Market sentiment remained cautious on Monday but showed signs of easing amid reports that U.S. tariffs scheduled for April 2 may not be as aggressive as initially feared.

Bitcoin (BTC) surged past $87,000 early Monday, while Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP), and Dogecoin (DOGE) each posted gains exceeding 4%, signaling a strong start to the week. Investors remained focused on upcoming U.S. economic data, looking for clues on future market trends.

Over the weekend, Bitcoin largely traded around the $85,000 mark, facing resistance due to inflation concerns and broader uncertainty in the U.S. economy. Among major cryptocurrencies, SOL led with a 5% gain in the last 24 hours, while Tron’s TRX was the biggest loser, shedding 4% as it continued to decline after last week’s memecoin-driven rally.

“Investors are still exercising caution due to economic uncertainty,” noted Nick Ruck, director at LVRG Research, in a Telegram message. “This week’s U.S. economic reports on consumer confidence, personal spending, and PCE inflation will reveal whether American consumers are adapting to the changing economic landscape or bracing for financial constraints.”

Consumer confidence reflects public sentiment on economic stability—higher confidence tends to drive spending, while lower confidence can lead to increased saving. Personal spending tracks consumer purchases, which contribute significantly to economic growth. The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, a key inflation metric, measures price shifts in goods and services.

These indicators have direct implications for the crypto market. Strong consumer confidence and spending may signal a healthy economy, potentially boosting investor interest in riskier assets like cryptocurrencies. Conversely, an uptick in the PCE index, indicating rising inflation, could lead investors to consider crypto as a hedge against a weakening dollar. However, if consumer confidence declines and spending slows, it could suggest an economic downturn, leading to increased caution and potential price drops in crypto.

Despite the uncertainty, some traders believe the U.S. economy is stronger than current sentiment suggests, making this an attractive price range for long-term crypto investors.

“The U.S. economy continues to show resilience despite soft market sentiment,” said Augustine Fan, head of insights at SignalPlus, in an email to CoinDesk. “Market observers have often overestimated economic weakness, but the underlying data suggests more stability than perceived.”

Fan also pointed out that crypto markets remained largely rangebound over the past week, mirroring equity market behavior. “Technically, prices are still in a downward trend, but they are finding support at key levels. Ethereum (ETH) is holding within its 2022 range, with the next major support zone around $1,500,” he added.

Ethereum’s market outlook comes as the network experiences a significant decline in activity, leading to one of the lowest daily token burns in recent months.

Token burning removes cryptocurrency from circulation by sending it to an inaccessible address. Ethereum’s burn mechanism, introduced in August 2021 through the EIP-1559 upgrade, eliminates all base transaction fees from circulation.

However, Ethereum transaction volumes have declined in recent months as users increasingly opt for lower-cost alternatives like Solana and Tron. Additionally, speculative trading activity has slowed since late January.

On Sunday, only 50 ETH was burned—a record low, marking a nearly 99% decline from the peak of 71,000 ETH burned on May 1, 2022. Daily burns have steadily decreased since early 2023, fluctuating between 500 ETH and 3,000 ETH.