Trump and US Military at Odds over the Strait Blockade, Actual Blockade or Limited to Iranian Ports

April 13: Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan said the city is taking a “small-step-fast-walk” approach to stablecoin regulation—starting with a small number of licenses, which require applicants to have real-world use cases. A second batch of licenses will be issued after rolling out the first and learning from the experience. Chan noted stablecoins and digital assets fall under financial innovation, so the city must balance encouraging growth with managing risks—including anti-money laundering (AML) rules and other regulatory safeguards. He emphasized stablecoins offer decentralization and efficiency benefits but are fundamentally payment tools, not investments. Additionally, Chan said given the current international backdrop and security landscape, Hong Kong must stay highly vigilant, pursuing “active defense” by boosting its financial market competitiveness and global reach. The government and financial institutions have set up a 24/7 cross-market monitoring system to kee

April 13: As BTC saw a slight retracement today, HYPE rebounded above $41, per data from HyperInsight monitoring (via their Telegram channel @HyperInsight). A whale that has long profited from a BTC long strategy—whose “long BTC, resilient to altcoin price drops” play is once again under pressure—has recorded $1.9M in outflows this week. Current holdings for the address (0x939f95036d2e7b6d7419ec072bf9d967352204d2): - BTC Long (40x leverage): Position size = $30.06M, average entry price = $70,557 - HYPE Short (5x leverage): Position size = $23.03M, average entry price = $38.93 The whale began building positions during HYPE’s last surge, completing its full position by March 20 with a total size of ~$53M. Since establishing the positions, the net loss across both is ~$1.32M; the combined position remains unprofitable.

**Asia Stocks Extend Gap Down-Recovery Trend on April 13** Asia stock markets continued their “gap down-recovery” pattern on Monday, April 13. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s KOSPI both opened sharply lower, but losses quickly narrowed. Since the Iran conflict escalated, Monday’s pullback has seen shrinking magnitude—falling from nearly double-digit declines to the current mild range—signaling reduced market sensitivity to geopolitical conflict impacts. From a trading lens, the “Trump Model” is being systematically priced in: Each week, it creates uncertainty via policy signals or tough statements; over the weekend, it eases positions or claims an “outcome victory” to repair expectations, pushing risk assets higher. After repeated confirmation under this framework, appetite for trading early-week volatility has faded, selling pressure has eased, and volatility patterns are trending toward convergence.

**April 13 – Market Update** WTI crude oil jumped nearly 10% Wednesday, recouping most of last week’s losses. It was last trading at $104.88, per Bitget market data. **News Break: U.S.-Iran Talks Collapse; Trump Announces Blocking Measures** U.S.-Iran negotiations have collapsed. Former President Trump stated: “Due to Iran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz, the entire world is relying on the U.S. for oil. Tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET [corresponding to 10 p.m. Beijing time tonight], we will implement blocking measures. Other countries are also working to ensure Iran cannot sell oil—the effect will be excellent! Many ships are heading to the U.S. to refuel before departing to transport oil, so they won’t pass through the Strait of Hormuz. This issue will eventually be resolved.” He added: “The whole world depends on the U.S. Thanks to the ‘drill, baby, drill’ campaign, our oil reserves have grown—they’re now larger than the combined total of Russia and Saudi Arabia. Right now, sh

On April 13, Trump stated that amid Iran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz, the world is relying on the U.S. for oil. We’ll implement blockade measures at 10 a.m. tomorrow (10 p.m. Beijing time tonight). Other countries are also working to stop Iran from selling oil — and this will be very effective! Many ships are coming to the U.S. to refuel before transporting oil, so they won’t pass through the Strait of Hormuz. This issue will be resolved eventually. The whole world depends on the U.S. Thanks to the “Drill, Baby, Drill” campaign, our oil reserves are higher than Russia and Saudi Arabia’s combined. Right now, ships are arriving one after another to refuel and no longer need to go through the Strait of Hormuz!

On April 13th, per GMGN monitoring, Chinese meme coins on the BSC chain surged today. **Binance Life** has posted a 360% weekly gain and over 45% daily increase, potentially spreading bullish sentiment across the entire Chinese meme coin sector. Tokens like "Lobster" and "Hakimi" have recorded gains of up to 20%. Below are key token metrics (as of now): - **"I'm here to step on the horse"**: Market cap = $9.6M | 24h gain = 16% - **"Lobster"**: Market cap = $8.3M | 24h gain = over 22% - **"Hakimi"**: Market cap = $8.2M | 24h gain = over 20% - **"Co-build"**: Market cap = $3.3M | 24h gain = over 27% ### Notes on U.S. English adaptation: 1. Used **"per GMGN monitoring"** (concise, common in U.S. financial/meme coin updates) instead of "according to". 2. Replaced "market value" with **"market cap"** (standard shorthand for *market capitalization* in U.S. crypto circles). 3. Added **"bullish sentiment"** (clearer for U.S. readers familiar with crypto trend terminolog