The S&P 500 closed at a record high as the U.S.'s ceasefire with Iran entered its second week.

April 16 — The Federal Reserve said economic activity in most U.S. regions continued to grow at a modest to slight pace, while fresh uncertainty and higher energy costs tied to a potential conflict with Iran began to weigh on conditions. In the Beige Book released Wednesday, the Fed said overall price increases remained moderate, but energy and fuel costs rose "significantly" across all 12 Federal Reserve districts. "The conflict in the Middle East is viewed as a significant source of uncertainty, increasing complexity for businesses in hiring, pricing, and capital investment decisions, prompting many to adopt a wait-and-see approach," the Fed said. The report, compiled by the New York Fed and based on information through April 6, outlines the war's early effects on the U.S. economy. Oil-price shocks linked to the conflict have lifted gasoline prices, helping push U.S. inflation in March to its largest increase since 2022. Several Fed policymakers have indicated they prefer to keep interest rates unchanged for an extended period while evaluating incoming data. (Jin10)

U.S. stocks finished Wednesday, April 16, mixed, with the S&P 500 up 0.8% and the Nasdaq climbing 1.59%, both closing at record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.15%. Tesla (TSLA.O) surged 7.6%, Apple (AAPL.O) gained nearly 3%, and SanDisk (SNDK.O) dropped 5.5%. (Jinshi)

BlockBeats reported that on April 16, the S&P 500 set a new intraday high in Wednesday trading, marking its first fresh record since the Iran war broke out. Risk appetite improved as investors bet on a cooling of the conflict and looked for solid earnings to underpin equities. The move suggests markets are assigning a lower probability to near-term escalation, even as geopolitical risks remain. When fighting erupted last month, global stocks sold off sharply, oil markets saw historic dislocations, and inflation worries resurfaced alongside renewed uncertainty over the U.S. interest-rate outlook. Since the conflict began on February 28, the S&P 500 has at one point fallen as much as 9%, stopping short of a confirmed "technical correction," while both the Nasdaq and the Dow Jones have slipped into correction territory. Improving corporate earnings expectations have also helped stabilize sentiment. Senior executives at major banks said that despite the oil-price shock, U.S. consumers have held up well, and pipelines for mergers and acquisitions as well as IPOs remain strong. (Jin10)

Tron founder Justin Sun escalated his public clash with Trump-linked crypto project WLFI ($0.08085) on Wednesday, denouncing a newly introduced governance proposal as "one of the most absurd governance scams" he has encountered. In a lengthy post on X, Sun said the vote is structured to penalize opposition, warning that token holders who vote against the proposal could see their WLFI locked indefinitely. He also claimed he and other major holders were shut out of the process, alleging tokens representing about 4% of voting power under his control have been frozen. Sun also questioned whether the vote carries real authority, arguing that protocol control resides with anonymous wallet addresses. He pointed to a multisignature arrangement capable of overriding outcomes, and a separate account with the ability to blacklist users. "This proposal is not governance," Sun wrote. "It is an exercise of power by the selected few who are carefully engineering a further power consolidation and property expropriation operation." The dispute centers on WLFI's proposal to overhaul token lockups across the ecosystem. More than 62 billion WLFI tokens would shift to new terms featuring multiyear lockups and vesting schedules. Tokens held by insiders, including team members, advisors and partners, would be subject to a two-year lockup followed by a three-year gradual release, along with a 10% token burn for those who opt in. Early supporters would face slightly shorter vesting timelines and no burn. In total, up to 4.5 billion tokens could be permanently destroyed. Under the proposal, holders who do not accept the revised terms would remain locked indefinitely. Sun was not the only critic. Moonrock Capital founder Simon Dedic said early investors had effectively been "rugged." "All the $WLFI early investors who thought they were sitting on solid profits just got rugged, by the Trump family themselves," Dedic wrote on X, adding that the move appeared to give the project another opportunity to extract value from investors. He also alleged "blatant misconduct" with little attempt to hide it. A World Liberty Financial spokesperson told CoinDesk the proposal "was designed to further align all the participants in the WLFI ecosystem for the long-run," and said it aims to "optimally ensure long-term participation in our ecosystem and help ensure healthy market supply." The backlash is the latest chapter in a deteriorating relationship between Sun and the project. Earlier this week, WLFI threatened legal action, saying it had "contracts" and "evidence" after Sun accused the team of exploiting users through DeFi transactions. The dispute has been building for months. In September, WLFI blacklisted a blockchain address linked to Sun that held about $107 million worth of its governance tokens at the time. The shift underscores how sharply ties have reversed since late 2024, when Sun was a prominent backer, investing $30 million in WLFI tokens and taking an advisory role. Tensions sharpened after WLFI deposited 5 billion of its own tokens into lending protocol Dolomite, where one of its advisers is a co-founder, and borrowed roughly $75 million in stablecoins. The token dropped 12% to a record low the following day. Sun then accused the project of treating users as "personal ATMs," prompting the latest legal threats.

