Crypto asset prices continue to face pressure from geopolitical and monetary factors. The situation in the Middle East remains tense, acting as a catalyst for demand in traditional safe-haven assets including the US dollar. While investors had hoped for a peace deal early in the week — after a three-phase plan was submitted to the White House, envisaging a temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for lifting the shipping blockade and postponing nuclear talks — those expectations have now sharply reversed. The peace initiative was met with deep skepticism by the US president. According to The Wall Street Journal, the White House instructed aides to prepare for continued implementation of a pressure strategy against Tehran through restrictions on energy exports, meaning the key maritime route will remain blocked and the consequences of the energy crisis for the global economy will persist for an extended period.
The US dollar is also receiving support amid signs that the Federal Reserve intends to keep interest rates elevated for longer. This week officials held the rate in the 3.50–3.75% range, though the vote was split. Fed Governor Steven Miran called for an immediate 25 basis point cut, while Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack and her counterparts from the Minneapolis Fed, Neel Kashkari, and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan opposed including any signals of future policy easing in the statement. In addition, the latest core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data showed an acceleration in inflation in March — rising from 3.0% to 3.2% year-on-year, well above the Fed's 2.0% target — providing further justification for monetary authorities to maintain their pause on rate adjustments. All of these factors have weighed on crypto investor sentiment, which is already reflected in a renewed decline in the Fear & Greed Index, which has fallen to 26 — though it has not yet returned to the "extreme fear" zone where it sat for several months in a row. Analysts note that the crypto market is currently reacting less sharply to negative signals, a consequence of reduced supply and the exit of short-term investors.
On the positive side for the digital asset industry, the DeFi United coalition — a bloc of blockchain projects and crypto ecosystem participants aimed at returning lost funds to clients and stabilizing the decentralized finance market — continues to attract new supporters. Notably, Consensys and Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin has announced his support, committing 30,000 ETH to the initiative. In total, more than $314.5 million has been raised. The attack was carried out on April 18 by the North Korean hacking group Lazarus Group. The perpetrators used a spoofed message to compromise the Kelp DAO rsETH bridge, minting 116,500 unbacked rsETH tokens — approximately 107,000 of which ultimately ended up on the Aave lending platform, creating a significant volume of bad debt within the protocol.
Also worth noting are the latest comments from Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz, who stated that the CLARITY Act — designed to provide greater regulatory clarity for US crypto companies — is likely to receive final approval in early May and be signed into law by President Donald Trump over the summer. According to Novogratz, this would open access to US financial markets for 5.5 billion users worldwide. The initiative is seen as one of the key catalysts not only for the crypto industry but for the country's technological development as a whole — a particularly notable point given that during the Biden administration, several major crypto companies left the US due to an unfavorable regulatory environment.
Overall, the situation in the crypto market remains challenging and is heavily dependent on geopolitical signals. In this environment, most major cryptocurrencies are likely to see moderate gains or move into consolidation.
