April—a month marked by extreme market volatility—saw intensifying U.S.-China tensions and a broad selloff in global markets that led to panic selling of almost all asset classes.

Amid the chaos, one of the most improbable winners emerged from the strange depth of the crypto market: Fartcoin (FART).

The Solana-based memecoin, has rallied nearly 90% in the past week and roughly 300% over the past month, leaving traditional assets — and much of the crypto market— far behind.

By comparison, bitcoin (BTC)—the largest and most established cryptocurrency—has been roughly flat over the past week and month, while riskier altcoins like ether (ETH), Solana (SOL) and XRP are in the red. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index has slid around 2% over the past week and is down nearly 5% over the month as rising bond yields and geopolitical tensions weigh on risk assets.

It has even outperformed gold, which recently hit an all-time high driven by safe-haven demand, gaining 6.5% in a week and up 12% in a month.

“Fartcoin’s absurd outperformance is the perfect metaphor for this market,» said Kirill Kretov, trading automation expert at CoinPanel, in a message on Telegram. «A joke wrapped in volatility, where escalating U.S.-China tariffs make ‘rational’ trading a fantasy.»

What FARTCOIN’s rise mean for cryptos

By design, memcoins are cryptocurrencies that occupy an extreme corner of the crypto market. Unlike more established digital currencies, they have no utility or scarcity. These tokens, like Fartcoin, are unapologetically speculative, driven largely by social media hype, online communities and the momentum of short-term traders.

Read more: Crypto for Advisors: Memecoins

Launched in October, Fartcoin quickly gained prominence as one of the tokens propagated by Truth Terminal, an autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) agent created by Andy Ayrey, and became a viral hit amid the crypto-AI speculative wave driven by launchpad Pump.fun. Popularized with joke community slogans like «hot air rises» and «billions must fart,» the token’s market cap swelled from zero to just shy of $2.5 billion by mid-January.

Then, it all came crashing down with the crypto market as Donald Trump’s inauguration, and the TRUMP token launch marked the peak of speculative froth. FART, similarly to other small and risky cryptocurrencies, tumbled over 90% to a $200 million market value by March. But, since then, it bottomed out and has staged a staggering comeback, becoming one of the best tokens in the digital assets sector.

What makes fartcoin’s rally dumbfounding is that it completely decouples from other speculative memecoins. Since Fartcoin has already quadrupled in price, other prominent meme tokens like dogecoin (DOGE), pepecoin (PEPE), dogwifhat (WIF) and TRUMP languished near their lows.

«I have never seen such relative strength during macro uncertainty and no signs of animal spirits for altcoins,» said pseudonymous crypto trader Smiley Capital, who has gained a substantial following for his blunt commentary. «It takes a special kind of retardation paired with conviction to simply size up into an asset named Fartcoin whilst the global economy is imploding.»

The token’s outperformance could also be an early signal of risk-on sentiment returning to markets—at least amid crypto traders—after past week’s extreme fear, Smiley Capital speculated.

«It’s also a barometer and frontrunner for broader risk assets,» he pointed out. «That’s a statement most of you are not ready to hear yet, or even grasp.»

Whether the unpredictable and absurd nature of the new financial order is highlighted by Fartcoin’s rise or simply another chapter in the memecoin market remains to be seen.

But Fartcoin’s stunning rally, outperforming most of the asset classes, serves as a reminder that virality often trumps fundamentals in the current market, regardless of how absurd it may sound.

Read more: TRUMP Token Pops 12% After U.S. President Calls It ‘The Greatest of Them All’

Bitcoin (BTC) rose over 1.5% to $84,900 Saturday, looking to break a three-month downtrend after the Trump administration issued new guidance on reciprocal tariffs, listing several exemptions like smartphones, computers, chips and other electronics.

These exclusions, published by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, list products from President Donald Trump’s 125% China tariff and his baseline 10% global levy.

«The US imports over $60 BILLION of smartphones per year. These exemptions cover some of the most crucial imports in another sign of the U.S. conceding in the trade war. After all, the bond market is forcing Trump to concede,» The Kobeissi Letter said on X.

The U.S. and China ratcheted up trade tensions this week, imposing import tariffs in excess of 100% over each other. Still, some sections of the financial market have priced in disinflation in the U.S., going against popular inflation fears and suggesting that the Fed might soon have a leeway to cut interest rates.

The chart shows that BTC is looking to establish a foothold above the descending trendline, characterizing the steep sell-off from record highs above $109K. The so-called trendline breakout could entice more chart-driven buyers to the market.

Meanwhile, major alternative cryptocurrencies like ETH, XRP, and ADA surged by 6% on the day, indicating a trend of increased risk-taking in the broader crypto market. The cumulative market cap of the top two stablecoins, USDT and USDC, held steady above $200 billion, just shy of record highs.

This positive momentum in the crypto market, which opened for trading over the weekend, suggests the potential for price gains on Wall Street come Monday.

Late Friday, attorneys with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Binance filed a joint status report asking a federal judge to continue a 60-day pause in the case for another 60 days.

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Who’s left?

The narrative

We heard about two more Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) cases this week. The first, Binance and the SEC, was last paused in February, though late Friday attorneys asked for another extension to continue discussing matters. Separately, Nova Labs settled allegations with the regulator.

Why it matters

As we continue to watch the SEC develop its new views on digital asset issues, how it treats its active litigation remains a key signal.

Breaking it down

On Friday, attorneys with the SEC and Binance (as well as Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, Binance.US and other parties) filed a joint motion asking the federal judge overseeing the case to extend a pause originally set to expire Monday by another 60 days.

