Harefoot1226

SEC SAYS CRYPTO WALLETS NOT SUBJECT TO BROKER RULES
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says interfaces enabling transactions via self-custodied wallets won’t be treated as brokers, offering an interim clarity as broader crypto regulations are being devised.

NEW: Global data center power demand is projected to surge 220% from 2023 levels to a record 1,350 TWh by 2030, driven by AI, per Goldman Sachs.

Hyperliquid, built by Jeffrey Yan, reportedly generated over $900M in profit with just 11 employees, making it one of the most profitable startups per employee globally.

S&P 500 DEFIES WAR TENSIONS, FLIPPING POSITIVE FOR YTD 📈
The S&P 500 closed over +1% higher, reaching its strongest level since the Iran conflict intensified.
With over $5 TRILLION in market value added since the March 30 low, the market is showing remarkable resilience despite geopolitical tensions.
Meanwhile, $BTC breaks above $73,000, adding to the broader risk-on momentum across markets

The US AI boom has a hardware problem:
US imports of major electrical equipment rose +4.7% YoY in 2025, to $411 billion.
This equipment, including transformers, switchgear, and batteries, is needed to power the data centers that run AI systems.
Since 2020, imports have risen +$180.8 billion, or +78%.
The surge has been driven by AI companies racing to build data centers as domestic manufacturing cannot keep up with demand.
As a result, ~50% of all US data centers planned for 2026 are expected to be delayed or canceled because this equipment is in shortage.
We need more hardware.

BESSENT URGES “WAIT AND SEE” ON RATE CUTS
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the Fed should hold off on cutting rates, calling recent inflation pressures transitory and unlikely to become embedded in expectations despite energy-driven price spikes.

💸 A vulnerability in Hyperbridge's proof verification allowed a hacker to mint 1 billion bridged $DOT tokens worth over $1.1B.
🗨️ "On April 13, 2026, a vulnerability in Hyperbridge’s Token Gateway was exploited, resulting in approximately $237,000 in losses on #Ethereum

Rakuten Wallet launches $XRP as a listed asset and payment method starting from April 15, allowing users to buy with Rakuten Points and spend at over 5 million merchants in Japan

The US Treasury's budget deficit rose +2% YoY in March, to $164 billion, above the $153 billion expected.
Adjusted for the timing of certain benefit payments that shifted between months, the March deficit would have been $250 billion, significantly worse than a year ago.
The US deficit is now at $1.17 trillion over the first 6 months of FY2026, the 3rd-worst first-half in history.
Meanwhile, military outlays increased by just +3% YoY in March, to $65 billion, indicating spending tied to the Iran War has not yet shown up, suggesting future deficits will be sharply higher.
Deficit spending remai

Saudi Arabia's oil infrastructure is proving resilient:
Crude exports from Yanbu terminals are running at ~4.0 million barrels per day, 4 times the levels seen at the end of February.
In the last days of March, shipments along the 746-mile pipeline that carries crude from eastern oil fields to the Red Sea coast were as much as 4.5 million barrels per day.
This is despite a drone strike last week that damaged one of 11 pumping stations, reducing throughput by ~700,000 barrels per day.
Saudi Arabia has since restored the pipeline to its full capacity of 7 million barrels per day, with ~2 million

LATEST: 💰 Aave’s DAO has approved an allocation of $25 million in stablecoins and 75,000 AAVE for Aave Labs under the “Aave Will Win” framework

JPMORGAN'S BLOCKCHAIN VOLUMES JUST GREW 30X AND THEIR CEO IS CALLING TOKENIZATION A THREAT TO THE ENTIRE BANKING MODEL.
Jamie Dimon's 2026 shareholder letter didn't sugarcoat it. Stablecoins, smart contracts, and tokenization are creating an entirely new class of competitors to traditional banking.
In the same week:
IMF acknowledged tokenization's potential to eliminate settlement delays. Japan announced stablecoin rails for interbank settlement. Broadridge expanded proxy voting to tokenized securities on Avalanche.
The institutions aren't researching tokenization anymore. They're deploying it

Share of consumers saying their finances are worse than a year ago due to higher prices jumped to 54% in April from 47% in March, the highest on record.
$9T printed during the pandemic didn’t restore purchasing power.
Spending has been held up on credit, not income. When credit dries up, demand weakness follows.

71,524 ETH JUST GOT PULLED OFF THE MARKET IN A SINGLE PURCHASE AND NOBODY BLINKED.
Bitmine. 4.87 million ETH. 4.04% of total Ethereum supply. One company.
They just uplisted to the NYSE. They're running a $4 billion buyback program. And they're accumulating ETH at a pace that would make MicroStrategy's Bitcoin strategy look conservative.
ETH staking is at an all-time high. Exchange reserves are draining. And now a publicly traded company is absorbing 4% of the entire supply.
When you combine record staking, declining exchange balances, and a single corporate buyer taking millions of ETH off th

Ondo Finance seeks SEC clarity on putting securities recordkeeping on Ethereum.
No-action request aims to confirm tokenized security entitlements won’t trigger enforcement.

BREAKING: U.S. naval blockade targets Iran’s energy exports.
~15 warships positioned near 5 key ports including Kharg Island and Bandar Abbas.
Iran gets ~50% of state revenue from energy, with ~90% going to China.
Iran supplies up to ~13% of China’s energy imports.
Despite tensions:
Chinese, Pakistani, Russian vessels still transiting Hormuz via controlled corridors.

INSIGHT: $XRP perpetual OI drops from 7B to 1.5B after prolonged deleveraging, per glassnode.
Sustained caution dominates among derivatives traders.