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

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes told attendees at the Bitcoin 2026 conference on April 28 that he’s increasingly bullish on Bitcoin’s future. AI is set to displace millions of knowledge workers—a shift that could saddle the banking system with hundreds of billions in credit losses, echoing the subprime mortgage crisis. But the U.S. is now at war, with its new defense budget poised to jump ~50% to $1.5 trillion. The U.S. government won’t cut spending; instead, it will print massive amounts of money. The enhanced Supplementary Leverage Ratio (SLR) rule, effective April 1, lets banks hold fewer reserves and more government bonds. S&P Global projects this will unlock ~$1.3 trillion in extra lending capacity for banks—primarily for defense firms and AI infrastructure. With a bank lending money multiplier of ~3, this could ultimately create ~$4 trillion in new credit. Federal Reserve Chair nominee Wash plans to shrink the Fed’s balance sheet while easing bank regulations, letting com

April 28th – Per Coinglass data, Bitcoin’s slight dip has coincided with a notable easing of bearish sentiment across major centralized (CEX) and decentralized (DEX) exchanges, as reflected in current funding rates (see attached chart). **Note from BlockBeats**: Funding rates are fees set by crypto exchanges to align perpetual contract prices with underlying asset values. They facilitate fund exchanges between long and short traders; exchanges do not collect these fees. The mechanism adjusts holding costs or benefits for traders to keep contract prices tethered to the underlying asset. **Key Baseline**: A 0.01% funding rate is the benchmark. Rates above 0.01% signal broad bullishness, while rates below 0.005% indicate general bearishness.

On April 28, the cryptocurrency Fear & Greed Index stands at 33, down from 47 yesterday, per Alternative Data. Market sentiment has shifted from "Neutral" to "Fear." Note: The index ranges from 0 to 100, based on six key indicators: - Volatility (25%) - Market Volume (25%) - Social Media Hype (15%) - Market Surveys (15%) - Bitcoin Dominance (10%) - Google Trends (10%)

April 28: Iran is urgently seeking new oil storage solutions to avoid a crippling shutdown, per The Wall Street Journal, as U.S. Navy blockades and stalled negotiations pile up domestic crude. The country is now restarting abandoned sites nicknamed "junkyards" for storage, using makeshift containers, and trying to resume oil exports via rail.

As obstacles to Kevin Warsh’s confirmation as the next Federal Reserve chair appear to be fading on April 28th, markets are reassessing the potential implications of this shift. AMP Chief Economist Shane Oliver noted that Warsh is committed to upholding the Fed’s independence and may prioritize AI transformation over employment. He also pointed out Warsh could emphasize trimmed mean inflation over core PCE, though this might be viewed as cherry-picking. Oliver added that Warsh’s stance may be slightly more dovish than Powell’s, but there would be no fundamental difference. (Source: FXStreet)

April 28 – Per LookOnChain data, two wallets linked to Galaxy Digital have transferred a total of 45,000 ETH to Binance, Bybit and OKX over the past 15 hours, with the transaction valued at roughly $104 million.