trends

According to Gate market data, the three major U.S. stock indices showed mixed trends, with the Nasdaq index rising over 1%, the S&P 500 index increasing by 0.4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.3%.

Glassnode tweeted that the whales on Hyperliquid have been anticipating a price breakthrough in this range. Over the past two months, their confidence and long positions have continued to increase, indicating a strong bullish sentiment among large perpetual contract traders.

According to CoinGlass data, Brent crude oil (XBR) has a 24-hour contract trading volume of 16.5 million USD across the network, with a contract open interest of 6.2258 million USD; among them, the Gate platform has a 24-hour contract trading volume of 15 million USD, ranking first in the world; the contract open interest is 2.67 million USD, ranking second in the world. WTI crude oil (XTI) has a 24-hour contract trading volume of 20.6188 million USD across the network, with a contract open interest of 22.8109 million USD.Among them, the Gate platform has a 24-hour contract trading volume of 13.08 million USD, ranking first in the world; the open interest reaches 4.75 million USD, ranking second in the world.In the metals sector, the 24-hour trading volume of XAG contracts across the network reaches 900 million USD, among which the Gate platform's XAUT/USDT contract open interest records 72.3609 million USD, ranking third in the world.Currently, Gate has fully deepened its TradFi layout, with the spot sector supporting stock and metal trading, and the contract sector covering diversified assets such as gold, silver, foreign exchange, indices, and commodities. With a flexible USDT settlement mechanism and up to 100 times leverage, Gate continues to assist global investors in achieving cross-market, round-the-clock asset allocation and risk management.

Dr. Han, the founder and CEO of Gate, has been invited to give a keynote speech at the main campus of the University of Hong Kong on the evening of April 21, and to participate in a fireside chat and open Q&A session.The event is titled "Web3 Dialogues @ HKU - Academia x Industry," supported by the School of Computing and Data Science at HKU in collaboration with the HKU Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre and the Core Curriculum Office, and organized by Blockchain@HKU. It is primarily open to students interested in Web3, blockchain, digital finance, and emerging technologies. As a collaborative academic event, such activities are rare at HKU.The event will focus on core topics such as the evolution of Web3 technology, the integration of AI and digital assets, and industry regulatory trends, exploring these issues in depth from both academic research and industry practice perspectives. In addition to the keynote speech, Dr. Han will engage in a fireside chat with HKU professors and discuss topics such as industry development paths, technological transformation, and career planning with the attending students.As Web3 and artificial intelligence technologies continue to intersect, the interaction between academia and industry is becoming an important aspect of talent development and cognitive renewal. Such exchanges not only provide students with opportunities to gain firsthand industry experience but also help expand their understanding of technological application scenarios and future career directions, further promoting the connection between academia and industry.

According to Jinshi reports, Federal Reserve's Williams stated that the underlying inflation trends show mixed signals.

According to official social media news, the decentralized contract trading platform Sun Wukong will hold a live broadcast today at 19:00 (UTC+8) themed "Hong Kong Web3 Carnival: What Kind of Market Are We Looking Forward to in 2026?" At that time, KOLs in the crypto space such as Alice, Mike Banana, Metamental | Beyond the Realm, MMK, and Web3 He Yi (sophia) will attend to discuss the trends in the crypto market for 2026 surrounding the upcoming Hong Kong Web3 Carnival.

According to Cointelegraph, Nic Puckrin, founder of Coin Bureau and cryptocurrency market analyst, stated that Bitcoin's current recovery is relatively weak. The geopolitical and macroeconomic pressures caused by the Middle East war will dominate the market trends in the second quarter of 2026, with interest rate cuts expected no earlier than the third or fourth quarter. He pointed out that for BTC to reach $90,000, three conditions must be met: easing geopolitical tensions, oil prices falling back to around $80, and weakening economic data.Currently, BTC is priced at approximately $71,276, facing resistance at $74,000, and still operating below the 200-day exponential moving average. Previously, BTC rose above $73,000 on April 6 but fell back due to the breakdown of U.S.-Iran negotiations and Trump's announcement to block the Strait of Hormuz. There are internal disagreements within the Federal Reserve FOMC regarding interest rate cuts in 2026, and CME Fedwatch data shows that the probability of maintaining interest rates unchanged in the meetings on April 29 and June 17 is over 98%.

