Apr 14, 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 — Apple exemptions send crypto higher 

US president Donald Trump’s administration recently exempted smartphones, computers and other electronics from reciprocal tariffs, providing significant relief for major technology manufacturers like Apple and NVIDIA. This move, announced by US Customs and Border Protection, limits the impact of Trump’s 125% tariff on goods from China and baseline 10% global tariff affecting many countries.

The exclusions cover popular electronics, such as smartphones, laptops, hard drives and memory chips, typically not domestically produced. This decision is welcome news for consumers who feared rising prices due to potential tariffs. It also benefits major tech companies that have made substantial investment pledges in the US domestic markets to the Trump administration.

The tariff reprieve marks a noteworthy easing in Trump's trade conflict with China, effective retroactively from April 5. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt emphasized that America must not depend upon China for critical technologies, highlighting the president's efforts to secure substantial investments from leading tech firms to bolster domestic manufacturing. 

However, the reprieve may be temporary. The exclusions stem from an initial order designed to prevent cumulative tariffs on specific sectors. While certain semiconductor manufacturing equipment is excluded, the announcement doesn’t cover the 20% tariff targeting China, aimed at addressing fentanyl shipments.

Analysts note that while this exemption is a win for the tech industry, uncertainty remains regarding future tariffs. The administration is poised to further investigate semiconductor imports, potentially leading to new tariffs in the coming weeks. As negotiations evolve, other countries may seek similar exceptions, complicating the trade landscape. 

Overall, while this announcement offers temporary relief, the future of tariffs remains uncertain as the administration continues its aggressive trade policies.

Weekly crypto highlight — Bitcoin has its role to play amid volatility

The concept of "safe haven" assets, traditionally represented by gold and government bonds, is being challenged in today’s volatile markets. For decades, investors relied on a classic portfolio structure of 60% equities and 40% bonds, with capital flowing into gold and government bonds during market downturns. These assets were seen as stable and reliable, ideal for safeguarding against volatility. However, in a world marked by constant market activity, geopolitical unrest and rising skepticism toward governments, the definition of a safe-haven asset may require reevaluation.

Enter Bitcoin, a highly volatile and often misunderstood asset. Despite skepticism from many investors, Bitcoin has significantly outperformed traditional safe-haven assets since the COVID-19 market lows, rising over 1,000% since March 2020. In contrast, long-duration bonds have dropped by 50%, and gold, while up 90% over five years, appears less impressive when adjusted for monetary inflation.

However, Bitcoin's status as a safe haven remains debated. During various risk-off events, it’s behaved more like a high-beta asset than a protective hedge. For instance, in March 2020, BTC fell 40%, while the Nasdaq-100 dropped 27%. But during the recent tariff-led sell-off in April 2025, Bitcoin held up better than the Nasdaq-100, suggesting emerging strength.

Non-sovereign assets like Bitcoin could thrive amid geopolitical tensions, given their decentralized, censorship-resistant nature. Traditional safe havens like gold and long-duration bonds are losing their luster, with gold’s gains overshadowed by monetary expansion and rising yields on Treasury bonds.

As Bitcoin continues to demonstrate resilience, it may challenge the notion of what constitutes a safe haven. While it may not fit the classic definition of a low-volatility asset, its durability, neutrality and liquidity make it increasingly relevant in today’s financial landscape. Thus, the traditional playbook for safe-haven assets may need an update.

Advanced

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Weekly Institutional Insights: Apple exemptions send crypto higher; Bitcoin’s role to challenge gold

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.

After initially resisting US president Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, crypto markets joined the global sell-off, with BTC falling from $87K on April 2 to a low of $74K. BTC’s term structure was inverted again before easing, while ETH’s term structure remained inverted. Meanwhile, short-term BTC volatility skews favored OTM puts, reflecting more bearish sentiment than during the Q1 2023 US banking crisis. However, volatility levels decreased after Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs (excluding those on China), leading to a significant rally in spot prices.

Please check out the report’s highlights.

BTC open interest declined substantially this week

Bybit’s largest perpetual swap markets initially remained stable during the broader market sell-off and tariff reactions, recovering from the dip after the 

. However, Trump’s recent announcement and subsequent pause of near-unilateral import tariffs significantly impacted these markets, leading to notable declines in open interest for BTC and ETH, which have fallen sharply from their late March highs.

