Apr 21, 2025: Our weekly Institutional Insights explores the latest market developments — market performance, industry news, exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows, trending topics, upcoming events and token unlocks — to help you supercharge your crypto trading.

 explores the latest market developments — market performance, industry news, exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows, trending topics, upcoming events and token unlocks — to help you supercharge your crypto trading.

Weekly highlight — Trump wants to fire Powell? 

US president Donald Trump is actively considering firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, following Trump's public criticism of Powell for not moving quickly enough to reduce interest rates. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett confirmed that the administration is examining this option, suggesting that Powell's actions have politically favored Democrats. Hassett argued that the Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates shortly after Trump took office was intended to undermine the economic impact of the tax cuts implemented during his administration, which were deemed inflationary. He further criticized the Fed for not addressing inflation concerns stemming from federal spending under President Biden, implying a lack of accountability.

During a recent press conference, Trump conveyed his dissatisfaction with Powell, asserting that if he wanted to remove him, it could happen "real fast." While he did not explicitly state his intention to dismiss Powell, his remarks highlighted the growing tensions between the White House and the Federal Reserve regarding monetary policy. Hassett defended Trump's frustrations, advocating for a focus on economic policy rather than interpersonal conflicts. This situation underscores the complex dynamics between the executive branch and the central bank, as Trump navigates economic challenges leading up to the next election.

Weekly crypto highlight — XRP ETF coming

HashKey Capital has officially launched the HashKey XRP Tracker Fund, marking the first investment fund in Asia designed specifically to track the performance of XRP, the digital asset integral to Ripple's global payment ecosystem. This fund is aimed at professional investors and offers a unique opportunity to gain exposure to XRP without the complexities of direct asset management. Investors can subscribe through cash and in-kind options, with the fund providing monthly liquidity.

Ripple, as an early backer of the fund, is looking to enhance its strategic partnership with HashKey Capital, which already manages Hong Kong–listed spot ETFs for Bitcoin and Ethereum. This collaboration not only solidifies Ripple's presence in the Asian market, but also opens avenues for future financial products, such as the potential tokenization of a money market fund on the XRP Ledger. Fiona Murray, Ripple's Managing Director for the Asia-Pacific region, highlighted that this partnership is part of a broader strategy to introduce more regulated cryptocurrency products for institutional investors in the region, aiming to foster a more robust crypto landscape in Asia.

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Weekly Institutional Insights: Trump’s desire to fire Powell might induce volatility; XRP ETF coming

Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has approved a new Ethereum ETF with staking capabilities, allowing institutional investors to earn staking rewards.

Daily top performer — Pyth Network (PYTH)

The S&P 500 dropped 1.5% to 5,282.70 this week, down 5.9% in April and 10% year-to-date, led by tech losses. Real estate and energy outperformed, while political pressure on Fed Chair Powell and inflation concerns weighed on sentiment. Gold dipped 0.6% to $3,319 after a record high, as Powell’s stagflation warning tempered its rally. Despite the pullback, the uptrend remains intact. The Coindesk Indices, which tracks the broader crypto market, are up by 0.77%, with Bitcoin and Ether rising 0.64% and 0.72%, respectively, over the past 24 hours. Trade these markets and more with up to 500x leverage on Bybit MT5 using this 

Today's top performer is PYTH, up 10.1%, following the launch of Pyth Entropy for secure on-chain random number generation by Soneium.

Pyth Network (PYTH),  is a blockchain oracle system that delivers real-time crypto price data to blockchains, enabling smart contracts to react to market changes. Soneium 

 Pyth Entropy, a tool for securely generating random numbers on-chain. Two apps, HandsNFT AI and 2p2e, are already utilizing Pyth Entropy to create unpredictable and engaging experiences.