Former Goldman Sachs executive, author of "Global Macro Investor," and co-founder and CEO of Real Vision Raoul Pal stated on social media, "The ETH/BTC exchange rate has become very interesting now, consistent with the trends of the business cycle (ISM rising) and increasing liquidity. From a long-term chart perspective, the trend remains very constructive. Since 2017, ETH has largely maintained its value relative to BTC; if this chart continues to develop along the current trend, ETH should outperform BTC over time.This is also intuitively reasonable: as a smart contract platform, ETH's total addressable market (TAM) is fundamentally different from the 'store of value' property of BTC. BTC primarily carries the total savings value, while ETH can carry the value of economic activity itself. Because of this difference, the dominance of smart contracts relative to BTC will continue to rise over time."

In the options market, implied volatility has slightly retreated, and the curve maintains a moderate positive spread. Downside hedging demand still exists but has not reached extreme levels, and geopolitical premiums continue to be reflected in volatility pricing.Currently, BTC has neither fully followed the high beta logic of the stock market nor formed stable safe-haven demand. Market trends are still primarily driven by news, and a trending market is yet to form until macro or geopolitical situations become clearer.

According to Jinshi reports, the Bank of Japan stated that the financial markets are experiencing unstable trends due to the conflict in the Middle East.

Pepperston Senior Research Strategist Michael Brown stated in a report that the recent market trends are exactly opposite to the goals that U.S. President Trump has been pursuing.Brown said, "I think it is important to recognize that almost everything we are seeing in the market right now is contrary to the goals that President Trump has articulated." Brown noted that Trump has repeatedly expressed a desire to see lower oil prices, a rising stock market, a weaker dollar, lower interest rates, and a more dovish Federal Reserve. However, what Trump is actually facing now is rising oil prices, a declining stock market, a strengthening dollar, rising interest rates, and a Federal Reserve caught in a "dilemma."

According to Jinshi reports, Daniela Hathorn from Capital.com stated in a report that increased uncertainty may lead to a reduced preference for risk assets due to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.She pointed out that as investors digest the geopolitical risk premium, market volatility may rise. If the situation stabilizes, risk aversion may fade, conflicts are controlled, and shipping lanes remain open, volatility may dissipate quickly.

According to market news, Grayscale pointed out in its latest research report that Bitcoin's recent price movements are highly correlated with technology stocks, rather than safe-haven assets like gold.The report's analysis shows that over the past 12 months, Bitcoin's price has been closely linked to the performance of overvalued software company stocks. When the market sold off tech stocks due to concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on traditional software services, Bitcoin also declined. This indicates that current investors view it more as a growth asset driven by market confidence and risk appetite, rather than as a "digital gold" that can withstand volatility.Grayscale believes that while Bitcoin possesses long-term value storage characteristics such as limited supply and a decentralized network, it is still in the early stages of proving itself as a global monetary asset compared to gold, which has a currency history of thousands of years. Recently, when gold and silver prices rose, Bitcoin did not show the same trend, but instead fell in line with high-risk growth assets.

According to PRNewswire, Nasdaq-listed company DeFi Technologies announced the launch of the "DEFT Valour Investment Opportunity Index" (DVIO) through its subsidiary Valour, aimed at showcasing institutional capital allocation, sentiment changes, and fund rotation trends in the digital asset market by tracking real capital flows in regulated ETP products.The index will cover the top 50 crypto assets within the Valour ETP ecosystem, ranked by assets under management (AUM) and capital flows, with components and weights updated weekly to reflect the current capital allocation structure and its changing trends.

According to official social media news, the decentralized contract trading platform SunX will hold a live stream today at 20:00 (UTC+8) titled "Gold and Silver Reach New Historical Highs | Is This a Flight to Safety or a New Round of Asset Pricing Reconstruction?" At that time, prominent crypto KOLs such as Big Brother, Xiao Zhi, Cong Ge, and Xihe will be invited to discuss the macro background of the recent historical highs in gold and silver prices, focusing on analyzing the risk-hedging logic behind the strength of precious metals, inflation expectations, and changes in liquidity. They will also further compare the pricing differences between gold, silver, and risk assets like Bitcoin in the current cycle.

Delphi Digital stated in its latest report on Lighter (LIT) that the fundamentals of Lighter are much better than what the price trends reflect. The real issues are not poor product quality or insufficient team strength, but rather the lack of transparency in its token economic model, financial situation, and market maker collaborations.If Lighter can fully disclose the flow of profits, clarify the decision-making mechanisms for buybacks and development investments, and clearly present the incentive structure, then LIT could very well become a hassle-free asset and investment target like HYPE.