After a brief period of positive funding rates, BTC’s perpetual swap market fluctuated between positive and negative sentiment, indicating traders were hesitant to commit to a strong directional move (similar to trends in options markets). This changed when President Trump announced a 90-day tariff relief, leading to positive jumps in funding rates. Altcoins displayed a similar pattern, with funding rates alternately positive and negative before rising following the tariff announcement.

During the April 6–7, 2025 sell-off, traders sought downside protection, as BTC's spot price fell to $75K in reaction to President Trump’s tariff announcement. The high volume of put options relative to calls indicates strong demand for this protection. Meanwhile, the US's reciprocal tariffs caused a significant inversion in BTC’s at-the-money volatility term structure, which, although it has eased, remains inverted. Additionally, there‘s a stronger skew toward OTM puts at short tenors as compared to the March 2023 US banking crisis. Put open interest has surged over the past week, reflecting extremely bearish sentiment for both the near and long terms.

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Bybit X Block Scholes crypto derivatives analytics report (Apr 9, 2025): Tariffs bring substantial volatility at a level similar to that of the Q1 2023 US banking crisis

In this tutorial, we’ll explore how you can stake and mint Lombard LBTCv on Bybit Web3 Staking with the Bybit Web3 Seed Phrase Wallet. 

In this tutorial, we’ll explore how you can stake BTC to mint 

Please note that in order to get started, you’ll first need to download the Bybit App on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. 

How to stake and mint LBTCv with Bybit Web3 Staking

: Launch the Bybit App on your mobile device and tap on the 

: Deposit BTC into your preferred Bybit Web3 Seed Phrase Wallet BTC address.

: Once you’ve deposited BTC into your wallet address, tap on the 

drop-down and select the BTC address into which you’ve deposited BTC. 

: Input the exact amount of BTC you’d like to stake, and tap on 

 and sign the message to allow this exact amount of BTC to be staked.

 page. Ensure that the amount of BTC is exactly the same as you wish to stake, and tap on 

: Tap on the icon located at the upper-right corner of the screen to check your transaction history.

: You’ll receive LBTCv in three progressive stages:

: Once you’ve received LBTCv, you can check your points (updated every hour).

If you wish to stake more BTC, simply repeat Steps 7 through 12. However, please

that you won’t be able to stake more BTC as long as you haven’t yet received your LBTCv.

To redeem your LBTC, simply scroll down the 

button. Then, wait three days for the successful redemption of LBTC.

If you wish to cancel your redemption, you can do so within these three days.

Beginner

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How to stake and mint Lombard LBTCv with Bybit Web3 Staking

A Chainlink Spot ETF would bridge TradFi and crypto, offering a simplified way to gain exposure to LINK without the complexities of digital wallets or exchanges.

There's been a recent surge in spot ETF applications as investors look for ways to sidestep the rigid frameworks of traditional finance. The success of 

 — drawing billions in inflows — signals a major shift in the way institutions approach crypto investments. 

 networks, is in line for its own Spot ETF. The proposed fund promises a direct, hassle-free way to invest in Chainlink (LINK), eliminating the need to deal with complex 

 and exchanges. This article explores what a Chainlink Spot ETF is, how it would work, its current market impact and what its potential approval could mean for investors and the broader crypto landscape.

A Chainlink Spot ETF is an exchange-traded fund, backed by Chainlink (LINK) tokens, that would directly track the market price of LINK, a cryptocurrency powering decentralized oracle networks, thus enabling investors to gain exposure without directly holding the asset itself.

 (ETF) would offer investors direct exposure to LINK’s price movements without requiring the investors to handle the digital asset directly. 

Authorized Participants (APs), typically large financial institutions or market makers approved by the ETF issuer, play a central role in maintaining liquidity and aligning the ETF’s market price with its net asset value (NAV). These entities facilitate the creation and redemption of ETF shares by acquiring LINK tokens from exchanges or over-the-counter markets, and transferring them to the ETF’s custodian, a regulated entity responsible for secure storage. 

