Week In Review: BTC USD, XRP Hit Milestones, Regulatory Changes

Bitcoin (BTC USD), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Chainlink (LINK), XRP, and Onyxcoin (XCN) were among the prominent cryptos of the week ending April 13th, 2025.

XCN posted the biggest weekly gain among these. Significant regulatory changes were noted this week amid tariff-related market volatility.

Trump signed the U.S.A’s first crypto-specific bill which unburdened decentralized platforms from IRS reporting rules.

BTC USD at $250K and ETH at $5K – Bold Predictions are Back!

BTC USD was trading at $84,616.59, a 5.63% jump over the week. The first week of April started with the news that BTC reserves on Binance had dropped by 15,577 coins.

This week didn’t start on a positive note either. Per IntoTheBlock data, at the start of this week, 5.2 Million BTC addresses were running at a loss. ETH reserves were also down.

That is 26.16% of the total BTC addresses, meanwhile, 2.2 Million (or 11.08%) addresses were at break-even. BTC was trading at $78,954 at the time (Tuesday).

Sub-$80 fears for BTC price were getting very real. However, as of Sunday, BTC did not fall below $73k.

One of the biggest liquidations in BTC’s history was recorded on April 6th, per CryptoQuant data.

7,500 BTCs in long positions were liquidated amid macroeconomic jitters. However, Bitcoin (BTC USD) rebounded from the $82k mark amid this negative development.

Another historical BTC feat was recorded this week: $3.6 Billion inflows were recorded in BTC wallets in the form of 48,575 BTC. This was the largest accumulation since February 2022.

Meanwhile, cautionary predictions suggest BTC USD could strike the $70K or sub-$70K range in the short term. Long-term projections remain positive, largely.

Ethereum price had dipped over 10% that fateful Monday, trading at $1542.74. It had dipped below holder cost basis.

With many holders holding ETH at a loss, ETH price could have dropped to as low as $1.2k.

Throughout the week, ETH did not fall below $1.39k this week. It was down 0.17% over the week at press time, trading at $1,630.38.

Given the positive shift in winds, bold predictions for 2025 – BTC at $250K and ETH at $5K – are back on the table.

Altcoins in the Spotlight: SOL, LINK, XRP, and XCN

At the time of writing, Solana was trading at $128.76, 19.17% up over the past seven days. However, at the start of the week, SOL price was just under $100.

The Coin Republic reported on April 10th, that one whale bought 32,000 SOL, which was perceived as a strong bullish signal.

Reportedly, this whale has been hodling and accumulating SOL for a few years. Note that SOL was included in the national digital asset stockpile alongside ADA and XRP.

Additionally, the upcoming Firedancer upgrade and ETF approvals are likely to boost Solana’s price trajectory this year. Predictions are as high as $1000!

Analysts have shown enhanced optimism regarding Chainlink (LINK) since the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) integration with Hedera’s mainnet, in partnership with Libre Capital.

LINK could go as high as $50 in 2025, a new high, due to these developments and upcoming events.

The XRP network reached an important milestone on April 9th, 2025, it clocked 6.2 Million active addresses with $1 or more XRP. Since hitting that milestone, the token has been consolidating between $1.5 and $1.9.

The bold predictions for XRP price are as high as $30, while the cautious ones expect it to plummet to around $1.2.

Onyxcoin (XCN), an Ethereum L3 blockchain shot up 56% on Friday after Binance announced Futures contracts for the token. It posted a 119.15% weekly increase, trading at $0.01923 at the time of writing.

Regulatory Shifts: NFTs Aren’t Securities, 1st Crypto-Specific Bill

NFT marketplace OpenSea responded to a 2024 SEC Wells Notice that alleged that OpenSea was operating as an unregistered securities exchange and broker.

The response was a letter to the SEC’s newly formed Crypto Task Force led by Commissioner Hester Pierce.

OpenSea argued that Non-Fungible Tokens or NFTs did not amount to securities and that its platform was not a security or a broker.

In its letter, OpenSea explained that NFT marketplaces did not pool different sellers of the same item and that each NFT had a unique owner.

Moreover, OpenSea explained that it should not be labeled as a broker for many of the reasons listed in the SEC v Coinbase case.

Apart from categorically denying that OpenSea was an exchange and a broker, they requested the SEC to provide more regulatory clarity.

On April 10th, 2025, President Trump signed the first U.S. crypto bill which removed the IRS DeFi Broker rule. This rule would have imposed traditional IRS reporting rules on decentralized platforms.

OpenSea’s letter is among several instances of several blockchain and crypto-based companies in the U.S. witnessing a regulatory shift.

After Trump signed the bill, analyst Dan Gambardello emphasized that Cardano would play a ‘central role’ in the new regulatory regime.

Along with the bill, and the appointment of Paul Atkins as the new SEC chair, Gambardello noted that a series of major positive developments in crypto would follow.

The post Week In Review: BTC USD, XRP Hit Milestones, Regulatory Changes appeared first on The Coin Republic.