Bitcoin and Ethereum collapse after White House confirms historic 104% tariffs on all Chinese goods.

Bitcoin, Ethereum drop as Trump confirms 104% tariffs on China

Recent data indicates a breakdown in the dollar&#8217;s traditional correlation with 
other markets, as investors seek refuge in currencies like the Swiss franc and 
Japanese yen, which have recently strengthened. Thierry Wizman, global FX and 
rates strategist at Macquarie Group, stated that Trump&#8217;s tariffs policy shake- 
up not only threatens the dollar’s status as a safe […]

Trump’s Tariff Policy Threatens Dollar’s Safe Haven Status and Global Currency Dominance, Warns FX Strategist Wizman

As Polygon lays the groundwork for mainstream Web3 adoption in India by 
bringing blockchain access to over 450 million Reliance Jio users, it remains 
focused on balancing speed, scalability and affordability, without 
compromising on decentralization.
Polygon is working with Jio, a telecom giant owned by India&#8217;s richest man, 
Mukesh Ambani, to find ways to infuse blockchain technology into its existing 
services. The duo is currently adding blockchain-based capabilities to the 
JioSphere web browser, which would have been expensive, cumbersome and time- 
consuming via traditional methods.
&#8220;We&#8217;re building at an insane pace, onboarding massive partners, and pushing 
blockchain into the mainstream &#8212; but with that growth comes the 
responsibility to make sure we&#8217;re doing it the right way,&#8221; said Polygon&#8217;s co- 
founder, Sandeep Nailwal, while discussing Polygon&#8217;s India-focused initiatives 
with Cointelegraph.
## Preserving decentralization while ensuring system scalability
&#8220;Scalability and decentralization don&#8217;t have to be either-or &#8212; and that&#8217;s 
exactly the balance we&#8217;re focused on at Polygon,&#8221; Nailwal said as he 
underscored the importance of keeping the core values of blockchain intact: 
security, transparency and decentralization.
At the same time, Nailwal revealed that Polygon is investing heavily in zero- 
knowledge technology to make scaling more seamless across the ecosystem. &#8220;The 
goal is to give developers and users the best of both worlds: faster, cheaper 
transactions without compromising trust or decentralization,&#8221; he added.
As a result of delivering the combination of low fees, fast transactions and 
decentralized security, Polygon is already powering some of the most active 
use cases in Web3 &#8212; from stablecoin payments on Polygon PoS to real-world 
tokenization with major institutions:
&gt; &#8220;The key challenge is making blockchain as seamless and accessible as Web2 
&gt; without compromising what makes it special. That&#8217;s why we&#8217;re all-in on ZK 
&gt; technology and Agglayer, which let us scale while keeping the ecosystem 
&gt; trustless and interoperable.&#8221;
## Bringing blockchain tech to millions of users
According to Nailwal, a one-size-fits-all approach does not work when 
onboarding 450 million users belonging to a diverse population in India. 
&#8220;We&#8217;ll be working closely with Jio to develop use cases that truly resonate 
with their users, and gradually onboard them onto the chain based on these 
real-world applications,&#8221; he added.
Nailwal said that developers never have to compromise on the fundamentals as 
Polygon&#8217;s infrastructure can scale without sacrificing what makes blockchain 
powerful in the first place:
&gt; &#8220;What excites me most is that we&#8217;re moving beyond technical discussions 
&gt; about blockchain to solving real problems for real people. These are the use 
&gt; cases that will drive the next wave of adoption.&#8221;
&#8220;At the end of the day, it&#8217;s about more than just technology. We&#8217;re here to 
create a decentralized future that billions of people can actually use. And 
while that&#8217;s a massive challenge, it&#8217;s also what excites me the most,&#8221; Nailwal 
said.
_**Related:**__**Indian town adopts Avalanche blockchain for tamper-proof land 
records**_
## Real-world problem solving will drive the next wave of adoption
Rising threats driven by artificial intelligence tools, such as deepfakes and 
other misinformation campaigns, are another use case blockchain technology can 
help solve. Nailwal said that the escalating threat of misinformation and 
growing consumer insistence on trusted sources will eventually result in an 
uptick of blockchain-based verification tools across media houses.
Additionally, Nailwal highlighted the growing relevance of Polymarket, a 
cryptocurrency-based prediction market, in mainstream finance and reporting. 
&#8220;Polymarket&#8217;s success is exactly what we&#8217;ve been working toward,&#8221; he said, 
adding:
&gt; &#8220;Prediction markets are proving to be incredibly valuable tools for finance, 
&gt; risk assessment, journalism and even governance. They pull in insights from 
&gt; a wide range of sources, often making them more reliable than traditional 
&gt; polling.&#8221;
Nailwal is placing his full bet on blockchain&#8217;s immutable nature to transform 
economic forecasting, policy-making and journalism, among others.
_**Magazine:**__**Your AI &#8216;digital twin&#8217; can take meetings and comfort your 
loved ones**_

