U.S. CPI: +2.9% YEAR-OVER-YEAR (EST. +2.9%); U.S. CORE CPI: +3.2% YEAR-OVER-YEAR (EST. +3.3%)

On April 8, Polymarket announced it has completed its acquisition of Brahma, a DeFi infrastructure firm. The integration aims to boost Polymarket’s platform trading reliability, execution speed, and capital efficiency—while lowering barriers to entry for new users and strengthening interoperability across blockchain networks.

April 8: Standard Chartered Bank said Thursday it’s weighing moving part of its subsidiary Zodia Custody—its digital asset storage firm—under internal management. The proposal would merge Zodia’s crypto custody business with the bank’s Luxembourg digital assets unit, while Zodia will remain an independent software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider.

On April 8, former President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that any country supplying military weapons to Iran will face a 50% tariff on all its goods shipped to the U.S.—effective immediately, with no exceptions or exemptions.

April 8th — Per crypto influencer AB Kuai.Dong, crypto exchange Bitget is set to enter the stock IPO market, aiming to offer institutional clients the chance to subscribe to popular pre-IPO stocks (such as OpenAI) via its platform. The proposed process will resemble existing primary over-the-counter (OTC) trading platforms, with the key advantage being that participants can use Bitget’s stablecoins to take part. Details including the stocks up for sale, company valuations, and share quantities have not been fully or accurately disclosed as of yet. Bitget’s official account just posted a teaser tweet announcing that a new opportunity will arrive on April 10, 2026.

April 8: Trump said the U.S. will negotiate with Iran over tariffs and sanctions waivers, and will not permit Iran to engage in uranium enrichment. The two sides have reached agreement on many of the 15 points under discussion. A U.S.-Iran joint project on Strait of Hormuz transit fees may be launched. Separately, a White House spokesperson stated that discussions are ongoing regarding face-to-face talks between the U.S. and Iran, but confirmation will only come with a formal announcement from the president or the White House.

On April 8, six major Swiss banks—including UBS and PostFinance—teamed up with Swiss Stablecoin AG to launch a sandbox pilot for a Swiss Franc (CHF) stablecoin. The initiative aims to simulate real-world payment flows, explore blockchain’s connection to traditional financial systems, and test use cases for programmable money. Currently, no widely adopted regulated CHF stablecoin exists in Switzerland; this pilot will gather operational experience in a controlled setting to lay groundwork for a potential full launch. Running through 2026, the pilot operates in a "digital real-time environment" with limits on user counts and transaction volumes to manage risk. Key tests focus on payment settlement speed and programmable money applications. The project is open to other banks, businesses, and institutions, with participants hoping to gauge the stablecoin’s feasibility in real financial services and decide whether to push toward full commercialization. This effort aligns with Europ