Breaking News:

Polkadot bridge vulnerability exploited, 1 billion DOT minted on Ethereum and already sold

HKMA: Second wave of licensing timetable not yet confirmed; total number of future licenses will be extremely limited

Aave DAO passes Aave Labs $25 million grant proposal

Bitcoin breaks above $74,000, surging 5% in 24 hours;

Korean exchange Coinone fined ~$3.56 million and suspended operations for three months due to anti-money laundering violations

Strategy accumulated 13,927 BTC worth $1 billion last week

BitMine increased ETH holdings by 71,524 ETH last week, bringing total stake to 4.875 million ETH

Deep Dive

Bitcoin breaks above $74,000 as market bets on enhanced resilience to geopolitical shocks;

ChainThink report: Bitcoin rose nearly 5% to around $74,300 on Monday, demonstrating unexpected resilience amid deteriorating Middle East negotiations and Strait blockade pressures. After a weekend shock that pushed BTC down from $73,000 to $70,600, prices rebounded swiftly upon the release of “they called us” signals, reclaiming the $74,000 level. Market analysis indicates this round’s drawdown in response to geo-political stress is significantly milder than the 12% plunge seen in late February at war onset, suggesting $70,000 has formed a near-term support zone. If oil prices continue falling and rate cut expectations recover, BTC remains poised for further upside.

Dow turns from down over 400 points to close up 301 points; S&P recovers all losses since war began;

ChainThink report: U.S. equities opened under pressure Monday due to worsening regional tensions, with the Dow initially down over 400 points and S&P 500 and Nasdaq also weakening. However, Trump's ambiguous signal — “they called us” — triggered a rapid shift toward speculation that Iran still holds negotiation space, prompting massive short-covering. The Dow closed up 301 points, S&P 500 gained 1.02% to 6,886.24, and Nasdaq rose 1.23% to 23,183.74, with tech stocks leading the rally. VIX settled at 19.12, signaling market attempts to trade a path of “contained conflict” and “risk recovery”.

WTI crude volatile before settling near $93, dual Strait blockades keep supply outlook tense;

ChainThink report: WTI crude surged past $104 Sunday following news of Strait of Hormuz closure, but retreated Monday after Trump hinted Iran might still seek talks, closing near $93. The core challenge remains a “dual blockade” scenario — Iran pressuring Strait passage while U.S. imposes port restrictions on Iranian facilities — creating fragile shipping and supply chain expectations. Institutions generally believe that if the Strait remains blocked, the risk of Brent crude averaging above $100 for the year continues to rise.

Gold dips slightly to $4,733, safe-haven demand offset by stronger dollar;

ChainThink report: Despite breakdown in Middle East talks and Strait closures expected to boost safe-haven demand, gold only dipped 0.3% to $4,733/oz on Monday, remaining range-bound at high levels. No clear consensus emerged in the market, as safe-haven demand supports gold prices while a strengthening dollar suppresses performance. Analysts suggest gold’s direction will depend on whether oil prices normalize and Fed policy path evolves. If oil returns to normal, gold could retest $5,000; if persistently high oil forces the Fed to pivot hawkish again, gold may test lower support zones.

Strategy spent $1 billion last week acquiring 13,927 BTC

ChainThink report: According to official data, Strategy purchased an additional 13,927 BTC at an average price of ~$71,900 per coin last week, spending approximately $1 billion. BTC yield for 2026 YTD stands at 5.6%.

As of April 12, 2026, Strategy holds a cumulative 780,897 BTC, with total cost basis of ~$59.02 billion and average acquisition price of ~$75,577 per BTC.

BitMine increased ETH holdings by 71,524 ETH last week, total stake now accounts for 4.04% of ETH supply

ChainThink report: According to PR Newswire, Bitmine announced today its total holdings across crypto, cash, and the “Moonshot Initiative” reached $11.8 billion. As of 3:30 PM EDT, April 12, 2026, the company’s crypto portfolio includes:

4,874,858 ETH, 198 BTC, $200 million investment in Beast Industries, $85 million investment in Eightco Holdings (Nasdaq: ORBS), and $719 million in cash.

