Federal Reserve Governor Jefferson: No Need to Hurry to Further Cut Interest Rates, Strong Economy Makes Caution Appropriate

April 8th: The Financial Times reports Iran will require shipping companies to pay a cryptocurrency toll for oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz during a two-week ceasefire, as part of efforts to maintain control of the waterway. Hamid Hosseini, spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, said each tanker must email cargo details to Iranian authorities. After reviewing the info, Iran will notify the vessel of the toll amount—$1 per barrel of oil; empty tankers will be exempt. “Once we get the email and finish our assessment, the ship will have seconds to pay via Bitcoin,” Hosseini noted. “This ensures the payment can’t be traced or seized amid sanctions.”

On April 8, the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) released an analysis report noting that banning crypto firms from offering yields on stablecoins would have minimal impact on small and community banks’ deposit and lending operations. Economic modeling shows that even if the ban takes effect, total bank lending would rise by just 0.02%—roughly $21 billion—while community bank lending would see a mere 0.026% uptick (around $5 billion). Even under a worst-case scenario where the stablecoin market expands sixfold, community bank lending would climb by only 6.7% (some $129 billion)—far from the banking industry’s prior warnings of “disastrous” outcomes: $13 trillion in deposit outflows and an $850 billion drop in lending. The report directly pushed back against concerns from banking industry lobbying groups over stablecoin yield products, stating stablecoins do not pose a significant threat to traditional banks. Currently, the U.S. Congress’s “Cryptocurrency Market St

**Aster Launches BAY Perpetual Contract, $50K ASTER Rewards Up for Grabs** On April 8, Aster announced the launch of the Marina Protocol (BAY) perpetual contract. Traders who participate can share $50,000 in ASTER token rewards. ### Key Details - **BAYUSDT Launch Time**: 20:00 UTC+8 on April 8 - **Reward Pool**: $50,000 worth of ASTER tokens - **Event Period**: 20:00 UTC+8, April 8 – 22:00 UTC+8, April 15 - **Fee Bonus**: BAYUSDT perpetual contract trades get a 1.2x bonus on trading fees during the event ### Reward Calculation Rules Rewards are distributed proportionally based on a user’s BAYUSDT perpetual contract trading fees relative to all eligible users: \[ \text{Reward} = \text{Total Reward Pool} \times \left( \frac{\text{User’s BAYUSDT Fees}}{\text{Total Eligible Users’ BAYUSDT Fees}} \right) \] ### Eligibility & Limits - Users must generate **total trading fees > $5** to qualify - Single user reward cap: 3% of the total reward pool - Rewards < 1 AS

Bitcoin surpassed $72,000 on April 8th, per HTX market data, posting a 24-hour gain of 5.45%.

**April 8 — U.S. Secretary of Defense Hagerseith announced today that the United States has secured a decisive military victory in Iran, which he said had sought the current ceasefire agreement.** - U.S. forces launched 800 airstrikes Tuesday night, destroying Iran’s defense industrial base and rendering the country unable to produce missiles, rockets or drones. - The ceasefire ensures Iran will never acquire nuclear weapons, the secretary stated, adding the U.S. has met all its military objectives in Iran. - The ceasefire is a temporary pause; coalition forces remain ready to resume operations at any time. - The U.S. hopes Iran will choose lasting peace, Hagerseith noted. - All parties have reached consensus: the Strait of Hormuz is now open. Iran will allow vessel passage, and warships may transit the strait. - The ceasefire agreement will take effect over time.

April 8 — Per Globenewswire, U.S. publicly traded self-hosted crypto firm Exodus Movement has released its updated digital asset holdings as of March 31. Key updates include: - Bitcoin (BTC) holdings increased to 628 BTC (monthly net gain of 18 BTC) - Ethereum (ETH) holdings rose to 1,857 ETH (monthly net gain of 17 ETH) - Solana (SOL) holdings climbed to 17,541 SOL (monthly net gain of 1,847 SOL)