TL;DR

• Reciprocal tariffs announced, upward pressure on inflation and downward pressure on market performance expected, Powell maintained 2 cuts expectation this year.
• This week’s upcoming economic data includes FOMC meeting minutes, US CPI and UoM consumer sentiment data.
• The industry is undergoing a significant valuation reshuffle, which could help ease the valuation inversion between the primary and secondary markets.
• From a mid-term perspective, altcoins have likely not yet reached their bottom, and any attempts to buy the dip should be approached with caution.
• Projects that were once highly engaged, such as Treasure DAO, have announced the cessation of operations.
• Sei Foundation launches U.S.-Based Non-Profit to promote blockchain innovation.
• Seal introduces DSM Service on Sui, bridging Web2 and Web3 data security.
• Lens Chain launched with Aave’s GHO stablecoin as native gas, driving SocialFi sector.
• Last week, the most funded projects were infrastructure projects.

Macro Overview

Reciprocal tariffs announced, upward pressure on inflation and downward pressure on market performance expected, Powell maintained 2 cuts expectation this year.

On April 2nd, Donald Trump announced the implementation of reciprocal tariffs that exceeded market expectations. These tariffs combine a universal tariff with a “case-by-case” strategy, covering over 60 major economies. If these tariffs are fully implemented, the effective tariff rate in the US could jump significantly from 2.4% in 2024 to 25.1%, surpassing the levels seen after the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930. Tariffs essentially act as a form of government tax increase, with the costs borne by businesses and consumers, effectively equivalent to fiscal tightening. Tariffs are likely to drive up the price level and increase upward pressure on inflation in the short term.

Faced with the risk of stagflation, the Fed can only choose to wait and see, making it difficult to cut interest rates in the short term. After the implementation of the reciprocal tariffs, the Fed could need at least two months to assess their actual impact on inflation. The difficulty for the Fed to cut interest rates means the absence of a “Fed put,” which will further increase the risks of an economic downturn and add to market downward adjustment pressures. While Powell’s latest speech indicated the slowing growth could be offset by inflation, he also admitted that it is not clear at this time to make monetary policy adjustments.

This week’s upcoming economic data includes March’s FOMC meeting minutes, which will provide insights for Fed’s latest decision. The meeting saw the Fed holding interest rates while lowering economic growth projections and raising inflation projections. The CPI data will also be rolled out this week, alongside University of Michigan consumer sentiment data, a prelude indicator for inflation. While the market believes a no-change for May FOMC meeting, the market is betting on a 25 bps cut in June.

As the new tariffs plan lands and fear of recession grows, the US dollar is weakened and the dollar index significantly dropped to below $102 level last week. The price recovered to $102.892 when the market closed on Friday.

The total assets dropped ~$17bn at the end of March, right before the Fed’s new policies changes to limit the asset reduction level in April. The asset reduction this time mostly came from treasury bills and no changes in MBS were made last week.

Gold price extended its rise in the first half of last week and crossed the $3,150 line. As Trump’s new tariffs plan landed and investors sought profit-taking, the gold price significantly dropped to $3,038.51 when the market closed.

Crypto Markets Overview

1. Main Assets

Bitcoin and Ethereum , as of Monday, priced at around $74,000 and $1,440 reflecting a decrease of roughly 10% and 20% respectively on a weekly basis. The cryptocurrency market once again experienced a significant decline over the weekend when it had insufficient liquidity, with the drop mainly driven by external macroeconomic factors and showing a strong correlation with U.S. equities.

Although altcoins remain sluggish, the silver lining is that the industry is undergoing a valuation reshuffle, which is expected to significantly ease the inversion between primary and secondary markets.

2. Total Market Cap

The total crypto market capitalization stood at $2.32 trillion as of Monday. Excluding BTC and ETH, the total market cap of altcoins priced at $673.61 billion, showing a respective decrease by 11.1% and 12.0% on a weekly basis. Still, altcoins remain stagnant with no signs of near-term improvement.

