Today's top news highlights:
1. Macroeconomic Outlook for Next Week: A "Super Central Bank Week" is approaching; gold may experience significant volatility amid the US-Iran stalemate.
2. A shooting occurred at the White House Correspondents' Dinner; the gunman died.
3. Aave launches recovery fund to restore full asset backing for rsETH.
4. The Ethereum Foundation unstaking approximately $48.9 million worth of ETH; the market is focused on subsequent selling trends.
5. Forbes: Expectations for BTC to hit $80,000 rise; SEC Chairman reiterates support for innovation, sending a positive signal.
6. A whale that had been dormant for 1.6 years bought 3,017 ETH for $7 million, accumulating a total of 7,300 ETH in two days.
Regulation & Macro
Investors closely watched developments in the Middle East over the past week. Frequent news events, the failure of the highly anticipated meeting between US and Iranian representatives, and repeated statements from US President Trump caused market risk appetite to fluctuate. Notably, major US stock indices still managed to reach new record highs. However, the market is not entirely bullish, as the conflict could reignite at any time. Here are the key points the market will focus on in the coming week:
At 22:30 on Monday, the Dallas Fed Business Activity Index for April will be released.
At 20:15 on Tuesday, the ADP employment change for the week ending April 11 in the United States will be released.
At 22:00 on Tuesday, the US Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index for April and the US Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index for April will be released.
At 04:30 on Wednesday, the API crude oil inventory data for the week ending April 24 will be released.
At 22:30 on Wednesday, the EIA crude oil inventories for the week ending April 24, the EIA crude oil inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma for the week ending April 24, and the EIA strategic petroleum reserve inventories for the week ending April 24 will be released.
The Federal Reserve FOMC will announce its interest rate decision at 02:00 on Thursday.
At 02:30 on Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference on monetary policy.
At 20:30 on Thursday, the following data will be released: US initial jobless claims for the week ending April 26, US March PCE price index, US March personal spending month-on-month rate, US Q1 labor cost index quarter-on-quarter rate, US Q1 real GDP annualized quarter-on-quarter rate (preliminary), US Q1 real personal consumption expenditure quarter-on-quarter rate (preliminary), and US Q1 core PCE price index annualized quarter-on-quarter rate (preliminary).
At 21:45 on Friday, the final reading of the US S&P Global Manufacturing PMI for April will be released.
Some market observers believe that Powell's press conference next Thursday will not only be his last, but may also be the last regular Q&A session between the Fed's top official and reporters.
Brazilian authorities have banned 27 prediction platforms, including Kalshi and Polymarket.
Brazilian authorities have taken action to ban 27 prediction market platforms, including Kalshi and Polymarket. Under the new regulations, contracts related to sports, politics, entertainment, or social events are prohibited, as authorities consider these contracts closer to gambling than financial investment. Only contracts linked to economic indicators such as inflation, interest rates, exchange rates, or commodity prices are permitted and subject to financial market regulation. This crackdown stems from Resolution No. 5.298 issued by the Brazilian National Monetary Council (CMN) on Friday, which will take effect in early May and significantly restricts the scope of services offered by prediction market platforms.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a lawsuit against New York State seeking to block the state's enforcement of gambling laws on prediction platforms, arguing that the federal regulator has exclusive jurisdiction over event-based contracts. In its complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the CFTC argues that federal law grants it exclusive jurisdiction over these markets and requests a declaratory judgment and a permanent injunction to prevent New York State's enforcement action. The CFTC chairman stated, "Exchanges registered with the CFTC are facing a barrage of state-level lawsuits seeking to restrict U.S. access to event-based contracts and undermine the CFTC's exclusive regulatory authority over prediction markets."
Earlier this week, New York State filed a lawsuit against Coinbase and Gemini, alleging that their services violated the state's gambling laws. Previously, New York State had also taken action against Kalshi, ordering it to suspend certain sports-related contracts.
Sources: The second round of US-Iran talks is scheduled for April 27.
According to Jinshi News, sources say the second round of Iran-US talks is scheduled for April 27.
Trump dismisses banking interference, explicitly guarantees the advancement of the crypto bill.
At a private event for Trump Meme holders at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, US President Trump made it clear that the White House will not allow banking lobbying groups to undermine the legislative process of the core crypto law, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act). He emphasized that the crypto industry has become mainstream, stating that "the United States is a leader in the crypto space," and that traditional banks should not hinder the implementation of stablecoins and the crypto regulatory framework.
This event, dubbed the "world's most exclusive conference," brought together hundreds of major Trump holders, along with prominent figures such as Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, Ark Invest founder Cathie Wood, Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley, and boxing champion Mike Tyson. Previously, the US banking industry had strongly lobbied against stablecoins, arguing that their reward mechanisms could impact traditional deposit businesses, thus slowing down the review of the Clarity Act. Industry estimates suggested that the widespread adoption of stablecoins could lead to a loss of up to $6.6 trillion in deposits from the banking system. Trump's public endorsement provided crucial momentum for the bill to overcome industry resistance and accelerate its passage.
A shooting occurred at a White House correspondents' dinner; the gunman died.
According to Jinshi News, a shooting occurred in the White House Correspondents' Dinner Room, and the gunman is now dead.
Trump: Gunman involved in White House Correspondents' Association Dinner has been arrested
According to Xinhua News Agency, US President Trump said on social media that one of the gunmen involved in the "security incident" at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner has been arrested.
According to a report by CBS News cited by Jinshi, the suspect in the White House correspondents' dinner shooting admitted that his target was Trump administration officials.
Trump: I don't believe the shooting is related to the conflict with Iran.