In exchange, the ETF issuer provides APs with newly created shares, which represent fractional ownership of the underlying assets. The shares are then introduced to secondary markets for investors to trade.

Creation, redemption and listing of shares

When redeeming shares, APs collect ETF shares from the market and return them to the issuer, receiving LINK tokens from the custodian in return. These tokens can be sold on the open market or held, depending upon the AP’s strategy. This creation-redemption process enables an 

 mechanism that stabilizes the ETF’s price, relative to its underlying assets. 

If the ETF is trading at a premium to NAV, APs create and sell shares to capitalize on the price difference, pushing the market price downward. Conversely, if the ETF is trading at a discount, APs redeem shares, reducing supply and driving the price upward. This dynamic ensures that the ETF’s market price remains closely tied to LINK’s actual value. 

Shares are listed on exchanges and traded like traditional stocks, integrating seamlessly into existing portfolios while offering potential tax efficiencies. The structure combines the accessibility of conventional investments with the benefits of cryptocurrency exposure, appealing to those seeking indirect participation in LINK’s market movements through a regulated and familiar framework. For investors, the ETF will simplify exposure to Chainlink by eliminating the need to manage 

 or wallets, or navigate complex crypto exchanges. 

The Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF, which includes Chainlink (LINK), has gained attention as a significant development in the crypto ETF space. This ETF, 

 in February 2025 and currently provides exposure to Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

 with the SEC on Mar 14, 2025 to expand the ETF's scope to include additional cryptocurrencies like LINK, ADA and SOL. This application remains the sole filing for a Spot Link ETF (as of Mar 20, 2025). While the SEC has approved the fund's initial structure, its response to the inclusion of Chainlink and other assets remains pending.

The SEC has historically been cautious about approving spot cryptocurrency ETFs, due to concerns about market manipulation and investor protection. However, the approval of multi-asset ETFs such as NCIQ signals a potential shift in regulatory attitudes. Market sentiment has been cautiously optimistic, with investors viewing these developments as a step toward broader acceptance and integration of cryptocurrencies into traditional financial systems. The timeline for the approval of Chainlink Spot ETFs remains uncertain, but growing institutional interest and regulatory advancements suggest progress in the near future.

Current impact of Chainlink Spot ETF applications on the crypto market

The anticipation surrounding Chainlink Spot ETF applications is clearly influencing market sentiment. Although Chainlink's price hasn’t yet surged dramatically, increased investor interest and speculation about potential ETF approvals have boosted overall optimism. 

Data from LINK and CoinGlass reveals that 

 have fallen to 138.8 million coins, the lowest since September 2024, indicating that investors are holding onto their tokens in self-custody wallets instead of selling. This trend reflects a growing belief that SEC approval for a Spot LINK ETF could substantially boost the token’s price. In addition, Chainlink’s role as one of the largest oracle networks and its innovative cross-chain interoperability protocol for asset tokenization further reinforce this positive outlook.

What will it mean if a Chainlink Spot ETF application is approved?

The approval of a Chainlink Spot ETF would have some significant implications for both the cryptocurrency market and traditional financial sectors, as follows.

If you’re looking to capture the market and trade LINK tokens, Bybit offers the 

A Chainlink Spot ETF would connect cryptocurrency with traditional finance by allowing investors to track LINK’s price without the complications of managing digital wallets. Specifically, it would keep the ETF's price in line with LINK’s market value, increase liquidity and attract institutional investors. Approval of a Chainlink Spot ETF could drive LINK's price higher, similar to trends seen with Bitcoin ETFs, and confirm Chainlink’s importance in the crypto ecosystem, encouraging its use across various industries. 

However, investors need to be cautious of potential short-term price swings and changes in regulations. Overall, this ETF would make crypto investing simpler for a broader audience, strengthening Chainlink’s position and supporting wider acceptance of blockchain technology in the financial world.

Intermediate

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Chainlink Spot ETF: A gateway to decentralized oracle investment

DeFi

Automated market makers (AMM)s are a key feature of decentralized exchanges (DEXes). Read all about them here.

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Cryptocurrencies have utilized the concept of decentralization for a variety of different services. A widely used service within cryptocurrencies is decentralized finance (

) and is increasingly seen as an alternative to traditional, or centralized financial services (CeFi).

