Federal Reserve's Quarles: Upbeat About Further Rate Cuts Expected Later This Year

On April 4, a Nevada court ruled that sports contracts offered by prediction market platform Kalshi are "substantially indistinguishable from gambling" and extended a temporary restraining order (TRO) on its related operations. First Judicial District Court Judge Jason Woodbury said he will approve the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s request for a preliminary injunction to bar Kalshi from offering certain prediction market products in the state while the case proceeds. The TRO issued on March 20 has been extended for two weeks. The court found that purchasing sports event contracts on Kalshi is essentially equivalent to betting on a licensed gambling platform, thus constituting unlicensed gambling. Multiple U.S. states are tightening restrictions on prediction market platforms, arguing their sports-related products should fall under state-level gambling regulations. Kalshi, however, contends that as a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-regulated derivatives market offer

April 4 (FX Street) — Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Public Relations Department released a statement condemning the U.S. for claiming the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia was targeted in an attack linked to Iran. The statement asserted the incident has no connection to Iran, stressing that given the region’s military strategic context, the action is “undoubtedly the work of Israel.” The IRGC added that Iran had previously clearly identified its retaliatory targets and issued necessary warnings to neighboring countries about Israel’s destabilizing activities in the region.

**April 4 (CNN) — The Middle East conflict has entered its second month, with the oil shortage crisis at risk of escalating into widespread shortages across nearly all sectors.** The conflict has severely restricted oil and natural gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, cutting global supplies by roughly one-fifth. This disruption has not only driven up fuel prices but also squeezed supplies of petrochemicals used in everyday goods—from shoes, clothing and plastic bags to more. As prices rise for materials like plastic, rubber and polyester, the pressure is spreading to every corner of the consumer market. Asia is currently the hardest-hit region: it accounts for more than half of global manufacturing and relies heavily on imported oil and other commodities. Dan Martin, Co-Head of Business Intelligence at Deloitte Forensic Advisory, noted this will quickly impact all commodities—including beer, noodles, potato chips, toys and cosmetics—since plastic bottle caps, shipping

April 4th — Developer Bala pulled off a live demo of a fully offline Bitcoin transaction at the recent Bitcoin Open Source Summit (BOSS Summit) in Dharamsala, India, wowing the Bitcoin community. Using Mesh Radio—a wireless mesh network built on Meshtastic LoRa tech—Bala completed the transaction with no internet, no ISP, no Wi-Fi, and no cellular data. Just pure radio waves: the transaction broadcast instantly, landed straight in the Bitcoin mempool, and seamlessly moved from “off-grid” to “on-chain.” Dubbed the “ultimate cypherpunk demo,” it showcased Bitcoin’s resilience as a seizure-resistant currency—ideal for scenarios like censorship, network blackouts, disasters, or times of uncertainty. Bitshala said in an official statement: “When we talk about building seizure-resistant money for uncertain times, this is exactly what we mean.” Relevant open-source repositories are now public, letting Meshtastic devices connect to Bitcoin Core. Transaction data splits into smaller ch

April 4 (local time) — The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Public Relations Department announced Wednesday that the IRGC downed an enemy MQ-1 drone over Iran’s Isfahan Province. Also on Wednesday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) stated in a release that its air force conducted airstrikes against multiple targets in Tehran, Iran’s capital, on April 3. The strikes targeted several key Iranian infrastructure sites, including: - An IRGC air defense facility storing missiles for targeting airborne objects; - A military base tasked with protecting Iran’s weapons development facilities; - A ballistic missile storage location; - Several weapons production and research facilities. Iran has not responded to the strikes.

April 4th — Per OnchainLens monitoring, a recently created wallet has received 40,000 ETH (valued at roughly $82.12 million) from FalconX. The address is most likely linked to Bitmine. Wallet Address: 0x9783b6Ec1350a77D8D758A724B1052a027Cb67a7