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.

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

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A "smart economy" that's developer-friendly and promises great speeds, Neo is definitely the crypto project to watch out for in 2022.

 technology, “what is NEO” emerges as a promising platform aiming to revolutionize the digital landscape. With a focus on creating a smart economy, NEO offers unique features and potential that set it apart from other blockchain platforms. Are you ready to dive into the world of NEO and explore its capabilities?

NEO is an open-source, blockchain-based network that aims to create a smart economy by digitizing assets and identities through 

, offering a more flexible and regulatory-compliant alternative to 

. NEO aims to provide individuals and computer programs access to any digital or physical assets with minimal trust and permission. This approach proves vital in real-world applications.

To achieve its objective, NEO utilizes a unique consensus mechanism known as 

 (dBFT), which relies on consensus nodes to safeguard its blockchain and ensure its distributed network of computers remain in sync. This innovative approach enables NEO to offer a comprehensive smart contract system, NeoContracts, which allows developers to create and deploy advanced decentralized applications, driving the growth of the NEO ecosystem.

NEO builds a distributed, network-based, smart economy system by automating digital asset management through smart contracts. With its ability to support various programming languages, NEO provides a user-friendly platform for developers, attracting a growing community that contributes to the expansion of this cutting-edge blockchain platform.

Established in 2014 by Da Hongfei and Erik Zhang, NEO, initially known as Antshares, was designed to be a potential substitute for Ethereum in the Chinese market. In 2017, Antshares underwent a rebranding to Neo, aiming to better reflect its international presence and emphasize its Smart Contract 2.0 upgrade.

This rebranding marked the beginning of Neo 2.0, which included a comprehensive smart contract system for the blockchain network. NEO token holders are integral to the network’s operation, participating in governance decisions and earning rewards through staking. With a strong foundation and a clear vision, NEO continues to evolve and expand its reach across the globe.

NEO boasts two native neo tokens: NEO, which represents the right to manage the blockchain, and GAS, which is used to pay for network operations and incentivize developers. The NEO token serves as a representation of the right to manage the blockchain, allowing token holders to lock or stake their tokens to signify a vote on proposals for modifications made to the NEO network.

Meanwhile, the neo gas token is pivotal in defraying the costs of network operations and incentivizing developers. To foster innovation and support the long-term growth of the NEO ecosystem, a total of 10 million NEO are allocated as incentives for NEO developers and the Neo Council, with the current price playing a role in the overall value of these incentives.

The NEO platform boasts a myriad of features, including:

By digitizing assets and utilizing these features, NEO paves the way for a more efficient and secure exchange of value in the smart economy through automate digital asset management.

Digital identity management is another key feature of the NEO platform, providing a decentralized identity tool, NeoID, that facilitates on-chain authentication. This allows users to verify credentials without having to share private data, ensuring secure and seamless interactions on the blockchain.

NeoContract, NEO’s comprehensive smart contract system, forms the backbone of its capabilities. It features a universal blockchain virtual machine (NeoVM), interoperable services (InteropService), and a compiler with an IDE plug-in (DevPack). This powerful suite of tools enables developers to create and deploy sophisticated decentralized applications on the NEO blockchain.

A unique consensus mechanism, Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance (dBFT), sets NEO apart from its competitors. Capable of delivering a 

 rate of 1,000, NEO’s dBFT offers faster transaction speeds compared to other blockchain platforms. Additionally, the platform supports various programming languages, such as:

This ensures flexibility and accessibility for developers.

How NEO Differs from Bitcoin and Ethereum

NEO sets itself apart from other blockchain platforms like Bitcoin and Ethereum with its emphasis on regulatory compliance, particularly in China. NEO works hand in hand with regulatory bodies to guarantee compliance, thus effortlessly navigating the intricate landscape of blockchain regulations.

Additionally, NEO’s dBFT consensus mechanism sets it apart from the proof-of-work consensus employed by Bitcoin and Ethereum. This innovative approach allows NEO to process transactions at a faster rate and lower cost compared to its counterparts. With faster transaction speeds and lower costs, NEO positions itself as a forward-thinking platform that caters to the evolving needs of the digital economy.

