
The community’s skepticism persists, given Su Zhu’s reputation in the crypto space has been tarnished since the collapse of Three Arrows Capital (3AC). Additionally, in February 2025, Ox.fun had some issues with JefeDAO. Although the platform later provided explanations, these incidents have raised ongoing concerns about its financial stability.
While the price of OX tokens has not experienced significant fluctuations following this event, smaller trading platforms like Ox.fun are often vulnerable to market sentiment.
According to the latest data, artificial intelligence (AI) agent tokens have outperformed other crypto sectors over the past 30 days, experiencing a remarkable double-digit price growth.
This surge comes amid a broader market recovery, with AI agents emerging as the dominant narrative.
Yet, the momentum has reversed. Over the past month, AI agents have seen a 39.4% price growth. The sector has outpaced other narratives like meme coins (+36.9%) and decentralized AI (+16.3%) over the past 30 days.
With the highest relative strength score of +7.7, the tokens have demonstrated exceptional momentum, highlighting their increasing appeal among investors.
CoinGecko data shows that this surge has propelled the total market capitalization of AI agent tokens to $6.4 billion. Among the top ten tokens, Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) has seen an extraordinary 142.8% increase in value, hitting a two-month high. The token’s growth is underpinned by a notable uptick in active users, signaling strong community engagement and adoption.
Top 10 AI Agents Price Performance. Source: CoinGecko
“AI agents are the hot rotation right now — and Santiment backs it up with a clear surge in social dominance for “AI agents,” mirroring the sharp sector-wide price rebound,” a user noted on X.
The broader interest in the sector extends beyond the crypto market, as evidenced by Google Trends data. Last week, the search volume for the keyword “AI Agents” peaked at 100. At the time of writing, it stood at 94. This reflected growing public curiosity, both within and outside the blockchain space.
Is FOMO Fueling the Latest Surge in AI Agents?
Nonetheless, despite the bullish sentiment, some experts remain skeptical. Simon Dedic, CEO of Moonrock Capital, drew attention to AI and meme coins’ recent outperformance.
According to him, this trend reflects what he describes as the “ultimate mid-curve trade.” In other words, many investors who had previously remained on the sidelines are now rushing to invest in these sectors. Nevertheless, they are driven by the fear of missing out (FOMO) on potential gains as market conditions improve.
Thus, Dedic is highly critical of this behavior. He suggested that these investors focus more on chasing trends than making sound, long-term investment decisions.
“They deserve to lose it all – and most of them probably will. The real alpha will be in the fundamental catch-up trade and it will outperform everything else,” Dedic claimed.
As the market continues to evolve, only time will reveal whether these tokens can maintain their momentum or if the speculative hype will ultimately fade.
According to VanEck’s April 2025 Digital Assets Monthly recap, Bitcoin (BTC) outperformed equities during a turbulent month, offering a glimpse of its potential as a macro hedge.
Yet, the asset’s quick return to correlated behavior suggests Bitcoin is not yet ready to stand fully apart from risk markets.
Bitcoin Outperforms Stocks During April Market Selloff
Bitcoin briefly broke free from traditional markets like stocks and equities. However, its newfound independence may have been short-lived.
“Bitcoin showed signs of decoupling from equities during the week ending April 6,” VanEck Head of Digital Assets Research Matthew Sigel wrote.
This period coincided with US President Donald Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariff measures, which triggered a global market selloff. While the S&P 500 and gold slumped, Bitcoin rose from $81,500 to over $84,500, signaling a possible shift in investor perception.
Still, the momentum did not last. As the month progressed, Bitcoin’s price action re-synced with equities. VanEck, using data from Artemis XYZ, noted that the 30-day BTC-S&P 500 correlation fell below 0.25 in early April but bounced back to 0.55 by month’s end.
“Bitcoin has not meaningfully decoupled,” the report emphasized.
Bitcoin and Ethereum correlation with the S&P 500. Source: VanEck research
Bitcoin gained 13% for the month, outshining the NASDAQ’s 1% loss and the S&P 500’s flat performance. Perhaps more intriguingly, Bitcoin’s volatility dropped by 4%, even as equity volatility doubled amid rising geopolitical tensions and trade uncertainty.
