Oil prices rise, smart money shorts with $3.7 million bet on downturn

April 28 — The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced Tuesday it will withdraw from OPEC and OPEC+ starting May 1. Amid the Iran war that has sparked a historic energy shock and jolted the global economy, the move has dealt a heavy blow to the organization and its de facto leader, Saudi Arabia. As a longstanding OPEC member, the UAE’s unexpected exit could trigger chaos within the group and weaken its influence — even though OPEC typically aims to present a united front on issues ranging from geopolitics to production quotas. For U.S. President Trump, this could be a big win. Trump has accused OPEC of “extorting the rest of the world” by jacking up oil prices. He has also tied U.S. military support for the Gulf region to oil prices, stating that while the U.S. defends OPEC member countries, they are “taking advantage by setting sky-high oil prices.” The UAE is a regional business hub and one of Washington’s key allies. Prior to the withdrawal, the UAE criticized other Arab nations for

April 28 — Per data from Arkham Monitor, BlackRock has transferred roughly 6,040 ETH (valued at ~$13.79 million) and 362.682 BTC (worth ~$27.73 million) to Coinbase Prime in the past hour.

Galaxy Digital announced its Q1 2026 financial results on April 28, reporting a net loss of $216 million driven by a decline in digital asset prices. The company posted diluted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.49 for the quarter, alongside an adjusted gross loss of $88 million and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $188 million. As of March 31, Galaxy Digital’s total equity stood at $2.8 billion, with $2.6 billion in cash and stablecoins. ### Notes on American English alignment: 1. **Conciseness**: Used "Q1 2026" (common in U.S. finance) instead of "first quarter 2026"; added clear abbreviations (EPS, EBITDA) for readability. 2. **Active phrasing**: "posted" (standard for financial results) and "driven by" (natural cause-effect framing) replace more formal phrasing. 3. **Date format**: Dropped "th" from "March 31" (U.S. style) and placed dates consistently. 4. **Flow**: Grouped core metrics (losses, EPS) first, then asset balances (equity, cash) for logical scanning—aligne

On April 28, SpaceX is set to tie Elon Musk’s compensation to key targets including Mars colonization and space-based data centers. Under the plan, Musk will earn a substantial equity incentive if the company hits three milestones: a $7.5 trillion valuation, a million-person Mars settlement, and large-scale orbital computing capabilities. Until those goals are met, Musk will receive no related compensation and currently takes only the minimum salary from SpaceX. This compensation structure is highly unusual and could create potential resource allocation competition with Tesla.

On April 28th, Polymarket announced the launch of its upgraded CLOB v2 trading platform. The platform’s API is now accepting orders, while its public website will be back online soon. A $1 million liquidity incentive program has been rolled out: $500,000 will be allocated in the first two hours, with the remaining $500,000 distributed throughout the rest of the day.

April 28: The UAE has announced its withdrawal from OPEC and OPEC+, per a statement. In response to the news, WTI and Brent crude oil plunged over $2 in short-term trading before paring some losses, according to Bitget data. Their latest prices are $101.38 and $104.18 per barrel, respectively.