Linera Launches Babbage Testnet

April 27: Richard Li, founder of Liquid Capital (formerly LD Capital), said in a social media post that per a chat with an early Bitcoin miner, around 90% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply held by Chinese holders in the early days couldn’t hang on amid extreme volatility. Most Bitcoin has since flowed into gray-market channels and institutional hands, leaving everyday people unable to accumulate meaningful holdings. Anyone who bought Bitcoin for a few dollars and sold when it 10x’d essentially cashed out. When Bitcoin surged past $10k, those who didn’t sell were either “crazy,” absurdly wealthy, or stuck holding involuntarily (like being locked up). For long-term investing, both Duan Yongping and Warren Buffett’s value-investment principles hold true: Only by recognizing an asset’s long-term value can you tune out short-to-medium-term volatility.

April 27 — Strategy has expanded its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings, according to official sources. Last week, the firm acquired 3,273 BTC at an average of $77,906 per coin, totaling approximately $255 million. Its BTC holdings have posted a 9.6% return since the start of 2026. As of April 26, 2026, Strategy holds 818,334 BTC in total, with an aggregate acquisition cost of roughly $61.81 billion — an average price of about $75,537 per BTC.

**April 27, 2026** — Spark Protocol today released its Q1 2026 financial report, outlining key performance metrics as the DeFi lending sector faces headwinds. ### Key Metrics - **Gross protocol revenue**: $31.5 million (31% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) decline) - **Net protocol revenue**: $6.91 million (30% QoQ drop) - **Net protocol surplus**: $3.46 million (47% QoQ decrease) - **Quarter-end treasury**: $46.1 million (5.7% QoQ growth) - **SPK token buyback**: $986,000 in open-market repurchases ### Revenue Structure Shift Distribution rewards emerged as the protocol’s top net revenue driver ($3.31 million), overtaking the Spark Liquidity Layer (SLL) for the first time. ### SLL & SparkLend Updates - SLL: Average deployed capital = $1.93 billion; annualized yield = 5.8% - SparkLend: USDT savings pool grew steadily; institutional lending product deployed $150 million by quarter-end (governance approved a $1 billion cap) ### Market Context & USDS The report cit

On April 27, data from oil tanker tracking platform Tankertrackers.com indicates six tankers carrying around 10.5 million barrels of Iranian crude oil were intercepted by the U.S. military, turned around, and have returned to Iran via the Strait of Hormuz. Separately, on April 24, a tanker loaded with roughly 4 million barrels of Iranian crude successfully broke through the U.S. maritime blockade.

April 27 — Bybit has officially launched TradFi stock perpetual contracts, with an initial lineup of 20 underlying assets including Tesla, Apple, Nvidia, Amazon, Google and Microsoft — all top tech stocks. The contracts support USDT margin for both long and short positions and operate 24/7. Tech giants like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Google are set to release their Q1 earnings reports in bulk this week, ramping up market volatility significantly. This creates a prime opportunity for traders to use contract tools to seize short-term opportunities. Additionally, Bybit has announced that from now through May 31, 2026, at 10:00 UTC, all 20 stock contracts will have **zero Maker fees** and a 50% discount on Taker fees — as low as 0.015%.

April 27 — Pendle has announced it will distribute $7.49 million worth of CHIPS to sPENDLE holders, with funds sourced from the protocol’s fee revenue. The allocation is calculated using time-weighted sPENDLE holdings between April 7 and April 20. This CHIPS distribution is separate from the existing buyback reward mechanism and represents an additional yield for holders. Going forward, Pendle will continue to enhance its token holder reward structure via multiple channels (including fees and buybacks) to boost the sustainability of the protocol’s incentive system.