After consecutive drawdowns of 17.39% and 2.3% in February and March, Bitcoin’s (BTC) Q2 is shaping up nicely, with a return of 3.77% in April. While fresh yearly lows were formed at $74,500, BTC is currently closer to $90,000 than its new range bottom. 

Bitcoin 1-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Bitcoin’s higher time frame (HTF) market structure has achieved its first breakout of 2025, fueling optimism among bulls for significant upward momentum. However, the following factors could limit BTC’s gains over the next two weeks, likely capping its price at around $90,000.

Related: Can 3-month Bitcoin RSI highs counter bearish BTC price ‘seasonality?’

Bitcoin needs spot volume, not just leverage-driven

Cointelegraph identified a cooldown period in the futures market as the BTC-USDT futures leverage ratio dropped by 50%. De-leveraging in the futures market is a positive development over the long term, but derivatives traders have taken control of the market at the time as well.

Bitcoin cumulative net take volume. Source: X.com

Bitcoin researcher Axel Adler Jr. pointed out that Bitcoin’s cumulative net taker volume spiked to $800 million on April 11, hinting at a surge in aggressive buying. BTC price also jumped from $78,000 to $85,000 within three days, confirming previous historical patterns where high net take volume triggers price rallies. 

Likewise, Maartunn, a community analyst at CryptoQuant, confirmed that the current rally is a “leverage-driven pump.” The discrepancy arises because retail or spot traders are still not as relevant.

Bitcoin 30-day apparent demand. Source: CryptoQuant

As illustrated in the chart, Bitcoin apparent demand is on a recovery path, but it is not net positive yet. Historically, 30-day apparent demand can move sideways for a prolonged period after BTC reaches a local bottom, leading to a sideways chop for the crypto.

Thus, it is less likely that Bitcoin could breach $90,000 in the first attempt after dropping close to 20% until there is collective buying pressure from both spot and futures markets.

Large liquidation clusters between $80-$90K may bait traders

With futures traders positioning in either direction, data from CoinGlass highlighted significant cumulative long and short liquidation leverage between $80,000 and $90,000. Taking $85,100 at the base price, total cumulative short positions at risk of liquidation are at $6.5 billion if BTC price hits $90,035.

Bitcoin exchange liquidation map. Source: CoinGlass

On the other hand, $4.86 billion in long orders will be wiped out if BTC drops to $80,071. While liquidation clusters do not determine directional bias, they can create long or short squeezes, baiting traders on either side of respective trades.

With such high capital at risk under $90,000, it is possible that Bitcoin may target each cluster before moving toward the dominant side.

Related: Bitcoin traders target $90K as apparent tariff exemptions ease US Treasury yields

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.

The total-value-locked (TVL) on Mantra’s RWA blockchain protocol reached a yearly high despite OM’s 90% price crash.

Mantra TVL surges 500% following OM’s crash

As of April 15, Mantra’s TVL (in OM terms) jumped to 4.21 million OM (~$3.24 million), an increase of over 500% from two days prior, according to data resource DefiLlama.

Mantra’s cumulative TVL chart. Source: DefiLlama.

Interestingly, the TVL rise accompanied a dramatic collapse in OM prices, which plunged over 90% during the weekend. The Mantra team attributed the sell-off to “reckless forced liquidations” initiated by centralized exchanges.

A rising TVL typically indicates that users are locking more tokens into a protocol’s smart contracts via staking, liquidity pools, lending, or farming for yield or network participation.

Analyst DOM spotted “aggressive buying” on crypto exchanges during the 90% OM price crash on April 13, amounting to $35 million worth of OM purchases when “the [Mantra] collapse was happening.”

Mantra total aggregated spot CVD vs. Binance spot price. Source: DOM

Despite the 90% price crash, the simultaneous TVL spike and “aggressive buying” suggest that certain participants saw the collapse as a buying opportunity.

The fact that millions of dollars were deployed while the crash unfolded points to tactical accumulation, possibly by whales, insiders, or opportunistic speculators betting on a rebound or farming incentives.

