Market Insight

April 2025: Oraichain’s EVM Testnet, Bitcoin's Volatility, and AI Advancements

Mei

30 Apr 2025 — 6 min read

Get up-to-date with the latest trends in crypto, Bitcoin, AI, and beyond. Oraichain's "Market Insights'' series delivers a monthly snapshot of the hottest narratives shaping the blockchain space. Dive into April's market news and discover what's driving innovation.

Major News

Trump’s Tariff Pause Sparks Crypto Rebound

After weeks of slumping crypto prices tied to tariff worries, markets saw a sharp turnaround when President Trump announced a 90-day pause on most tariffs (with China as a major exception). Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP jumped 5–9%, while crypto stocks like Coinbase and Galaxy Digital rallied sharply.

Though tariffs don’t directly impact crypto, the broader risk-off mood had weighed heavily on these volatile assets. Trump’s sudden shift brought relief to jittery investors, highlighting how global macro factors continue to shape sentiment in the digital asset space. (Source: Yahoo Finance)

Trump Family Digs Into Bitcoin Mining with ‘American Bitcoin’

Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have teamed up with Hut 8 to launch American Bitcoin, a new mining venture aimed at expanding U.S. crypto infrastructure. The partnership gives Hut 8 an 80% stake in the venture and positions Eric Trump as Chief Strategy Officer.

The move signals deeper Trump family involvement in crypto, aligning with Donald Trump’s recent pledge to become the “crypto president.” The company plans to mine Bitcoin and build a strategic reserve, with long-term ambitions of going public. Hut 8 shares rose over 6% on the news. (Source: Reuters)

Paul Atkins Sworn In as SEC Chairman

Paul S. Atkins was sworn in as the new SEC Chairman on April 9 after being nominated by President Trump. A former Commissioner and longtime advocate for transparent, efficient markets, Atkins is expected to steer the agency toward a more crypto-forward stance. His return comes at a pivotal time for digital asset regulation in the U.S. (Source: SEC)

Mantra CEO Burns 150M Tokens After OM Crashes 90%

Following a dramatic 90% crash in OM’s price on April 13—allegedly sparked by a $40M token deposit tied to insiders—Mantra CEO John Patrick Mullin burned 150M OM tokens in an effort to restore trust. The burn reduced total supply by 8% and dropped the bonded staking ratio, increasing APRs for stakers.

Mantra is also working with partners to double the burn to 300M tokens. Transparency tools and a buyback program are part of the broader recovery plan, but OM still trades nearly 90% below its peak. (Source: Various)

Vitalik’s Cypherpunk Vision for Ethereum

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin wants to “make Ethereum cypherpunk again,” emphasizing values like decentralization, censorship resistance, and non-financial use cases.

In a December blog post, he criticized the dominance of memecoins and NFTs, noting that only ENS (Ethereum Name Service) fits his ideal. But high gas fees, not just “degen gamblers,” are a key barrier to meaningful adoption. (Source: Cointelegraph)

Raydium Launches “LaunchLab” to Compete with Pump.fun

Solana-based DEX Raydium is launching LaunchLab, a token launchpad resembling a fork of Pump.fun — just weeks after news broke that Pump.fun was building its own AMM, which attracted considerable trading activity, exceeding $1 billion of volume in its first week of activity.

LaunchLab will offer customizable bonding curves (linear, exponential, logarithmic) and flexible fees, aiming to attract creators looking for alternatives to coding from scratch. (Source: Various)

Arbitrum Launches “Converge” Chain for DeFi and Real-World Assets

Arbitrum, in collaboration with Ethena Labs and Securitize, has launched Converge — a new blockchain focused on DeFi and real-world assets. Built on Celestia, it features 100ms blocks, native gas tokens (USDe, USDtb), and support for smart contracts in Rust, C, and C++ via the upcoming Stylus upgrade. Converge aims to streamline on-chain finance and bring $7B in tokenized assets into DeFi. (Source: Various)

BTC in April

Bitcoin's price rose by approximately 14% in April, outperforming the S&P 500 index and Gold, and quickly rebounding from tariff-induced market panic. On-chain data supports an optimistic outlook, with institutional Bitcoin demand rises and miners holding onto their Bitcoin reserves. This suggests high expectations and a bullish trend for the upcoming summer. (Source: Various)

SEC Says Most Stablecoins Aren’t Securities

The SEC confirmed that USD-backed, 1:1 redeemable stablecoins are not securities — as long as issuers don’t pay users interest. Yield-bearing stablecoins, now worth $13B+, would still fall under securities laws.

