Ethereum is quickly losing ground to Bitcoin, with the ETH/BTC ratio falling to its lowest level in five years. According to CoinGecko data, the ETH/BTC ratio now stands at 0.01787, a level not seen since January 2020. The sharp decline…

ETH/BTC ratio hits 5-year low. Will Ethereum continue to decline below $1,600?

The European Central Bank (ECB) has raised alarm over the potential fallout 
from the United States&#8217; aggressive support for the crypto industry, warning 
that a surge in dollar-backed stablecoins could destabilize Europe&#8217;s financial 
system.
According to a policy paper seen by _POLITICO_ , the ECB has asked for a 
revision of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) regulatory 
framework for cryptocurrencies just months after it came into effect.
At the center of the dispute is the concern that US reforms, backed by 
President Donald Trump, could flood European markets with dollar-denominated 
stablecoins.
The ECB fears this could trigger a flight of European capital into US assets, 
undermining EU financial sovereignty and exposing banks to liquidity risks.
## ECB and European Commission Clash Over MiCA Rules
While the ECB calls for tighter controls, the European Commission has 
dismissed these warnings as exaggerated, per the report.
The report, citing two diplomats and one EU official, said that the existing 
MiCA framework is robust enough to manage stablecoin risks despite upcoming US 
policies like the Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability for a Better 
Ledger Economy (STABLE) and the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation 
for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Acts aimed at expanding America&#8217;s crypto 
footprint.
&#8220;The Commission was quite clear that they had different views on this topic,&#8221; 
and &#8220;not very many (countries) supported the idea that we should now jump the 
gun and start making quick changes in (the rules) based on this alone,&#8221; one of 
the diplomats reportedly told POLITICO.
The stablecoin sector now commands a valuation of $234.151 billion, according 
to data from CoinMarketCap.
The ECB warns that European issuers could face redemption pressures from EU 
and foreign holders without stricter limits, potentially sparking a financial 
&#8220;run&#8221; and harming exposed institutions.
&#8220;The worry is warranted,&#8221; Mikko Ohtamaa, co-founder and CEO at Trading 
Strategy, said in a post on X. &#8220;However, the EU had the first mover advantage 
with the regulation and they screwed it up.&#8221;
Ohtamaa said no EU stablecoin is globally competitive due to MiCA&#8217;s 
restrictive rules, which are influenced by bank and legacy finance lobbying.
_Source:__Mikko Ohtamaa_
 _**Related: **__**US regulator,s FDIC and CFTC, ease crypto restrictions for 
banks, derivatives**_
## Tether Remains a Major Critic of MiCA
​Tether, the issuer of the world&#8217;s largest stablecoin, USDT, has long been a 
major critic of the EU&#8217;s MiCA regulation.
Last year, CEO Paolo Ardoino argued that MiCA&#8217;s requirements, particularly the 
mandate for stablecoin issuers to hold at least 60% of reserves in EU bank 
accounts, could introduce systemic risks to both stablecoins and the broader 
banking system.
Due to noncompliance with MiCA, Tether&#8217;s USDT has faced delistings from major 
European exchanges, including Coinbase, Crypto.com, and Kraken.
_**Magazine: **__**Altcoin season to hit in Q2? Mantra &#8216;s plan to win trust: 
Hodler&#8217;s Digest**_

ECB flags risk of financial contagion from US Crypto push

HYPER, the native token of ​Hyperlane, an interoperability protocol 
facilitating cross-chain communication, is set to be listed on Binance 
following an exclusive TGE campaign hosted via Binance Wallet. In an April 21 
official announcement, crypto exchange Binance revealed that it…