According to Jinshi News, when asked whether the shooting was related to the conflict with Iran, US President Trump said: "I don't think so."
Project Updates
Drift Product Manager: Plans to relaunch the forked exchange in May or June.
Minh Don, the product lead for Drift, stated on their official Discord that they will spend several weeks optimizing the codebase, removing and adding some small but impactful features, and plan to relaunch their forked exchange in May or June of this year.
Previous reports indicated that Drift Protocol suffered losses exceeding $285 million in the attack.
Aave announced on its X platform that it, along with several protocol partners including Ether.fi, KelpDAO, LayerZero, and Compound, has submitted a governance proposal to the Arbitrum DAO. The proposal requests the Arbitrum Security Committee to release the ETH frozen due to the rsETH incident on April 18th. If released, these funds will be invested in DeFi United, a cross-protocol coordinated recovery project aimed at restoring rsETH support and remedying user rsETH losses. The proposal is now open for review.
Aave initiates recovery fund to restore full asset support for rsETH.
Aave has officially announced the establishment of a dedicated recovery fund in conjunction with its ecosystem partners and service providers. The core objective is to restore rsETH to 100% asset backing and completely resolve the bad debt crisis caused by the KelpDAO cross-chain vulnerability. This plan has been integrated with the entire process of Aave DAO (including the Arbitrum chain) governance voting, protocol details, and implementation.
On the technical front, Aave has reached a consensus with KelpDAO and LayerZero, clarifying the technical path of the recovery plan and advancing its development. The primary task at present is to protect the rights of affected users and stabilize the DeFi ecosystem. To date, leading protocols such as Lido, ether.fi, and Ethena have joined the rescue effort, with funds exceeding 13,500 ETH (approximately $300 million). Final recovery details, user operation guidelines, and key timelines will be officially announced soon.
According to on-chain analyst Ember, the Balancer hacker began exchanging ETH for BTC via THORChain yesterday, and has so far exchanged 14,300 ETH for 419.3 BTC (US$32.51 million). He now has 7,700 ETH on the ETH chain and 419.3 BTC on the BTC chain, worth US$50.4 million. He stole assets worth US$98 million last November, which has now shrunk considerably because ETH was priced at around US$3,600 at the time.
On-chain analytics platform Arkham released monitoring data on its X platform showing that the Ethereum Foundation has unstaking approximately $48.9 million worth of ETH. On-chain operations show that the Ethereum Foundation has deposited its WSTETH holdings into Lido's unstETH unstaking contract, and will receive the corresponding amount of ETH spot once the unlocking process is complete.
The current focus of the crypto market is on the future movements of this asset, with particular attention on whether the Ethereum Foundation will sell off the unlocked ETH. Previously, the Ethereum Foundation has sold ETH multiple times for operational fund management, actions that have consistently fueled market concerns about potential selling pressure on ETH.
Opinions & Analysis
According to Forbes, SEC Chairman Atkins reiterated the commitment to "Project Crypto" and, in conjunction with the CFTC, clarified the classification standards for crypto asset securities, proposing an "innovation exemption" to allow tokenized securities to be traded directly on-chain, ending the previous high-pressure model of "enforcement instead of regulation." Coupled with support from the Trump administration, this regulatory shift is seen as the most favorable policy in history, with strong expectations of institutional investment entering the market.
Bitcoin has rebounded from its February low of $60,000 to around $77,500, with the market focused on whether the current regulatory benefits can help it stabilize above $80,000. Continued buying by institutions like MicroStrategy is providing support for the price; meanwhile, ETF inflows are strong, with a net inflow of $1.9 billion over seven days.
Atkins will deliver a speech at the Bitcoin conference on April 27, which may further boost the market. However, analysts warn that historical rallies have been followed by deep corrections, and macroeconomic risks remain, so caution is advised against a potential "bull trap."
Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan published a personal essay entitled "Gathering Greater Energy Through Innovation and Cooperation," in which he made the latest remarks on global asset allocation trends and the development of the ETF market.
Paul Chan Mo-po pointed out that global investors are currently accelerating the diversification of their asset allocation, reducing their reliance on single markets and single assets. With the development of hot investment themes, the types of assets linked to exchange-traded funds (ETFs) continue to expand, covering areas from precious metals spot and futures, technology and semiconductor companies, to digital assets and other fields. He stated that these ETF products, covering different themes and offering varying leverage characteristics, provide investors with efficient and highly transparent diversified investment tools.
Important data
Currently, the DeFi United program has 14 participants with a total of 69,642 ETH.
According to Lookonchain monitoring, a total of 14 ecosystem participants and individual contributors have joined DeFi United, with a disclosed total of 69,642 ETH (US$161 million).
Previously, it was reported that Aave, a lending platform directly affected by the rsETH incident, contributed 25,000 ETH ($57.75 million) to cover bad debts. The total bad debt shortfall was 75,081 ETH, and Aave coordinated the establishment of the "DeFi United" program to receive aid funds to fill it.
According to Onchain Lens monitoring, a wallet that had been dormant for 1.6 years spent $7 million to buy 3,017 ETH, at an average price of $2,320 per ETH. In the past two days, this whale has purchased a total of 7,300 ETH, worth $17 million, and may make further purchases in the future.
The Balancer attackers have exchanged 21,000 ETH for 617.43 BTC in the past three days.
According to Onchain Lens monitoring, the Balancer attacker has exchanged 21,000 ETH for 617.43 BTC in the past three days, worth $48.72 million. The attacker currently holds 1,000 ETH, worth $2.32 million, and may sell them off further.
