ChainCatcher news, according to Finance Magnates, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has released the "Final Guidelines on the Regulation of Market Abuse in Crypto Assets," which will be fully implemented within three months after its publication as part of the MiCA regulatory framework.The guidelines require the regulatory authorities of the 27 EU member states to establish a unified market monitoring system, focusing on preventing three types of violations: insider trading, illegal information disclosure, and market manipulation, with a particular emphasis on strengthening the regulation of false information dissemination on social media, blogs, and other online platforms.The document mandates that Professional Trading Firms (PPAETs) must deploy automated monitoring tools and establish a tiered processing mechanism for Suspicious Transaction Reports (STORs).For cross-border regulation, ESMA explicitly requires national regulatory authorities to share regulatory cases involving non-EU crypto firms and to regularly report to ESMA on cross-border cooperation obstacles. It is noteworthy that the guideline development process did not include a public consultation.ESMA explains that, since Article 125 of the MiCA regulation has already provided clear authorization, and the guidelines are aimed solely at regulatory authorities rather than market participants. National regulatory authorities must submit a compliance commitment letter to ESMA within two months, and if they choose partial exemptions, they must specify the details.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinGecko data, today marks 100 days since Trump's inauguration, and the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies has rebounded to $3.084 trillion. On the day he officially took office for his second term (January 20), the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies was $3.621 trillion, and the market has evaporated $537 billion in value.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, cryptocurrency investor sentiment has significantly improved from global tariff concerns, but analysts say that structural weaknesses in the market may still trigger downward pressure during the weekend's low liquidity. After U.S. President Trump adopted a more moderate stance, indicating that the import tariffs on Chinese goods could be "substantially reduced," the risk appetite among cryptocurrency investors seems to have rebounded this week.However, Bitfinex analysts stated that this improvement in sentiment "does not mean that Bitcoin can avoid volatility during the weekend; while improved sentiment can reduce market fragility, it cannot eliminate structural risks such as weak weekend liquidity. Historically, severe fluctuations are still likely to occur during weekends, especially when there are high open contracts and low market depth. Sudden macroeconomic news may still exacerbate volatility during low liquidity periods."

ChainCatcher news reports that, according to 4E monitoring, Federal Reserve officials have consecutively expressed support for an earlier rate cut, boosting market sentiment. The U.S. stock market continues its upward momentum, with all three major indices closing higher. The Nasdaq performed particularly strongly, rising by 2.74%, marking the first time since May 2001 that it has recorded three consecutive days of gains exceeding 2%. The S&P 500 rose by 2.03%, while the Dow Jones, affected by some blue-chip earnings reports, had a relatively modest increase of 1.23%. The technology sector led the gains, with the "seven sisters" of technology averaging an increase of about 3%.The cryptocurrency market is experiencing volatile consolidation, with Bitcoin hovering above $93,000. Spot ETFs have seen net inflows for four consecutive days, indicating a noticeable rebound in investor confidence towards risk assets. Ethereum has retreated from $1,800, with spot ETFs showing net outflows again. Other major altcoins have generally fluctuated slightly, with the layer 2 sector leading the gains. The continuous rise over several days has kept market sentiment soaring, re-entering the "greed" zone.The forex and commodity markets are showing a mixed performance. Under pressure from rate cut expectations, the U.S. dollar index fell by 0.47%; the weakness of the dollar boosted oil prices, with crude oil fluctuating upward, and WTI rising over 0.83%; gold prices rebounded, returning to above $3,300, with spot gold rising by 1.77%, reported at $3,346.As several Federal Reserve officials publicly hinted at a possible rate cut in June, the impact of Trump’s tariffs has temporarily faded, leading to a general market rise. The next Federal Reserve meeting is scheduled for May 6 to 7. According to CME Group's FedWatch data, investors generally believe that there will be no change in May, with the probability of a rate cut in June rising to 58%.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, the general counsel and compliance officer of crypto market maker Portofino Technologies has left the company. Celyn Armstrong had worked at this cryptocurrency trading firm in London for over three years. Previously, the company's former chief financial officer Mark Blackborough also recently left the company, and quantitative developer Cristian Dinu has also left the company to join competitor market maker Optiver.Portofino stated that it is exploring the establishment of new offices in New York and Singapore, with Dilan Bastin taking on the role of its new compliance officer.

