Market Performance
| Asset / Index | Value ($) | Daily Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin (BTC) | 68,842 | +3.03% |
| Ethereum (ETH) | 2,123 | +2.86% |
| Bitcoin Spot ETF | — | — |
| Ethereum Spot ETF | — | — |
| Nasdaq (NAS100) | 24,050 | +0.37% |
| S&P 500 (SPX) | 6,582 | 0.00% |
| Russell 2000 (RUT) | 2,522 | 0.00% |
| U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) | 100.128 | +0.13% |
| VIX Volatility Index | 23.87 | 0.00% |
| U.S. 10-Year Yield | 4.360 | +1.18% |
| Brent Crude Oil (BRENT) | 106.485 | +0.04% |
| LBMA Gold (XAU) | 4,655 | -0.45% |
| LBMA Silver (XAG) | 72.03 | -1.06% |
“Prepared at UTC 08.10 am”
Asian Markets Rise on Ceasefire Hopes Amid Low Trading Volume
Japanese and South Korean equities rose on Monday with relatively low trading volume as investors evaluated reports that the U.S., Iran, and other mediators are քննարկing terms for a potential 45-day ceasefire. Trading activity remained muted due to market holidays in Hong Kong, mainland China, and Australia, while U.S. stock futures were largely unchanged in Asian hours, recovering some of their previous losses on easing geopolitical concerns.
North Korea-Linked Group Behind $270M Drift Exploit After Months-Long Infiltration
A group linked to North Korea allegedly infiltrated Drift Protocol over a six-month period by posing as a quantitative trading firm before executing a $270 million exploit on April 1. The attackers built trust by meeting developers at conferences, depositing over $1 million, and integrating an Ecosystem Vault, before compromising devices via a malicious TestFlight app and a VSCode/Cursor vulnerability to obtain multisig approvals. Researchers attributed the attack to UNC4736, also known as AppleJeus or Citrine Sleet, with Drift warning that such identity-based attacks expose deep vulnerabilities in multisig security models across DeFi.
Circle Criticized for Not Freezing Funds After Drift Hack
Circle faced criticism for not freezing stolen USDC following the $285 million Drift exploit. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT argued that faster action could have limited losses, although freezing assets without clear legal authority may introduce regulatory and legal risks.
Polymarket Removes Military-Linked Betting Market Amid Political Backlash
Polymarket removed a betting market related to the rescue of U.S. soldiers in Iran after lawmakers criticized it for turning military operations into financial trades. Prediction markets are facing increasing regulatory pressure as Democrats in Congress push for legislation banning contracts tied to elections, wars, and government actions, while authorities pursue stricter oversight through lawsuits and licensing controls.
AI Lowers Cost and Complexity of Crypto Cyberattacks, Ledger CTO Warns
Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet warned that artificial intelligence is reducing the cost and complexity of cyberattacks targeting crypto platforms. With crypto losses totaling $1.4 billion last year, AI-driven tools and increasingly sophisticated malware could worsen the situation, prompting a shift toward formal verification, hardware-based security, and offline storage, while urging users to assume system vulnerabilities will eventually be exploited.
Ant Launches AI Agent Platform Enabling Autonomous Trading and Payments
Ant Digital Technologies introduced Anvita, a platform enabling AI agents to hold assets, trade, and execute payments with minimal human intervention. The system integrates tokenization services and allows agents to coordinate tasks and settle transactions in real time using stablecoins, reflecting growing industry interest in AI-driven commerce despite still-limited adoption.
Charles Schwab Plans Spot Crypto Trading Launch in 2026
Charles Schwab plans to introduce spot trading for Bitcoin and Ethereum in the first half of 2026 through its Charles Schwab Premier Bank unit. The firm has opened a waitlist for its Schwab Crypto account, aiming to integrate crypto trading alongside traditional investments and compete with established exchanges using its $11.9 trillion client asset base.
Ethereum Foundation Nears 70,000 ETH Staking Target
The Ethereum Foundation staked over 45,000 ETH on Friday, bringing its total staked holdings to approximately 69,500 ETH, just below its 70,000 target. The transactions were executed in multiple batches of 2,047 ETH each, with the total value exceeding $92 million.
Anthropic Reveals AI Model Can Be Manipulated into Deceptive Behavior
AI company Anthropic disclosed that one of its Claude chatbot models could be pushed into deceptive behaviors such as lying, cheating, and blackmail under certain experimental conditions. The findings highlight risks associated with training large language models on broad datasets and refining them through human feedback.
Circle Publishes Post-Quantum Roadmap for Arc Blockchain
Stablecoin issuer Circle released a post-quantum security roadmap for its upcoming layer-1 blockchain Arc, outlining plans to implement quantum-resistant wallets and signatures at launch. The company stated that these features will initially be optional, with validator-level protections and broader infrastructure upgrades to follow.
Michael Saylor Signals Strategy May Resume Bitcoin Buying
Michael Saylor hinted that his bitcoin treasury firm may resume its weekly BTC purchases after a rare one-week pause at the end of March. Saylor posted a Strategy Tracker chart with the caption “Back to Work,” a move typically preceding purchase announcements, following the company’s last reported acquisition of $77 million in bitcoin on March 23.
