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Gate Research: The New Crypto Order Under a Tariff Storm — Structural Shifts and Opportunities in Stablecoins, RWA, and DeFi
4/18/2025, 6:45:09 AM
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This article explores how reciprocal tariff policies affect global financial markets through macroeconomic transmission mechanisms. It further analyzes their impact on the ecosystems of stablecoins, real-world assets (RWAs), and decentralized finance (DeFi), examining both the underlying mechanisms and the potential risks and opportunities involved.Abstract
- Global Market Turbulence and Broad Crypto Decline: Following the release of the “Reciprocal Tariff” policy in April 2025, global financial markets experienced intense volatility. On April 7, the cryptocurrency market suffered a significant downturn, with Bitcoin briefly dropping to around $74,600, and the total crypto market capitalization shrinking by 7% in a single day.
- Strong Reaction from Traditional Markets: After the tariff policy was enacted, U.S. stock markets lost $5.9 trillion in market capitalization over two trading days. The Volatility Index (VIX) surged 50.9% in a single day, and gold prices hit a historical high of $3,167.70 per ounce.
- On-Chain Stablecoin Activity Surges: Between January 20 and April 9, 2025, the total market capitalization of stablecoins grew by 11.13%, reaching $233.5 billion. On April 7, on-chain stablecoin transaction volume reached a two-month high of $72 billion, and daily active addresses exceeded 300,000—reflecting strong demand.
- RWA Shows Resilience and Rapid Growth: Within a week of the tariff rollout, the RWA sector dropped only 3.1%, much lower than other crypto sectors (which saw declines exceeding 10%), indicating its robustness. The total RWA market cap surpassed $32 billion, and trading volume surged 99% within five days of the tariff’s implementation.
- Tokenized Gold Trading Volume Soars: In the seven days leading up to April 11, weekly trading volume of tokenized gold exceeded $1 billion—the highest since March 2023. Since the tariff announcement, PAXG trading volume has soared over 900%, XAUT is up more than 300%, and KAU has skyrocketed by 83,000
- DeFi TVL Declines and Liquidation Risk Intensifies: Impacted by the broader market downturn, the DeFi sector’s total value locked (TVL) dropped 35.34% from January 20 to April 9, 2025, falling to $135.2 billion. In the week following the tariff implementation, TVL fell 13.88%. On-chain liquidation risks have significantly increased, with AAVE V3 recording $94.39 million in collateral token liquidations on April 6 and 7.
- Crypto Market Opportunities Amid Tariff Storm: Stablecoins and RWA show strong potential for hedging and cross-border settlement. DeFi is exploring algorithm-driven tariff arbitrage models using dynamic collateralization ratios, geographic arbitrage, and regulatory hedging to navigate new financial strategies under trade barriers.
(Click below to access the full report)
Gate Research
Gate Research is a comprehensive blockchain and crypto research platform that provides readers with in-depth content, including technical analysis, hot insights, market reviews, industry research, trend forecasts, and macroeconomic policy analysis.
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Author: Ember、Addie
Translator: Piper
Reviewer(s): Edward、Wayne、Evelyn
Translation Reviewer(s): Ashley、Joyce
* The information is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice or any other recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by Gate.
* This article may not be reproduced, transmitted or copied without referencing Gate. Contravention is an infringement of Copyright Act and may be subject to legal action.
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