, price negotiation among users may not be the cheapest and most efficient since constant updates are needed, leading to low liquidity. To solve this issue, a new exchanging protocol known as Automated Market Maker (AMM) has emerged. In this article, we are going to dive into the AMM and how it works. To understand the fundamentals of AMM, you first need to know what decentralized exchanges and market makers are.

(DEX) is one which requires no third parties to regulate transactions. These types of exchanges offer various functions that are similar to traditional exchanges, such as order books, matching systems, or security functions. Usually, decentralized exchanges are developed and launched as decentralized applications (

Each DEX is regulated through smart contracts. Smart contracts are sets of codes that are used to run a service, without requiring a central authority. So what are the main distinguishing features that the lack of a central authority brings to exchanges?

When it comes to similarities, both a decentralized exchange (DEX) and centralized exchange (CEX) offer cryptocurrency exchanges using a trading venue and a matching system. However, there are key differences between DEX and CEX. Some of the most important are listed below.

Decentralization entails anonymity. People who use DEXs remain anonymous since they are not required to disclose personal information to the exchange. With CEXs, however, authorities can access your personal information and exchange history. For example, banks require that you provide personal documents in order to be able to exchange your assets.

With a DEX, you have full control over your assets. No entity is able to access or use your assets in any other way. Centralized exchanges have access to your assets, making it possible for them to use your money. 

When using a DEX, there is no likelihood of human error since the platform runs using smart contracts. Moreover, a DEX, practically speaking,  cannot be hacked because the hacker would need to control the majority of the network, which is technically impossible. However, it is worth noting that the smart contracts themselves are prone to error if they have a flaw in their coding. This might mean potential damages to the exchange and the people who use it since smart contracts cannot be changed once they are launched. 

Government restrictions, regulations or shutdowns can greatly affect a CEX. On the other hand, a DEX is invulnerable to such decisions. Any government decision may have virtually no direct effect on such exchanges.

Liquidity is one of the most important components of exchanging. Since CEXs require that a central authority take care of the transactions, it makes transactions much faster compared to DEXs. 

A DEX generally has slower speeds because transactions need to be verified by miners. Therefore, one of the reasons why centralized exchanges are still favored by some people is the high liquidity of the former vs. the low liquidity of the latter.

CEXs are generally very simple to understand and use. The workings of exchange are not fundamentally complicated. A DEX, on the other hand, may seem confusing at first because of its decentralization. As a result, many decentralized exchanges are working to promote more simplicity.

As the name suggests, market making involves the price making of assets. Market makers are involved in the liquidity of exchange by promoting a negotiation medium for the buyer and the seller. The seller wants to sell his assets at a specific price, while the buyer wants to buy some of the assets at a different price. Market making involves finding prices and quantities between different buyers and sellers.

Let’s take a hypothetical example. Person A wants to sell 10

 at a price of $40,000 per BTC. Person B wants to buy 6 BTC at a price of $35,000 each. A market maker pushes person A to lower the ordered price to around $37,000 while suggesting person B should increase the buying price to $37,000. These demands are registered in an order book. In this way, BTC is sold by finding a common ground between the buyer and the seller. This method of negotiation already exists with centralized exchanges. The reason for market making 

A negative outcome of market making is slippage. Slippage refers to the purchase or sale of an asset at an undesirable price. This occurs when there is very low liquidity, due to the lack of market participants wanting to trade at the desired price. 

Now that we understand the main idea of a market maker, let’s jump to a new term: automated market maker (AMM).

If market making is made possible through entities that regulate transactions and promote a negotiating environment, what about decentralized exchanges — which don’t have a central authority?

As suggested, decentralized exchanges use smart contracts to regulate each payment and service. When it comes to the purchase or sale of assets, market participants can still negotiate. However, smart contracts cannot be changed. To make sure that the seller lowers the selling price or that the buyer raises the buying price, smart contracts need to continually attempt to reach common ground. The issuance of a new smart contract every time the participants change their order can be expensive, and it may take quite a long time until the transaction is finally completed. Due to this issue, a new DEX protocol known as an automated market maker (AMM) was created. 

