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Bitcoin climbed back above $78,000 as optimism grew following statements from Trump and Iranian officials suggesting the Strait of Hormuz is open, helping lift both crypto and stocks. Meanwhile, Circle is facing a class action lawsuit tied to the $285 million Drift Protocol hack, data shows AI agents now account for a growing share of DeFi activity but still lag human traders in performance, and a cybersecurity researcher has uncovered counterfeit Ledger devices being sold on a Chinese marketplace.
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News Roundup
Artificial Intelligence
Your AI Chats Can Be Used Against You in Court—Law Firms Are Scrambling (Decrypt)
Perplexity Launches “Personal Computer,”an Expansion of Perplexity Computer (Perplexity)
Federal AI Use Soars, But Bottlenecks Threaten Momentum Amid Public Skepticism: Brookings (Decrypt)
OpenAI Super App Takes Shape: Codex Gets Computer Use, Browser, and Image Gen (Decrypt)
Google Now Lets You Explore the Web Side-by-Side With AI Mode (TechCrunch)
OpenAI to Spend More Than $20 Billion on Cerebras Chips, Receive Stake (Reuters)
Introducing GPT‑Rosalind for Life Sciences Research (OpenAI)
Introducing Claude Design by Anthropic Labs (Anthropic)
China's DeepSeek is Raising Funds at $10 Billion Valuation, The Information Reports (Reuters)
Decentralized, Centralized, & Traditional Finance
Morgan Stanley’s Amy Oldenburg Says Crypto 'Becoming Daily Business' Across the Firm (The Block)
Circle Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over $285M Drift Protocol Hack (Decrypt)
Citi Finds Dual Bitcoin-Gold Strategy Outperforms Over Time (Cryptopolitan)
Pre-IPO Investing Heats Up as Report Compares Six Leading Access Platforms (Biteye)
Charles Schwab Weighs Prediction Markets (Decrypt)
Mitsui & Co.'s Crypto Arm Brings Tokenized Metals Asset Zipangcoin to OP Mainnet (The Defiant)
Hong Kong's Flow Capital Plans to Bring $150 Million Private Credit Fund Onchain (The Block)
Singapore Gulf Bank Launches Stablecoin Mint and Redeem Service (SGB)
Citadel Securities President Says Firm Could Enter Prediction Markets (The Block)
Payward to Acquire Derivatives Exchange Bitnomial for $550 Million in Cash and Stock (CoinDesk)
Israeli Fintech Bitcore Advances Four-Pillar Strategy and Moves to Launch First Privately-Issued Digital Shekel (The Defiant)
France's Finance Minister Calls for More Euro Stablecoins in Sign of Government Policy Shift (CoinDesk)
Circle Rolls Out USDC Bridge for Native Cross-Chain Stablecoin Transfers (The Block)
AI Agents Already Run a Fifth of DeFi, But Still Lose to Humans at Trading (Decrypt)
Dogecoin Gold? A DOGE-Themed Company Is Joining the Tokenized Gold Rush (Decrypt)
Exchanges
Russian Crypto Exchange Grinex Halts Trading, Alleging $13M Exploit by 'Western Special Services' (Decrypt)
Exchange-Traded Funds
On Apr. 16, U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded $26.05 million in net inflows.
U.S. Ethereum spot ETFs saw $18.02 million in net inflows on Apr. 16.
U.S. Solana spot ETFs recorded $15.50 million in net inflows on Apr. 16.
U.S. XRP spot ETFs posted $11.87 million in net inflows on Apr. 16.
Infrastructure
Markets
Suspicious Polymarket Trader Made $320K on Last-Minute 2025 Biden Pardons (Decrypt)
Flare Proposal Seeks to Cut Inflation and Fund Buybacks Through Protocol-Level MEV Capture (Flare Network)
Bitcoin, Stocks Surge as Iran Says Strait of Hormuz Is 'Completely Open' (Decrypt)
Bitcoin Retakes $78,000 as Trump Declares Hormuz 'Open and Ready for Business' (The Block)
X Exec Says Cashtags Crypto, Stock Token Feature has Driven $1 Billion in Trading Volume (The Block)
Strategy Shares Pop as Bitcoin Holdings Flip Green, Near $61 Billion (Decrypt)
Mining
Public Miners Sell Record Bitcoin as Industry Splits Between Selling and Quality Growth (TheEnergyMag)
Bitcoin Miners are Dealing With This Triple-Treat. ‘I’m a Seven Worried,’ Says Mining CEO (DL News)
Non-Fungible Tokens
Bored Apes-Creator Yuga Labs Taps New CEO as Greg Solano Moves to Chairman Role (The Block)
Politics & Regulation
SEC Officials Push US Crypto Ambitions in Debut Podcast Episode (Decrypt)
US Government Moves Bitcoin Tied to $9 Billion Bitfinex Hack (Decrypt)
Clarity Act's Stablecoin Yield Language Pushed Back; Ban on Idle Balances Still Intact (The Block)
Polish PM Says Crypto Firm Tied to Russian Mafia and Secret Service Backed Political Rivals (The Block)
Sen. Blumenthal Presses DOJ and Treasury on Binance Monitor Amid Iran Sanctions Concerns (The Block)
Crypto Council for Innovation Adds Digital Energy Council as its First Energy-Focused Member (The Block)
Congresswoman Sheri Biggs Discloses Up to $250,000 BTC Investment via iShares Bitcoin ETF (Bitcoin Magazine)
Other News
Texas Man Gets 23 Years for $20 Million Crypto Scam Supposedly Backed by Picasso and Van Gogh Artwork (The Block)
Cybersecurity Researcher Uncovers Fake Ledger Sold on Chinese Marketplace (Cointelegraph)
Check This Out!
Bitcoin ownership is shifting: businesses (+69K BTC), governments (+25K BTC), and funds and ETFs (+3K BTC) accumulated in Q1 2026, while individuals were net sellers (-62K BTC).
Source: River
Meme of the Day
Source: Bold Leonidas
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