Bitcoin may be on the cusp of a strong bullish breakout as President Donald Trump considers replacing Jerome Powell as current chair of the Federal Reserve, even though he does not have the authority to do so. Regardless, if the…

Bitcoin forms bullish pennant as tensions worsen between Trump, Fed chair Jerome Powell

The Tron price has stalled between the key support and resistance levels at 
$0.2210 and $0.2595 even as its fees rise. The Tron (TRX) token was trading at 
$0.2430, giving it a market capitalization of $23 billion, making it the…

Tron price stalls as its YTD fees surge towards $1 billion

Schwab&#8217;s crypto trading launch could reshape the financial landscape, 
enhancing crypto legitimacy and accessibility amid evolving regulations.
The post $10 trillion Charles Schwab plans to launch spot crypto trading in 
next 12 months, says CEO appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

$10 trillion Charles Schwab plans to launch spot crypto trading in next 12 months, says CEO

_**Opinion by: Jin Kwon, co-founder and chief strategy officer at Saga**_
Crypto has come a long way in boosting transaction throughput. New layer 1s 
(L1s) and side networks offer faster, cheaper transactions than ever before. 
Yet, a core challenge has come into focus: liquidity fragmentation &#8212; the 
scattering of capital and users across an ever-growing maze of blockchains.
Vitalik Buterin, in a recent blog post, highlighted how scaling successes have 
led to unforeseen coordination challenges. With so many chains and so much 
value splintered among them, participants face a daily tangle of bridging, 
swapping and wallet-switching.
While these issues affect Ethereum, they also affect nearly every ecosystem. 
No matter how advanced, new blockchains risk becoming liquidity &#8220;islands&#8221; that 
struggle to connect with one another.
## The real costs of fragmentation
Liquidity fragmentation means there is no single &#8220;pool&#8221; of assets for traders, 
investors or decentralized finance (DeFi) applications to tap into. Instead, 
each blockchain or side network hosts its own siloed liquidity. For a user who 
wants to buy a token or access a specific lending platform, this siloing 
introduces multiple headaches.
Switching networks, opening specialized wallets and paying multiple 
transaction fees are far from seamless, especially for those less tech-savvy. 
Liquidity is also thinner in each isolated pool, leading to price disparities 
and higher slippage on trades.
Many users resort to bridges to move capital across chains, yet these have 
been frequent targets for exploits, raising fear and mistrust. If it&#8217;s too 
cumbersome or risky to move liquidity around, DeFi fails to gain mainstream 
momentum. Meanwhile, projects scramble to deploy across multiple networks or 
risk being left behind.
Some observers worry that fragmentation could drive people back to a few 
dominant chains or centralized exchanges, undermining the decentralized ideals 
that fueled blockchain&#8217;s rise.
## Familiar fixes, with persisting gaps
Solutions have emerged to tackle this tangle. Bridges and wrapped assets 
enable basic interoperability, but the user experience remains cumbersome. 
Crosschain aggregators can route tokens through a chain of swaps, yet they 
generally don&#8217;t merge the underlying liquidity. They only help users navigate 
it.
Meanwhile, ecosystems like Cosmos and Polkadot bring interoperability within 
their frameworks, though they are separate realms in the broader crypto 
landscape.
The problem is fundamental: Each chain views itself as distinct. Any new chain 
or sub-network must be &#8220;plugged in&#8221; at the ground level to truly unify 
liquidity. Otherwise, it adds another liquidity island that users must 
discover and bridge into. This challenge is compounded by chains, bridges and 
aggregators seeing one another as competition, leading to intentional siloing 
and making fragmentation even more pronounced.
## Integrating liquidity at the base layer
Integration at the base layer addresses liquidity fragmentation by embedding 
bridging and routing functions directly into a chain&#8217;s core infrastructure. 
This approach appears in certain layer-1 protocols and specialized frameworks, 
where interoperability is treated as a foundational element rather than an 
optional add-on.
_**Recent:**__**What are exit liquidity traps &#8212; and how to detect them before 
it is too late**_
Validator nodes automatically handle crosschain connections, so new chains or 
side networks can launch with immediate access to the broader ecosystem&#8217;s 
liquidity. This reduces reliance on third-party bridges that often introduce 
security risks and user friction.
Ethereum&#8217;s own challenges with heterogeneous layer-2 (L2) solutions underscore 
why integration is essential. Different participants &#8212; Ethereum as a 
settlement layer, L2s focusing on execution, and various bridging services &#8212; 
have their own motivations, resulting in fragmented liquidity.
Buterin&#8217;s references to this issue highlight the need for more cohesive 
designs. An integrated base-layer model brings these components together at 
launch, ensuring that capital can flow freely without forcing users to 
navigate multiple wallets, bridge solutions, or rollups.
An integrated routing mechanism also consolidates asset transfers, mimicking a 
unified liquidity pool behind the scenes. By capturing a fraction of the 
overall liquidity flow rather than charging users for every transaction, such 
protocols reduce friction and encourage capital mobility across the network. 
Developers deploying new blockchains gain instant access to a shared liquidity 
base while end-users avoid juggling multiple tools or encountering unexpected 
fees.
This emphasis on integration helps maintain a seamless experience, even as 
more networks come online.
## Not just an Ethereum issue
While Buterin&#8217;s blog post focuses on Ethereum&#8217;s rollups, fragmentation is 
ecosystem-agnostic. Whether a project builds on an Ethereum Virtual Machine- 
compatible chain, a WebAssembly-based platform, or something else, the 
fragmentation trap arises if liquidity is fenced off.
As more protocols explore base-layer solutions &#8212; embedding automatic 
interoperability into their chain design &#8212; there&#8217;s hope that future networks 
won&#8217;t splinter capital further but instead help unify it.
A clear principle emerges: Throughput means little without connectivity.
Users shouldn&#8217;t need to think about L1s, L2s or sidechains. They just want 
seamless access to decentralized applications (DApps), games and financial 
services. Adopting will follow if stepping onto a new chain feels identical to 
operating on a familiar network.
## Toward a unified and liquid future
The crypto community&#8217;s focus on transaction throughput has revealed an 
unexpected paradox: The more chains we create for speed, the more we fragment 
our ecosystem&#8217;s strength, which lies in its shared liquidity. Each new chain 
intended to boost capacity creates another isolated pool of capital.
Building interoperability directly into blockchain infrastructure offers a 
clear path through this challenge. When protocols handle crosschain 
connections automatically and route assets efficiently, developers can expand 
without splintering their user base or capital. Success in this model comes 
from measuring and improving how smoothly value moves throughout the 
ecosystem.
The technical foundations for this approach exist today. We must implement 
them thoughtfully, with attention to security and user experience.
_**Opinion by: Jin Kwon, co-founder and chief strategy officer at Saga.**_
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and 
should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and 
opinions expressed here are the author&#8217;s alone and do not necessarily reflect 
or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Every chain is an island: crypto’s liquidity crisis

