WEBVTT

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, it's Alex with the Token Metrics Daily Pulse for

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<v Speaker 1>April second, twenty twenty six. Trump said two words today

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<v Speaker 1>and crypto drops six percent. We've got a lot to

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<v Speaker 1>get through, but first a quick word from our sponsor. Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>so here's what's happening. So here's what happened. Trump came

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<v Speaker 1>out and said he'd hit iran quote extremely hard. That's it.

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<v Speaker 1>Two words, and Bitcoin dropped to around sixty six thousand dollars.

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<v Speaker 1>Solana fell about six percent. Everything risk related sold off

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<v Speaker 1>at the same time, same speed, same direction, stocks, crypto, gold,

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<v Speaker 1>all of it. You know that whole idea that bitcoin

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<v Speaker 1>is an uncorrelated asset, meaning it moves on its own

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<v Speaker 1>and doesn't care about world news. Yeah, that theory only

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<v Speaker 1>works until it doesn't. The second geopolitical fear hits crypto

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<v Speaker 1>trades like a leveraged tech stock, meaning it swings harder

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<v Speaker 1>and faster than almost anything else. And that's exactly what

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<v Speaker 1>happened today. So where does that leave the market. Right now?

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<v Speaker 1>Bitcoin is sitting at about sixty six thousand dollars. Ethereum,

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<v Speaker 1>the second biggest cryptocurrency, dropped nearly five percent, landing just

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<v Speaker 1>above two thousand dollars. Solana got hit the hardest of

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<v Speaker 1>the big names, down over six percent to around seventy

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<v Speaker 1>eight dollars. The total crypto market lost about three and

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<v Speaker 1>a half percent overall. But here's the number that tells

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<v Speaker 1>the real story. Bitcoin's dominance ticked up to fifty six percent.

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<v Speaker 1>Bitcoin dominance just means how big bitcoin slice of the

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<v Speaker 1>total crypto pie is. When that number goes up during

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<v Speaker 1>a sellof it tells you money isn't leaving crypto entirely.

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<v Speaker 1>It's just running to the corner it feels safest in Bitcoin.

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<v Speaker 1>The smaller coins, the alt coins, basically everything that isn't Bitcoin,

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<v Speaker 1>they're getting hit harder because they're seen as riskier bets.

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<v Speaker 1>Stellar down nearly seven percent, hyper Liquid down over six

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<v Speaker 1>The further from Bitcoin U go, the more painful today was.

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<v Speaker 1>And on the DeFi side, DeFi stands for decentralized finance,

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<v Speaker 1>which is basically financial services like lending and trading built

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<v Speaker 1>directly on blockchain instead of through a bank. The total

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<v Speaker 1>value sitting in those platforms is about ninety two billion dollars.

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<v Speaker 1>That number is already under pressure before we even get

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<v Speaker 1>to the big story. Okay, so here's the bigger picture

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<v Speaker 1>on everything moving today. First up, Drift protocol. This one, okay,

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<v Speaker 1>this one is bad. Drift is one of the biggest

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<v Speaker 1>trading platforms built on Salana, and it got exploited today

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<v Speaker 1>for a reported two hundred and eighty five million dollars.

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<v Speaker 1>That's not a rounding error. They told users to stop

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<v Speaker 1>depositing immediately. And here's the part that stings. The breach

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't a flaw in the code. It was the admin keys.

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<v Speaker 1>Think of admin keys like the master password to the

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<v Speaker 1>whole system. Whoever holds them has total control. Someone got

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<v Speaker 1>access to the person holding that password, and the rest followed.