Originally, the SEC said it was requesting the pause to see how the agency’s new crypto task force might address digital assets and the application of securities laws. Friday’s filing echoed this argument, saying the task force’s work «may impact» its claims in the ongoing litigation. The original pause was set to end on April 14.

The SEC also filed a motion for a consent judgement after apparently coming to a settlement agreement with Nova Labs, the company behind Helium. According to the proposal, Nova Labs would pay $200,000 but would not admit to or deny the allegations.

The SEC first sued Nova Labs in January 2025 — specifically, Jan. 17, 2025, three days before Donald Trump was sworn into office as the 47th U.S. President.

I imagine there are more cases or investigations being resolved than CoinDesk has caught — if you’ve received a Wells Notice and that’s now been resolved, please hit us up, we’re very curious. You can reply to this email or reach out on Telegram and Signal.

Stories you may have missed

DOJ Axes Crypto Unit as Trump’s Regulatory Pullback Continues: The Departmetn of Justice disbanded its National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team and ordered prosecutors not to bring a case where it may find itself adjudicating what a security or commodity is in the digital assets sector. More on this next week.

Inside North Korea’s Favorite Crypto Laundering Tool: THORChain: THORChain and wallets built on the network have become increasingly favored by North Korean hackers looking to move funds stolen from other crypto projects. The network’s operators have refused to block transactions tied to the Bybit theft from February.

SEC Approves Trading of Ether ETF Options: The SEC has not yet approved any new exchange-traded products for tokens like Solana or Litecoin ETFs but it did green-light ether ETF options trading this week.

New SEC Staff Statement Urges Detailed Crypto Token Disclosures: The latest SEC staff statement, which came out a day before its second roundtable discussion, focused on the details it’s observed in disclosures from crypto companies launching registered security products.

Atkins Confirmed by U.S. Senate to Take Over SEC Formerly Run by Gensler: Speaking of the SEC, the Senate confirmed Trump’s nominee for chair Paul Atkins, though he hadn’t been sworn in by 1:00 p.m. ET Friday.

Former Ethereum Developer Virgil Griffith Leaves Prison, Seeks Pardon: Virgil Griffith, an Ethereum developer who pleaded guilty to violating sanctions law and was sentenced to 56 months in prison, has been released to a halfway house and is now seeking a pardon, one of his attorneys said.

President Trump Signs Resolution Erasing IRS Crypto Rule Targeting DeFi: U.S. President Donald Trump signed the joint House and Senate resolution overturning the IRS’ DeFi broker rule under the Congressional Review Act, meaning the IRS can never bring a similar rule forth again. This is the first crypto-specific, Congressionally-passed item Trump has signed since taking office, marking a milestone for the crypto industry.

1 In 5 Cross-Chain Crypto Investigations Involve More Than 10 Blockchains, Elliptic Finds: Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic said 20% of its investigations into funds sent across multiple chains now involve at least 10 different networks.

Ripple and SEC File Joint Motion to Pause Appeals: Ripple and the SEC have filed a joint motion to pause their ongoing appeals, following on from last month’s announcement that the parties came to an agreement to resolve the case entirely.

Block Agrees to $40M Settlement With New York Over Faulty Money-Laundering Controls: Block and the New York Attorney General’s office settled allegations that Block did not have a fully functioning anti-money laundering process for its Cash App.

Judge Rules Against Most of DCG’s Motion to Dismiss NYAG’s Civil Securities Fraud Suit: A New York state judge tossed out two of the New York Attorney General’s claims against Digital Currency Group and its executives but allowed most of the case to proceed in a late Friday ruling.

This week

Wednesday

14:00 UTC (10:00 a.m. ET) The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing to discuss issues ahead of an expected market structure bill addressing crypto.

18:00 UTC (2:00 p.m. ET) The House Agriculture Committee also held a hearing on similar topics.

Thursday

14:00 UTC (10:00 a.m. ET) The Senate Banking Committee held a confirmation hearing on a raft of nominees, including Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision nominee Michelle Bowman. While she received a few questions about reviewing the regulatory response to Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, there was not anything substantive around crypto during the hearing.

14:30 UTC (10:30 a.m. ET) The court overseeing the Department of Justice’s case against Do Kwon held a status conference hearing, where his trial was rescheduled to February 2026. Prosecutors said the DOJ memo from earlier this week would have no bearing on the case.

Friday

17:00 UTC (1:00 p.m. ET) The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission held its second crypto roundtable, this time on trading rules. Acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda, in recorded remarks, suggested that the agency could look at an interim regulatory framework for companies until it has more permanent rules in place.

Elsewhere:

(CNN) On Monday, pseudonymous X (formerly Twitter) accounts posted about a «90-day pause in tariffs» that sent markets soaring, before the White House denied the claim, which may have been based on a misinterpretation of White House official Kevin Hassett’s response to a question during a Fox News interview.

(CNN) On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump did announce a 90-day pause in the higher tariff rates against most countries, leaving in place the 10% tariff rate he first announced last week. Tariff rates on China went up to 125% (later clarified to 145%).

(CNBC) The U.S. stock market had a «historically wild week» with swings up and down as traders reacted to the possible effects new U.S. tariffs might have on global trade.

(Reuters) Aircraft parts manufacturer Howmet Aerospace, based in Pittsburgh, warned customers that U.S. tariffs might cause it to halt some shipments.

(Bloomberg) Website owners said Google’s new AI-generated answers feature has cratered traffic to their websites, though Google is denying this.

If you’ve got thoughts or questions on what I should discuss next week or any other feedback you’d like to share, feel free to email me at nik@coindesk.com or find me on Bluesky @nikhileshde.bsky.social.

You can also join the group conversation on Telegram.

See ya’ll next week!