Amidst a steady crypto market, total crypto VC funding hit $293.2 million for 
the week of April 13-19, 2025, with Auradine&#8217;s $153 million Series C leading 
the charge. This week, capital flowed into infrastructure, AI, and DeFi 
projects across various…

Crypto VC funding: Auradine secures $153m, World Liberty Fi inks deal with DWF Labs

Whales and institutions are increasing their Bitcoin holdings ahead of Easter, 
as market analysts predict a weekend with less volatility after two weeks of 
heightened volatility driven by escalating global trade tensions.
London-based investment firm Abraxas Capital acquired 2,949 Bitcoin (BTC) 
worth more than $250 million during the four days leading up to April 19.
In the latest transaction, the firm bought over $45 million worth of Bitcoin 
from Binance on April 18, according to crypto intelligence firm Lookonchain, 
citing Arkham Intelligence data.
_Source: Arkham Intelligence,__Lookonchain_
The investment came days after Michael Saylor&#8217;s Strategy bought $285 million 
worth of Bitcoin at an average price of $82,618 per BTC, as the world&#8217;s 
largest corporate Bitcoin holders signal continued confidence in Bitcoin, amid 
global tariff uncertainty.
Large Bitcoin investors, or whales, continue accumulating, absorbing over 300% 
of Bitcoin&#8217;s yearly issuance as exchanges continue losing coins at a historic 
pace, Cointelegraph reported on April 18.
_**Related:**__**Spar supermarket in Switzerland starts accepting Bitcoin 
payments**_
## Crypto analysts eye quiet Easter weekend after weeks of turmoil
Despite continued accumulation from whales and institutions, volatility 
concerns were raised by significant movements from the medium-term Bitcoin 
cohort, which holds coins for an average of three to six months.
Over 170,000 Bitcoin entered circulation from the medium-term cohort, a 
development that may signal &#8220;imminent&#8221; crypto market volatility, according to 
pseudonymous CryptoQuant analyst Mignolet.
&#8220;The effect of this metric on LTF moves is overstated as large onchain 
movement of coins hardly ever affects weekend price action since it&#8217;s not on 
liquid markets or CEX markets,&#8221; analysts at Bitfinex exchange told 
Cointelegraph, adding:
&gt; &#8220;It is important to note that funding rates remain relatively flat 
&gt; currently. Moreover, US markets are closed as we have a long weekend for 
&gt; Easter, so volatility could be suppressed barring headlines from the White 
&gt; House.&#8221;
_**Related:**__**Crypto, DeFi may widen wealth gap, destabilize finance: BIS 
report**_
Marcin Kazmierczak, chief operating officer of RedStone Oracles, added that 
the recent movements may be operational transfers, not necessarily signs of 
imminent selling pressure.
Still, concerns over weekend volatility have been amplified over the past two 
weeks after the Mantra (OM) token&#8217;s price collapsed by over 90% on Sunday, 
April 13, from roughly $6.30 to below $0.50, triggering market manipulation 
allegations and highlighting &#8220;critical&#8221; liquidity issues in the industry.
Two weeks ago, on April 6, Bitcoin fell below $75,000 on Sunday, as investor 
concerns spread from a record-breaking $5 trillion sell-off from the S&amp;P 500, 
its largest on record.
_BTC, SPX, year-to-date chart. Source: Cointelegraph/__TradingView_
The correction was caused by Bitcoin&#8217;s 24/7 trading availability, which made 
it the only large liquid asset available for de-risking on Sunday, Blockstream 
CEO Adam Back told Cointelegraph.
&#8220;On a weekend, there&#8217;s not much volume. So you have a worse risk of rapid sort 
of flash crashes or flash dips that get filled in again,&#8221; he said.
_**Magazine:**__**Bitcoin ATH sooner than expected? XRP may drop 40%, and 
more: Hodler &#8216;s Digest, March 23 &#8211; 29**_