Gate Crypto Flash News and Market Updates

On April 15, 2025, the USDC Treasury minted 250 million USDC on Ethereum, indicating potential institutional demand. USDC is backed by dollar reserves and operates under regulatory frameworks like the U.S. Stablecoin Act of 2024.

Maine's legislature passed a bill on April 14 to pause approval of large data centers until October 2027, allowing for an assessment of their impact on the power grid and environment. The bill awaits Governor Janet Mills' signature.

ICE revoked the green card of Seyed Eisa Hashemi, son of former Iranian VP Masoumeh Ebtekar, and arrested him. This follows the Trump administration's actions against relatives of Iranian officials, emphasizing a stance against anti-American individuals in the U.S.

Elastic Security Labs revealed that threat actors impersonated venture capital firms on LinkedIn and Telegram to deploy a Windows RAT named PHANTOMPULSE, using Obsidian note vaults for attacks, which Elastic Defend successfully blocked.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu may be using U.S.-Israel-Lebanon talks to delay negotiations with Hezbollah while continuing military operations, despite hopes for a peace deal beyond the 2024 ceasefire agreement.

Vertex Holdings announced that Dilhan Pillay will be the new board chairman, succeeding Teo Ming Kian, effective April 15. This change is part of a major restructuring at Temasek, which includes creating three entities for focused investment solutions.

South Korean AI startup Upstage has raised $120 million in Series C funding, becoming the country's first generative AI unicorn. The funds will enhance its AI models and expand internationally, driven by demand for its cost-effective document processing solutions.

Zerion confirmed a recent AI-driven social engineering attack by North Korean hackers, resulting in a $100,000 loss from corporate hot wallets. User funds remain safe, and the company has taken precautionary measures. This follows another significant attack on Drift Protocol.

Shin Hyun-song, nominee for Bank of Korea governor, acknowledged the coexistence of CBDCs and stablecoins at a confirmation hearing. He proposed a three-pronged approach for the won's internationalization and pledged to divest foreign assets to prevent conflicts of interest.

Copper prices rose as traders reacted to U.S.-Iran peace talks, reversing a six-week decline. Improved market sentiment, driven by increased Chinese demand and easing inflation fears, suggests long-term growth in copper demand, particularly from AI data centers.

GitLab announced a partnership with Google Cloud, boosting its stock by nearly 7%. The collaboration integrates GitLab's Duo Agent with Google Cloud's Vertex AI, enhancing enterprise developer workflows. A new commercial model allows cloud customers to use existing commitments for GitLab services.

Naver issued $1.09 billion in green bonds to fund eco-friendly data centers and ESG initiatives. The investment supports its carbon neutrality goal by 2040 and contributes to South Korea's AI strategy by advancing GPU deployment.

On April 15, Enerhodar lost electricity after a strike by Ukrainian forces, according to Mayor Dmytro Orlov. Critical facilities are using backup generators, and efforts to restore power are ongoing. Ukrainian officials have not yet commented.

PongBot, a Shanghai-based sports training robot maker, secured nearly 200 million yuan in Series A funding to enhance product development and expand globally. Backed by various venture firms, the company focuses on tennis and table tennis robots.

On April 15, Japanese and South Korean stock markets saw gains, with Japan's Nikkei 225 increasing by 0.44% to 58,134.24 points and South Korea's KOSPI rising by 2.07% to 6,091.39 points.

NVIDIA's N1 development board, co-developed with MediaTek, has appeared on a second-hand market for about $1,370. Featuring 10 high-performance and 10 energy-efficient CPU cores, it aims to boost gaming and content creation on Arm-based Windows PCs. Official details are expected at GTC 2026.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the Trump administration's "Operation Epic Fury" against Iran as a failure, highlighting Congress's lack of oversight. He plans to introduce a resolution to limit presidential war powers until accountability is ensured.

Societe Generale's digital asset unit, Societe Generale-FORGE, has launched a USD stablecoin, USD CoinVertible, on MetaMask, allowing users to manage tokens directly in the wallet via a partnership with Consensys.

The Winklevoss brothers withdrew $42.77 million in Bitcoin from a major exchange, reducing their holdings to 8,800 BTC, the lowest since 2012, after depositing $128.5 million a month earlier.

The EBRD announced a $65 million loan for a $180 million renewable energy project in Egypt's Western Desert, featuring a 200MW solar plant and battery storage, aiming to cut carbon emissions by 280,000 tonnes yearly.