India decided to introduce retaliatory measures against Trump tariffs after the US President decided to raise duties on steel and aluminum imports. The announcement comes just as US-China trade deal sees positive development, raising doubts over America’s China plus one policy.
Trump Tariffs: India Doesn’t Give Up to Donald Trump’s Whims
US President Donald Trump has dialed back significantly on the U.S.-China trade war after raising 145% in April. On the other hand, the progress on US-India trade talks seems to hit a barrier as India plans to put tariffs on several products as a retaliatory response to Trump tariffs on US steel and aluminum imports.
In March, the United States introduced a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports. As the world’s second-largest crude steel producer, India informed the WTO that these tariffs would impact $7.6 billion worth of Indian exports to the US.
The US-India trade war tensions escalated at a time when the two countries were discussing a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), which is likely to conclude on July 8. This will be just before the 25% Trump tariffs kick in on Indian imports into the US, considering the 90-day grace period.
With President Trump announcing agreements with the UK and China over the past week, India, a key economic partner, waits on the sidelines. On Monday, Trump declared a “total reset” in the US-China Trade deal following the public release of the trade deal details between the two nations.
This could potentially impact India’s competitive edge in attracting global firms willing to relocate from China. This dialing back of Trump tariffs on China undermines the “China Plus One” strategy.
Crypto Market Upside Continues
Amid these broader macro developments, crypto market continues its upside, with Bitcoin price bouncing back 2% to $103,500, after dropping back on Tuesday. Altcoins are staging even greater strength with Ethereum (ETH) leading the pack with 9% gains. Other top altcoins like XRP, Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Cardano (ADA) have gained 4-10% today.
Metaplanet stock price has continued to dominate the Tokyo Stock Exchange, surging another 21% today and hitting an all-time high of 1423 JPY. This surge follows the company’s announcement of a recent purchase of 1,088 Bitcoins, propelling it into the ranks of the top ten corporate Bitcoin holders. With this rally, the stock has surged an impressive 255% since the start of 2025. Metaplanet Stock Dominates Tokyo Stock Exchange While the Japanese bond market is facing a “Greece-like crisis”, investors of Metaplanet are having a gala period as the stock has gained 164% over the past month. Besides, with its consistent Bitcoin purchases, the firm is dominating the Tokyo Stock Exchange, clocking the largest trading volumes while beating out the top firms in Japan. As Japan’s stock and bond market looks fragile, investors are finding a safe haven in Metaplanet, which serves as a Bitcoin proxy bet. Furthermore, market analysts… Read More at Coingape.com
Altcoin/BTC spot trading pairs were once considered a key channel for investors to increase their Bitcoin holdings. However, this perception is fading. Data indicates a decline in interest, with many Altcoin/BTC pairs delisted in early 2025.
Meanwhile, Altcoin/USDT spot pairs remain the primary avenue for traders seeking profits.
Binance Delists Multiple Altcoin/BTC Spot Pairs
At the beginning of 2025, Binance removed several Altcoin/BTC spot pairs from its platform. Today, Binance announced the delisting of MDT/BTC, MLN/BTC, VIB/BTC, VIC/BTC, and XAI/BTC due to low liquidity and trading volume. This is not the first such announcement this year.
“To protect users and maintain a high-quality trading market, Binance conducts periodic reviews of all listed spot trading pairs and may delist selected spot trading pairs due to multiple factors, such as poor liquidity and trading volume,” Binance stated.
Since the start of the year, Binance has issued seven delisting announcements, affecting 34 spot trading pairs. Of these, 50% were Altcoin/BTC pairs, while the rest were Altcoin/ETH or Altcoin/BNB. Notably, the delisting of an Altcoin/BTC pair does not necessarily mean its corresponding Altcoin/USDT pair is removed (e.g., ENJ, C98, REZ).
This shift reflects traders’ preference for Altcoin/Stablecoin pairs, likely due to better liquidity and lower risk exposure.
Retail Investors Reduce Bitcoin Holdings While Institutions Accumulate
CryptoQuant data shows that retail investors have been reducing their BTC holdings since Q4 2024, while large investors continue to accumulate.
Bitcoin Holdings of Retail And Large Investors. Source: CryptoQuant.
“Retail is panic-selling. Whales are accumulating,” Investor Mister Crypto commented.
Since the approval of Bitcoin ETFs and the start of Trump’s new term, Bitcoin has become a playground for institutional investors. Retail traders seem less interested, as BTC’s high price is out of reach for many. Instead, they hold fewer BTC and allocate more capital to altcoins, particularly meme coins.
Furthermore, trading Altcoin/BTC pairs exposes traders to two risks simultaneously—the volatility of both altcoins and Bitcoin. Even the most liquid pairs, such as ETH/BTC and SOL/BTC, have shown prolonged downtrends and high volatility, increasing the risk of losses.
