April 2025 witnessed crypto markets rocked by more tariffs at the direction of US President Donald Trump — controversial policies that could have influenced the outcome of Canada’s elections on April 28.
On April 2, Trump levied “discounted reciprocal tariffs” on 185 countries and territories. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2,200 points on April 4, while the S&P 500 dropped nearly 6%, its largest decline since March 2020. Bitcoin (BTC) went along for the ride but broke from stocks as it recovered toward the end of the month.
Blockchain adoption metrics for Ethereum are looking good, as the network now boasts 60% real-world asset (RWA) tokenization value. Major firms like BlackRock are sure the blockchain will be the standard for RWAs, but other observers believe that scaling issues could create problems.
On matters of policy, pro-crypto legislators in a number of US states are pushing their respective bills; two states have introduced new legislation in April. In Canada, pro-crypto Conservatives lost to the Liberals, but the victors must form a minority government.
Here’s April in numbers.
“Liberation Day” sees markets plunge, Bitcoin up 16% on the month
On April 2, the US president levied retaliatory tariffs on all US trade partners, sending Wall Street into a spiral. Between the announcement after market close and the end of trading on April 8, global markets wiped off more than $8.5 trillion in asset value. By the same date, the S&P 500 had fallen by just north of 12%.
Market value has since inched back upward as some countries court the Trump administration seeking tariff relief, but major partners such as China still haven’t budged. While markets have recovered slightly, losses still amount to a “mere” $1 trillion, according to investment managers AJ Bell.
Crypto saw losses as well. Bitcoin’s price decreased 9% between the Liberation Day announcement and April 8. However, unlike stock markets, which are still seeing losses, Bitcoin has managed to close out the month higher than where it started. At the time of writing, BTC is up 16.16%, trading at $94,729.
Canada’s crypto-skeptic Liberals win, but fall 3 seats short of majority
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party has claimed victory in the country’s federal parliamentary elections, which took place on April 28.
Despite their victory, the Liberals secured 169 seats, three short of the 172 needed to form a majority. A minority Liberal government means they must rely on other parties for legislative initiatives.
The outcome will be meaningful for Canada’s crypto policy. Carney, himself a former central banker, has been public about his skepticism for cryptocurrencies. When serving as governor of the Bank of England, Carney said “they are failing” as a form of money. He has also called for “equivalent protections to those for commercial bank money” for private stablecoins.
Related: What Canada’s new Liberal PM Mark Carney means for crypto
At the same time, Carney has signaled his openness to digital forms of money and the ledger capabilities of blockchain technology. He voiced support for a central bank digital currency, seeing it as another step in the evolution of money.
The Liberals started the year trailing well behind the Conservatives as former PM Justin Trudeau stepped down. On Trump’s inauguration day, Conservatives led polling at a 44% polling average to the Liberals’ 21%.
Conservative rhetoric, including that of the pro-crypto party leader Pierre Poilievre, was decidedly pro-Trump. This connection may have been the Conservatives’ undoing, as quickly after taking office, Trump said that Canada should become America’s 51st state while simultaneously ramping up tariffs on Canadian goods.
Ethereum’s market share of RWAs is up 20%
The tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) has been one of the rising use cases for blockchain technology in April. Ethereum is leading the way, with the value of the RWA tokenization on the network increasing to $6.2 billion. This marks a 20% increase over the month of April.
RWAs are increasingly adopted by established financial firms launching tokenization pilot projects in real estate, commodities like gold, and even carbon credits. Larry Fink, CEO of the world’s largest fund manager, BlackRock, has noted that tokenized RWAs allow for instant trading and transfers like a “digital deed.”
Related: Five reasons RWAs are taking off in 2025
As reported in Cointelegraph Magazine, Ethereum advocates and developers have generally assumed that Ethereum will be the logical choice for firms exploring RWAs. Indeed, Fink said there’s “no question that the blockchain we would start our tokenization on would be Ethereum, and that’s not just a BlackRock thing. That’s the natural default answer.”
Two new crypto laws introduced at US state level
Two states, Texas and Georgia, introduced new blockchain- and crypto-related bills in their state legislatures in April.
In Texas, HB 5352 would establish a State Blockchain Technology Pilot Program by the Department of Information Resources. The pilot aims to see how blockchain technology could improve “transparency, security, and efficiency in government operations.”
In Georgia, HR 905 seeks to “implement a public awareness campaign for grade levels K-12 regarding blockchain, cryptocurrency, and Web3.” The bill states that technological literacy is important for all ages and “blockchain computation represents the future of how the world interacts online and shares information through a permanent record of transactions on an open ledger.”
In Arizona, Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill to expand a state regulatory sandbox program to include digital assets. But she signed and enacted a bill into law that now prohibits towns “from banning or restricting individuals from using computational power or running blockchain nodes in their own homes.”
The law’s definition of “computational power” can be broadly interpreted to mean AI, scientific research, blockchain activities and cloud computing. It effectively protects home crypto miners from local and municipal zoning laws and bans.
Stablecoin adoption grows $4 billion in April
Stablecoins have seen steady growth in 2025, and April was no exception. The total market capitalization of stablecoins grew $4 billion in April, according to CoinGlass.
Growing stablecoin value comes as a number of jurisdictions develop legal frameworks for the assets and soften their regulatory approach.
In the US, the House of Representatives bill on stablecoins passed a critical committee vote on April 2. The STABLE Act provides rules around stablecoin issuance and reserves and will proceed to the floor for a vote.
Related: Stablecoin adoption grows with new US bills, Japan’s open approach
The Securities and Exchange Commission dropped a case against PayPal’s stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), on April 29. In a form, the SEC said an inquiry regarding a 2023 subpoena was being closed “without enforcement.”
Market volatility provides another incentive for stablecoin growth, according to crypto intelligence platform IntoTheBlock. According to the analytics firm, these assets are increasingly seen as “safe havens in the current uncertain market.”
As the Trump administration marks its first 100 days, markets are begging for relief, but none seems forthcoming. Despite claims from the White House, China says that no high-level talks are underway to negotiate the tariffs.
Despite this, some observers insist that, for crypto at least, one should keep their eyes on the prize: the regulatory framework making its way through the US federal Congress.
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