Bitcoin starts week above $78,000 as global banks eye rates

Macroeconomic agenda and the latest on Bitcoin

Throughout the week, the United States will release first-quarter GDP growth figures alongside inflation data for March. In addition, the earnings reports of industry giants such as Visa, Mastercard, and Robinhood have the potential to sway equity market sentiment. Markus Levin, co-founder of blockchain-based location protocol XYO, shared insights with CoinDesk: Bitcoin began the week holding strong above $78,000, showing clear momentum. While the Federal Reserve is not expected to shift its policy rate, persistent inflation could prompt a more hawkish stance, and in such a scenario, Bitcoin might pull back to the $72,000–74,000 range in the short term.

Levin highlighted that the earnings of tech giants could reinforce or undermine current market trends due to their substantial influence on equities. In addition, he pointed out that developments between the US and Iran may steer market sentiment by affecting oil and US dollar movements.

Meanwhile, with cautious trading prevailing across markets, fluctuations triggered by central bank rate decisions are likely to be pivotal for cryptocurrencies as well.

DAO votes and platform updates

This week, decentralized platforms are featuring several notable governance votes. Frax DAO members are evaluating proposals aimed at increasing asset diversity in stablecoin pools. Similarly, Ether.fi DAO is consulting its members on whether the treasury should bolster reserves in the wake of a previous KelpDAO bridge attack.

Compound DAO is assessing an update for certain price feeds on the Ethereum network. Decentraland DAO is conducting an ongoing vote to shape their strategic roadmap through 2030. Meanwhile, Nouns DAO is deliberating the feasibility of becoming a nonprofit entity. Arbitrum DAO, for its part, is discussing whether to transfer 6,000 ETH and approximately $150,000 worth of USDC from its main treasury into its management portfolio.

New launches, exchange and token activity

The final week of the month brings a series of exchange developments and token-related moves in the crypto ecosystem. Magic Eden will fully discontinue its wallet services. On April 27, Chiliz will initiate the FanTokens V2.0 upgrade. On April 28, Binance will delist Dego Finance (DEGO) and DENT tokens. The Pharos mainnet will launch the same day, while MegaETH’s token generation event is scheduled for April 30.

Significant token unlocks are also on the horizon. Jupiter will release 1.54% of its circulating supply on April 28, followed by an additional 1.08% on May 1. The monetary values attached to these unlocks stand at $9.67 million and $40.43 million, respectively.

Separately, starting May 1, Venice will reduce its annual token issuance from 6 million to 5 million. In the macroeconomic domain, financial results from Visa, Mastercard, Robinhood, and also Galaxy Digital, Riot Platforms, and WisdomTree, will be closely monitored in tandem with key U.S. economic data releases.

Looking ahead, investors are expected to track both macroeconomic data and sector-specific updates just as closely, as upcoming events could set the tone for the crypto sector in the coming days.