Table of Contents
Highlights
- Bitcoin surges 13% in April, outperforming equities and reclaiming over half of its early-year losses.
- Institutional demand rises as Bitcoin surges, with firms like MicroStrategy and Metaplanet accumulating over 60,000 BTC.
- Despite tariff shocks, Bitcoin surges back, signaling its strength as a sovereign, uncorrelated asset.
- Bitcoin surges while altcoins like Ethereum and Solana struggle amid token unlocks and macro pressure.
- Global interest grows as Bitcoin surges, with nations exploring BTC in trade settlements for financial sovereignty.
April 2025 was a defining month for the crypto industry, marked by volatile price swings, deepening macroeconomic uncertainty, and a growing divergence between Bitcoin and the broader altcoin market. At the same time, initial market conditions were turbulent and sparked by geopolitical tensions and trade disruptions. Bitcoin (BTC) regained strength, underpinned by growing institutional interest and its rising reputation as a sovereign, uncorrelated asset. Altcoins, in contrast, struggled under speculative fatigue, persistent token unlocks, and declining on-chain revenues.
A Difficult Month for Layer 1s
Layer 1 innovative contract platforms bore the brunt of April’s downturn, with the MarketVector Smart Contract Leaders Index (MVSCLE) falling to 91, down 59% from its December 2024 high. Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Sui were impacted very early in the month, dropping over 65% from their all-time highs in January. Year-to-date, Layer 1s have fallen 34%, underscoring how fragile the speculative enthusiasm has become under sustained macro pressure and token oversupply.
Bitcoin has outperformed most asset classes despite the broader slump. It returned +13% in April and clawed back more than half of its losses since January’s record high of $110K. In contrast, Ethereum declined another 3% in April, adding to the 47% YTD. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq remained flat, or slightly down, while crypt infrastructure indices also showed mixed signals, indicating a still-risk-averse investor base.
BTC Resilience and the Sovereign Asset Narrative
The turning point came after the April 7 tariff announcements, which initially had sent BTC tumbling by 500 basis points against equities. Surprisingly, BTC rebounded in the following days, outperforming stocks in 10 of the next 17 trading sessions. This resilience is also increasingly attributed to its emerging role as a sovereign, inflation-resistant, and uncorrelated store of value.
A flurry of institutional buying activity contributed to this narrative. Corporations like MicroStrategy (MSTR), XXI( a new venture backed by SoftBank and Tether), Metaplanet, and Semler Scientific collectively added over 60,000 BTC in April. ETFs and investment funds also accumulated an estimated 29,000 BTC. This wave of acquisitions reflects an evolution in how institutions view Bitcoin as a strategic reserve and not just a speculative asset.
Bitcoin and Equity Decoupling Still in Early Stages
Despite anecdotal evidence of BTC’s decoupling from traditional assets, data shows otherwise. The 30-day moving average of Bitcoin’s correlation to the S&P 500 briefly dipped below 0.25 but rose to 0.55 by the end of April. Nonetheless, volatility data supports BTC’s growing maturity. As market volatility spiked in the equity markets, BTC’s volatility fell by 4%, which was a rare occurrence during macro uncertainty.
Looking ahead, VanEck analysts forecast further dissociation between Bitcoin and equities as more nations integrate Bitcoin into trade settlement mechanisms. Russia and Venezuela are already testing Bitcoin-based international transactions, and the dollar-hedging motive remains strong among nations wary of U.S. sanctions and financial oversight.
Blockchains by Revenue and Activity: TRX and HYPE Rise
Despite price drawdowns, blockchain activity remained surprisingly healthy. On-chain metrics revealed a 0.5% increase in total revenue and a notable 11% jump in stablecoin transfer volume in April. TRON (TRX) and Hyperliquid (HYPE) led the pack in average daily revenue, surpassing even Solana and Ethereum. This shift marks the second month TRX and HYPE have outpaced SOL in blockchain revenue- a sign that newer or overlooked chains are gaining traction.
