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a16z crypto released an analysis report titled "The New Stack of Global Finance: The Stablecoin Edition." The report points out that stablecoins have evolved from niche trading tools into fundamental financial pipelines, giving rise to a new type of "banking as a service" model that is driving the reconstruction of the financial system. The report believes that the transition to on-chain finance has "crossed the point of no return."The report categorizes blockchains into three types: general-purpose chains (such as Solana, Ethereum, and L2), payment-specific chains (such as Stripe's Tempo), and institutional networks (such as Canton). It also notes that the bottlenecks in the banking industry are easing, with a number of crypto-friendly banks actively connecting on-chain infrastructure with traditional fiat systems. The competition for stablecoin issuance has shifted to regulatory positioning, with issuers vying to obtain OCC national trust charters.The report states that payments are the "first act," while credit may be the more important "second act." The large-scale issuance of stablecoins will give rise to a new on-chain credit market, allowing capital to form outside the traditional banking system. The report also emphasizes that stablecoins not only enhance the dominance of the dollar but also provide emerging market users with access channels to the dollar.

According to Jinshi reports, CME's "FedWatch" shows that the probability of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged in April is 100%. In addition, the probability of the Federal Reserve cumulatively cutting rates by 25 basis points by June is 4.7%, while the probability of keeping rates unchanged is 95.3%.

According to Jinshi reports, U.S. President Trump spoke on the phone with British Prime Minister Starmer to discuss the current situation in the Middle East and emphasized the "urgent need to restore shipping in the Strait of Hormuz."The British side stated that the ongoing blockade for several weeks has left many crew members stranded in the Gulf region. Starmer warned that this would have "serious consequences" for the global economy and the cost of living for the British people. On the same day, Iran warned that the waterway "will not return to its previous state under any circumstances."

The French National Anti-Organized Crime Prosecutor's Office (Pnaco) has stated that cases of kidnapping and illegal detention involving cryptocurrency are continuing to surge. Among the 12 related cases currently under investigation, 88 people have been prosecuted, including more than 10 minors, and another 75 are in custody awaiting trial.Prosecutor's data shows that since 2023, French law enforcement has recorded 135 such cases, with 18 in 2024, rising to 67 in 2025, and reaching 47 so far in 2026. Many of these cases involve violent kidnappings, ransom extortion, and forcing victims to transfer cryptocurrency assets. The prosecution pointed out that some suspects have appeared multiple times in different cases, indicating the formation of a structured criminal network behind it. The previous kidnapping incident involving Ledger co-founder David Balland is also seen as an important sign of the escalating security risks in the French cryptocurrency industry.

According to Jinshi News, the CME "Fed Watch" shows that the probability of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates by 25 basis points in April is 1%, while the probability of keeping the rates unchanged is 99%. By June, the cumulative probability of a 25 basis point rate cut is 2.6%, the probability of keeping the rates unchanged is 96.4%, and the probability of a cumulative rate increase of 25 basis points is 1%.

According to monitoring by Hyperinsight, in the past three hours, a whale starting with 0x3bc opened a 25x leveraged ETH short position, amounting to 5.15 million USD, with an average price of 2,343 USD.After the position incurred a floating loss of about 10%, the address immediately placed a take-profit order, planning to gradually close all short positions in batches as the ETH price starts from below the current average price, within the range of 2,280 USD.

According to French media reports, on the morning of April 20 local time, a malicious "targeted robbery of crypto assets" occurred in Ploudalmézeau, France: two masked gunmen broke into a residence, controlling and binding a family of five (including two children and two elderly individuals) for several hours, ultimately coercing the victims to transfer approximately 700,000 euros worth of cryptocurrency.The incident took place in a residential community in broad daylight, and the suspects were clearly "well-prepared," having a thorough understanding of the victims' crypto asset holdings. Police initially determined that this case represents a typical new crime model of "offline violence + on-chain transfer," where personal threats are used to forcibly obtain private keys or transfer authorizations.It is noteworthy that the family members of the victims were engaged in work related to the crypto industry, which may have been a significant reason for this targeted crime. The case is still under investigation, and the suspects have not yet been arrested.This incident once again highlights that, against the backdrop of the increasing popularity of crypto assets, "physical world attacks" (such as kidnapping and home invasion) are becoming new security risk points, and personal asset security is no longer limited to on-chain protection.

According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin's monitoring, funds on Aave continue to flow out, with $15.1 billion having exited in just three and a half days: the total deposit amount has decreased from $48.5 billion before the Kelp security incident to $30.7 billion now, losing nearly one-third of the funds.The situation of two other mainstream lending platforms: 1. Morpho: the total deposit amount has decreased from $11.7 billion before the rsETH incident to $10.2 billion now, with $1.5 billion in funds flowing out. 2. Spark: the TVL of SparkLend business has increased from $1.9 billion before the rsETH incident to $3.2 billion now, with $1.3 billion in funds flowing in. Spark has absorbed some of the funds withdrawn from Aave by large whales/institutions (such as Sun Yuchen and the whale that invested $500 million in February at the bottom).

