Economist: US March CPI MoM Could Surge 1%, Fed May Face Rate Hike Challenge This Year

April 5 — Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced early on April 5 that its Navy and Aerospace Force jointly executed the 96th wave of the “True Promise-4” operation. In a statement, the IRGC said it launched fierce attacks on the Haifa refinery (which supplies fuel to Israeli warplanes), destroying its core facilities. It also targeted ExxonMobil and Chevron gas facilities in Habshan, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and a petrochemical plant in Ruwais, UAE, with missiles. Additionally, multiple petrochemical facilities in Sitra, Bahrain, and Shuwaikh, Kuwait, were struck by drones and missiles. Those sites were fully shut down, and large-scale fires broke out. Source: CCTV News

On April 5, former President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social claiming U.S. forces rescued a severely injured, brave F-15 fighter jet pilot—an officer and highly respected colonel—from deep in Iran’s mountains. Iran’s military had deployed extensively for a thorough search and was closing in on the target, he said. Trump noted such raids are rarely conducted due to significant risk to personnel and equipment, calling the operation “unheard of.” A second raid followed the first, and the pilot was rescued in broad daylight—another unprecedented detail, as U.S. forces remained over Iranian airspace for seven hours. Trump praised the courage and skill of all involved, adding he will hold a press conference with military officials in the Oval Office on Monday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.

April 5th: On-chain investigator Tay (@tayvano_) revealed that a large number of North Korean IT workers have been deeply involved in building various blockchain protocols we know and love since the 2020 DeFi Summer. Their resume claim of “7 years of blockchain development experience” isn’t fake—they do have hands-on experience. The crypto protocols in question include SushiSwap, THORChain, Harmony, Ankr, Shib, and Yearn, among others.

On April 5, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a statement claiming it targeted petrochemical facilities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, and Bahrain; an oil refinery in Israel; and a gas facility in the UAE. Should another attack on civilian targets in Iran occur, the impact on U.S. economic interests in the region will escalate further.

April 5: Jan3 CEO Samson Mow took aim at Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong again, criticizing him for meddling in Bitcoin technical decisions. Mow noted the issues Armstrong highlighted during the block size war a decade ago remain unchanged today. He argued Armstrong lacks humility and a deep grasp of the issues, prioritizing setting opinions, action plans, and timelines over analyzing trade-offs. Mow also pointed out Coinbase’s own address reuse problem has left its wallet infrastructure vulnerable to quantum attacks and caused frequent outages during transaction peaks—suggesting Armstrong should “fix his own house first.” Mow believes the quantum computer threat has not materialized and is not expected to do so in the next 10–20 years. Thus, there should be no rush to switch from ECDSA/Schnorr to post-quantum signatures; instead, it’s “better late than early” to avoid greater risks. He detailed three major downsides of a hasty anti-quantum upgrade: 1. It could expose Bitcoin t

April 5 — Garrett Jin, an agent with "BTC OG Insider Whale," published a lengthy article titled *Oil is War*, arguing that oil is not a byproduct of the U.S.-Iran conflict but its core driver. All other economic and financial variables—including stocks, bonds, cryptocurrencies, Fed policy, and food prices—are downstream outcomes of oil prices; accurately forecasting oil trends will clarify the direction of the entire market. Jin contends the U.S.-Iran conflict has moved beyond expectations of "surgical airstrikes" to become a long-term attritional war. The ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz will drive a structural rise in oil prices, not a temporary surge. The conflict has escalated into a protracted battle: the strait has been closed for over five weeks, U.S. ground forces are massing, and there is no clear path to victory or signs of rapid de-escalation. Iran’s strategy is not to win but to make the war costly enough to force Washington to seek an exit. The most likely sce