BitMine’s ETH holdings represent 4.04% of the total ETH supply (120.7 million ETH).

Circle CEO responds to controversy: Refused to freeze USDC in Drift hack due to “ethical dilemma”

ChainThink report: According to The Block, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire stated that Circle will not freeze USDC wallets unrelated to ongoing legal proceedings.

At a press briefing in Seoul on Monday, Allaire addressed persistent online criticism regarding whether Circle should freeze USDC funds during cyberattacks and protocol exploits. The controversy intensified earlier this month when decentralized finance protocol Drift suffered a ~$280 million attack linked to a six-month-long social engineering campaign potentially involving North Korean-linked hackers.

High-profile blockchain analysts including ZachXBT publicly criticized Circle for failing to freeze approximately $230 million in USDC, allegedly transferred from Solana to Ethereum via Circle’s cross-chain transfer protocol.

Polkadot bridge vulnerability exploited, 1 billion DOT minted on Ethereum and already sold

ChainThink report: According to PeckShield monitoring, 1 billion DOT tokens were anomalously minted and dumped on Ethereum.

On-chain data shows attackers manipulated admin permissions, transferring contract control to malicious addresses, then immediately minted and sold 1 billion DOT, causing the token price to plummet from $1.22 to near zero.

The incident is still unfolding, with Polkadot’s official team yet to issue a statement. The attack targeted Ethereum-side bridged assets, not Polkadot’s native chain.

Zcash Core Development Team ZODL Releases Strategic Roadmap: Focus on Post-Quantum Security, Scalable Expansion & User Experience

ChainThink report: Zcash Core Development Team Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL) founder Josh Swihart unveiled new developments, outlining a strategic focus on “post-quantum security, scalable expansion, and user experience,” drawing a parallel to NASA’s Artemis II lunar mission to emphasize achieving seemingly impossible goals through technological breakthroughs. The ZODL team stated that Zcash is entering the “Zcash IV” phase, aiming to build infrastructure akin to a “lunar base” capable of supporting protocol and application security at scale for billions of users, while advancing the vision of privacy-preserving transactions without large-scale financial surveillance.

Yi Lihua: Confident war will end; if financial crisis recurs, it will test BTC’s safe-haven status and present a buying opportunity

ChainThink report: Liquid Capital (formerly LD Capital) founder Yi Lihua stated that peace negotiations typically evolve from divergence to consensus, and current incentives for continued warfare are diminishing. He believes conflict is likely to wind down: “I still believe war will end — neither side has any reason to continue fighting. Waiting for a rebound isn’t profitable; the moment agreement is reached will be one bullish candle.”

He noted that over the medium to long term, markets are widely anticipating a potential large-scale financial crisis, with early signs of defensive positioning visible — such as major capital holding high cash ratios and sovereign entities increasing gold reserves. In such a scenario, a renewed crisis would serve as a critical test of Bitcoin’s safe-haven attributes, while simultaneously offering a significant low-point allocation opportunity.

Additionally, Yi Lihua believes AI technology is enabling a new wave of opportunities for exceptional entrepreneurs, allowing small teams to build global products, reduce fundraising and organizational overhead, especially experienced serial founders who should seize this “AI Great Age of Exploration”.

JPMorgan to expand JPM Coin to Canton Network via Kinexys this year

ChainThink report: According to Cointelegraph, JPMorgan will expand JPM Coin to the Canton Network this year via Kinexys, a network currently processing over $350 billion in daily U.S. Treasury repo settlements.

ChainThink report: According to Kyodo News, four major Japanese firms — SoftBank, NEC, Honda, and Sony Group — have established a new company focused on artificial intelligence (AI) development. The report states the company will leverage Japanese government support to build a domestic AI foundational model, with plans to offer developed AI to Japanese enterprises.

The company, named “Japan AI Foundation Model Development”, aims to assemble around 100 AI developers, with the CEO position held by a SoftBank executive. Besides these four, Nippon Steel, Kobe Steel, and three major banks — Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui, and Mizuho — also contributed funding. SoftBank and NEC will lead development, Honda will apply results to autonomous driving, and AI developer Preferred Networks (Tokyo) is participating. The AI will be broadly accessible to non-funding Japanese firms, with future expansion into AI-driven robotics applications.

