Trump&#8217;s tariffs may push Chinese investors to buy more Bitcoin, says BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes

Arthur Hayes: Bitcoin may surge as Chinese investors hedge against yuan drop

Transaction costs on the Ethereum network have dropped to the lowest level in 
five years as the amount of activity on the blockchain is in a lull, according 
to the onchain analytics platform Santiment.
Ethereum network fees are now around $0.168 per transaction and the reduction 
in fees coincides with fewer people sending Ether (ETH) and interacting with 
smart contracts, Santiment marketing director Brian Quinlivan said in an April 
17 blog post.
&#8220;When many people are using Ethereum, users bid higher fees to get their 
transactions confirmed faster This drives the average costs up,&#8221; Quinlivan 
said.
&#8220;When fewer people are transacting, like we see now, users don&#8217;t need to bid 
much. As a result, the average fee drops,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;It&#8217;s essentially a 
supply and demand system.&#8221;
_Source:__Santiment_
Quinlivan said that, from a trading perspective, low fees can preclude a price 
rebound, Still, he added that traders appear to be patiently waiting for the 
global economic uncertainty to pass before scaling up their usual frequency of 
Ether and altcoin transactions.
Traditional and crypto markets tanked after US President Trump&#8217;s sweeping 
tariffs were announced on April 2. Many assets haven&#8217;t recovered to the same 
level as before their unveiling, despite tariff exemptions and a 90-day pause 
for most countries.
ETH has fallen over 12.5% in the past 14 days and has traded flat over the 
past 24 hours, hovering just under $1,600, according to CoinGecko.
&#8220;We can visibly see the increased sensitivity toward Ethereum discussions and 
tariff/economy news as prices have really threatened long-time support 
levels,&#8221; Quinlivan said.
&#8220;The more the retail community leans away from an asset, especially one with 
still thriving development, the higher the likelihood of an eventual surprise 
rebound with little resistance,&#8221; he added. 
## Pectra upgrade on the way
After delays due to configuration issues and an unknown attacker causing 
headaches during the Holesky and Sepolia testnet activations, the Pectra 
upgrade for the Ethereum network is now scheduled to go live on the mainnet on 
May 7.
Phase one is expected to double the layer-2 blob capacity from three to six, 
reduce transaction fees and network congestion and allow fees to be paid in 
stablecoins like USDC (USDC) and DAI (DAI).
_**Related:**__**Ethereum devs prepare final Pectra test before mainnet 
launch**_
The maximum staking limit will also be increased from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH.
The second phase of Pectra is expected in late 2025 or early 2026 and will 
introduce a new data structure to enhance data storage efficiency and a system 
that improves scalability by enabling nodes to verify transaction data without 
storing the entire data set.
The Pectra fork follows the network&#8217;s Dencun upgrade in March 2024, which 
slashed transaction fees for layer-2 networks and improved the economics of 
Ethereum rollups.
_**Magazine:**__**What are native rollups? Full guide to Ethereum &#8216;s latest 
innovation**_

Ethereum fees drop to a 5-year low as transaction volumes lull

A senior official from Russia’s Finance Ministry has suggested that the 
country should develop its own stablecoins pegged to various currencies 
following the recent blocking of USDT stablecoin wallets linked to Russia. 
Dollar-pegged stablecoins have gained popularity for facilitating fund 
transfers between cryptocurrencies and cash, especially as Western sanctions 
have complicated international payments for Russian […]

Russia Eyes Own Stablecoins After USDT Blockage

The incident highlights the volatility and risks of experimental tokenization, 
underscoring the need for clearer market guidelines and user education.
The post Coinbase&#8217;s Base sparks controversy after experimental token melts 
down, then rockets back appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Coinbase’s Base sparks controversy after experimental token melts down, then rockets back