Ethereum’s reversal in asset flows was another highlight. For the first time in months, it saw more inflows than outflows, primarily from Layer 2 networks like Arbitrium and Optimism. Yet this hasn’t been enough to address concerns about ETH’s market share erosion.
The Saylor Strategy Goes Mainstream
Corporate bitcoin surge accumulation continues to gain momentum, inspired by Microstrategy’s ‘Bitcoin-as-a-Treasury’ strategy. GameStop plans to use proceeds from a $1.5 billion raise to buy BTC, while DeFi Development Corp is increasing its SOL holdings to $1 billion. In Japan, Metaplanet’s aggressive BTC accumulation has made headlines, while in the U.S., Semler Scientific mirrors MSTR’s playbook with a valuation tied closely to its BTC treasury.
A key driver of this trend is the persistent premium in MSTR stock, which trades at 119% above the combined value of its software business and BTC holdings. Other firms now see crypto as a financial lever to attract investor attention, even if their core businesses lie elsewhere.
Top Performers: Solana and SUI Bounce Back
Among April’s bright spots, Sui and Solana led recovery efforts. SUI soared +52%, fueled by excitement around its Base Camp developer conference and its continuous rollout of technical innovations like Walrus (decentralised storage), Deepbook (liquidity engine), and Nautilus (off-chain computation verifier). With DEX volumes up to 45% and stablecoin turnover at an industry-leading 716%, Sui has begun carving out a reputation for developer responsiveness and ecosystem agility.
Solana also gained +16%, partly thanks to memecoin-driven DEX activity and meaningful protocol upgrades. It raised its block compute limit to 50 million, laying the foundation for further scaling. Additionally, the Solana Foundation began restructuring its validator program to phase out underperformers and reward contributors who build ecosystem tools. Memecoins, despite criticisms, continue to be the network’s primary revenue driver, accounting for 95% of April’s trading activity (excluding SOL pairs).
Ethereum’s Struggles and Strategic Overhaul
Ethereum’s ongoing malaise has persisted into April, with ETH losing another 3% and its dominance over smart contract platform fees falling to just 13.7% down from 74% two years ago. The migration of users and developers to faster, cheaper Layer 1s like Solana and Sui has been relentless.
In response, Ethereum developers are proposing radical solutions to simplify and scale the protocol
- Vitalik Buterin’s RISC-V Proposal: Seeks to replace Ethereum’s EVM with a RISC-V architecture, enabling faster execution and significantly reducing ZK proof times.
- EIP-9698: Aims to increase the gas limit 100x by 2029, potentially scaling throughput to 2,000 transactions per second.
- EIP-9580: Proposes block-level access lists to allow parallel processing, similar to Solana’s architecture.
The initiatives are necessary but face long timelines, giving competitors more room to innovate and capture users.
XRP’s Quiet Transformations
Despite Ripple’s massive transformation effort, XRP underperformed in April (+5%). The launch of RLUSD, a regulated stablecoin integrated into Ripple Payments, pushed its total supply past $300M. Ripple also announced a $1.25B acquisition of prime broker Hidden Road and is reportedly exploring a $4-5B offer for Circle.
Although most RLUSD issuance still occurs on Ethereum, Ripple is pushing to make the XRP Ledger a key settlement layer for institutional finance. The firm sees the tokenised real-world asset market growing to $18.9 trillion by 2033, a vision Ripple is aggressively positioning itself to dominate. Despite XRP’s subdued April performance, it remains one of the best performers YoY, up 340%, far outpacing major indices and altcoins.
Conclusion
April 2025 reflects a broader pivot within the crypto industry. While Bitcoin’s role as a macro-resilient, sovereign asset grows clearer, altcoins are experiencing a reckoning. The divergence between Ethereum’s slow evolution and the agile, developer-focused growth of Solana and Sui illustrates the industry’s new battleground: utility, speed, and decentralization versus legacy dominance.
For now, Bitcoin’s strength lies in its simplicity and institutional backing. But for smart contract platforms, the race is far from over, and April may go down as the month that redrew the crypto map.