Odaily Planet Daily reports that CME's FedWatch tool shows markets pricing in a 98.4% chance the Federal Reserve leaves interest rates unchanged at its April meeting, versus a 1.6% probability of a 25-basis-point hike. Looking ahead to June, FedWatch indicates a 0% chance of cumulative 25-basis-point cuts, a 98% probability rates remain unchanged, and a 2% chance of a cumulative 25-basis-point increase.

Tether, the issuer of USDT, has increased its Bitcoin reserves after adding 951 BTC, bringing total holdings to 97,141 BTC—worth roughly $7.2 billion at current prices. On-chain data cited by market reports shows the latest coins were transferred from Bitfinex to a wallet widely tracked as Tether's Bitcoin reserve address. The transaction value was estimated between $70.47 million and $70.74 million, depending on the Bitcoin price used at the time. The purchase aligns with a strategy Tether outlined in 2023: allocating up to 15% of realized operating profits to Bitcoin. The company has said it funds crypto purchases with earnings from its stablecoin business and related operations, rather than raising external capital. Tether's reserve wallet has become a closely watched address after receiving periodic transfers following quarter-end reporting periods. With the latest increase, it ranks among the largest on-chain Bitcoin wallets and has been described in the cited reports as the fifth-largest holder by wallet size. The growing position also places Tether among the largest corporate-style Bitcoin holders associated with a privately held company. ### Profit-funded accumulation continues Based on the referenced on-chain data, the 951 BTC transfer appears to reflect part of Tether's first-quarter 2026 Bitcoin buying. The company has repeatedly accumulated Bitcoin through Bitfinex before moving it into the reserve wallet after the quarter closes. Tether did not publicly confirm the specific transaction in the provided reports, but the destination address matches one previously linked to its reserve activity. The Bitcoin program was introduced as part of a broader reserve diversification plan, with Tether positioning Bitcoin as a recurring allocation alongside core reserve assets. ### Reserves expand alongside the USDT business USDT remains the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, estimated in the supplied reports at around $185 billion. Tether also reported more than $10 billion in profit for 2025, supported by growth in USDT circulation and income tied to U.S. Treasury holdings. Reserve disclosures cited in the reports indicated up to $141 billion in exposure to U.S. government debt and $6.3 billion in excess reserves against $186.5 billion in liabilities. Tether was also reported to hold $17.4 billion in gold. Within that broader treasury structure, Bitcoin represents an increasingly visible component, expanding through quarterly purchases. ### Market focus on Tether's Bitcoin footprint The rise to 97,141 BTC has kept attention on Tether's influence in Bitcoin supply dynamics, given that large reserve holders can affect sentiment around long-term demand. Some reports cited an estimated average acquisition cost near $51,312 per coin, implying substantial unrealized gains at recent market levels. The latest move comes as Bitcoin has traded around the mid-$70,000 range, a period when corporate and institutional treasury activity has remained in focus. Unlike ETFs or publicly listed treasury firms, Tether's approach is described as being funded by operating profits tied to the stablecoin business.

XRP looks set for a standout week, supported by fresh ETF flow data. Figures from @SoSoValueCrypto show the five U.S. spot @Ripple $XRP ETFs recorded $11.2 million in net inflows on April 14, lifting total net inflows for April to $23.16 million. While the pace is notable, it remains well below the surge seen in November and December 2025, when net inflows reached $666.6 million and $499.9 million, respectively.

ChainCatcher reports that open interest (OI) in Hyperliquid's HIP3 market climbed to a peak of about $2.38 billion and remains elevated near $2.1 billion, up roughly 580% year to date. The surge is being led by "non-crypto assets." Among the platform's top 10 markets by trading activity, only three are crypto pairs. The remainder are tokenized equities and commodities, including the Nasdaq Index, the S&P 500, crude oil, gold, and silver. Analysts attribute the momentum to demand for 24/7 access to traditional-asset exposure. With on-chain settlement and a structure that removes intermediaries, HIP3 allows investors to trade tokenized stocks and commodities around the clock, avoiding the fixed trading hours of conventional markets. Liquidity is highly concentrated: TradeXYZ accounts for more than 90% of HIP3's open interest, making it the dominant source of depth in the segment.