EigenLayer to begin ‘slashing’ restakers in April

The Russell 2000 dropped hard on Thursday, sliding 6.6% during the session and putting it 22.5% below its 52-week high, which means small-cap stocks are officially in a bear market. Wall Street uses a 20% drop as the line for that.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also plunged, both firmly locked in correction territory, which kicks in at a 10% decline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average isn’t there yet, but it’s hanging just above that level.

This all hit after President Donald Trump rolled out the most intense wave of tariffs the U.S. has seen in nearly a hundred years.

Tariffs hammer small caps while rising debt costs pile on
Small caps were once seen as Trump’s golden boys. Right after the 2016 election, they went on a tear. The Russell 2000 jumped 8.6% that week, way ahead of the 4.7% gain from the S&P 500.

The story back then was that small companies, with less exposure to foreign markets, would thrive under deregulation and tariffs. Tom Lee, managing partner and head of research at Fun..

The Cardano Foundation has launched Veridian, an open-source digital identity platform designed to deliver quantum-resistant and globally interoperable identity solutions for individuals and organizations.

According to the announcement, Veridian leverages key event receipt infrastructure (KERI), decentralized identifiers (DIDs), and authentic on-chain data bearer (ACDC) credentials to verify identities and authenticate online communications.

Alongside the platform, the Cardano Foundation introduced the Veridian Wallet, which allows users to securely manage their credentials, private keys, and identifiers.

“We believe that your identity should be yours, secure, authentic, and under your control,” said Thomas A. Mayfield, head of decentralized trust and identity solutions at the Cardano Foundation. “With Veridian, it is now possible to build quantum-resistant, globally interoperable, enterprise-grade solutions for individuals and organizations.”

Veridian is entering the fray alongsid..

Predictions markets are increasingly pointing to the likelihood of an economic recession in the U.S. this year, one day after U.S. President Donald Trump roiled global markets by unveiling a tariff policy that many economists say will undermine the global economy.

A Polymarket betting pool shows there is a 50% chance the U.S. economy slides into a recession by the end of 2025, while a similar event contract operated by U.S.-based Kalshi puts those odds at 56%, as of the time of writing. On Wednesday, the platforms were forecasting odds of 40% and 43%, respectively, for a U.S. recession.

Meanwhile, crypto-native trading platform Myriad Markets shows there is a 53.6% chance of a recession stateside. The market went live on Thursday, roughly a day after President Trump’s announcement.

(Myriad Markets is a unit of Dastan, Decrypt’s parent company.)

The spike in recession odds on several prediction markets followed the White House administration’s unveiling Wednesday of an aggressive..

Solana (SOL) is under heavy pressure, with its price down more than 10% in the last 24 hours as bearish momentum intensifies across key indicators. The Ichimoku Cloud, BBTrend, and price structure all point to continued downside risk, with SOL now hovering dangerously close to critical support levels.

Technical signals show sellers firmly in control, while the widening gap from resistance zones makes a near-term recovery increasingly difficult.

Solana Price Hits Yearly Low
Solana’s Ichimoku Cloud chart is currently flashing strong bearish signals. The price has sharply broken below both the Tenkan-sen (blue line) and Kijun-sen (red line), confirming a clear rejection of short-term support levels.

Both of these lines are now angled downward, reinforcing the view that bearish momentum is gaining strength.

The sharp distance between the latest candles and the cloud further suggests that any recovery would face significant resistance ahead.

SOL Ichimoku Cloud. Source: TradingView.

L..

Key takeaways

VeChain price projection suggests a peak price of $0.0475 by 2025.
Traders can expect a minimum price of $0.0838 and a maximum price of $0.0999 by 2028.
By 2031, VeChain’s price could potentially surge to $0.16.

Despite occasional market volatility and regulatory uncertainties, VeChain demonstrates resilience and a strong value proposition, positioning itself as a leader in blockchain-based solutions for global supply chain, transparency, product authentication, and data management.