Check out the latest prices, charts, and data of 

Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has approved a new Ethereum ETF with staking capabilities, allowing institutional investors to earn staking rewards. This approval follows recent changes to local laws, with China Asset Management (ChinaAMC) partnering with OSL Digital Securities to launch the ETF by May 15. The ETF will offer exposure to Ethereum staking, transforming it from a passive investment into an active participant in the Ethereum network. The staking process is powered by Kiln, with OSL providing custody and insurance services. The rewards will contribute to the ETF's net asset value, benefiting shareholders.

Yesterday, Bitcoin spot ETFs saw $25.9M in inflows, all from non-GBTC funds, while GBTC recorded no flow.

" and a points campaign called Drops, where users can earn points—potentially leading to an airdrop—by engaging with Linera content on X. To join, sign up on 

, complete tasks like joining Discord and interacting on X, then enter the campaign. Keep engaging to earn more points, but avoid spamming.

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Hong Kong approves Ethereum ETF with staking rewards, boosting institutional participation

Our weekly crypto derivatives analytics report delves into macro events; the current state of crypto and trading signals from spot trading volume; and futures, options and perpetual contracts.

US president Donald Trump’s tariff policies are influencing both crypto and US equities. Last week, BTC and the S&P 500 rallied due to a 90-day pause in reciprocal tariffs (excluding China). Equities are slightly below their April 9 highs, while BTC is holding above $83K. Its implied volatility term structure has normalized, and the volatility skew has improved from last week’s bias toward out-of-the-money puts, though it hasn't fully shifted toward calls.

Please check out the report’s highlights.

Tariff pause briefly brings back trading volume

Since our last report, open interest surged on Apr 9, 2025, as crypto spot prices rose after President Trump’s temporary tariff pause, accompanied by a nearly $10B increase in trade volumes. However, trade volumes have since returned to mid-March levels, and open interest has declined from the April 9 highs. The initial price spike indicates the tariff pause surprised the markets, but the subsequent pullback reflects concerns over remaining tariffs.

After being inverted for much of April due to trade policy shocks and macro headwinds, BTC’s term structure has disinverted, with front-end volatility dropping significantly this week. Call and put volumes have been balanced, with calls slightly exceeding puts most days. Apr 9, 2025, reflected mixed market sentiment, as both call and put volumes rose, but puts were higher overall. Open interest remains greater in calls, and has increased slightly since last week, reaching its highest level for the month (more than double from the beginning of April).

Despite a rally on Apr 9, 2025 that brought ETH close to $1.7K, traders sought downside protection, leading to higher volumes in put contracts as compared to calls. Since then, ETHUSDT options volumes have declined, but open interest remains strongly weighted toward calls with later expirations, which have increased since last week. After being inverted for much of April, ETH’s term structure of volatility has flattened, with volatility compressing around the 70% mark across tenors.

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Bybit X Block Scholes crypto derivatives analytics report (Apr 16, 2025): Bitcoin put bias has moderated, but not yet shifted to calls

KiloEx (KILO) is a user-friendly DEX for perpetuals trading, offering high leverage, rewards, LSTfi integration and a robust multi-chain ecosystem.

 trading is one of the most lucrative areas for cryptocurrency enthusiasts if you know how to navigate the sometimes complex world of these contracts. Unlike standard futures, perpetual futures contracts have no expiration date, allowing traders to hold onto their positions as long as they prefer. You only exit a crypto perpetual (or “perp”) contract when you feel it’s the best time to execute your long or short trade. The lack of an expiration period makes these contracts attractive for traders.

Unfortunately, many crypto perpetual contract trading platforms are far from user-friendly. It seems like many perpetual crypto exchanges assume that only professional traders dabble in these contracts, and along with that assumption goes a second one — that these pros can navigate even the most complex user interfaces. As a result, finding a user-friendly perps platform is a challenge in the world of crypto trading.

 (DEX) that aims to change the status quo by providing a user-friendly environment for traders. Its platform also offers high leverage ratios, integration into the wider liquid staking token finance (LSTfi) ecosystem and generous reward programs for referrers and affiliates.