Yet while the short-term picture remains muddled, VanEck sees early signs of a structural shift. The report highlights a growing sovereign and institutional interest in Bitcoin as a store-of-value asset with long-term macro hedging potential.
“Structural tailwinds are forming. Bitcoin continues to find support as a sovereign, uncorrelated asset,” wrote Sigel.
The bank argued that Bitcoin’s resilience amid monetary stress reflects its growing role as portfolio ballast against the fragility of fiat-denominated debt markets.
“I think Bitcoin is a hedge against both TradFi and US Treasury risks. The threat to remove US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell falls into Treasury risk—so the hedge is on,” Geoff Kendrick, Head of Digital Asset Research at Standard Chartered, told BeInCrypto.
However, this resilience did not extend to the broader crypto market. According to VanEck, altcoins stumbled as meme coins, speculative DeFi AI tokens, and Layer-1 networks like Ethereum and Sui fell sharply.
The MarketVector Smart Contract Leaders Index dropped 5% in April and is down 34% year-to-date. Solana stood out as a rare winner, gaining 16% thanks to network upgrades and increasing institutional treasury interest.
Sui posted a 45% jump in daily DEX volume and entered the top 10 in smart contract platform revenue. By contrast, Ethereum lagged, declining 3% as its fee revenue share shrank to just 14%, down from 74% two years ago.
The broader trend in altcoins was bearish, and speculative energy continued to fade. Trading volumes in meme coins dropped by 93% between January and March, with the MarketVector Meme Coin Index down 48% year-to-date.
Even so, regarding price and volatility metrics, Bitcoin’s relative strength in April could hint at where the asset is headed. VanEck’s report concludes that while Bitcoin has not yet fully broken from risk asset behavior, the groundwork for long-term decoupling is quietly being laid.
Bitcoin (BTC) is hovering below the $94,000 level while still showing sensitivity to US economic indicators. Accordingly, this week’s US economic data could spark volatility in the crypto market.
From consumer confidence to labor market strength, economic indicators could influence sentiment and sway crypto prices.
US Economic Data To Watch This Week
The following US economic indicators could affect the portfolios of crypto market traders and investors.
“Let me try to help you make sense of everything that’s going on: Tariff madness, plunging consumer confidence, rising recession odds, market fragility and all the ways that the economy will shape your life,” economist Justin Wolfers remarked.
Consumer Confidence
The Consumer Confidence report will start the list of US economic indicators with crypto implications this week. On Tuesday, April’s Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index will show whether households are optimistic about financial conditions.
March’s 92.9 index signaled a relatively pessimistic outlook among US consumers concerning the economy and their financial situation.
According to data on MarketWatch, the median forecast is 87.4. Strong confidence often correlates with risk-on sentiment, driving investment into Bitcoin and altcoins.
Accordingly, reading below expectations might trigger profit-taking, denting confidence in the economy’s overall strength.
With global trade tensions, an unexpected decline could amplify safe-haven demand for Bitcoin, though volatility remains a risk.
“The soft data suggests that the hard data is set to fall. Consumer Confidence can lead the unemployment rate (inverted). If that ends up being the case this time around, we’re looking at around 6% or higher,” wrote Markets and Mayhem.
JOLTS Job Openings
This week, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLT), which tracks demand, adds to the list of US economic indicators.
The last JOLTS report was released on April 1, covering February 2025 data. It reported job openings at 7.6 million, hires at 5.4 million, and total separations at 5.3 million. The next JOLTS report, for March 2025, is due on Tuesday, with a median forecast of 7.4 million.
A rebound above 7.6 million for crypto could signal economic resilience, boosting risk assets like Bitcoin. Strong openings suggest hiring confidence, potentially increasing disposable income for crypto investments.
However, a weaker-than-expected figure, potentially below the median forecast of 7.4 million, might stoke recession fears. Such an outcome would drive investors toward Bitcoin as a hedge.
