The cryptocurrency market continued to surge this previous week as the general digital asset market capitalization exceeded $3.27 trillion, an 8.6% improve over the earlier week.
Bitcoin (BTC) reached a excessive of $103,600 on Might 8 after reclaiming $100,000 for the primary time since January. Its market dominance additionally surged above 60%, reflecting extra bullish BTC sentiment. This marked the third time BTC has damaged by six figures because it reached the milestone on Dec. 5, 2024, and once more on Jan. 20, forward of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The BTC rise coincided with Trump saying a commerce cope with the UK, which can embody eradicating a ten% blanket tariff on all imports.
Within the wider crypto house, Ethereum’s Pectra improve carried out much-needed enhancements for the crypto ecosystem. The improve was adopted by a 26% worth surge for Ether (ETH), rising from $1,800 on Might 7 to over $2,300 on Might 9.
Bitcoin DeFi sees surge in mining participation regardless of drop in TVL
Messari’s “State of Rootstock” report for 2025 confirmed that merged mining participation surged to an all-time excessive of 81% in Q1 2025, up from 56.4% within the earlier quarter. The surge was attributed to onboarding main mining swimming pools SpiderPool and Foundry.
The inflow of mining help boosted Rootstock’s hash energy above 740 exahashes per second. This surpassed Bitcoin’s whole community hashrate recorded in October 2024, marking a extra mature part for the platform’s merged mining development.
The surge in merged mining participation got here as Rootstock’s ecosystem confronted headwinds. In Q1 2025, Rootstock’s whole worth locked (TVL) declined. Its Bitcoin TVL dropped 7.2%, whereas the dollar-denominated TVL fell by over 20% quarter-on-quarter.
This mirrored a broader downward pattern throughout the DeFi sector, with Ethereum-based DeFi TVL displaying a 27% decline in the identical interval.
Hacken CEO sees “no shift” in crypto safety as April hacks hit $357 million
Crypto hacks in April noticed practically $360 million in belongings stolen throughout 18 incidents. This represented an virtually 1,000% improve over the quantity misplaced in March.
The most important loss got here from an unauthorized Bitcoin switch. On April 28, blockchain investigator ZachXBT reported a suspicious transaction of Bitcoin value $330 million. He later confirmed that it was a social engineering assault that focused an aged American.
In a Cointelegraph interview on the Token2049 occasion, Hacken CEO Dyma Budorin instructed Cointelegraph that the trade continues to depend on restricted safety measures even after the $1.4 billion Bybit hack incident. Budorin stated that the house implements restricted measures as a substitute of deploying complete methods.
“A lot of the tasks assume, ‘Okay, we did pentests. That’s sufficient. Perhaps bug bounty. That’s sufficient.’ It’s not sufficient,” Budorin instructed Cointelegraph.
AI decentralized apps are coming for the Web3 throne: DappRadar
Whereas gaming and DeFi held on to the highest spot within the decentralized functions (DApps) ecosystem, synthetic intelligence is slowly catching up.
Blockchain analytics platform DappRadar confirmed that Gaming and DeFi noticed 21% DApp dominance in April. Nevertheless, AI DApps climbed to 16%, up from the 11% recorded within the platform’s February information.
“As person curiosity in synthetic intelligence instruments grows throughout industries, AI-powered DApps are steadily carving out their place within the decentralized ecosystem,” DappRadar analyst Sara Gherghelas stated.
Gherghelas added that if the pattern continues, AI may problem the dominance of DeFi and gaming, signaling a “new period” within the DApp panorama.
Bitcoin-backed loans “apparent” subsequent step — Xapo Financial institution CEO
Bitcoin holders have gotten extra assured in utilizing their BTC to borrow funds. In a Token2049 interview, Xapo Financial institution CEO Seamus Rocca instructed Cointelegraph that buyers’ moods have shifted from short-term hypothesis to a extra long-term outlook on Bitcoin.
Rocca stated that the arrogance comes from broader institutional adoption and Bitcoin’s worth ranges which are “nowhere close to” liquidation.
Rocca stated Bitcoin-backed loans enable holders to remain uncovered to the asset when going through sudden bills. The manager stated the sensible factor to do isn’t promote the asset when the worth will increase.
Nevertheless, when life will get in the best way, Rocca stated buyers can keep away from liquidating their Bitcoin by borrowing towards the asset and paying curiosity. This manner, they’ll maintain on to the belongings regardless of needing liquidity for his or her bills.
DeFi Market Overview
In response to information from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, a lot of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week within the inexperienced.
The memecoin Pepe (PEPE) rose by over 53% because the week’s largest gainer, adopted by the Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) token, which was up by 47% through the previous week. Ether (ETH) was the third-biggest gainer, displaying a rise of 35%.
Thanks for studying our abstract of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Be part of us subsequent Friday for extra tales, insights and training concerning this dynamically advancing house.