Thanks to its numerous benefits, this DEX caters to the needs of traders at all levels of expertise who are interested in crypto perpetuals. Operational since mid-2023, KiloEx launched its native token, KILO, in March 2025 to further enhance its platform's reward, staking and governance mechanisms.

 (BNB) that specializes in crypto perpetual futures trading.

 The platform prides itself on offering a user-friendly interface, high 

 ratios of up to 100x, multi-token vaults with generous APYs and a number of reward programs for referrers and affiliates.

Co-founded by Joey Ni (CEO) and Charles Gong (COO), KiloEx was originally launched on BNB Chain's mainnet in June 2023. As of mid-April 2025, the platform has additionally expanded its service coverage to five 

 (B2). This coverage allows KiloEx to access the ecosystems of three leading blockchain platforms — 

Manta, Base and Taiko are Ethereum-focused Layer 2 solutions, while opBNB is an efficient and low-cost optimistic rollup for the BNB Chain, while B

 is a platform linked to Bitcoin that acts as a major Bitcoin DeFi (BTCFi) enabler.

Because it’s a BNB-native platform, KiloEx's industry footprint is most notable within this blockchain's broader ecosystem. In fact, as Apr 17, 2025, KiloEx is the top DEX on the opBNB network by 

Using Layer 2 chains allows KiloEx to offer its users fast and low-cost transactions, which isn't always possible on a typical Layer 1 network. It's true that BNB Chain, the primary Layer 1 used by KiloEx, generally has much lower gas fees than Ethereum, the industry's leading 

 chain that’s notorious for its exorbitant costs. However, KiloEx's partner Layer 2 networks help drive costs and transaction times even lower. BNB Chain's current average gas fee is slightly over $0.10, while the opBNB Layer 2 rollup's comparable fee is only about $0.005.

In 2024, the platform introduced one of its most innovative features — the 

, which allows liquidity providers to stake multiple assets to earn high yields. That same year, KiloEx significantly expanded its partnership network, becoming an active player in the LSTFi ecosystem. LSTFi is a new stream within the DeFi industry that allows you to use 

 (LSTs) on various protocols for additional yield.

Having solidified its market presence in 2024, the project launched its native token, KILO, in March 2025. However, in mid-April 2025, KiloEx 

 and halted trading on April 15 as a risk management measure, pending investigation of the damage.

The Hybrid Vault is among the most innovative features offered by KiloEx. Essentially, it acts similarly to liquidity pools on other exchanges. Liquidity providers can contribute their crypto funds to the vault to support trading activity on the DEX and earn interest on their contributions, based on the fees earned by the protocol.

You can contribute a mix of coins to a KiloEx vault. Supported assets include 

Depending upon trading activity and the mix of coins contributed, you can earn APYs as high as 30%, making KiloEx one of the most lucrative choices for liquidity providers in this niche.

KiloEx uses a health factor calculation for this type of vault to keep your funds and the entire ecosystem safe. Based on the health factor score of your contribution to the vault, your funds could be liquidated if their value drops dangerously low.

Discounts are also offered for fixed-term deposits for established assets, such as USDT and USDC. Withdrawals for the fixed deposits are processed upon maturity, while all other withdrawals are processed within one to three "epochs," with each epoch on the platform lasting about three days. Thus, depending upon your contributed funds, you’ll wait anywhere from three to nine days to receive your crypto back.

The KiloEx platform also runs a generous referral program under which you can earn rewards for referring your friends to the platform. The amount you earn depends upon the trading volumes generated by the people whom you’ve referred. Additionally, your referees to the DEX can also benefit from fee rebates, again depending upon the volume of trade they generate.

There’s a tiered system, comprising nine levels, based on which you and your friends earn commissions and rebates. Under this system, even those referred traders whose monthly volume is at the lowest level (below $5,000) can still benefit from 5% rebates, while you also earn a 10% commission.

The table below shows the structure of this referral system with percentages for commission and rebates based on monthly trading volumes.