Polygon’s Nailwal: Jio partnership to drive real-world Web3 adoption for 450M users

Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon saw $1.26 billion in BTC unstaked from its 
platform, plunging the protocol&#8217;s total value locked by 32%.
On April 17, blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain flagged several addresses 
that had unstaked 14,929 Bitcoin (BTC) from the staking platform. The security 
firm flagged four addresses that unstaked 299 BTC, 499 BTC, 1,000 BTC and 
13,129 BTC.
One address held a majority of the unstaked assets worth $1.1 billion. With 
BTC prices hovering at $84,400, the total unstaked BTC is worth about $1.26 
billion.
The unstaking event saw Babylon&#8217;s total value locked (TVL) drop by 32%. 
According to data tracker DefiLlama, Babylon&#8217;s TVL dropped from $3.97 billion 
to $2.68 billion during the unstaking.
_Source:__Lookonchain_
## Unstaked Bitcoin may be &#8220;staked back&#8221; to Babylon
Community members are speculating on who was behind the unstaking. One X user 
suspected that the Bitcoin may belong to the Chinese government, while another 
said the move may simply be a rotation, risk-off, or a trader getting liquid.
While it&#8217;s unclear who&#8217;s behind the four addresses cited by Lookonchain, the 
fund movements could be related to a transition initiated by the decentralized 
finance (DeFi) protocol Lombard Finance.
At the time of the unstaking, Babylon Labs retweeted an announcement from 
Lombard, saying it was unstaking Bitcoin as part of a transition to a new set 
of finality providers.
Lombard Finance said it timed the unstaking with the end of Babylon&#8217;s phase 1 
cap 1 on April 24 so users would not miss out on rewards. The protocol said it 
would stake the assets back.
&#8220;All of this BTC will be staked back into Babylon as soon as the unbonding is 
complete,&#8221; Lombard Finance wrote.
Cointelegraph reached out to Babylon Labs for comments but did not get a 
response by publication.
_**Related:**__**Bitcoin L2 &#8216;honeymoon phase&#8217; is over, most projects will fail 
&#8212; Muneeb Ali**_
## Bitcoin unstaking follows BABY airdrop
The massive unstaking event follows a Babylon airdrop for early adopters. On 
April 3, Babylon announced the details of its early adopters airdrop program. 
The airdrop was allocated for its Phase 1 stakers, non-fungible token (NFT) 
holders, and developers. The protocol allocated 600 million BABY tokens for 
the airdrop event.
Following the airdrop, $21 million in BTC were unstaked from the protocol. 
Bitlayer co-founder Kevin He previously told Cointelegraph that this was a 
common short-term market behavior representing early redemption. 
Babylon is one of the largest Bitcoin DeFi players in the space, with a TVL 
reaching over $6 billion in December. Babylon co-founder Fisher Yu previously 
told Cointelegraph that the platform allows staking to be a native use case 
for Bitcoin, eliminating the need to trust another party while staking.
_**Magazine:**__**Your AI &#8216;digital twin&#8217; can take meetings and comfort your 
loved ones**_

Babylon total value locked drops 32% as wallets unstake $1.2B in Bitcoin

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CoinGecko Spotlights LBank’s Memecoin Dominance and Fastest Altcoin Listings

Local experts assess that, while useful, regular dollars will not impact the 
use of stablecoins in Argentina, given their unique characteristics and value 
proposition. Instead, some believe that the adoption of these dollar-proxy 
tokens will increase, as they create new investment opportunities. Analysts: 
Argentina Will Keep Embracing Stablecoins After the recent lifting of the 
currency […]