The cryptocurrency market remained under pressure on April 3, with total capitalization falling to $2.38 trillion, down 2.4% in 24 hours. Trading volume stood at $105.4 billion. Bitcoin (BTC) traded at $66,868.02, a modest decline of 0.82%, maintaining a market cap of $1.33 trillion and a dominance of 56.2%. Ethereum (ETH) dropped 2.59% to $2,058, with a market cap of $248.54 billion and a 10.3% dominance.
Top Gainers and Losers: SOLV Soars 27%, UNI Plunges 10%
Solv Protocol (SOLV) led gains with a 26.84% surge to $0.004849 on $347.89 million volume. Algorand (ALGO) rose 7.68% to $0.1109; MemeCore (M) gained 7.51% to $2.65; Quant (QNT) added 5.57% to $74.92. On the downside, Uniswap (UNI) tumbled 10.74% to $3.18; Ethena (ENA) fell 9.35% to $0.08111; Midnight (NIGHT) slipped 6.87% to $0.04608. Stablecoins saw a slight 0.1% uptick, with a market cap of $310.2 billion and $88.7 billion trading volume. The DeFi sector declined 2.5%, capitalizing at $49 billion, representing 2.1% of the global market.
Fear and Greed Index Plunges to 9: Extreme Fear Grips Market
Alternative.me reported the Crypto Fear and Greed Index at 9, deep in extreme fear territory. This compares to 12 yesterday, 13 last week, and 10 last month. The low number signals strong risk aversion, forced selling, and weak investor confidence.
Key Industry Updates: MARA Layoffs, Sonic Burn, X Verification
Bitcoin miner MARA laid off approximately 15% of its workforce as it shifts focus to energy and digital infrastructure. The firm posted a $1.3 billion loss in its Q4 2025 report.
Sonic Labs announced that 32.69 million unclaimed S tokens will be burned after October 15, 2026. The tokens remain locked in the airdrop contract with no additional minting.
Social platform X will lock accounts that post crypto content for the first time, requiring identity verification. Product lead Nikita Bier said the move targets scammers.
Macro and Sector Developments: Oil Surges, Telegram Futures, DRIFT Attack
WTI crude oil jumped to $113.01, up 14.38% daily. Analyst Scott Shelton said Trump's speech signaled escalation, pushing oil higher and lifting risk appetite.
The Wallet app in Telegram launched perpetual futures trading, supporting crypto, stocks, metals, and oil, powered by Lighter with leverage up to 50x.
Drift Protocol suffered an attack, causing its token DRIFT to crash 40% in 24 hours. The funding rate for DRIFT perpetuals surged above 6,000%, with shorts heavily subsidizing longs.
Personnel Change: Trump Replaces Acting Attorney General
President Donald Trump replaced Pam Bondi with Todd Blanche as acting Attorney General. Blanche previously disbanded the DOJ team and froze assets.
Compared to April 2, total market cap fell from $2.43T to $2.38T, BTC extended its decline, ETH reversed from gains to losses, and the Fear & Greed index dropped from 12 to 9. Trading volume remained near $106B, reflecting continued caution and a defensive stance.