KiloEx offers an affiliate program for key opinion leaders (KOLs) with a certain level of social media following and influence in the crypto market. KOLs may apply to join the program by filling out an application, which is then considered by the project team within 48 hours.

To qualify for affiliate status, a KOL must have: 

Approved affiliates are provided a link to the platform, and are encouraged to invite their followers to trade on the KiloEx. If they invite at least five followers who trade at sufficient levels, the affiliates can start earning their commission. KOLs can earn up to 55% commission, depending upon the referred followers' trading activity.

KiloEx’s native utility token, KILO, is a 

 asset launched on BNB Chain. It’s used on the platform for governance, fee discounts on trades, rewards via 

, liquidity provision incentives and staking.

KILO is a supply-capped asset, with a maximum and total supply of 1 billion. The token’s supply allocation shares are shown in the chart below.

xKILO is an escrowed version of the KILO token. You can convert KILO to xKILO at a fixed rate of 1:1. The primary utility of xKILO is to provide boosted liquidity provision, which makes it possible to receive staking rewards. By locking xKILO on the platform, you can access special discounts and other benefits reserved for VIP-level users. Holding xKILO also grants you governance power to vote and influence the platform's future direction.

Unlike KILO, xKILO is nontransferable and isn’t tradable on the secondary market. The only ways to obtain xKILO are either to buy it with KILO or receive it via airdrops.

Platform users can earn points to qualify for KILO airdrops. Typically, you accumulate points by trading, depositing funds, referring others to the DEX, checking in to the platform and completing other specified eligible activities.

The project’s initial airdrop, Genesis Season, had an eligibility snapshot taken back in July 2024. Under the currently running airdrop campaign, Pioneer Season, users can earn points to receive KILO tokens for 180 days past the token generation event (TGE) in late March 2025 (i.e., until late September 2025).

Additionally, you can earn KILO tokens on Bybit simply by participating in the 

 event and holding BNB in your account. Every day at various random times, Bybit will take snapshots of your BNB holdings in your Funding and Unified Trading Accounts to calculate the number of KILO tokens you’re eligible for. The campaign will run through Apr 25, 2025, 11:59PM UTC, and you’ll have your share of KILO airdropped seven days after this date.

 market as a swap pair with USDT. If you don't have a Bybit account, you can easily 

, and access opportunities across hundreds of trading pairs and crypto products on the exchange's Spot and Derivatives markets.

As of Apr 17, 2025, the KILO token is trading at $0.039, which is 76.2% lower than its ATH of $0.1648 on Mar 27, 2025, and 17.3% higher than its ATL of $0.03344 on Apr 12, 2025.

Long-term price forecasts for KILO are mostly bullish. CoinCodex 

 at $0.0387 in 2027 and then rise to $0.135 in 2030 while PricePredictions 

When it comes to perpetuals trading, both traditional 

 (CEXs) and DEXs have often struggled to offer an intuitive trading experience. In contrast, KiloEx has made user-friendliness a cornerstone of its operations. With KiloEx, you can enjoy a streamlined trading process, access market trends info for thorough research, get an overview of the cryptocurrency market and conduct other activities via an interface that’s designed for anyone, irrespective of their familiarity with decentralized trading.

The platform also boasts a diverse range of other benefits not easily found in the world of perpetuals-based cryptocurrency trading — generous leveraged trading options, trading fee discounts, lightning-fast trades, low trading fees and an innovative Hybrid Vault system. Many of these benefits are thanks to KiloEx's collaboration with several Layer 2 decentralized platforms, which provide the technical infrastructure to enable low costs and fast order processing.

If you’re a crypto perpetuals enthusiast, KiloEx is definitely a platform to peruse.

Intermediate

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KiloEx (KILO): More than a DEX — a rewarding ecosystem

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Blockchain

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Altcoins

GraphLinq Chain is a blockchain ecosystem that focuses on automation and DApp development. Learn more about how it works in this article.