3. Stablecoins

The total market capitalization of stablecoins stands at $232.65 billion, down $18.38 million from last week. Among them, the total stablecoin market cap on Ethereum is $124.071 billion, a decrease of 0.15%. On Solana, it stands at $12.39 billion, down 1.61%. However, Base saw growth of 1.63%, reaching $4.23 billion.

4. Top 30 Crypto Assets Performance

Last week, BTC fell by 10% and ETH dropped by 20%. Most altcoins saw declines of over 10%. PI has recorded steep losses for several consecutive weeks, mainly due to its excessively high opening price, with a fully diluted valuation (FDV) nearing $100 billion.

Solana broke below the critical $100 level, with a peak-to-trough decline of up to 67%. From a mid-term perspective, altcoins have likely not yet reached a bottom, and bottom-fishing should be approached with caution.

The Key Crypto Highlights

1.Sei Foundation Launches U.S.-Based Non-Profit to Promote Blockchain Innovation

Sei Foundation has launched the Sei Development Foundation, a U.S.-based non-profit in Manhattan aimed at promoting the Sei protocol. Sei is a Layer 1 blockchain that combines Ethereum’s development standards with Solana’s performance, having processed billions of transactions since its 2023 mainnet launch. Backed by investors like Multicoin and Coinbase Ventures, the foundation will collaborate with builders while leveraging positive regulatory sentiment to enhance the U.S. crypto landscape. This initiative seeks to accelerate crypto innovation in the U.S., addressing the need to attract talent and foster a supportive environment for builders. The Sei Foundation will fund the new initiative for at least three years. Additionally, Sei has introduced “Crypto in America,” a podcast and newsletter featuring discussions with policymakers, and is exploring a takeover of the bankrupt 23andMe. Justin Barlow, Executive Director at the foundation, emphasized their commitment to fostering innovation for future entrepreneurs

2. Seal introduces DSM Service on Sui, Bridging Web2 and Web3 data security

Seal, a decentralized secrets management (DSM) service, has officially launched on the Sui Testnet, offering a robust solution for managing sensitive data securely. Many Web3 dApps, such as encrypted storage, gated content, private messaging, and more, face challenges in securing data access. Current options include centralized Web2 solutions like AWS KMS or GCP Cloud KMS, or limited Web3 tools designed for specific use cases. Seal bridges this gap by providing a decentralized, flexible, and general-purpose framework compatible with any app. It operates through 4 main features: (1) onchain access control using Move smart contracts to define decryption policies,

(2) threshold encryption that eliminates single points of failure by distributing trust across multiple services, (3) client-side encryption that ensures users handle their data privately and (4) seamless integration with decentralized storage solutions like Walrus.

Builders can easily integrate Seal using its SDK, benefiting from scalability, onchain transparency, and flexible policies that adapt to diverse use cases. Examples include monetizing gated content, encrypting game assets for dynamic progression, enabling secure Web3 messaging, and creating time-sensitive NFT transfers with advanced access rules.

3. Lens Chain launched with Aave’s GHO stablecoin as native gas, driving SocialFi sector

Lens Protocol has launched Lens Chain, an EVM-compatible Layer 2 network designed for SocialFi networking and data ownership. In the past, Lens Protocol has raised $46M across funding rounds, including $31M led by Lightspeed Faction, with participation from Avail, Circle, and Wintermute Ventures with over 650,000 users. Built as a Validium chain, Lens Chain leverages Avail’s data availability solution to reduce storage costs and enhance scalability through Data Availability Sampling (DAS). It also integrates ZKsync’s rollup stack, using zero-knowledge proofs for efficient and private transaction validation while maintaining Ethereum compatibility. Aave’s GHO stablecoin serves as the native gas token, making transactions seamless for developers and users.

The migration to Lens Chain marked one of blockchain’s largest data migration events, transferring 125GB of logs from Polygon, where Lens initially launched in May 2022, to its new infrastructure. Lens Chain empowers decentralized social media platforms by giving users full control over their data and monetization, enabling creators and communities to leverage embedded cryptocurrency tools. Early adopters like Bonsai, Fountain, and Orb have already migrated to the chain.

