Analysis: Vance Played Key Role in Facilitating US-Iran Talks
April 11th (CNN) — A senior Pakistani official told CNN that U.S. Vice President Mike Pence played a key role in facilitating U.S.-Iran talks set to kick off in Islamabad, Pakistan.
A source familiar with the negotiation process expects the talks to take several days to finalize a ceasefire agreement. Pakistani officials are pushing Pence to extend his stay in the country to assist with the effort.
Separately, a senior Gulf official disclosed that Iran has very little trust in U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy, Wittkof.
Previously, Wittkof led multiple rounds of talks with Iran, all of which were derailed by U.S. military strikes on Iran. He is part of the U.S. delegation for the Islamabad talks.
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Iran's Speaker of Parliament to Meet with Pakistan's PM, Discuss Iran-US Negotiation Format
April 11th — Iran’s Parliament Speaker Qalibaf will meet Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shabaz on Wednesday to finalize the timing and format for potential US-Iran negotiations, per Iran’s Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).
Tasnim News Agency reports Iran will raise U.S. violations of its commitments during the talks. Key prerequisites for launching negotiations include unfreezing Iranian assets and a ceasefire in Lebanon. The U.S. has informed Pakistan it agrees to these prerequisites and additional conditions for talks.
Iran’s delegation plans to assess the U.S. position and its commitment implementation before deciding whether to proceed with negotiations. Tasnim added that if talks take place, they are currently scheduled to start later on April 11th and may last just one day.
(Source: Forexlive)
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Grayscale Unveils Latest Batch of Candidate Assets, AI Focus and DeFi Project Expansion Evident
April 11th – Digital asset investment platform Grayscale recently updated its list of candidate assets for its products, covering six major crypto sectors with a key focus on AI and Finance.
The AI sector saw the most additions, with 9 projects joining the candidate pool: Fabric Protocol, Flock, Grass, Kaito, Kite AI, Nous Research, Poseidon, Venice, and Virtuals Protocol. These join existing candidates Bittensor, Livepeer, Near, Render, and Story, reflecting ongoing institutional interest in the AI + crypto space.
In the Finance sector, 8 DeFi projects (Ethena, Hyperliquid, Jupiter, Kamino Finance, Maple Finance, Morpho, Pendle, and seven others) were added, complementing current candidates like Aave, Aerodrome, Curve, Ondo, and Uniswap.
For Smart Contract Platforms, 6 projects were added: Celo, Mantle, MegaETH, Monad, Toncoin, Tron, and Canton Network.
The Utility Tools sector included DoubleZero, Geodnet, Helium, Jito, LayerZero, and Wormhole in its candidate list.
Gr
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Bhutan Sells 70% of Bitcoin Reserve Within 18 Months, Sovereign Mining Experiment Likely Abandoned
April 11 — Arkham on-chain data shows Bhutan is continuing to divest its Bitcoin holdings.
Bhutan’s sovereign wealth fund, Druk Holding and Investments, held ~13,000 BTC in October 2024. It now has just 3,954 BTC left, worth ~$280.6 million. Over the past 18 months, ~70% of its holdings have been sold, with $215.7 million worth of BTC transferred this year alone.
Additionally, Bhutan’s Bitcoin mining operations appear to have ceased: on-chain data indicates the last mining payout exceeding $100,000 occurred over a year ago, and Druk Holdings has not publicly disclosed any related updates.
Economic pressure is the primary driver. Bhutan’s mining relies on hydropower, which was profitable when hash rate difficulty was low and BTC prices topped $90,000. Today, BTC hovers around $71,000, network difficulty is at an all-time high, and post-halving block rewards have dropped to 3.125 BTC — slashing margins for small-scale sovereign mining. Analysts note selling hydropower directly t
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Can the US and Iran Reach an Agreement? Three Key Issues Remain Unresolved
April 11 — Delegations from the U.S. and Iran officially kicked off talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Monday. But public stances from both sides show three core issues all touch on each other’s red lines, leaving negotiation prospects highly uncertain.
### Hormuz Strait
A key ceasefire precondition and the most direct divisive point: Former President Trump has demanded a "comprehensive, immediate, and secure" strait opening, while Iran insists all passage must coordinate with its armed forces. Since the ceasefire was announced, Iran has tightened controls twice and now reportedly seeks a $1-per-barrel navigation fee for oil tankers. Analysts widely agree U.S. acceptance of any Iranian control over the strait would amount to a "strategic failure."
### Iranian Uranium Enrichment
Non-overlapping red lines: The U.S. demands Iran fully abandon enrichment, calling it a "non-negotiable bottom line" — the U.S. Secretary of Defense even threatened "military seizure" if Iran refuses. Ir
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