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<v Speaker 1>A security expert put it plainly after the incident, audit

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<v Speaker 1>your admin keys, not just your code, which sounds obvious

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<v Speaker 1>until you realize this is the third major exploit in

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<v Speaker 1>the Solana ecosystem in eighteen months. At some point the

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<v Speaker 1>pattern is the story Solana's DeFi ecosystem. All those financial

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<v Speaker 1>platforms built on Solana holds about five and a half

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<v Speaker 1>billion dollars in total. A chunk of that is now

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<v Speaker 1>in question. Next, there's actually some good news buried in today,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's about stable coins. A stable coin is just

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<v Speaker 1>a digital dollar, a cryptotoken designed to always be worth

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<v Speaker 1>one dollar, so it doesn't swing up and down like

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<v Speaker 1>bitcoin does. It can move around the world instantly. Coinbase's

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<v Speaker 1>top lawyer went on record today saying a deal is

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<v Speaker 1>very close on whether stable coins can pay you interest,

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<v Speaker 1>kind of like a savings account. That's part of a

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<v Speaker 1>bill called the Clarity Act. The Clarity Act is a

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<v Speaker 1>piece of legislation working through Congress right now. Its job

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<v Speaker 1>is to set the round rules for how stable coins

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<v Speaker 1>work in the US. Banks aren't happy about it because

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<v Speaker 1>they're worried people will move money out of bank accounts

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<v Speaker 1>and into stable coins instead. But here's the thing. Banks

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<v Speaker 1>already lost that fight to money market funds, basically low

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<v Speaker 1>risk investment accounts decades ago, and nobody called it a crisis.

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<v Speaker 1>Coinbases lawyer saying very close isn't casual. That's someone who

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<v Speaker 1>knows where the votes are. If this passes, every major

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<v Speaker 1>stable coin issuer has to redesign their product overnight. Now.

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<v Speaker 1>Metaplanet this is a Japanese company listed on the Tokyo

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<v Speaker 1>Stock Exchange, and they just added over five thousand bitcoin

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<v Speaker 1>in the first quarter alone. They now hold about forty

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<v Speaker 1>thousand bitcoin total, making them the third largest publicly traded

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<v Speaker 1>company by bitcoin holdings. The company that was in third

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<v Speaker 1>place before them, Mara Holdings, actually sold fifteen thousand bitcoin recently,

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<v Speaker 1>which opened up the spot. One company's exit is another

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<v Speaker 1>company's leaderboard clip. What this tells you is that the

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<v Speaker 1>strategy of using bitcoin as a corporate treasury asset, think

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<v Speaker 1>of it like a company putting its savings into bitcoin

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<v Speaker 1>instead of cash, is going global. But it's not uniform.

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<v Speaker 1>Some companies are buying hard, others are trimming. That split

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<v Speaker 1>matters more than any single headline, and then they're so far.

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<v Speaker 1>The banking company just launched what they're calling a twenty

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<v Speaker 1>four to seven banking hub, where businesses can hold regular dollars,

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<v Speaker 1>convert them to stable coins, and move money instantly, all

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<v Speaker 1>inside one regulated bank account, no crypto exchange required. The

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<v Speaker 1>target customer here isn't a retail trader chasing gains. It's

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<v Speaker 1>a CFO, the person in charge of a company's money,

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<v Speaker 1>who just wants to pay international suppliers instantly without waiting

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<v Speaker 1>three days for a wire to clear. That's a completely

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<v Speaker 1>different use case, and honestly a more durable one. It's boring,

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<v Speaker 1>it's practical, and that's exactly why it matters. Quick hits

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<v Speaker 1>before we move on. France just took an air space

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<v Speaker 1>company public directly on a blockchain. That's Europe's first blockchain IPO,

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<v Speaker 1>meaning the shares exist as digital tokens instead of on

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<v Speaker 1>a traditional stock exchange. The DOJ ran a sting operation

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<v Speaker 1>and caught people doing wash trading in crypto at scale.

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<v Speaker 1>Wash trading is basically faking buy and sell activity to

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<v Speaker 1>make a token look more popular than it is. It's

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<v Speaker 1>market manipulation and it's illegal. Volatility shares launched leveraged ETFs

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<v Speaker 1>exchange traded funds you can buy like a stock for

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<v Speaker 1>three all coins beyond Bitcoin and ethereum, giving everyday investors

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<v Speaker 1>amplified exposure to smaller coins and a startup. Let researchers

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<v Speaker 1>mind blockchain tasks on an actual quantum computer for the

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<v Speaker 1>first time, using hardware from d Wave. Still experimental, but

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<v Speaker 1>a genuine first. All Right, before we get into the risks,

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<v Speaker 1>quick word from our sponsor. Okay, we're back, let's talk

