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According to Caixin, the one-month public consultation for the "Financial Law of the People's Republic of China (Draft)" ended today (April 19). This is the first overarching law in China and the world with "finance" in its name. The expansion of "quasi-judicial powers" for financial regulation is a topic of great concern in the market.According to Article 55 and related provisions, financial regulatory authorities have the right to access and copy property rights information, communication records, and transaction records of relevant entities and individuals when investigating financial violations. They can directly freeze or seal assets if there is evidence suggesting the transfer or concealment of illegal funds and securities. They can even decide that individuals suspected of violations cannot leave the country during the investigation.In addition, Zeng Gang, chief expert and director of the Shanghai Financial and Development Laboratory, believes that the "Financial Law" should also strengthen its focus and coverage on emerging financial formats. Topics such as AI-driven financial decision-making, the legal status of digital currencies, and the regulatory boundaries of crypto assets have sparked widespread controversy globally, but the draft addresses them very little. How to maintain a dynamic balance between lawful regulation and inclusive innovation is a problem left to be solved by legislation.

At the "Crypto 2026: From Cryptocurrency to Smart Economy" themed forum held in Hong Kong, Dr. Daxue Wang, CFO of Lotus Technology Inc., delivered a keynote speech titled "Crypto Links to the Physical Industry, Smart Mobility Running on the Chain."Dr. Daxue Wang stated that smart mobility is the pioneering carrier of the smart economy. Lotus, a luxury electric vehicle brand with a 78-year history, has been listed on NASDAQ and is actively exploring the deep integration of crypto technology with the physical industry. He proposed three major integration directions:First, safeguarding data value by utilizing the immutable nature of blockchain and privacy computing, allowing users to have absolute control over their personal data, achieving credible data circulation and value flow. Second, releasing asset value by exploring efficient circulation and fair trading of assets such as vehicle sales, brand value, autonomous driving technology patents, and global sales networks through RWA, while promoting credible traceability of carbon assets in green mobility. Third, co-creating ecological value by recording data on driving, charging, and maintenance through on-chain smart nodes, allowing users to upgrade from "car owners" to "participants in the brand ecosystem" through on-chain rights confirmation.Dr. Daxue Wang pointed out that the current challenges include compliance implementation, technology adaptation, and ecological co-construction, but the opportunities lie in open cooperation, promoting smart mobility as a practical landing scenario of the smart economy. Lotus hopes to work hand in hand with the crypto ecosystem to realize the vision of "from buying a Lotus car to sharing the growth value of Lotus technology."

At the "Crypto 2026: From Cryptocurrency to Smart Economy" themed forum held in Hong Kong, guests including KiteAI's Asia Pacific head Laughing, Sentient's Asia Pacific head Anita, Brevis content director Nic Tang, Mentis product head Jerry, and Predict.fun's Asia Pacific BD head Ah Huang Ricardo engaged in a roundtable discussion on the theme "AI × Crypto --- The Foundation of the Next Generation Digital Economy."Regarding whether the outbreak of open-source AI Agents (such as "raising lobsters") is a short-term sentiment or a long-term trend, Laughing believes this marks a paradigm shift of AI from "conversational" to "executive," signaling the beginning of a long-term trend. However, Agents lack a physical identity, making it difficult for merchants to trust their trading behavior, and issues of data leakage and uncontrollability remain obstacles that must be overcome for scaling. Jerry pointed out, based on his own usage experience, that current Agents face security risks such as memory fuzziness, token consumption in dead loops, and accidental file deletion. Although newly emerged Agents have improvements, they still have shortcomings. Ah Huang Ricardo stated that behind the short-term sentiment is real user demand, but truly reproducible profitable trading Agents are still very rare, and there is a long way to go.Addressing core bottlenecks such as trust, security, and verifiability, Nic Tang emphasized that the current execution process of Agents is like a black box, where users cannot verify whether their decisions are executed as promised. Zero-knowledge proof technology can mathematically prove the source of an Agent's output and compliance with behavior, while not exposing privacy. Anita added that Sentient is committed to building an open and collaborative AI agent network, promoting the deep integration of AI and blockchain in identity, data, and incentive layers, providing foundational support for the next generation digital economy.Regarding the application scenarios that are likely to scale first, the guests generally believe that the programming field is relatively mature, and Agents in prediction markets perform better than humans in specific tracks due to their rationality and lack of emotions. In the short term, they are optimistic about API Marketplace and cross-platform consumer shopping Agents, while in the medium term, they are optimistic about content creation AI (such as AI influencers). Agent-to-Agent interaction and the Agent/Skill Marketplace are seen as important future trends.

LayerZero posted on platform X that it is aware of the rsETH vulnerability incident and has been actively working with the KelpDAO team on handling and remediation since the incident occurred, while continuing to monitor the situation.LayerZero stated that, aside from the rsETH-related incident, other applications remain secure. Regarding the root cause of the incident, LayerZero is collaborating with SEAL_Org and others to investigate and has indicated that it will release a complete post-incident analysis report in conjunction with KelpDAO once all information is gathered.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal cited by Jinshi, U.S. officials stated that the U.S. military is prepared to board and seize commercial vessels related to Iran in international waters within the next few days, expanding the scope of its naval operations beyond the Middle East.This plan comes as the Iranian military continues to strengthen its control over the Strait of Hormuz, having attacked multiple commercial vessels on Saturday and announced that the waterway is under "strict control" by Iran. These developments have caught shipping companies off guard, and just a day earlier, the Iranian Foreign Minister had claimed that the strait was fully open to commercial vessels, a statement that had received praise from President Trump.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that a cryptocurrency company linked to "Russian gangs and intelligence agencies" is funding political opponents and influencing domestic cryptocurrency regulatory legislation.During a parliamentary vote on Friday, Tusk pointed out that some Polish politicians obstructing cryptocurrency regulatory legislation are serving the interests of a company named Zondacrypto, which is accused of providing "financial support" to political figures and has ties to Russia. Tusk further claimed that the company sponsored the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) event held in Poland last year, during which former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem publicly supported President Karol Nawrocki's campaign. Tusk bluntly stated that the company's funding sources involve not only "money related to the Russian mafia (Bratva)" but may also be connected to Russian intelligence agencies.Meanwhile, President Nawrocki won the election in June last year, with support from former U.S. President Donald Trump. The president's office responded that it does not oppose cryptocurrency regulation itself but opposes the "flawed regulatory model" proposed by the government. This controversy arises amid the political tug-of-war in Poland over the cryptocurrency regulatory bill. The bill aims to align with the EU's MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation) framework, but the president previously vetoed the related bill and blocked parliament from overturning the veto in December, hindering the regulatory process.

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 rises to 7.1%, with the probability of keeping rates unchanged at 92.4%. By July, the cumulative probability of a 25 basis point rate cut is 18.1%, and the probability of keeping rates unchanged is 80.6%.

As the first centralized exchange (CEX) to connect with Polymarket, Gate's data shows that in the prediction event "How will the Federal Reserve's April interest rate decision change?", the market estimates the probability of interest rates remaining unchanged at a high of 99%. Currently, the overall sentiment in the macro market is cautious, with most participants expecting to maintain a wait-and-see stance in this month's meeting, awaiting more economic data guidance. Keeping interest rates unchanged helps stabilize market liquidity and risk appetite, and various assets, including stock indices and commodities, are expected to attract investor interest. Gate has a comprehensive layout of traditional asset categories, covering the widest range in the network.In addition, users can directly access the prediction market through the Gate App, entering the Polymarket page from the platform's homepage Alpha and using USDT in their exchange account to participate in event predictions. This integration marks a key step for Gate in the fusion of the crypto trading ecosystem and prediction markets, also bringing users a more open and diverse market participation experience.

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%.

According to Hyperbridge's official disclosure, the loss from the Token Gateway vulnerability incident has been revised from an initial estimate of $237,000 to approximately $2.5 million, with the increase mainly coming from losses in incentive pools on Ethereum, Base, BNB Chain, and Arbitrum.The attacker extracted about 245 ETH from the relevant contracts and then bypassed the MMR proof verification mechanism by forging cross-chain messages, minting 1 billion bridged DOT and selling them into a thinly traded market. Currently, some of the stolen funds have been traced on-chain to Binance, and Hyperbridge is collaborating with Binance's compliance team and law enforcement agencies for an investigation.Native DOT of Polkadot and products like Intent Gateway are unaffected, while the Token Gateway and the bridged DOT contracts on the four affected EVM chains remain suspended. The MMR verification logic patch is undergoing external audit, and the bridging functionality will be restored after the audit is completed.

Yili Hua posted on platform X, acknowledging that he is very ordinary yet important. Whether in the classical industry or entering the cryptocurrency space, we have always focused on primary investment Liquid Capital & investment bank Liquid Digital and secondary trading Trend Research (crypto) & Trend Investment (classical). Although operating projects and exchanges are very profitable, our energy and capabilities are indeed limited, leaving us only to envy and be jealous.In 2018, we incubated a market maker, but because the team kept the profits for themselves and left the losses to us, we were left battered and bruised. After exiting in 2019, we have not deeply participated in market making again; at most, we have seen some good trading teams and made some investments. Conspiracy theories are always the most popular, but I am not a hexagonal warrior; where would I have the ability and energy to manage projects? The exchanges are very clear about this.

OKX Boost and RootData announced a partnership to engage in deep collaboration around the standards for high-quality industry projects, aiming to enhance the transparency and overall quality of crypto market projects.It is reported that OKX Boost is a premium project screening channel launched by OKX Wallet in September last year, designed to discover potential projects based on real DEX data and incentivize real trading users. RootData, as a leading Web3 asset data platform, has long been committed to building a highly credible Web3 database and has launched a series of products such as the "Transparency Ranking" to continuously promote information transparency in the industry.In this collaboration, RootData will work with ChainCatcher to provide transparency review and quality assessment support for OKX Boost and projects launched on OKX, helping to further enhance project screening standards and information disclosure levels; at the same time, RootData will also improve its database and data processing model through OKX Boost.

Gate, as the first centralized exchange to connect to Polymarket, shows that the probability of a closing market value forecast of over $2 trillion for the SpaceX IPO is about 46%, making it the highest probability option currently.It is reported that Gate has launched the first phase of the Pre-IPOs project, SpaceX (SPCX). The subscription for this phase of SpaceX (SPCX) will be open from April 20, 2026, 18:00 to April 22, 18:00 (UTC+8), supporting participation in both USDT and GUSD. After the subscription is completed, the SPCX asset certificates are expected to be distributed before April 22, 22:00 (UTC+8) and will enter pre-market trading in a 100% unlocked form, with pre-market trading starting at April 24, 18:00 (UTC+8). The total subscription amount is 33,900 SPCX, with a total value of approximately $20.01 million, a unit price of $590, corresponding to an implied valuation of about $1.4 trillion.In terms of participation mechanism, Gate Pre-IPOs adopts "average locked amount per hour" for allocation, emphasizing early participation weight. The minimum participation threshold is 100 USDT, and no handling or custody fees are charged. Gate Pre-IPOs will continue to focus on early participation opportunities for high-quality projects before listing, providing users with a new entry point to access global quality assets.

According to Jinshi reports, ECB board member Müller stated that the possibility of an interest rate adjustment at the April meeting cannot be ruled out.

The newly established political action committee in the crypto industry, Fellowship PAC, has raised approximately $11 million, with $10 million coming from Cantor Fitzgerald and $1 million from Anchorage Digital. It has spent about $3 million on political advertising, with this portion of the expenses paid to Nxum Group, which was co-founded by Tether US CEO Bo Hines.The PAC primarily supports Republican candidates and invests funds in congressional and state-level elections. Although the organization has ties to Tether executives, its main funding sources are financial institutions, and it is currently unclear whether Tether can directly participate in related political donations.

According to Cointelegraph, Chicago-based cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Bitnomial has launched Injective monthly futures contracts, marking the first entry of the Injective token into the regulated derivatives market in the United States. The contract is settled in INJ, expires monthly, and allows traders to gain price exposure without holding the underlying asset, with all cryptocurrencies or USD available as collateral through Bitnomial.Institutional clients can trade the futures immediately, while retail trading is expected to open in the coming weeks through Bitnomial's Botanical platform. Bitnomial also plans to introduce INJ perpetual futures and options.Analysts state that the launch of the Injective futures contracts will begin a six-month trading record, which is expected to support the application for a spot ETF. Previously, Canary Capital submitted a staking-based INJ ETF application to the SEC.

According to Jinshi News, CME's "Fed Watch" shows that the probability of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates by 25 basis points in April is 1.6%, while the probability of keeping rates unchanged is 98.4%. By June, the probability of a cumulative rate cut of 25 basis points is 0%, the probability of keeping rates unchanged is 98%, and the probability of a cumulative rate increase of 25 basis points is 2%.

Cantor Fitzgerald donated $10 million to the political action committee Fellowship PAC, which is chaired by Tether's U.S. executive Jesse Spiro.Fellowship PAC was established in 2025 and has received over $100 million in committed funding, aimed at supporting candidates who promote friendly regulation of digital assets. The organization has previously invested over $1 million in advertising support for multiple elections. Cantor has a close relationship with Tether, having provided custodial services for its stablecoin reserves since 2021, and this donation further strengthens their collaboration on policy matters. In addition to Cantor, institutions like Anchorage Digital have also participated in donations. Industry insiders believe that as the regulatory battle intensifies, the crypto industry is continuously increasing its political investments in Washington to seek a clearer and more enforceable regulatory framework.

According to Decrypt, U.S. Senator Warren recently expressed concerns about Musk's planned payment platform X Money, stating that it could pose risks to consumer protection, national security, and the stability of the financial system.Warren pointed out that after acquiring and reshaping X, Musk is pushing it to become a "super app" that covers "all aspects of users' financial lives," potentially even replacing the traditional banking system. She questioned the performance of the X platform in terms of security and content governance, believing that this undermines its credibility in entering the consumer finance sector.Additionally, Warren criticized the current regulatory environment for becoming more lenient, including the "GENIUS Act" promoted by the Trump administration, which provides a "special pathway" for private companies to issue stablecoins, potentially weakening necessary regulatory constraints.