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 world is certainly full of exciting opportunities and applications, but it does have a slight issue with accessibility. Many people find that they can't really experiment with web3 design unless they have a lot of technology skills. GraphLinq Chain is a new project that aims to make it much easier to interact with blockchain programming. This organization hopes to let anyone create automated web3 products — even if they have zero coding experience. How does GraphLinq Chain provide this incredibly helpful service? Keep reading to find out.

 is a blockchain ecosystem that focuses on automation and 

 (DApp) development. It uses a suite of AI tools to let people build customized designs simply by combining premade templates. The GraphLinq ecosystem also uses its own blockchain network and engine to run its design protocol.

 by Frederick Marinho, an experienced software engineer who has founded a few other projects, including the Crypto Signals Hub trading platform. In his past work on 

 (DeFi) projects, Frederick realized there was a need to improve accessibility. He met many people with great ideas who couldn't capitalize on their designs because they didn't have a coding background like he did. Therefore, he decided to create a project that could assist innovators with creating DApps and automated crypto tools.

What Does GraphLinq Chain Aim to Achieve?

 is "to create a more efficient, cost-effective and automated future." The company hopes that its tool will make it easy and affordable for developers to design automated DApps and other programs. By reducing the need for high-level coding skills, GraphLinq Chain plans to empower its users. The company aims to give the average person the ability to create and run any project they can conceive. 

Compared to other blockchain ecosystems, GraphLinq Chain hopes to focus more on technology and community. Unlike some other startups, it has worked hard to create a comprehensive suite of tools before launching its system. In addition to aiming to provide high-quality services, GraphLinq Chain also plans to build a community. By setting up the GraphLinq ecosystem so that people can collaborate and share projects, GraphLinq Chain believes it can design a site where users encourage each other to fulfill their dreams. 

GraphLinq Chain has its own proprietary blockchain and engine that runs its user-friendly protocol for automated coding. From the user interface, people designing tools will simply see a set of small, self-explanatory lines of text — for example, blocks such as "get Bitcoin" or "convert to data." These blocks form the graphs that make up the entire GraphLinq system.

Every block is actually a premade code library. As users arrange their graphs in their desired configurations, the GraphLinq Chain engine takes the code and converts it into JSON instruction opcode. These instructions can then be understood as smart contracts and code, and the system will then run them as blockchain tasks through the GraphLinq platform.

Utilizing these graphs on the GraphLinq Chain system will require small transaction fees. The graphs will show estimated costs as users design them. When actually running a new project, GraphLinq Chain tokens are used as fuel. Tokens are burned to execute graphs, so token supply gradually decreases as more users adopt the GraphLinq Chain system. 

The GraphLinq Chain ecosystem includes a comprehensive set of services that users can try. 

 stands out as a comprehensive platform tailored for DeFi enthusiasts. It offers an array of functionalities, from 

 to launching new projects on the GLQ chain. Users can engage in 

 while supporting the ecosystem’s growth and stability. The platform also facilitates 

 of ERC-20 and GLQ tokens, enhancing transaction efficiency. 

This platform is designed to cater to both newcomers and experienced traders, simplifying complex processes and enhancing the overall user experience. As part of the broader GraphLinq network, the Hub is instrumental in advancing the seamless integration of various DeFi services, making it a cornerstone for anyone looking to optimize their crypto activities.

The GraphLinq integrated development environment (

) is the novel interface that it uses to make DApp development more accessible. Users drag and drop blocks onto the graph to connect various functions. Once users design their system, the GraphLinq protocol then integrates it with their desired chains. The system supports both the native GraphLinq chain and others such as 

 that runs the other parts of its ecosystem. This blockchain not only supports the usual functionalities expected of a modern blockchain, but also extends its capabilities to running trading bots and various applications directly on the chain. Its proof of authority (PoA) model ensures a secure and efficient consensus mechanism, while the chain’s compatibility with 

 (EVM) platforms broadens its appeal, allowing users to easily migrate existing Ethereum-based projects or start new ones.