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<v Speaker 1>about what to watch for. So what should you actually

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<v Speaker 1>be watching out for right now? Three things on my radar. First,

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<v Speaker 1>it's a holiday weekend easter markets get thin, meaning fewer

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<v Speaker 1>people are actively trading, which means prices can move more

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<v Speaker 1>violently in either direction. There are also a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>traders right now who are betting bitcoin goes down. That's

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<v Speaker 1>called a short position. You borrow bitcoin, sell it, and

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<v Speaker 1>hope to buy it back cheaper later. When you have

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of people making that same bet and fewer

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<v Speaker 1>buyers around, you get two possible outcomes. Either a short

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<v Speaker 1>squeeze where the price suddenly pops and forces all those

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<v Speaker 1>downside bets to close at a loss, or if real

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<v Speaker 1>bad news hits, there just aren't enough buyers to cushion

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<v Speaker 1>the fall, same crowded trade, two very different outcomes, depending

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<v Speaker 1>on what the headlines say. Second, the drift exploit is

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<v Speaker 1>not just a drift problem. It's a story about Solana's reputation.

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<v Speaker 1>Solana's DeFi ecosystem, all the financial apps built on it,

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<v Speaker 1>is already a fraction of ethereum size about five and

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<v Speaker 1>a half billion dollars versus fifty two billion. Another high

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<v Speaker 1>profile breach that traces back to human error rather than code.

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<v Speaker 1>That's the kind of thing that makes big institutional investors

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<v Speaker 1>think hedge funds and asset managers rethink their risk models,

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<v Speaker 1>not just everyday retail traders institutions. Third, Trump's Iran comments

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<v Speaker 1>today's sell off was the first reaction. If this escalates

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<v Speaker 1>actual military action new sanctions, crypto keeps trading like a

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<v Speaker 1>risk asset, meaning it sells off alongside stocks, not a

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<v Speaker 1>safe haven. The connection to stock market moves that everyone

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<v Speaker 1>in crypto hates gets switched on at exactly the worst time.

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<v Speaker 1>And looking ahead, Three things to watch in the next week. First,

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<v Speaker 1>the Senate Banking Committee that's the group of senators responsible

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<v Speaker 1>for financial legislation, could schedule a markup vote on the

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<v Speaker 1>Clarity Act. A markup vote is basically the formal meeting

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<v Speaker 1>where lawmakers go line by line through a bill and

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<v Speaker 1>decide what stays and what changes. The specific part everyone's

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<v Speaker 1>watching is whether stable coins, those digital dollars we talked

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<v Speaker 1>about earlier, can legally pay you interest. If that vote

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<v Speaker 1>gets scheduled, it's real momentum, not just optimistic lawyer talk. Second,

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<v Speaker 1>Drift protocol needs to publish a full post mortem, basically

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<v Speaker 1>a detailed breakdown of exactly what went wrong and what

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<v Speaker 1>they're doing about it within seven days. How they respond,

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<v Speaker 1>whether funds get frozen or recovered will determine whether Solana's

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<v Speaker 1>DeFi ecosystem stabilizes or sees money rotate out to ethereum

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<v Speaker 1>based alternatives. And third, the FED wraps up ats April meeting.

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<v Speaker 1>Prediction markets platforms where people bet real money on outcomes

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<v Speaker 1>are pricing in a ninety eight percent chance of no

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<v Speaker 1>rate change, which is basically a certainty. But the language

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<v Speaker 1>the FED uses around inflation and geopolitical risk will set

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<v Speaker 1>the tone for crypto all the way through May. If

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<v Speaker 1>you found today's breakdown useful, share it with someone who's

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<v Speaker 1>trying to make sense of what's happening in crypto right now.

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<v Speaker 1>And if you want daily market signals and weekly question

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<v Speaker 1>and answer breakdowns, head over to tokenmetrics dot com to

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<v Speaker 1>learn more about what we offer. Just a reminder, everything

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<v Speaker 1>here is educational content, not investment advice. Crypto is high

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<v Speaker 1>risk and you should always do your own research before

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<v Speaker 1>making any financial decisions. I'm Alex, See you next time.