U.S. President Donald Trump's new tariffs announced in April 2025 targeted many countries, particularly the EU, China, and Japan, causing sharp declines in global markets, falling commodity prices, and volatility in cryptocurrency markets, while experts warn these measures could increase inflation, slow economic growth, and threaten the global free trade system.

Ethereum's comprehensive "Pectra" update, awaited since February 2024 but repeatedly delayed, aims to enhance the network’s user experience, security, and scalability by adding smart contract functionalities to wallets, increasing staking limits, and expanding data processing capabilities; following technical issues, the update is finally scheduled to go live on the mainnet on May 7, 2025.

The digital finance era is transforming traditional concepts of money and reserves. With the rise of cryptocurrencies, the term "digital reserve" has come into focus. Recently, the U.S. government has taken significant steps towards establishing a digital reserve.

Token unlocking refers to predetermined events where previously locked tokens become tradable again.

Quantum computers, unlike classical computers, leverage principles like superposition and entanglement to deliver unparalleled speed in big data analysis and optimization problems. Google's 105-qubit Willow chip marks a breakthrough in this technology while raising potential threats to cryptocurrencies. However, quantum-resistant encryption algorithms offer promising solutions to mitigate these risks.

Key developments in cryptocurrency markets throughout 2024.

Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential elections sparked excitement not only in the political sphere but also in the cryptocurrency world. Once distant from cryptocurrencies, Trump has recently shifted his stance, making bold promises to support the sector.

November 2024 was an unforgettable turning point for Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin surged to consecutive all-time highs, reaching $99,655 and coming tantalizingly close to the long-awaited $100,000 mark.

Donald Trump's World Liberty Financial (WLF) project stands out as a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that aims to preserve the global strength of the US Dollar. WLF aims to provide users with financial freedom by offering stablecoins and DeFi solutions, and encourages community participation with the support of the Trump family and the $WLFI governance token.

PolyMarket is an Ethereum-based decentralized prediction market that allows users to make predictions in areas such as finance, politics and sports. Ahead of the 2024 US elections, the platform increased its trading volume and attracted attention by reflecting the public's election trends. It is observed that the predictions on PolyMarket also have an impact on the Bitcoin price.

China's stimulus packages announced to boost the economy have led to mixed reactions in the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin has remained more closely tied to US markets, while China-based altcoins have seen remarkable gains. Experts believe the stimulus could have long-term implications for the crypto market

While Bitcoin has historically usually declined in September, it had a positive performance in 2024. This positive development was supported by the Fed's surprise decision to cut interest rates by 50 basis points. Bitcoin's strong performance and macroeconomic developments give promising signals for the cryptocurrency market.