The chain's innovative design includes a network of regionally distributed RPC nodes that optimizes access for users worldwide, enhancing the performance and reliability of their interactions with the blockchain. This strategic infrastructure setup positions GraphLinq Chain as a robust platform for DApps, automation and smart contract deployment.

GraphLinq Chat harnesses the power of AI to make building DApps and tools even easier. If users don’t wish to manually combine modules themselves, they can chat with the GraphLinq AI. This system lets people carry on a straightforward conversation in which they describe what they want to do. The AI will then make suggestions for the best way to design a project. 

The GraphLinq marketplace provides a way for users to interact with each other. People who enjoy designing on the system can create their own templates that they can then sell to other users. If someone wants a specific concept, but doesn't want to build it themselves, they can also post a request for someone else to design the tool for them.

The GraphLinq ecosystem also offers analytic tools that developers can use for their own purposes. Through the 

 service, people can receive valuable data that they can then work into their own designs. 

To secure its network, GraphLinq requires users to 

 tokens. Those interested in participating in this aspect of the system can earn excellent rewards. As compensation for your tokens being temporarily locked, GraphLinq gives you additional GLQ tokens. The system is known for 

Since its creation, GraphLinq Chain has released many features. In the three years since its launch, it’s designed a token and created its graph-based and intuitive coding library. It has also managed to migrate the GraphLinq Chain platform from running on Ethereum to its own standalone blockchain. In the future, GraphLinq Chain hopes to expand both its system and potential applications. 

The developers of GraphLinq Chain are constantly working to add new blocks of coding that users can incorporate into their designs. As it improves the functionality of the system, GraphLinq Chain hopes to become essential in more industries. Its products are mostly used for DeFi at the moment, but eventually, the GraphLinq Chain team believes they would be a good fit for the healthcare and logistics industries. 

As the native token of GraphLinq Chain, GLQ has many uses. In addition to being used for paying transaction fees, GLQ is also a governance token that allows token holders to vote on the future of GraphLinq Chain. It's also used as a validation method for confirming blocks within the GraphLinq Chain. GLQ has a 

 GLQ at its genesis block. The token currently has a circulating supply of around 340 million tokens. The entire supply of GLQ is divided into four categories: 

GLQ has experienced some dramatic price changes since its release in 2021. After some initial volatility, its price stabilized in the $0.001–$0.009 range for several years. However, in April 2024, GLQ token prices soared to an all-time high of $0.19. This price spike initially took place because of GraphLinq's announcement of token farming, and then the price continued to climb due to hype on crypto exchanges.

Is this price increase likely to reoccur? 

 for GLQ are fairly bullish, so it's probable that the coin's price will increase, at least a little, in the near future. Bigger price increases are likely at some point. GLQ prices are highly sensitive to GraphLinq Chain news updates, so any time the company announces something big, prices begin to climb once more. DigitalCoinPrice predicts that the token will rise from its current value of $0.05 to

GLQ is an excellent token to invest in if your priority is promising tech projects. It has a solid background of technological innovation, and the token’s price has corresponded quite well to advancements made by GraphLinq Chain. This token is a good choice for those who want a long-term investment that will rise in value alongside its parent company. 

However, GLQ might not work well if you're hoping for a fast profit. Unless the coin once again manages to capture the attention of crypto enthusiasts, it's unlikely the large price increase of April 2024 will be duplicated anytime soon. Don't forget the volatility of the crypto market. No matter how promising GLQ seems, it's still important to protect your assets and avoid overextending yourself for any single crypto token.

GraphLinq Chain's mission to provide a simple, user-friendly interface for managing blockchain information is quite intriguing. By designing a system that appeals to those who don't code, the company has managed to tap into a market that's been overlooked by most crypto projects. These technological innovations have also resulted in some major price increases for the GLQ crypto, so it's no surprise that many investors are interested in it. 

GraphLinq Chain (GLQ): Automating Web3 With No-Code AI

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