This Week's Top Crypto News Could Drive Volatility for Some Tokens

Several key headlines are on the crypto lineup this week, with certain ecosystem-specific developments expected to happen.

This week’s top crypto news could drive volatility for some tokens. Several key headlines are on the crypto lineup this week, with certain ecosystem-specific developments expected to happen.

Here’s a summary of this week’s noteworthy events:

Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs

President Trump is expected to introduce new tariffs on April 2, which he refers to as “Liberation Day,” in response to the U.S.’s $1.2 trillion trade deficit.

These tariffs could have a significant impact on the crypto markets, as seen in past instances where the president’s aggressive tariff moves led to market jitters.

Experts are warning of imminent volatility on Liberation Day. If the tariffs are steep, risk sentiment may drop, affecting equities, bonds, and risk-on assets like crypto. Already, Japan’s stock market is dropping as investors front-run expected announcements.

“Japan's stock market falls nearly -4% as investors prepare for President Trump's Liberation Day. Stipendaries are expecting more bad news on US inflation and a pessimistic outlook for global growth to spill over into the new week's trading activity. Risk appetite already took a hit last week with weaker-than-expected economic data from China and the US. This had led to declines in global equities and a rally in the US dollar, while traders booked profits on risk-driven assets such as cryptocurrencies. However, these trends are likely to continue this week, especially with President Trump's threat of imposing new tariffs on Tuesday on goods from nearly a dozen countries. The threat of new tariffs comes as the US is struggling to contain inflation, which reached 3.2% in April, up from 2.4% in March. This will likely weigh on President Trump's re-election chances, rendering him desperate to take action. He previously stated that "we can't tolerate another six months of this. We need to get prices down, and we need to get them down fast." But as the saying goes, ‘Don't threaten me with a good time.’ The threatened tariffs will affect at least $1.5 trillion in US imports by the end of April. These tariffs will be imposed on a wide range of products, including food, wine, and clothing, from about 25 countries, including China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Canada. Among the threatened products are French wine, German machine tools, Italian pasta, Japanese seafood, and Canadian lumber. These tariffs are part of President Trump's broader effort to reduce the US trade deficit and bring manufacturing jobs back to the US. However, economists have largely dismissed this strategy, arguing that it will ultimately serve to raise prices for consumers and businesses and could tip the global economy into recession. Despite this, President Trump remains focused on reducing the trade deficit, which he sees as a key indicator of the US economy's strength. He has repeatedly threatened to impose tariffs on goods from any country that he feels is engaging in unfair trade practices.

In the short term, these macro pressures could lead to outflows from Bitcoin, Ethereum, and altcoins as investors hedge against slower global growth and inflation risks.

However, a more measured or delayed tariff approach could stabilize or even boost prices. The same was seen two months ago when Bitcoin rebounded to $100,000 after Canada and the U.S. agreed to postpone tariffs.

Sonic’s Native USDC Integration

The upcoming integration of native USDC and a major network upgrade on Sonic are pivotal developments for crypto participants, particularly those involved in DeFi on the Sonic ecosystem.

Since its launch, Sonic has been operating with USDC.e, a bridged version of USDC from Ethereum via the Sonic Gateway. It leveraged Circle’s Bridged USDC Standard, as detailed in a January 2025 Sonic Labs blog post.

“Sonic Reaches $250 Million in USDC.e Via Circle’s Bridged USDC Standard,” the network shared recently.

This move signifies Sonic’s expanding role in the DeFi landscape, rendering it a subject of interest for those investing in the token or observing the network's activity.

This shift to native USDC will streamline stablecoin operations and ensure that developers have a single contract address that persists through upgrades, enhancing user and developer experiences.

This upgrade, expected soon, could boost Sonic’s adoption by simplifying transactions and reducing bridging complexities. For investors, this signals Sonic’s commitment to scalability and interoperability, which could increase the network’s utility and attractiveness for DeFi projects.

Participants should watch for the upgrade’s rollout and impact on Sonic’s transaction volume and ecosystem growth.

Mantle’s Q2 Roadmap Unveil

The unveiling of Mantle (MNT) Network’s Q2 roadmap on April 2 is a key event for crypto market participants, particularly those invested in Ethereum Layer-2