HKMA: Second licensing wave timetable not yet confirmed, future license count extremely limited

ChainThink report: According to Tencent News’ “Insight” channel, HKMA Deputy Director Chen Weimin said the timetable for the second licensing wave remains undetermined, pending evaluation of the operational performance of the first two licensed entities, and future total license numbers will be very limited.

Additionally, sources indicate that Chinese-owned institutions previously applying for licenses received “window guidance” from relevant authorities instructing them to delay participation in this stablecoin licensing process. Nonetheless, some Chinese institutions have maintained communication with HKMA over recent months. After excluding Chinese-backed applicants, most remaining entities show limited capacity, and few qualify fully under the Stablecoin Ordinance requirements.

Li Guankang, head of HSBC Payme, told reporters that any Payme user can open a stablecoin account, enabling direct peer-to-peer transfers, merchant payments, or investments in stablecoin-linked products. Users of the HSBC app cannot directly open stablecoin accounts and must wait for HSBC to select eligible users before application.

Payme account opening requires Hong Kong residents only. HSBC app users include mainland Chinese customers. Under Hong Kong’s current regulatory framework, only local residents may participate in virtual asset trading. Mainland clients, even if they are mobile payment users of HSBC Hong Kong, cannot apply for stablecoin accounts.

Korean gaming giant NXC reduces BTC and ETH holdings, sells stakes in crypto exchanges

ChainThink report: According to consolidated audit reports from Nexon’s parent company NXC, as of the end of 2025, NXC’s total cryptocurrency holdings amounted to KRW 147.6 billion, including 2,356 BTC and 22,400 ETH, representing a 15.2% decline from KRW 174 billion the previous year. NXC has sold its stake in Bitstamp and removed it from its subsidiary structure.

Furthermore, NXC passed a board resolution in February this year to divest its entire equity stake in Korbit. At the same time, through its subsidiary NXMH, NXC acquired shares in European industrial solutions firm CLI Group in February to advance business diversification.

Aave DAO passes $25 million grant proposal via Aave Labs

ChainThink report: Aave DAO passed its first binding proposal under the Aave Will Win framework on Sunday. The vote received 522,780 AAVE in favor, 175,310 AAVE opposed, yielding a support rate of ~75%. Based on the outcome, Aave Labs will receive a $25 million stablecoin grant, including an immediate allocation of 5 million aEthLidoGHO, plus a total of 20 million aEthLidoGHO distributed over 6 and 12 months as flowing payments.

Additionally, Aave DAO will allocate 75,000 AAVE (~$6.8 million) from ecosystem reserves, linearly unlocked over 48 months. The Aave Chan Initiative cast 166,200 AAVE against the proposal. Support votes came from ParaFi Capital address (190,000 AAVE), luggis.eth (123,580 AAVE), among others. Funds execution is scheduled for Monday afternoon, at which point disbursements will begin flowing to Aave Labs-controlled addresses.

CFTC Chair: Predictive market regulation exclusively federal, states lack authority

ChainThink report: CFTC Chairman Mike Selig stated unequivocally in an interview that the CFTC holds “exclusive regulatory authority” over predictive markets, and states cannot override federal derivatives regulation with state law. Selig emphasized: “Regardless of whether the subject involves sports, politics, or other domains, if it is a product legally offered on a CFTC-regulated platform, it falls under our jurisdiction.” This statement comes amid CFTC’s lawsuit against Arizona, Illinois, and Connecticut, aimed at solidifying federal dominance over predictive market oversight.

Selig confirmed that the CFTC is using formal rulemaking procedures to clarify regulatory guidelines for predictive markets and welcomes input from all stakeholders on assessment processes. Beyond predictive market disputes, Selig also referenced the joint final guidance released last month by CFTC and SEC on digital asset classification, which establishes clear boundaries between tokenized securities and commodities. Going forward, companies seeking self-certification of digital asset futures products can rely directly on this classification framework to determine token nature, ensuring consistent alignment between the two agencies.