Reuters: U.S. to Block Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea Off Oman

April 13 — Pakistani Defense Minister Asif stated in an interview that the prospect of the U.S. and Iran resuming negotiations remains, with a new round of talks set to begin soon.

April 13: An article in the American Bankers Association (ABA) Banking Journal on April 13 notes that experts—including the ABA’s Chief Economist—argue the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA)’s recent payment stablecoin research report raises misleading questions for policymakers. The CEA report focuses on *how a ban on payment stablecoin issuance would impact bank lending*, concluding the ban would boost bank lending by just ~$1.2 billion with minimal overall effect. But the ABA contends the real policy concern is not the consequences of a “ban,” but the risks of allowing **yield-bearing** payment stablecoins: - **Accelerated deposit outflows**: Yield incentives would drive households and businesses to shift funds from bank deposits (especially at community banks) to stablecoins—with significant impact if the market grows to $1–$2 trillion. ABA analysis shows Iowa alone could see $4.4 billion–$8.7 billion in reduced loans. - **Community bank harm**: Deposit outflows

On April 13, Fortune reported that Foundry—Bitcoin mining pool giant—has officially launched a mining pool for privacy coin Zcash, a move seen as a major endorsement of the crypto. Foundry CEO Mike Colyer noted the Zcash pool launch comes as large institutions show growing interest in so-called "privacy coins." The pool has already signed on several institutional clients, with its computing power now making up nearly one-third of Zcash’s total network hashrate. Zcash currently ranks as the 15th-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, with a valuation of roughly $6.3 billion. Launched in 2016, it uses zero-knowledge proof technology to enable transaction privacy. Unlike competitor Monero, Zcash’s architecture supports selective disclosure—making it more regulatory-compliant and thus more appealing to big institutions like banks.

April 13 — Morgan Stanley has shifted to a cautious bullish stance, saying the market has largely priced in recent risks. Strategist Michael Wilson noted the S&P 500 has rebounded roughly 7% from its lows and held above a key support level, suggesting the retracement may be nearing an end.

Bitmine announced today (April 13) that its combined holdings of cryptocurrency, cash, and assets tied to its “Moonshot Plan” have reached $11.8 billion as of 3:30 PM U.S. Eastern Time on April 12, 2026. The company’s holdings include: - 4,874,858 ETH - 198 BTC - A $200 million investment in Beast Industries - An $85 million investment in Eightco Holdings (NASDAQ: ORBS) - $7.19 billion in cash Bitmine’s ETH holdings represent 4.04% of Ethereum’s total circulating supply (120.7 million ETH). “The Iran War, now in its seventh week, remains the biggest driver of global markets,” said Bitmine Chairman Thomas “Tom” Lee. “Since the conflict began, ETH has surged 17.4%—outperforming the S&P 500 by 1830 basis points to become the top-performing asset. We calculate ETH has beaten gold by 2743 basis points, proving it’s a reliable value storage tool during wartime.” “Ethereum continues to ride two major tailwinds: Wall Street’s push to tokenize assets on blockchain networks

April 13, 2026 MGBX is launching its RAVE New Customer Promotion, running April 14 through April 19, 2026 (SGT), open to all platform users. Eligible new users who complete three key steps—registration, KYC verification, and a trade—will earn RAVE token rewards. Rewards are tiered by transaction volume, with a maximum of 10 to 20 RAVE tokens per participant.