As of April 15, OM’s price was trading for as high as $0.99, up around 170% from the weekend lows.

OM/USDT daily price chart. Source: TradingView

97% of Mantra TVL is one DApp

Increases in Mantra’s TVL accompany red flags.

For instance, around 97% of Mantra’s TVL growth came from Mantra Swap, the protocol’s native decentralized exchange. Its automated market-making pools accounted for 4.11 million OM in TVL, making it the primary driver behind the sharp uptick.

Mantra Swap TVL performance chart. Source: DefiLlama

A more decentralized ecosystem would have a greater capital distribution with multiple liquidity sources across lending markets, staking platforms, derivatives, etc.

Related: Mantra says one particular exchange may have caused OM collapse

Additionally, Mantra’s fully diluted valuation (FDV) of $1.88 billion as of April 15 dwarfs the total value locked (TVL) of $3.24 million, a glaring disconnect that could signal potential overvaluation.

Mantra TVL vs. FDV (in dollar terms). Source: DefiLlama

With only 0.17% of its theoretical value actively deployed in its ecosystem, the protocol shows low capital efficiency and limited real-world usage.

This imbalance suggests the market cap is likely driven more by speculation than adoption, and with a large portion of tokens likely still locked, there’s a high risk of future dilution as vested tokens are unlocked.

Analyst JamesBitunix posed Mantra’s FDV as a huge risk to OM dip buyers, saying:

“A lot of traders jumped in at this ‘bottom’ — both on spot and with leverage. Personally, I’d trigger another correction — preferably a sweep of the lows followed by a quick bounce.”

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.

US President Donald Trump is venturing deeper into the world of digital assets, with a new project blending gaming and cryptocurrency elements, Fortune reported, citing sources familiar with the project.

The project, set to launch in late April, will resemble MONOPOLY GO!, a mobile game where players travel around a board and earn money for constructing buildings in a digital city, according to the report.

Bill Zanker, a member of Trump’s circle and part of the team that helped launch Trump’s memecoin and various NFT collections, is behind the game, Fortune cited the sources as saying. A spokesperson for Zanker denied any similarity to Monopoly, while confirming that Zanker is working on a game, according to the report.

The Monopoly board game is owned by Hasbro, a company that acquired Parker Brothers, its original publisher, in 1991. Zanker reached out to Hasbro in May 2024 to seek a license for a Trump-branded Monopoly game, according to the sources, who requested anonymity due to the ongoing nature of business dealings.

Zanker declined Fortune’s requests for an interview.

Related: Trump’s tariff escalation exposes ‘deeper fractures’ in global financial system

Trump’s crypto ventures detailed

Once a crypto skeptic, Trump showed Web3 enthusiasm during his 2024 presidential campaign. The president’s crypto endeavors include Official Trump (TRUMP), a memecoin with a $1.5 billion market capitalization at this writing, along with numerous non-fungible token (NFT) projects and a decentralized finance venture called World Liberty Financial.

In February, Trump-owned DTTM Operations filed for a slew of trademarks for a Trump-branded metaverse and NFT marketplace. The metaverse would allow users to shop for physical and virtual goods, enjoy transport by limousine, aircraft, automobile and train, as well as watch public service programs.

Trump’s crypto ventures signal a significant change in his perspective regarding the crypto space. In 2021, Trump called Bitcoin “a scam against the dollar” and said the token was “based on thin air.” Since then, he has pivoted to court crypto voters and signed an executive order to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve in the US.

Web3 gaming struggles amid macroeconomic turmoil

Trump’s crypto game may have trouble gaining traction. According to an April 10 report from DappRadar, daily active users of Web3 games dipped 6% in the first quarter of 2025, while investments in the sector dropped 71% quarter-over-quarter to $91 million.

DappRadar cites the complex macroeconomic environment, including trade wars and geopolitical tensions, as reasons behind the slump in Web3 enthusiasm. The company notes that “investor sentiment remains cautious” in this environment.

Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions