Bitcoin ETF Flows, Initia Mainnet Launch, Visa's Stablecoin Push & Other Market Shifts
Weekly Market Update #66
In partnership with Elementus
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Before jumping into last week’s action, check out some of the content published last week from Reflexivity Research:
Major Market Developments:
😨 Fear & Greed Index: 34 (Fear) – sentiment cautious but steady
💸 BTC ETF Flows: ~$13.1M net outflow. ETH ETF Flows: ~$82.5M net outflow
🚀 Initia Mainnet & VIP: Mainnet coming April 24th
📉 Mantra $OM Crash: Token plunged ~90%; team plans on burning 300M tokens
🐋 MicroStrategy Buys BTC: Added 6.5k BTC ($555M) to its holdings
💳 Visa & Stablecoin: Visa joins Paxos/Robinhood USDG consortium
⚡ AWS Hits Binance: Cloud outage halted Binance withdrawals briefly
🚨 KiloEx Exploit: DeFi perp exchange hacked for ~$7M
🏥 Semler’s BTC Play: Medical firm files $500M shelf for Bitcoin buys
🗽 World Liberty Funded: Trump-linked project gets $25M from DWF Labs
🔗 a16z × ZRO: Andreessen Horowitz buys $55M of LayerZero (3-yr lock)
🍽️ Trump’s Token Dinner: Exclusive dinner planned for $TRUMP holders
Fear & Greed Index:
Crypto sentiment remains cautious but steady. The Fear & Greed Index sits at 34, firmly in “Fear” territory (up slightly from last week’s 29).
Traders are wary, but the mood isn’t deteriorating: a sign of guarded optimism rather than panic.
ETF Flows:
Between 14 and 18 April 2025, Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs showed contrasting trends. Bitcoin ETFs recorded a modest net inflow of $13.7 million, despite significant volatility midweek. Strong inflows into IBIT ($186.5m) and BITB ($23.8m) were partially offset by sharp outflows from ARKB (−$99.8m) and FBTC (−$123.1m), with flows swinging from mildly positive to heavily negative before rebounding sharply on 17 April.
In contrast, Ethereum ETFs posted net outflows of $32.3 million, marking another week of capital exit. Losses were led by ETHE (−$18.8m) and FETH (−$11.4m), with minor inflows into Grayscale ETH and CETH doing little to reverse the trend. ETH products experienced three consecutive days of redemptions and no notable inflows, underscoring the continued bearish sentiment among investors.
Spotlight 🔦
Initia is preparing to launch its mainnet on April 24, 2025, introducing a modular L1–L2 architecture aimed at solving multichain fragmentation. The network combines a base chain with interoperable app-specific rollups, offering developers shared security, native rollup tooling, and seamless cross-rollup user experiences. It’s a foundational layer built to coordinate what Initia calls the "Interwoven Economy."
To drive early adoption, Initia is rolling out the Vested Interest Program (VIP). This incentive model distributes escrowed INIT tokens (esINIT) to users who actively participate across Initia-native rollups: for example, trading, lending, staking, and more. Rewards are only fully unlocked if users remain active over time, aligning token distribution with genuine usage and retention rather than short-term speculation.
VIP rewards account for 25% of Initia’s 1 billion INIT supply, matching the allocation reserved for Enshrined Liquidity and Staking incentives. Other major allocations include 15% for team contributors, 15.25% for investors (both with 4-year vesting schedules), 7.75% for the foundation, and smaller amounts for airdrops, Binance’s launch campaign, and the community sale.
Initia is putting incentive design front and center. Its approach rewards actual economic participation and aims to build a sticky, aligned ecosystem from day one.
Rapid Reflexivity: Quick Market Takes ⚡
MicroStrategy – Michael Saylor’s firm added 6,500 BTC (~$555M) to its stash via a stock sale, doubling down on its Bitcoin accumulation strategy.
Visa Joins USDG – Visa is joining Paxos’s Global Dollar Network (USDG) stablecoin consortium (alongside Robinhood, Kraken, etc.), becoming the first major card network to participate.
Binance Outage – An AWS data center issue on April 15 briefly knocked Binance offline, halting withdrawals. The exchange resumed normal operations shortly after the AWS glitch was resolved.
KiloEx Hack – Decentralized perp exchange KiloEx suffered a $7M exploit (cross-chain oracle attack), prompting a shutdown as the team works to trace funds and patch vulnerabilities.
Pendle Fee Revamp – Yield platform Pendle will raise its yield-token fee from 3% to 5% (effective May 2) and route 100% of fees to vePENDLE stakers, boosting rewards for long-term holders.
Semler’s BTC Bet – Nasdaq-listed Semler Scientific filed a $500M shelf offering to fund more Bitcoin purchases, despite recently reporting ~$42M in paper BTC losses.
World Liberty – Trump-linked World Liberty Financial (WLFi) secured a $25M investment from DWF Labs as the market maker expands into the US (opening a New York office).
Movement Delay – The Movement Foundation postponed its “Cornucopia” liquidity unlock, citing last-minute tweaks to the reward distribution mechanism (the unlock is delayed by a few days).
a16z × LayerZero – VC firm a16z acquired $55M worth of LayerZero (ZRO) tokens with a 3-year lockup, reinforcing its long-term bet on cross-chain infrastructure.
Trump’s Token Dinner – Reports say former President Donald Trump plans to host an exclusive dinner for large $TRUMP token holders, blurring the line between politics and crypto hype.
$CORE led the market last week after expanding its partnership with Maple Finance to launch non-custodial Bitcoin staking with daily yields, showcased in the 14 April "BTC Yield Insights" livestream. The initiative enhances BTC utility in DeFi without sacrificing custody. CORE jumped 17.91% following the news and was named "Coin of the Day" on 19 April, reflecting growing investor confidence.
$MOVE, on the other hand, was the largest loser, likely as a result of further prolonged delays on their Cornucopia unlock.
Disclaimer: This research report is exactly that — a research report. It is not intended to serve as financial advice, nor should you blindly assume that any of the information is accurate without confirming through your own research. Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and other digital assets are incredibly risky, and nothing in this report should be considered an endorsement to buy or sell any asset. Never invest more than you are willing to lose, and understand the risk that you are taking. Do your own research. All information in this report is for educational purposes only and should not be the basis for any investment decisions that you make.