Volatility of ETH/BTC and SOL/BTC. Source: TradingView
Market analysts also tend to focus on Altcoin/USDT spot pairs, leaving Altcoin/BTC pairs with less attention.
According to CoinMarketCap data, USDT’s daily trading volume exceeds $115 billion, out of a total market trading volume of $147 billion. This confirms that USDT remains the primary channel for traders seeking opportunities.
Virtuals Protocol became the top-performing coin of the month and week, with gains of nearly 195% and 150%, respectively
Virtuals Protocol’s market cap surged 156.29% in April, crossing the $1 billion mark
Daily active wallets on Base Network dropped 84.9% from January highs, & Solana saw a 79.3% decline, showing reduced user activity despite price gains.
The RSI hit 84.75 and MACD shows a bullish crossover, as traders eye $2.00–$2.20 as a key zone for potential correction or breakout.
DEX volume rose 683% in two weeks to $27.6M but remains 89.7% below January’s peak of $267.5M, reflecting low market depth.
Virtual Protocol, $VIRTUAL coin is trading at $1.73, with a market cap of $1.13B and a 24-hour trading volume of $652.85M, reflecting a 32.66% increase in price and a 98.70% surge in volume.
From Hype to Hold: Virtual Agent Creation Hits a Plateau After Early Surge
Looking at the “AI Agents Created (Cumulative)” chart, we can see that demand for creating AI agents in the Virtual Ecosystem has cooled off over time. After a rapid spike from 68 agents in October to 16K agents by mid-January — a rise within just 3 months — the numbers have since plateaued, holding steady between 16K and 17,695 agents for the past 4 months.
This indicates that while there was an initial FOMO-driven rush, possibly fueled by hype or speculation, the market has now settled into a consolidation phase.
Virtual Protocol Sees Sharp Drop in Daily Active Wallets Despite Expansion to Solana
Virtuals Protocol, has seen a steep decline in user engagement, measured by daily active wallets (DAWs), despite expanding from Coinbase’s Base chain to Solana.
On January 2, 2025, the protocol recorded its peak activity with 58,641 DAWs on Base and 2,562 on Solana, totaling 58,641. However, by April 20, DAWs had dropped over 61% to 22,315 on Base and 241 on Solana—totalling 22,556, Making it a two-month high.
The decline continued through April 30, with DAWs falling to just 8,328 on Base and 529 on Solana, amounting to 8,857 users—a sharp 84.9% drop from the January peak.
Virtuals Protocol Sees 200% Price Jump, But DEX Volume Remains Weak
Despite a 200% price rally over the past two weeks, Virtuals Protocol’s trading volume on decentralized exchanges shows only a modest recovery.
On April 16, 2025, total DEX volume was $3.52 million — $3.29M on Base and $229K on Solana. Two weeks later, on April 29, volume rose to $27.6 million, with $26.4M on Base and $1.17M on Solana.
While this marks a 683% jump in volume, it’s still nearly 90% lower than the January peak of $267.5 million — signaling weak market participation despite the price hype.
Parabolic Surge in VIRTUALUSD Nearing Exhaustion: Key Profit Zone Ahead for Crypto Traders
Looking at the VIRTUALUSD chart and its on-chain behaviour, the asset is displaying a classic parabolic curve structure, with three completed bases fueling a sharp vertical rally. This began around April 10, breaking Base 1 ($0.60), Base 2 ($1.10), and Base 3 (~$1.40) to reach a high of $1.97 by May 1. This aggressive upside suggests the market is entering the Final pump, where $2.00–$2.20 is the projected Sell Point.
This Sell Point is a crucial level to watch—not only due to technical exhaustion, but because RSI is now extremely overbought at 84.75, signalling that price may soon reverse or consolidate. Additionally, the MACD continues to show a strong bullish crossover with widening histogram bars, confirming momentum, but the angle is steep, indicating a possible cooldown ahead.
If the parabolic rally sustains, VIRTUALUSD could reach its previous high of $2.60 by MAy 1st week. However, a failure to break $2.20 could trigger a healthy retracement to support levels at $1.40 and $1.10. Traders should monitor volume and momentum closely while managing profit-taking strategies near the peak zone.
The post Virtual Protocol (VIRTUAL) Soars 195% In April: Will The Rally Continue Or Face a Pullback? appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News
Virtuals Protocol became the top-performing coin of the month and week, with gains of nearly 195% and 150%, respectively Virtuals Protocol’s market cap surged 156.29% in April, crossing the $1 billion mark Daily active wallets on Base Network dropped 84.9% from January highs, & Solana saw a 79.3% decline, showing reduced user activity despite price …
