Aavegotchi, a non-fungible token (NFT) protocol focused on Web3 gaming, has opted to abandon blockchain network Polygon and “go all-in” on Base, an Ethereum layer-2 scaling chain, according to the results of an onchain vote. 

On April 8, Aavegotchi’s community members voted 93.5% in favor of a proposal to “Make Aavegotchi Based Again” by deprecating the protocol’s smart contracts on Polygon and re-deploying on Base, according to Aavegochti’s governance page. 

“Given our close relationship with the Base team, as well as recent developments in the Base ecosystem […] we believe the most +EV move for Aavegotchi (for this cycle, at least) is to sunset [its Polygon deployment] and go all-in on Base,” Aavegotchi founder Dan said in a February X post proposing the shift.

The migration reflects Aavegotchi’s efforts to adapt to 2025’s cryptocurrency market downturn, which was worsened last week by President Donald Trump’s plan to impose sweeping tariffs on most US imports. 

Aavegotchi’s developer, Pixelcraft Studios, has “recently made significant team cuts to reduce our burn and extend runway,” Dan said. Memecoins and NFTs have been among Web3’s hardest-hit segments so far this year.

Aavegotchi’s community voted overwhelmingly for the move. Source: Aavegotchi

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Polygon’s flat TVL

Aavegotchi’s decision also highlights Polygon’s ongoing challenges in maintaining users and total value locked (TVL) in the face of competition from Ethereum layer-2 chains, such as Arbitrum and Base. 

Polygon’s TVL has declined from highs of nearly $10 billion in 2021 to approximately $725 million as of April 8, according to data from DeFILlama. Both Base and Arbitrum each hold more than $2 billion in TVL, DefiLlama data shows. 

TVL is a key metric used in DeFi (decentralized finance) to measure the total amount of assets deposited in a protocol. It not only reflects user trust and adoption but also serves as an indicator of available liquidity.

According to Dan, Polygon hasn’t delivered any major updates or features for gaming protocols. “Polygon has not shipped any significant updates or features to PoS to enable better ecosystem coherence or discovery for gaming.”  

Polygon’s growth has been relatively flat in recent years. Source: Coder Dan

Meanwhile, “both Base and Arbitrum stand out as being both performant and ‘lindy’ – able to stand the test of time,” Dan said, adding he prefers Base because of the chain’s “stronger retail onboarding.”

Base is an optimistic rollup launched in 2023 by Coinbase, the US’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. 

Aavegotchi was created in a collaboration between Pixelcraft Studios and Aave, a decentralized lending protocol. 

It describes its NFTs as “digital collectibles” that can be “customized with various wearables, such as hats, glasses, and other accessories [and]can be bought, sold, and traded as NFTs,” according to its website. 

Magazine: XRP win leaves Ripple and industry with no crypto legal precedent set

With US President Donald Trump imposing 104% tariffs on Chinese imports, Beijing is responding by letting the yuan weaken against the dollar — a move that analysts say could spark the next leg of the Bitcoin bull market.

On April 8, the yuan-to-US dollar exchange rate fell to its lowest level since 2023, signaling the Chinese central bank’s readiness to let its currency fluctuate more freely. 

The US dollar-to-yuan exchange rate on April 8. Source: Bloomberg

With the trade war ratcheting up, “expectation for China to eventually devalue the currency has jumped and the pressure won’t go away easily,” Ju Wang, head of Greater China FX at BNP Paribas, told Reuters.

The yuan’s devaluation could drive the narrative of Chinese capital flight into hard assets, which includes Bitcoin (BTC), according to BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes. 

Bybit’s co-founder and CEO, Ben Zhou, agreed, arguing that China will let the yuan weaken to counter the trade war. This means “a lot of Chinese capital flow into BTC, [which is] bullish for BTC,” said Zhou.

Source: Ben Zhou

Bybit is the world’s second-largest crypto exchange by volume and is a popular platform for derivatives traders. In December, the exchange said users in mainland China can now trade freely on the platform without the use of a VPN but that yuan trades are not permitted.

Related: $2T fake tariff news pump shows ‘market is ready to ape’

Currency volatility is here to stay as US-China trade war heats up

Currency fluctuations are part and parcel of an escalating trade war that pits the two largest economies against each other. 

Beyond the yuan-dollar trade, investors are bracing for “insane” foreign exchange volatility tied to the trade war, according to Brent Donnelly, the president of Spectra FX Solutions. 

The US dollar has been in a steady decline since President Trump’s inauguration, with the DXY Dollar Index falling from a high of nearly 110 to the current sub-103 level. 

The decline between the end of February and early March was one of the sharpest moves in the last decade, according to Julien Bittel, who heads macro research at Global Macro Investor.

The DXY tracks the US dollar’s performance against a basket of six currencies, with the euro and Japanese yen having the largest weightings. 

The US dollar, as measured by the DXY, has weakened considerably in recent months. Source: MarketWatch

Historically, Bitcoin’s price has exhibited a strong inverse relationship with the US dollar, with a weaker greenback associated with a higher BTC price and vice versa.

Related: As Trump tanks Bitcoin, PMI offers a roadmap of what comes next

Bitcoin (BTC) has a new $70,000 reversal target as a leading indicator sets new bull market lows.

In X analysis on April 7, popular trader and analyst Rekt Capital predicted that BTC/USD could find its floor near old all-time highs from 2021.

History suggests $70,000 should end BTC price dip

Bitcoin can dip as low as $70,000 before recovering and still keep within historical norms, Rekt Capital says.

Considering where the current bull market correction might end up, the analyst used the relative strength index (RSI) indicator to calculate the potential BTC price downside.

“Whenever Bitcoin’s Daily RSI crashed into the sub-28 RSI levels – that wouldn’t necessarily mark out the price bottom. In fact, historically, the actual price bottom would be -0.32% to -8.44% lower than the price when the RSI first bottomed,” he explained.

“Bitcoin is currently forming its second low -2.79% below the first low. A repeat of -8.44% below the first low would see price bottom at ~$70000.”

BTC/USD 1-day chart with RSI data. Source: Rekt Capital/X

The RSI is a classic example of a leading indicator, printing signals that often precede major BTC price trend changes. Regardless of the timeframe used, the 30, 50 and 70 RSI levels are of particular importance. A score below 30 represents “oversold” conditions, while 70 is the line in the sand for “overbought.”

Currently, the daily RSI measures around 38, having rejected at 50. On the weekly chart, RSI is at 43, marking its lowest reading since the start of the bull market in early 2023, data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView confirms.

BTC/USD 1-week chart with RSI data. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Continuing, Rekt Capital added that the price need not extend to $70,000 in order for a long-term bottom to form.

“As a result, historical Daily RSI trends in this cycle suggest anything from current prices to ~$70000 is likely to be the bottom on this correction,” he added.

BTC/USD last traded at $70,000 in early November 2024, while the price level is best known as being around the all-time high from Bitcoin’s previous bull market which ended three years prior.

Macro trend “seriously bad for Bitcoin”

As Cointelegraph reported, $70,000 is a popular target for the current correction, with tools such as the Lowest Price Forward metric giving high odds of that area holding as support.

Related: Black Monday 2.0? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

Its creator, network economist Timothy Peterson, nonetheless remains downbeat about the short-term BTC price outlook.

US macroeconomic trends, he warned this week, could “easily” send BTC/USD to the $70,000 mark.

“Seriously bad for Bitcoin,” he wrote on X alongside a chart of the ICE BofA US High Yield.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.