A certain BTC whale sold off to break even, closing a short position of $13.2 million.

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.

April 27 — French authorities have launched a large-scale crackdown on violent robberies targeting cryptocurrency holders (commonly called "rubber-hose attacks") and formally charged 88 people, including some minors. These crimes typically involve criminals using violence to force victims to hand over their crypto assets. Since 2023, France has recorded 135 such crypto-related violent incidents. The enforcement action highlights a nationwide uptick in offline crimes against crypto holders as cryptocurrency values rise.

April 27 — Investors’ risk appetite has rebounded to pre-war levels, per a Goldman Sachs analysis. Analysts note stock market volatility has dropped sharply as investors bet the worst-case US-Iran war scenario won’t materialize. US retail investors have re-entered the market, while automated trading has also lifted equities. As part of the risk appetite rebound, investors pulled nearly $125 billion from money market funds — typically viewed as safe havens — over the four weeks ending last Wednesday. The analysts call this cash outflow one of the largest on record.

April 27 — The European Union has rolled out its most sweeping sanctions against Russia in two years, targeting efforts to evade economic penalties using digital assets. Under the new rules, crypto service providers and exchanges operating in Russia are strictly barred from conducting business. The measures also block Russia’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) — the Digital Ruble — and the Ruble-backed stablecoin RUBx. Additionally, any EU-based entity is prohibited from providing technical support for the Digital Ruble’s development. Citing data from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, the sanctioned A7A5 ecosystem has processed a total of $119.7 billion in transactions. This round of sanctions also targets 20 Russian banks, four foreign financial institutions linked to Russia’s SPFS financial messaging system, and Kyrgyzstan-based exchange platform TengriCoin. Per the regulations, EU residents may not engage in any transactions with crypto or DeFi platforms in Russia o