Key Ventures Deals

1.Cambrian introduces AI protocol for financial insights After $5,9M Seed round ded by a16zcrypto’s CSX

Cambrian raised $5,9M in seed funding, led by a16zcrypto’s CSX accelerator, with participation from The BB Fund. Its mission is to empower AI agents with hyperaware financial intelligence for smarter decision-making, enabling agents to leverage predictive market forecasting through real-time onchain and offchain data. Cambrian operates as an AI infrastructure protocol, transforming blockchain and external data into actionable financial insights via a decentralized network of validators. This infrastructure indexes blockchain data while extracting offchain metrics like DeFi analytics, wallet activity, price forecasting, social sentiment, and code repository analysis. Unlike traditional RPC servers, which are costly and inefficient for historical data retrieval, Cambrian provides easy-to-use APIs that convert raw data into actionable intelligence. Its applications include building alpha-driven agents, automated liquidity provisioning, and risk-adjusted portfolio rebalancing.

2. P2P.me secures $2M Seed funding from Multicoin and Coinbase Ventures to expand Crypto-to-Fiat Solutions

P2P.me, a peer-to-peer crypto-to-fiat app, has raised $2M in seed funding from Multicoin Capital and Coinbase Ventures. Designed to bridge the gap between stablecoin payments and fiat-based QR code economies, P2P.me addresses a pressing issue in regions with alternative electronic payment systems like Indonesia, Nigeria, and Vietnam. The app enables users to pay in USDC while vendors receive fiat, facilitated by a network of middlemen without relying on traditional on-and-off ramps. Transactions are completed in about 90 seconds and prioritize privacy through zero-knowledge proofs for user verification, avoiding the storage of personal data. Since its launch, P2P.me has processed $1,6M in payments from 1,100 users and is scaling its team to expand into Latin America. Built on Base, the protocol plans to launch a token within the next year to decentralize control and challenge centralized exchanges.

3. Ambient Raises $7,2M to build decentralized AI infrastructure by combining Solana compatibility and PoW

Ambient has raised $7,2M in seed funding from a16z’s crypto accelerator program and Delphi Digital, aiming to revolutionize blockchain and AI integration. Ambient’s Layer-1 blockchain blends Solana’s SVM compatibility with its unique proof-of-work system that appeals to Bitcoin miners while delivering fast, cost-effective, and secure AI inference. Unlike competitors like Bittensor, Ambient integrates AI models directly into its blockchain, ensuring transparency and trust through “verified inference” by miners, which fact-checks the provenance of AI-generated answers. The project seeks to create a decentralized competitor to centralized AI providers like OpenAI, addressing concerns about biased models, privacy, and security. With a long-term vision to train an AGI-level AI foundation model on-chain, Ambient aims to make post-human intelligence a public good accessible to all.

The number of deals closed in the previous week was 27, with Infra having 12 deals, representing 44% for each sector of the total number of deals. Meanwhile, Social had 2 (7%), Data had 7 (26%) Gamefi had 5 (19%), DeFi had 1 (4%) deals

The total amount of disclosed funding raised in the previous week was $118M, 37% deals (10/27) in previous week didn’t public the raised amount. The top funding came from Infra sector with $83M. Most funded deals: Codex $15,8M, Ambient $7,2M

Total weekly fundraising fell to $118M for the 1st week of Apr-2025, a decrease of -21% compared to the week prior. Weekly fundraising in the previous week was down -58% year over year for the same period.

About Gate Ventures

Gate Ventures, the venture capital arm of Gate.io, is focused on investments in decentralized infrastructure, middleware, and applications that will reshape the world in the Web 3.0 age. Working with industry leaders across the globe, Gate Ventures helps promising teams and startups that possess the ideas and capabilities needed to redefine social and financial interactions.

Website: https://ventures.gate.io/
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