Crypto markets react to labor market signals as they influence Federal Reserve (Fed) policy expectations. With rates at 4.25%–4.5%, a tight labor market could delay cuts, pressuring speculative assets.
ADP Employment
The ADP National Employment Report tracks private-sector job growth and will be out on Wednesday. March 2025’s 155,000 jobs beat expectations, signaling labor market strength despite tariff concerns.
A strong reading above 160,000 for crypto could ignite bullish sentiment, as job growth fuels consumer spending and risk appetite. If employment data suggests economic expansion, Bitcoin could gain more upside potential.
However, a miss below the March reading of 155,000 or below the median forecast of 110,000 might spark fears of a slowdown. This could push investors toward stablecoins or Bitcoin as safe havens.
Unlike the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Non-farm Payrolls (NFP), ADP’s payroll-based methodology excludes government jobs. This methodology offers a granular view.
With markets eyeing Fed policy, ADP’s outcome will set the tone for Friday’s NFP.
Q1 GDP
The advance estimate for Q1 2025 GDP will be released on Wednesday. This data also measures economic growth.
Q3 2024’s 2.8% annualized rate fell short of expectations, pressured by trade deficits. Meanwhile, Q4 2024’s 2.4% reading came following a downward revision to imports.
Strong GDP growth above 3% in crypto signals economic health, often boosting Bitcoin as investors embrace risk. Nevertheless, crypto markets are sensitive to GDP revisions and influence Fed rate decisions.
With inflation concerns lingering, a strong GDP, higher than Q4’s 2.4%, might reduce rate-cut hopes, pressuring speculative cryptos. Conversely, sluggish growth could spur expectations of monetary easing.
PCE
The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge is the Core PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures) Price Index. This US economic indicator, covering March, will come out on Wednesday this week after the March 28 data covering February.
After February 2025 saw a 2.5% year-over-year (YoY) PCE index, economists anticipate a modest drop to 2.2% for March, reflecting persistent price pressures.
Nevertheless, a PCE reading below 2.5% for Bitcoin could signal cooling inflation, raising hopes for rate cuts and boosting sentiment toward Bitcoin.
A hotter-than-expected figure above the previous reading of 2.5% might tighten Fed policy expectations. PCE’s exclusion of volatile food and energy prices offers a stable inflation view, making it a key driver of crypto sentiment.
With markets sensitive to monetary policy shifts, traders should monitor services spending, as it reflects consumer resilience. Nevertheless, volatility is likely, as PCE shapes the Fed’s rhetoric.
“March PCE inflation (out on Wed Apr 30) should read 2.1% (rounded). April PCE (out in late May) should read 2.0% (rounded). Tariffs are a boss but this is the Fed’s target measure. It could be time to cut, to be honest, politics aside,” wrote hedge fund manager Ophir Gottlieb.
Initial Jobless Claims
This week, the Initial Jobless Claims, reported every Thursday, adds to the list of US economic indicators. This data measures weekly unemployment filings. Claims are a high-frequency indicator, offering real-time labor market insights, and crypto markets often react swiftly to surprises.
For the week ending April 18, 222,000 claims indicated a steady labor market despite tariff chaos. Accordingly, claims below 222,000 could signal growing employment, fostering risk-on sentiment, and lifting Bitcoin.
However, higher claims above 222,000 could spark concerns of economic softening, driving investors to stablecoins or Bitcoin for safety. With the Fed closely monitoring labor data, an unexpected spike might fuel rate-cut speculation.
Non-farm Payrolls
The Non-farm Payrolls (NFP) report will be released on Friday. March 2025’s 228,000-job gain exceeded expectations, with unemployment at 4.2%.
A strong NFP could drive bullish momentum, as job growth signals consumer spending power. A weak report below the median forecast of 130,000 might trigger recession fears, pushing capital to Bitcoin as a hedge or stablecoins for stability.
NFP’s broad scope, covering 80% of GDP-contributing workers, makes it a market mover. Key interest will also be on wage growth, as 0.3% monthly increases suggest inflation pressures, potentially capping crypto gains.
With markets pricing in Fed policy, surprises could spark sharp volatility.