ChainCatcher news reports that according to 4E monitoring, Trump made remarks on Tuesday indicating a softening of tariff policies, stating that the tariffs on China are too high and that a significant reduction in rates is expected. With optimistic expectations for China-U.S. tariff negotiations, global trade tensions eased, boosting risk sentiment and leading to a surge in U.S. stocks. The S&P 500 rose by 2.5%, the Dow Jones increased by 2.66%, and the Nasdaq climbed by 2.71%. Major tech stocks recovered from the previous day's losses, with the seven giants index rising by 2.84%.The cryptocurrency market saw a collective rise, with Bitcoin continuing its strong performance. After breaking through the $90,000 mark last night, it accelerated its rise and, following Trump's retraction of his earlier threat to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Powell, it briefly approached $94,000 this morning, reaching a new high since early March, currently reported at $93,063, with a daily increase of 5.6%. Ethereum reversed its recent downturn, surging by 14% and breaking through $1,800. The altcoin market also rose collectively, with the total cryptocurrency market capitalization increasing by 5.4%.In the forex commodities market, the U.S. dollar index rebounded significantly by 0.65%, and international crude oil rose nearly 2%; as risk appetite improved, international gold prices, which had reached new highs for several consecutive days, retraced some gains, with spot gold down 1.25%.Trump's remarks on tariff softening and his moderate stance on Powell shifted the investment atmosphere from previous concerns to optimism. Moving forward, the progress of trade negotiations and the direction of Federal Reserve monetary policy will become the focus of attention.

ChainCatcher news, analyst James Van Straten stated that the US dollar, which usually strengthens in a risk-off environment, is currently weakening as capital flows into the yen and euro. In this new landscape, alternative assets are taking center stage. Gold has surged to $3,500 per ounce for the first time, solidifying its status as a safe-haven asset. The rapid growth of gold is reflected in the fact that this year, the market value of gold has increased by about $6 trillion, three times the historical peak market value of Bitcoin (BTC). However, while Bitcoin's market performance has lagged behind gold, it is also regaining its footing, with its dominance in the cryptocurrency market reaching new highs and beginning to diverge from US tech stocks. This Friday, $6.7 billion worth of Bitcoin options are set to expire, including $330 million in call options with a strike price of $100,000, which may lead to volatility in the last week of April.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Coingecko quarterly report, the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies fell by 18.6% to $2.8 trillion in the first quarter of 2025. Bitcoin further solidified its dominance in the market downturn, with its market share rising to 59.1% (a new high since 2021), while altcoins generally performed poorly. The shares of stablecoins USDT and USDC increased, while Ethereum's market share dropped to a five-year low of 7.9%.​1. Bitcoin outperforms traditional risk assetsBitcoin broke through $100,000 in January, reaching an all-time high, but ended the quarter at $82,514 (a decline of 11.8%). Its performance outpaced the Nasdaq index (down 10.3%), but lagged behind gold (up 18%) and U.S. Treasury bonds. Analysts pointed out that the strengthening of the yen and euro, adjustments in monetary policy, and geopolitical uncertainties have intensified market volatility.​2. Ethereum and altcoins under pressureEthereum's price plummeted 45.3% to $1,805, erasing all gains made in 2024, with daily trading volume shrinking to $2.44 billion. Leading altcoins like Solana (SOL), XRP, and BNB experienced smaller pullbacks, highlighting Ethereum's relative weakness. Meme coins suffered a significant setback due to the exit of Argentine President Javier Milei's related project LIBRA, with daily token deployment on the Pump.fun platform dropping by 56.3%.​3. Changes in exchange landscapeThe spot trading volume of centralized exchanges (CEX) decreased by 16.3% to $5.4 trillion, with Binance maintaining a market share of 40.7%; HTX became the only platform in the top ten to see growth (+11.4%), while Bybit's trading volume was halved due to a hacking incident in February. Among decentralized exchanges (DEX), Solana led Q1 with a 39.6% share, but Ethereum briefly reclaimed the top spot in March. The total value locked (TVL) in DeFi fell by 27.5% to $12.86 billion, while the new public chain Berachain's TVL rose against the trend to $5.2 billion.