Hyperlane’s HYPER to debut on Binance today, 20m tokens earmarked for airdrop

Amid the latest market recovery, Ethereum (ETH) attempted to break out from 
its multi-month downtrend, leading some market watchers to suggest that a new 
rally could start soon. However, as price struggles to hold the $1,600 level 
as support, the cryptocurrency risks losing recent momentum. Related Reading: 
Ethereum Enters Historic Buy Zone As Price Dips Below Key Level – Insights 
Ethereum Breakout Eyes Key Resistance On Easter Sunday, the crypto market saw 
a positive end-of-week after jumping 4.2%. Bitcoin (BTC) closed the week above 
the $85,000 barrier for the first time this month, while Ethereum surged 5.4% 
to attempt to reclaim the $1,600 resistance for the third time in the past 
seven days. ETH closed the week around the $1,640 mark before climbing to 
$1,658 during Monday’s early hours. Amid this performance, the cryptocurrency 
attempted to break out of its multi-month downtrend for the first time. Crypto 
analyst Ted Pillows highlighted that Ethereum broke out of its descending 
resistance on Monday morning. According to the post, the cryptocurrency has 
been in a downtrend in the one-day chart since early February, retesting the 
trendline thrice over the past few months, but always being rejected. Its 
latest rejection from the descending resistance sent the cryptocurrency below 
the $1,700 mark, which fueled the bearish sentiment brewing toward ETH. The 
start-of-April retraces, driven by the ongoing tariff war between the US and 
China, further sent Ethereum to lower levels, hitting its two-year low below 
$1,400 and retesting the 2018 highs. The analyst noted that ETH could rally 
toward $2,000 during April’s last leg if the cryptocurrency holds the $1,600 
support, which it hasn’t been able to do for most of the month. Is The ETH 
Bottom Close? Analyst Carl Runefelt also highlighted ETH’s downtrend breakout, 
affirming that it “might go absolutely parabolic starting from here.” 
According to Runefelt, the resistance breakout eyes the $3,000 mark, which was 
lost during the February retraces. However, Ethereum has lost its short-term 
momentum, retracing its 24-hour gains in the past few hours. Its price dropped 
below the $1,600 mark into the key $1,500 support level, trading around the 
$1,570-$1,580 price range. This retracement could hint that ETH’s recovery 
failed to gain strength, risking a drop to the current level’s lows. However, 
a bounce from this zone to hold the $1,650 mark could confirm the breakout and 
propel the cryptocurrency’s price toward $1,700-$1,800 resistance. Analyst Ali 
Martinez considers that ETH’s new rally won’t start again until it breaks 
through the $2,330 supply wall, where over 12.6 million addresses purchased 
around 68-63 million ETH. Related Reading: XRP Wyckoff Pattern Maps Bullish 
Run To $3.70 This Summer Meanwhile, another market watcher suggested that 
Ethereum’s trading pair against Bitcoin is “the only chart to look at right 
now.” Crypto Fella affirmed that the bottom of the ETH/BTC chart is close, as 
it has reached its lowest level since 2020. Per the chart, the last time 
ETH/BTC dropped below the 0.022 mark, it hovered between the 0.016-0.022 zone 
for some months before bouncing toward its late-2021 high. As of this writing, 
Ethereum trades at $1,571, a 1% decline in the daily timeframe. Featured Image 
from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com

Ethereum Attempts Breakout From Multi-Month Downtrend, But Can ETH Hold $1,600?

Durov stated that, under the jurisdiction of the European Union Digital 
Services Act, Telegram would only provide IP addresses and phone numbers of 
suspected criminals. This affirmation came amid widespread criticism of 
France&#8217;s actions against encryption. Telegram Founder Pavel Durov Declares 
Telegram Never Delivered Message Data to Authorities Telegram, the 
cryptocurrency messaging protocol standard by […]

Pavel Durov: ‘Telegram Has Never Disclosed a Single Byte of Private Messages’

Polygon-based non-fungible tokens (NFTs) took the top spot in digital 
collectible sales after surging 20% in the last seven days.
On April 22, NFT data tracker CryptoSlam showed that Polygon NFTs overtook 
Ethereum, reaching a $22.3 million volume in the past week. This represented 
24% of last week&#8217;s overall NFT sales volume, which reached $92.9 million.
The network also had over 39,000 NFT buyers for the week, an 81% increase over 
the previous week.
Ethereum remained second in sales, with a $19.2 million NFT sales volume for 
the week. Mythos Chain followed with $14.3 million, while Bitcoin-based 
collections ranked fourth with $14.1 million for the week.
_Top blockchains by seven-day NFT sales volume. Source: CryptoSlam_
## RWA NFT collection drives Polygon surge
The Polygon NFT surge was driven by a single real-world asset (RWA) NFT 
collection, highlighting that the RWA narrative has reached the NFT space.
RWA tokenization refers to tangible assets minted on the blockchain to 
increase accessibility and trading opportunities for the assets. Simply put, 
it&#8217;s transforming real-world assets like art, property or even stocks into 
digital tokens on a blockchain that can be bought, held or traded.
CryptoSlam data shows that increased sales from Courtyard NFTs caused the 
Polygon NFT surge. The collection reached a sales volume of $20.7 million, 
eclipsing the performances of other popular NFT projects for the week.
_Courtyard NFT collection tops digital collectible sales volume list. Source: 
CryptoSlam_
 _**Related:**__**Bybit shuts down four more Web3 services after axing NFT 
marketplace**_
Courtyard is an RWA marketplace for graded physical card collections. This 
includes the Pokemon, basketball and baseball cards that are popular among 
collectors.
The platform operates by storing and insuring tokenized cards in a vault 
operated by a security company. This means that NFTs are physically backed. 
After purchasing NFTs, users can opt to redeem the physical card. When this 
happens, the NFT is burned and will no longer be traded in the marketplace.
Onchain RWAs have been a strong narrative in the first quarter of 2025. Data 
from RWA.xyz shows that tokenized assets have reached $21.2 billion, with 
total asset holders of more than 97,000. This excludes the value of 
stablecoins, which is already at $227 billion.
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