Ethereum Gas Fee Continues to Drop, Now at 0.352 Gwei

**April 30: Meta to Roll Out Stablecoin Payments for Creators via Stripe** Meta will launch stablecoin payments for creators through Stripe on April 30, settling transactions with Circle’s USDC on the Solana and Polygon blockchains. This marks a milestone as major tech firms integrate crypto into the mainstream creator economy. The feature will first pilot in Colombia and the Philippines: creators there must convert USDC to local currency on their own via a local exchange, since Meta does not offer direct fiat-to-crypto exchange services. Meta scrapped its Libra project in 2022 amid regulatory pushback, but this partnership—leveraging existing stablecoin infrastructure—has cut compliance risks and boosted cross-border payment efficiency. (Source: The Information)

On April 30, Samsung Electronics reported its first-quarter results: - Operating profit surged 756.1% year-over-year to 57.23 trillion South Korean won (≈$38.5 billion), a new quarterly record. The chip business drove most of the growth. - Revenue rose 69.2% YoY to 133.87 trillion won; net profit jumped 474.3% to 47.23 trillion won. - Its Device Solutions Division (semiconductor arm) posted 81.7 trillion won in revenue and 53.7 trillion won in operating profit. The results blew past market expectations. Per financial data firm FnGuide, local securities firms had forecast average revenue of 117.13 trillion won and operating profit of 38.12 trillion won over the past month. Samsung’s latest quarterly revenue and operating profit both topped the prior quarter’s all-time highs (93.84 trillion won and 20.07 trillion won, respectively). (Source: Jin10)

Onchain Lens monitoring shows that as of April 30, 5 hours ago, Bitmine staked 111,496 ETH—valued at $2.5327 billion. The company’s total staked ETH now stands at 4,034,885, worth $9.09 billion. Additionally, 2 hours ago, the newly created wallet “0x448” received another 20,000 ETH ($44.8 million) from FalconX, bringing its current holdings to 40,000 ETH ($90.16 million). The wallet is likely affiliated with Bitmine.

April 30 — Per data from Ashes Monitor, the top bull whale on Hyperliquid has resumed aggressive ETH longs after banking a $684.7 million profit from a long position just two weeks ago. The whale currently holds 90,000 ETH ($203 million) in long positions across three addresses, solidifying his status as Hyperliquid’s largest bull. His average entry price for the ETH positions is $2,265.

April 30 — Iranian Parliament Speaker Kalbasi said on X: “Three days have passed with no oil well explosion. We can extend the live stream here to 30 days.” This is the kind of garbage advice the U.S. government often gets from figures like Bennett, who push the blockade narrative and have driven oil prices above $120. The next target: $140. The problem isn’t the theory—it’s the mindset.

April 30 – Brent crude hit its highest level since June 2022 overnight and this morning amid escalating U.S.-Iran tensions, while WTI crude jumped 8.2% to $108.11 per barrel. Markets are concerned the Strait of Hormuz stalemate could drag on, quickly shrinking the global supply cushion. Fed Chair Powell’s commitment to remaining in his role and internal Fed concerns about inflation have sparked sharp divisions over interest rate policy. Traders now view a rate hike this year as more likely than a cut. U.S. stocks were mixed on the news, but the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index climbed 1.8%—with NXP Semiconductors surging 25%. Post-market earnings moved major tech names: Meta fell on a raised capital expenditure outlook, Microsoft’s cloud growth failed to ease investor doubts about AI returns, and Alphabet rose on strong sales data. Bitcoin weakened again during U.S. trading, retracing its Asian-session gains from yesterday and briefly dipping below $75,000 early this morning.