ChainCatcher news, Glassnode stated that the supply of stablecoins continues to grow, but the growth rate has slowed in recent weeks.As stablecoins are widely used as a core pricing asset in the crypto market, this slowdown further confirms the trend of liquidity contraction and declining risk appetite in the entire digital asset market.

ChainCatcher news, according to 4E monitoring, Powell's latest speech warned that the increase in tariffs far exceeds expectations, which may face a dilemma of inflation and economic challenges, suggesting that the Federal Reserve will prioritize controlling inflation and reiterating a wait-and-see stance, denying that it will cut interest rates to rescue the market during a significant market decline. As a result of this hawkish rhetoric, the three major U.S. stock indexes fell sharply, with the Nasdaq plummeting 3.07%, the S&P 500 dropping 2.24%, and the Dow Jones down 1.73%. The seven tech giants all declined, with Nvidia falling nearly 6.9% and Tesla down nearly 5%.The cryptocurrency market performed relatively independently amid the sharp decline in U.S. stocks. Bitcoin briefly dropped sharply after Powell's speech but quickly regained above $84,000, currently reported at $84,227, up 0.8% in 24 hours. Most altcoins rose, but market sentiment remained cautious, with investors wary of potential impacts from the spread of overall economic risks.The foreign exchange and commodity markets experienced increased volatility, with the dollar index widening its decline after Powell's speech, dropping slightly over 1% for the day; the U.S. announced new sanctions targeting Iranian oil exports, causing crude oil to rebound nearly 2% to a nearly two-week high; gold prices maintained an upward trend throughout the day on Wednesday, with spot gold rising nearly 3.5%, setting a new historical record.During the sharp decline in U.S. stocks, Trump repeatedly called for interest rate cuts, and market expectations for an emergency rate cut by the Federal Reserve increased, but Powell's latest speech doused those hopes. The CME FedWatch tool shows that the probability of the Federal Reserve maintaining interest rates in May has risen to 83.2%.

ChainCatcher news reports that, according to 4E monitoring, the deadlock in US-EU trade negotiations has led to cautious investor sentiment, causing US stocks to fail to continue their rebound on Tuesday, with all three major indices slightly declining, although volatility has noticeably eased compared to recent times. By the close, the Nasdaq fell 0.05%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.17%, and the Dow Jones decreased by 0.39%. Tech stocks showed mixed performance, with the seven giants index down about 0.4%.Cryptocurrencies weakened across the board, with Bitcoin dropping from $86,496 last night to $83,670 before this report, a nearly 2% decline in 24 hours; Ethereum fell 2.2% below $1,600. The altcoin market generally declined, with the Meme and AI sectors leading the drop.Despite the recent volatility in financial markets, Bitcoin has remained stable above $80,000, demonstrating strong resilience.In the forex commodities sector, the US dollar index's downward trend has slowed, rising 0.59% back above the 100 mark; oil prices remained basically unchanged from the previous day; trade uncertainties have favored safe-haven assets, with London gold surging 1.32% to $3,272, up over 23% year-to-date.The shadow of the trade war continues to loom over the market, with the uncertainty surrounding Trump's tariff policies exacerbating concerns about a global economic slowdown, and the deadlock in US-EU negotiations further increasing market uncertainty. The US stock earnings season has begun, with several large companies set to announce their earnings this week, which may intensify market volatility.