Two competing bills (STABLE and GENIUS) are in Congress, and Coinbase’s CEO is pushing for legal clarity. Meanwhile, USDC issuer Circle just filed for an IPO. (Source: CNBC)

AI in April

Big Leaps in AI Video Generation This Month

Runway Gen-4 Turbo: Can generate 10-second videos in just 30 seconds — 4x faster and more credit-efficient than its predecessor. Offers smoother character, object, and location consistency.

Meta’s MoCha: A new AI that turns text and speech into animated, lip-synced characters with full-body movement. It outperforms rivals but has no public release date yet.

Kling 2.0 Master (& KOLORS 2.0): Enhanced prompt accuracy and motion in video generation, plus 60+ distinct visual styles for image creation.

ByteDance’s Seaweed-7B: A compact but powerful video model that outperforms larger competitors on realism and physical accuracy — all at a fraction of the training cost.

Character.AI’s AvatarFX: Brings still images to life with speech, facial expressions, and even singing. Supports longform and multi-character video with strong realism.

(Source: Various)

Google Unveils Agent2Agent (A2A) Protocol

Google has launched A2A, a new open protocol that allows AI agents—regardless of vendor or framework—to communicate, share tasks, and work together across enterprise systems. Supported by 50+ partners, A2A is built on existing web standards and is secure by default.

It enables smarter automation of complex workflows like hiring or customer support, with agents sharing capabilities and real-time updates. Google plans to release a production-ready version later this year. (Source: Google)

Oraichain in April

Oraichain Launches Thesis.io – AI-Powered DeFi Research and Execution Platform

Oraichain has unveiled Thesis.io, a new AI-driven DeFi workspace that blends agentic AI with Web3. Currently in closed beta (with instant access for users staking 10,000+ $ORAI), Thesis aims to simplify complex DeFi tasks through natural language commands.

Key features:

Real-time DeFi insights across 50+ DEXs & CEXs
On-chain + off-chain data integration
Natural language research, strategy, and execution
Unified interface—no more tab juggling or tool switching

Thesis addresses DeFi’s biggest pain points: fragmented workflows, technical barriers, and cognitive overload. Instead of bouncing between dashboards, users can research, strategize, and execute in one place—just by typing what they want.

Learn more:

Introducing Browser3: The AI-Native Gateway to Web3 Automation

Browser3 is Oraichain’s Web3-focused evolution of browser tools, designed for seamless AI agent interactions, transactions, and on-chain execution—without losing control.

Key features:

Non-Custodial Wallets: Secure, isolated wallets for AI agents, full control remains with users.
Seamless On-Chain Execution: Effortless signing and smart contract interactions.
LLM-Native, No-Code: Built for AI agents, offering transparent, automated processes.
Robust & Lightweight: No fragile scraping, reliable automation across Web3.

Launching soon on Thesis.io (private beta now). $ORAI stakers get exclusive free access.

Oraichain Partners with Cultured to Enhance DeFi with AI

Oraichain is excited to announce a strategic partnership with Cultured, a decentralized perpetual exchange that leverages cultural sentiment as an asset class. Through this collaboration, Oraichain will bring its AI-powered analytics and data solutions to enhance Cultured’s indexer and improve user experience.

For more details, visit Cultured Finance.

Wrapping up

April was a transformative month, both in crypto and AI. Global economic shifts, like Trump’s tariff pause, had ripple effects, giving crypto markets a breath of fresh air. Meanwhile, the drive towards decentralization and AI innovation continued to accelerate, reshaping how we interact with both finance and technology.

For Oraichain, it was a month of streamlining complexity and enhancing accessibility. With Thesis.io, they’ve bridged the gap between complicated DeFi strategies and ease of use, empowering users to navigate the space with AI-powered insights. There’s absolutely more to come!

Explore these advancements and join Oraichain’s thriving ecosystem today! Don’t forget to stay tuned for more exciting updates!