The firm behind the Solana-based automated market maker (AMM) Raydium has 
launched its memecoin-making protocol, LaunchLab, which looks to compete with 
Pump.fun.
The arrival of LaunchLab on April 16 comes a month after Pump.fun, previously 
a key contributor to Raydium&#8217;s revenue, severed ties with the firm by moving 
its token migration from Raydium&#8217;s liquidity pools to its own new 
decentralized exchange, PumpSwap.
LaunchLab will leverage Raydium&#8217;s liquidity pools and aim to dethrone Pump.fun 
as the leading Solana memecoin launchpad.
Raydium said LaunchLab provides memecoin enthusiasts with customizable bonding 
curves and no migration fees, while tokens that raise 85 Solana (SOL) &#8212; 
currently worth $11,150 &#8212; will transition to Raydium&#8217;s AMM instantly.
Around 10 LaunchLab tokens have already surpassed this threshold, according to 
the LaunchLab platform.
Raydium said tokens can be launched for free and creators can opt-in to earn 
10% of trading fees from the AMM pool post-graduation.
_Source:__Raydium_
LaunchLab trading fees are set at 1%, and 25% of those fees will be used for 
Raydium (RAY) buybacks.
_**Related:**__**Trump &#8216;s next crypto play will be Monopoly-style game &#8212; 
Report**_
The news triggered a near 14% price surge of the RAY token, pushing it up to 
$2.41 four hours after the announcement before falling back to $2.21 at the 
time of writing, CoinGecko data shows.
## PumpSwap volume on a tear
PumpSwap&#8217;s daily record in trading volume has now been broken five days in a 
row after posting $460 million on April 17.
The April 17 tally narrowly edged out the $454.9 million in trading volume 
seen on April 16, making it the fourth consecutive day above $400 million.
_Daily change in trading volume on PumpSwap since March 22. 
Source:__DefiLlama_
PumpSwap has now processed $7.3 billion worth of volume since it launched on 
March 22, DefiLlama data shows.
_**Magazine:**__**Memecoin degeneracy is funding groundbreaking anti-aging 
research**_

Raydium debuts LaunchLab to rival memecoin maker Pump.fun

BNB price is recovering from the $575 support zone. The price is now 
consolidating gains and might face hurdles near $585 and $600. BNB price is 
attempting to recover above the $580 resistance zone. The price is now trading 
below $585 and the 100-hourly simple moving average. There is a connecting 
bearish trend line forming with resistance at $585 on the hourly chart of the 
BNB/USD pair (data source from Binance). The pair must stay above the $575 
level to start another increase in the near term. BNB Price Faces Resistance 
After struggling to clear the $595 resistance, BNB price started a fresh 
decline. There was a move below the $590 and $585 levels, like Ethereum and 
Bitcoin. A low was formed at $576 and the price is now attempting to recover. 
There was a move above the $580 level. The price climbed above the 23.6% Fib 
retracement level of the downward move from the $594 swing high to the $576 
low. The price is now trading below $585 and the 100-hourly simple moving 
average. On the upside, the price could face resistance near the $585 level. 
There is also a connecting bearish trend line forming with resistance at $585 
on the hourly chart of the BNB/USD pair. The next resistance sits near the 
$588 level and the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the 
$594 swing high to the $576 low. A clear move above the $588 zone could send 
the price higher. In the stated case, BNB price could test $595. A close above 
the $595 resistance might set the pace for a larger move toward the $600 
resistance. Any more gains might call for a test of the $620 level in the near 
term. Another Decline? If BNB fails to clear the $585 resistance, it could 
start another decline. Initial support on the downside is near the $580 level. 
The next major support is near the $575 level. The main support sits at $562. 
If there is a downside break below the $562 support, the price could drop 
toward the $550 support. Any more losses could initiate a larger decline 
toward the $535 level. Technical Indicators Hourly MACD – The MACD for BNB/USD 
is losing pace in the bullish zone. Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The 
RSI for BNB/USD is currently below the 50 level. Major Support Levels – $580 
and $575. Major Resistance Levels – $585 and $595.