Gate will hold the "Institutional Circle: Al Reshaping Crypto Liquidity & Market Access" institutional exchange event in Hong Kong, aimed at institutional participants, focusing on discussions related to "AI Reshaping Crypto Liquidity and Market Structure." The event will invite institutional founders and business leaders from the Asia-Pacific region to explore the direction of industry evolution from a practical perspective.On the day of the event, Addis Hu, Global Head of Institutions at Gate, will deliver the opening speech and a keynote address; Ethan Hui, Senior Regional Business Development Manager at AWS, and Chen Zhao, Executive Director of Digital Assets and CEO of FinChain, will also attend as special guests and give speeches.In addition, the event will include registration and gift distribution, free networking, and a dinner segment, providing attendees with opportunities for in-depth communication and resource connection, further promoting institutional collaboration and industry cooperation.

According to Jinshi reports, the CME "Fed Watch" shows that the probability of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates by 25 basis points in April is 0%, and the probability of keeping the interest rate unchanged is 100%. In addition, the probability of the Federal Reserve cumulatively lowering interest rates by 25 basis points by June is 2.5%, while the probability of keeping the interest rate unchanged is 97.5%.

France has become a hotspot for wrench attacks, with at least 41 reported cases of kidnappings and home invasions related to cryptocurrency this year, averaging one incident every 2.5 days. Jean-Didier Berger, the Minister of the Interior's representative, stated that he is preparing a series of new measures with Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez to address this issue.A wrench attack refers to physically coercing victims to transfer cryptocurrency assets through bodily violence. Data from Certik and Jameson Lopp shows that the number of verified physical coercion incidents globally reached 72 in 2025, a 75% increase year-on-year, with cases involving physical attacks rising by 250% year-on-year. David Balland, co-founder of Ledger, was kidnapped in France in January 2025. Security researchers point out that attackers are shifting from searching for wallets to hunting individuals, targeting victims through social media and leaked data.Due to the irreversible nature of cryptocurrency transactions, attackers often convert illegal gains into stablecoins and transfer them across chains to evade detection. Experts recommend using tools such as multi-signature, withdrawal delays, and spending limits to reduce the risk of being attacked.

According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin's monitoring, Aave has seen continuous outflows of funds since the incident early yesterday morning, totaling $10.1 billion, reducing total deposits from $45.8 billion to $35.7 billion, of which $4.5 billion is in stablecoins. This outflow caused the stablecoin deposit interest rate of 13.4% APY on Aave to be maintained for a full day.

According to Jinshi reports, CME's "Fed Watch" shows that the probability of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates by 25 basis points in April is 0.5%, while the probability of keeping rates unchanged is 99.5%. By June, the cumulative probability of a 25 basis point rate cut is 4.5%, the probability of keeping rates unchanged is 95%, and the cumulative probability of a 25 basis point rate hike is 0.5%.

At the "Crypto 2026: From Cryptocurrency to Smart Economy" themed forum held in Hong Kong, Max Zhou, the business leader of RootData, delivered a keynote speech titled "Trust as Infrastructure: How Data Transparency Reshapes the New Cycle of Web3."Max Zhou pointed out that transparency is no longer an "added bonus," but rather a threshold for institutions, regulators, and users. RootData positions itself as a leading Web3 enterprise data platform, quantifying project information completeness and credibility through financing data, relationship graphs, and the industry's unique "transparency scoring" system.He introduced that RootData has recorded over 9,600 financing events, more than 18,000 key industry figures, and has rated over 19,000 projects on a scale from A to F, becoming an important reference for institutional due diligence and exchange listing assessments. The platform has established ecological cooperation with over 220 institutions, including Binance Wallet, OKX, and ByBit.In addition, RootData has launched a three-dimensional exchange assessment model (liquidity + asset value + transparency), abandoning the "volume-only theory." Max Zhou emphasized that transparency is becoming a new axis for Web3, just as essential as security audits.

According to news from the UK, shipping in the Strait of Hormuz was once again brought to a standstill on the evening of the 18th.Previously, radio communications warned that the Iranian armed forces had resumed "strict management and control" over the strait. Multiple vessels in the relevant waters heard the warnings, which have been confirmed.On the same day, the UK maritime safety company, Pioneer Technologies, released a report detailing that three vessels were attacked in the waters near the Strait of Hormuz, involving one oil tanker, one cruise ship, and one container ship. Two of the vessels were explicitly warned and fired upon by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard, while another container ship was hit by an unidentified projectile 25 nautical miles northeast of Oman, causing damage to some containers.

According to Jinshi reports, CME's "Fed Watch" shows that the probability of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates by 25 basis points in April is 0.5%, while the probability of keeping rates unchanged is 99.5%. In addition, the probability of the Federal Reserve cumulatively cutting rates by 25 basis points by June is 1.4%, the probability of keeping rates unchanged is 98%, and the probability of cumulatively raising rates by 25 basis points is 0.5%.

French Interior Minister representative Jean-Didier Berger stated at the Paris Blockchain Week that France is preparing to introduce new measures to protect cryptocurrency holders. He revealed that authorities have launched a prevention platform and attracted thousands of registrations, while working with Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez to develop a more stringent response plan, expected to be implemented in the coming weeks.In this context, there have been 41 cryptocurrency-related kidnapping cases in France in 2026, averaging one every 2.5 days; in 2025, global incidents of such "ransom attacks" increased by 75% year-on-year, with France being the most severely affected country in the world, accounting for about 40% of the total incidents in Europe.