Central to NEO’s vision is the concept of a smart economy. It focuses on digitizing assets and identities, fostering a more efficient, transparent, and secure economic system through blockchain technology. NEO implements this concept by digitizing assets and identities through smart contracts, providing a distributed network-based system that allows users to effectively digitize and manage their assets.

The smart economy concept offers numerous benefits, such as improved performance, simplicity, and ease of use at the protocol level. Through the use of smart contracts for managing and safeguarding digital identities and assets, NEO enhances economic infrastructure’s efficiency, security, and accessibility, carving a path towards a future powered by digital innovation.

These partnerships, combined with NEO’s active pursuit of new use cases and applications, contribute to the platform’s expanding global presence.

Moreover, the NEO developer community comprises a highly-skilled and dedicated team of experts responsible for advancing Neo’s core protocol. With a comprehensive collection of tools and resources, developers can create exceptional applications on the NEO blockchain, contributing to the platform’s ongoing success and growth.

NEO offers a range of use cases and applications, such as decentralized finance (DeFi), supply chain management, and digital identity verification, to name a few. These applications leverage the transparency and security of blockchain technology, enabling efficient and secure transactions for a wide array of industries.

For instance, in the realm of decentralized finance (DeFi), NEO enables users to:

With its diverse range of applications and versatile platform, NEO continues to shape the future of the digital economy.

Investing in NEO involves potential risks and rewards, with factors such as market sentiment, regulatory changes, and competition from other platforms influencing its value and long-term potential. Investors must carefully consider these factors, including the market cap and neo price, and undertake exhaustive research before deciding to buy neo or plunging into any investment.

On the other hand, positive market sentiment, favorable regulatory changes, and low competition from other platforms could result in rewarding investments in NEO. By staying informed and analyzing multiple perspectives, you can make well-informed decisions when investing in this innovative blockchain platform.

Investors interested in buying, storing, and using NEO can acquire the token through various cryptocurrency exchanges like Bybit.

Utilizing NEO within the ecosystem is simple and versatile. NEO can be used for various purposes, such as staking or voting on proposals, enabling users to actively participate in the governance and growth of the platform.

With its user-friendly interface and diverse applications, NEO offers an accessible and powerful solution for blockchain enthusiasts.

NEO’s roadmap comprises continual platform upgrades, ecosystem expansion and partnerships, as well as exploring new use cases and applications to fuel the growth of the smart economy. By continually enhancing its platform, NEO remains at the forefront of blockchain innovation.

Some of the anticipated developments include increased scalability, heightened security, and the addition of new features. NEO is also actively pursuing partnerships with other companies and organizations to create new use cases and applications for the platform, such as decentralized finance (DeFi), digital identity, and 

 (NFTs). With its focus on innovation and growth, NEO is well-positioned to play a transformative role in the digital economy.

In conclusion, NEO stands out as a unique and promising blockchain platform that aims to create a smart economy through the digitization of assets and identities, enabling a more efficient and secure economic system. With its innovative features, strong ecosystem, and ambitious roadmap, NEO is well-positioned to drive the future of blockchain technology and contribute to the growth of the digital economy. Are you ready to embrace the potential of NEO and embark on a journey towards a smarter, more connected world?

NEO stands for New, Recent, Evolved and Modified, a combining form used in the formation of compound words. It is used for new and modified concepts, ideas, theories, compounds and isomers in various fields such as Darwinism, Neolithic, Neoorthodoxy, Neophyte and Chemistry.

NEO is a blockchain-based cryptocurrency and application platform used to run smart contracts, decentralized applications, and establish ownership and management roles. Staking NEO gives users the right to vote on upgrades to the network's parameters as well as earning rewards in GAS.

A NEO in business is an acronym for "named executive officer," which typically refers to the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and other top-earning officers of a corporation whose combined total annual compensation is greater than $150,000.

Neo is a medical prefix meaning 'new' and is used to describe newborns, neonates, and premature babies. It originates from the Greek word "neos" and is found in terms such as neonatal and neoplasia.

NEO has great potential as a long-term investment, with N3 release being the springboard for its price. Thus, NEO is a good cryptocurrency.

What is NEO? A Complete Guide to Understanding the Crypto Phenomenon

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