Overall, the prevailing sentiment within the VeChain community is one of optimism and confidence, with stakeholders bullish on its long-term prospects and the transformative impact of blockchain technology. As the VeChain network continues to expand its reach and enhance its offerings, questions surrounding its price trajectory persist, inviting further analysis and exploration of its future potential.

VeChain overview

Cryptocurrency
VeChain

Symbol
VET

Price
$0.02130

Market Cap
$1,832..

Bitcoin’s price has been under pressure in recent weeks due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s newly announced tariffs, but analysts remain confident in their long-term bullish outlook.

Despite today’s market decline, some experts predict that BTC will rise to new highs before the end of the year.

Bitwise’s Head of Research Ryan Rasmussen has confirmed the firm’s $200,000 year-end price target for Bitcoin, saying the recent market turbulence is merely a temporary setback.

“Once the market recovers from this ‘Independence Day’ chaos, we will finally start to see the market pull back to the upside,” Rasmussen said. “We like to use the analogy that good news is dry powder stored for when this volatility and uncertainty eventually subsides.”

Bitcoin’s correlation with the tech sector has strengthened in recent years, particularly as gold has reached record highs. But Rasmussen encouraged investors to take a broader view, noting that Bitcoin has outperformed gold, the S&P 500 and the Nasd..

Bitcoin is touted as a decentralized alternative to traditional financial markets.

However, now that institutions and governments have embraced it, the largest cryptocurrency by market value has been tracking Wall Street, reacting like a volatile tech stock—influenced by interest rate shifts, tariffs, inflation data, and Federal Reserve remarks.

On Thursday, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy asked the question many investors are asking: Is Bitcoin truly independent from the stock market?

“If the point of Bitcoin is to be independent of the US Dollar and non-regulated, why does it basically trade exactly like the US stock market nowadays?” Portnoy wrote. “Market up, Bitcoin up. Market down, Bitcoin down.”

The correlation has become even more evident during major economic events.

After President Donald Trump imposed new tariffs on imports into the U.S. on Wednesday, the stock market reacted sharply—the Dow dropped 3.98%, the S&P 500 fell 4.84%, and the Nasdaq slid 5.97%.

Bitcoin..

According to new data from Arkham Intelligence, three major Bitcoin ETF issuers are acquiring huge amounts of BTC today. The ETFs had $220 million in net inflows yesterday, and the issuers are potentially expecting a spike in demand.

Although Bitcoin has seen wild fluctuations over the past couple of days, institutional investors might show more confidence in the leading cryptocurrency than the TradFi market.

Why are ETF Issuers Buying Bitcoin?
The crypto market experienced wider liquidations today, and fears of a broader recession are circulating heavily. Since President Trump imposed much higher tariffs than expected, crypto is mirroring the TradFi stock market with notable downturns.

However, the US spot Bitcoin ETFs market shows that institutional demand might rebound in the short term.

“Donald Trump just tariffed the entire world. So? Grayscale is buying Bitcoin, Fidelity is buying Bitcoin, Ark Invest is buying Bitcoin,” Arkham Intelligence noted on social media.

Arkham Intel..

Stellar (XLM) is down more than 5% on Thursday, with its market capitalization dropping to $8 billion. XLM technical indicators are flashing strong bearish signals, suggesting continued downward momentum that could test critical support levels around $0.22.

While a reversal scenario remains possible with resistance targets at $0.27, $0.29, and $0.30, such an upside move would require a substantial shift in market sentiment.

XLM RSI Shows Sellers Are In Control
Stellar’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) has dropped sharply to 38.99, down from 59.54 just two days ago—signaling a notable shift in momentum.

The RSI is a widely used momentum oscillator that measures the speed and magnitude of recent price changes, typically ranging between 0 and 100.

Readings above 70 suggest overbought conditions, while levels below 30 indicate oversold territory. A reading between 30 and 50 often reflects bearish momentum but is not yet extreme enough to trigger an immediate reversal.

XLM RSI. Source: T..