AMM contains a pricing algorithm, a formula that may vary from exchange to exchange. The most widely known formula is the one that Uniswap uses: x * y = k 

Using this algorithm, AMM maintains fair negotiation between two parties. In other words, AMMs are smart contracts that conduct negotiations and transactions without an order book. AMMs have managed to increase the liquidity of coins and tokens in the world of cryptocurrencies.

The x * y = k formula entails that the percentage of price changes in the negotiation process varies based on the number of tokens that you own. The more tokens you have in the equation, the less the change in price when negotiating. This means that you might not sell your asset at a much lower price than the one desired, or buy an asset at a much higher price than the one that is suitable. 

If you have fewer assets involved in the transaction, the percentage change might be a little higher, but the possibility for slippage is still lower because everything is automated.

What does AMM achieve? You do not necessarily need to find another trader in order to buy or sell assets. Therefore, you don’t need to find counterparties. When using DEXs such as Binance, trade is conducted automatically, enabling a fully peer-to-peer transaction, which is the main idea of decentralization itself.

But logically, without a counterpart, there would not be any market makers. So how does market making occur without a counterpart? This is achieved through liquidity providers (LPs). 

Liquidity pools are collections of funds that come from liquidity providers. These liquidity providers earn fees for funding these pools as an incentive to keep funding them. The funding requirements differ from exchange to exchange. For example, with 

, if the LPs deposit two token types, they deposit around 50% for each. 

The reason why LPs need to do this is that there should be an equivalent number of two token types in the pool so that the AMM formula can be valid. To put things into perspective, if the value of y is 0 in the formula x * y = k, then k = 0, which would not make sense — since it would also imply that there are no tokens for the ‘y’ variable.

Anyone can be a liquidity provider, which means that anyone can become a market maker. 0.3% of transaction fees go to the LPs, making liquidity pools a good way to earn a steady income. Liquidity pools such as Uniswap’s have equal shares for every liquidity provider. As a consequence, no matter how much you deposit in the pool, you can be rewarded at the same rate as a user who has deposited much more than you.

Liquidity pools attempt to lure more liquidity providers into funding the pool. This is done to avoid slippage, which as a result increases the volume of a cryptocurrency.

It is worth noting that DEXs in the Ethereum network requires that only 

 tokens are used to fund the liquidity pools. 

However, the tokens do not necessarily need to be authorized by Uniswap in order to deposit them in the pool. Ethereum allows people to launch their own tokens, and people can list those tokens in DEXs and liquidity pools such as Uniswap.

But would the funding in liquidity pools be balanced if you would deposit 50% in ETH and another 50% of a much smaller project? Due to the high volatility of cryptocurrencies, the ratio of the deposited tokens can change drastically, especially when such differences between the two tokens are present. This is when impermanent loss occurs. Impermanent loss in the pool means that your asset is losing value due to the sudden price fluctuations from the change in ratio. 

However, there is a reason why these are called “impermanent” losses. The change in the ratio can be temporary, and the price can return to the initial price. For this reason, you should not withdraw funds prior to the prices returning to the original price, or else you may face huge financial losses. 

Despite impermanent losses, liquidity pools such as Uniswap have still proven to be very lucrative because of the trading fees they pay to liquidity providers. Moreover, liquidity pools such as Balancer’s manage to adjust the token ratios dynamically after a certain period of time. This gives liquidity providers the space to change their depositing strategy, so that impermanent losses are avoided.

There are also stablecoins in the crypto market whose value remains more stable than that of other cryptocurrencies. Depositing such coins in the liquidity pools almost guarantees to eliminate the risk for impermanent loss. For this reason, some liquidity pools only allow the deposit of stablecoins.

To sum up, automated market makers have increased the liquidity of decentralized exchanges, as well as a new profitable money-making option for liquidity providers. Being the very core of DeFi, AMMs have become one of the most important innovations of the decentralized world. AMMs may have their drawbacks, such as impermanent losses, but the benefits that come with them are much more significant. As a topic, AMM is still a relatively new concept in both the finance and technology worlds. One thing is for certain: AMM is likely to be shaped into a better feature of DeFi in the future, which as a result can increase the liquidity and lower the fees in DEXs even more.

What Is an Automated Market Maker (AMM)?

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Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards