Author: John Smith

Polymarket catapulted Waller’s Fed chair odds from 27% to 85% after reports the DOJ will drop its criminal probe into Jerome Powell, clearing a key Senate roadblock. Summary Polymarket traders now assign an 85% chance that Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller will be confirmed as Fed chair before May 15, up from 27% earlier in the day. The move follows reports that the U.S. Department of Justice is preparing to drop its criminal investigation into current Fed chair Jerome Powell, removing a key obstacle in the Senate. Senator Thom Tillis had vowed to block any committee vote on President Trump’s…

Solana is trading within an ascending channel, with $90 capping its upside over the past week and acting as a key breakout level. Summary Solana trades within an ascending channel, with $90 acting as a key resistance level that has capped upside for nearly a week. Price has stabilized in the $85–$86 range after dropping from $89, while technical indicators point to building bullish momentum. A breakout above $90 could open upside toward $94–$96, while rejection may lead to a retest of the $80 support zone. According to data from crypto.news, Solana (SOL) dropped from its Wednesday high of $89…

China’s DeepSeek is making waves again by claiming its new V4 models are now just months away from catching up to industry leaders like OpenAI and Google. Summary DeepSeek launched V4-Pro and V4-Flash preview models, claiming performance just 3 to 6 months behind leading systems from OpenAI and Google. The open-source V4-Pro leads rival open models in maths and coding benchmarks, while V4-Flash offers similar reasoning with faster speeds and lower cost. The rollout follows the impact of DeepSeek-R1 and comes amid rising regulatory scrutiny and a narrowing US-China AI performance gap, according to the Stanford AI Index 2026 report.…

Crypto prices stayed muted with major assets, including Bitcoin, experiencing slight declines on Friday as hopes of peace between the U.S. and Iran began to fade. Summary Crypto prices remained subdued as fading U.S.-Iran peace hopes kept Bitcoin range-bound and weighed on overall market sentiment. Ongoing naval blockade and stalled negotiations pushed oil prices higher, raising macro uncertainty and keeping investors in a wait-and-watch mode. Analysts remain divided, with derivatives data signaling caution while some expect a potential short squeeze if Bitcoin breaks key resistance near $80,000. Bitcoin (BTC) price traded sideways between $77,000 and $79,000 over the past 24…

Morgan Stanley has introduced a new portfolio designed to hold stablecoin reserves within its money market fund structure. Summary Morgan Stanley has launched a stablecoin reserve portfolio that allows issuers to place backing assets into its money market fund while earning yield. The fund invests in cash, short-term US Treasuries, and repo agreements, with a $10 million minimum and a 0.15% fee. According to Morgan Stanley, the “Stablecoin Reserves Portfolio” allows issuers to place backing assets into its Institutional Liquidity Funds trust while earning yield without compromising liquidity or capital stability. The fund, listed as MSNXX, is structured to maintain…

The FTX bankruptcy estate sold a 5% stake in Cursor for $200,000 in April 2023.  Summary FTX estate sold its 5% Cursor stake for $200K during bankruptcy asset liquidation in 2023. Cursor’s $60B SpaceX-linked valuation now puts the former FTX stake near $3B in value. The sale has renewed scrutiny over FTX estate asset sales and missed upside from early exits. The sale matched the original amount Alameda Research invested in Anysphere, the company behind Cursor, in April 2022. The stake has drawn fresh attention after Cursor’s reported valuation rose sharply. SpaceX said it secured the right to acquire Cursor…

Deloitte and Touche LLP has completed a SOC 2 Type 2 examination for Chainlink’s CCIP and Data Feeds, making Chainlink the only data and interoperability oracle platform in the blockchain industry to hold SOC 2 Type 2, SOC 2 Type 1, and ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certifications simultaneously, the full stack of security credentials that institutional risk teams require before deployment. Summary Deloitte and Touche LLP completed a SOC 2 Type 2 examination for Chainlink CCIP and Data Feeds on April 21, 2026, announced by Chainlink via X on April 21. The certification covers Chainlink Price Feeds, SmartData feeds including Proof of…

Ethereum opened at $2,375.12 on Thursday April 23, 2026, rising 2% from Wednesday’s open as Bitcoin led a broad morning rally past $78,000, though ETH pulled back to $2,316.88 by 7:10 a.m. ET as traders remained cautious over the lack of progress in Iran peace talks and continued US naval activity near the Strait of Hormuz. Summary Ethereum opened at $2,375.12 on April 23, 2026, up approximately 2% from Wednesday’s opening price, tracking Bitcoin’s move above $78,000 for the first time since early February. ETH pulled back to $2,316.88 by 7:10 a.m. ET as traders weighed stalled Iran ceasefire talks…

GraniteShares has delayed the launch of its 3x Long and 3x Short XRP Daily ETFs from April 23 to May 7, marking the fifth postponement in three weeks and raising fresh questions about whether the SEC will ultimately clear 3x leveraged crypto products under the framework it applied to reject similar products from ProShares in December 2025. Summary GraniteShares delayed its 3x Long and 3x Short XRP Daily ETFs from April 23 to May 7 using Rule 485, which allows issuers to shift effective dates without restarting the SEC review process. The delay is the fifth since the original April…

Senator Bernie Moreno declared at a Washington event on April 22 that the CLARITY Act must clear Congress by the end of May, stating plainly that missing that deadline could shelve the legislation indefinitely as midterm election politics consume the remainder of the congressional calendar. Summary Senator Bernie Moreno set an end-of-May deadline for the CLARITY Act at a DC event on April 22, 2026, warning that failure to meet it could permanently delay the bill. Moreno’s statement pushed Polymarket odds of the CLARITY Act passing in 2026 from 38% to 46%, but Galaxy Research still puts chances at roughly…