The popular AI framework Virtuals Protocol will host an in-person meet-up in Hong Kong on Friday, January 17.

On April 8, CoinDesk reported that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has formally proposed a regulatory framework for stablecoin issuers. As one of the federal financial regulatory agencies tasked with developing and overseeing rules under the GENIUS Act—passed last year—the FDIC is moving forward with implementing the related framework. The proposal aligns closely with the framework put forward by its sister agency, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), in February this year. The FDIC’s latest proposal includes 144 questions and will open a 60-day public comment period. Under the proposal, stablecoins will not receive the same deposit insurance protection as traditional bank deposits.

April 8th, CoinDesk reported that Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) said in his autobiography *Freedom of Money* that during a pre-acquisition call with Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) in November 2022, SBF casually asked for "tens of billions of dollars—like ordering a bologna sandwich"—and never planned to follow through on the FTX deal from the start. CZ wrote: "Neither was I interested in acquiring FTX nor in helping SBF, but we might have needed to act to protect users and the industry." He clarified signing the non-binding letter of intent (LOI) was merely a formality: "I made clear we wouldn’t make binding commitments; our team was just assessing data before deciding." On FTX’s collapse, CZ identified a fatal misstep by Alameda’s former CEO Caroline Ellison as the turning point. When Ellison publicly offered to repurchase Binance’s FTT holdings at $22 per token (to stabilize the market), she "essentially exposed a price floor." Pro traders immediately shorted FTT below that leve

On April 8, the U.S. Department of Defense is scheduled to hold a press conference on Iran-related actions at 8 a.m. local time the following morning. (Forex)

Coinbase is adding CHIP (CHIP) to its supported assets list, per an official announcement dated April 8.

**April 8 — Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has invited Iranian and U.S. delegations to Islamabad for talks, per CCTV news. Sharif also announced the Iran-U.S. ceasefire will take effect at 3:30 a.m. local time in Iran on April 8 (8:00 a.m. Beijing time the same day).** ### Notes on American English adaptation: 1. **Conciseness**: Uses short, direct sentences (standard for U.S. news briefs). 2. **Terminology**: Replaces "negotiations" with "talks" (more common in U.S. media for high-level delegations); "American" shortened to "U.S." (standard abbreviation). 3. **Time clarity**: Adds "the same day" to avoid repetition, aligning with U.S. news style for timeline brevity. 4. **Source attribution**: "Per CCTV news" (natural U.S. phrasing for citing sources, instead of literal "according to"). 5. **Verb choice**: "Noted/announced" (more active than "stated" for leadership statements in U.S. briefs). No Chinese characters included, strictly adheres to U.S. English n

Per Bitget market data, the Nikkei 225 Index opened higher by 952.10 points on Wednesday, April 8, rising 1.78% to 54,381.66 points. The South Korea KOSPI Index also opened up 329.13 points the same day, climbing 5.99% to 5,823.91 points.