#Gate广场四月发帖挑战 Daily Must-Read 260408 | US-Iran Ceasefire Agreement Reached: Crude Oil Plummets 15%, BTC Breaks Through 72k, SEC Regulatory New Rules Coming Soon

I. Major Events in the Crypto World
1. Cryptocurrency News
Headlines
US-Iran Reach Temporary Two-Week Ceasefire Agreement, Crude Oil Drops 15%, Bitcoin Surges Past 72k
On April 8, Trump announced agreement to pause bombing and attacks on Iran for two weeks. The Iranian Supreme National Security Council issued a statement early on April 8 local time, saying that, based on the advice of the Supreme Leader and approval from the Supreme National Security Council, they accept Pakistan’s ceasefire proposal. Iran stated that Iran-U.S. negotiations will begin on the 10th in Islamabad.
According to BitMarket data, due to easing tensions in the Middle East, Nasdaq futures rose by 2%; WTI crude oil dropped 15%, breaking below $100; spot gold rose over 3.2%, currently at $4,811 per ounce. Bitcoin rebounded and broke through $72k, currently at $72,460, up 5.52% in 24 hours.
CoinGlass data shows that in the past 12 hours, on-chain crude oil liquidations reached $34.75 million, on-chain Brent crude oil liquidations reached $31.02 million, both mainly long liquidations.
At 21:34 on April 7, the three major US stock indices opened lower, and crypto stocks declined across the board.
At 21:34 on April 7, according to BitMarket data, US stocks opened with the Dow down 0.2%, S&P 500 down 0.18%, Nasdaq down 0.3%. Crypto stocks also declined, including: Coinbase (COIN) down 2.09%, Circle (CRCL) down 2.33%, Strategy (MSTR) down 1.61%, Gemini (GEMI) down 0.92%, Bitmine (BMNR) down 2.82%, SharpLink Gaming (SBET) down 3.13%, Bit Digital (BTBT) down 2.57%, ALT5 Sigma (ALTS) down 1.72%, American Bitcoin (ABTC) down 1.66%, Kindly MD (NAKA) down 0.55%, Solana Co (HSDT) down 2.63%.

SEC Chair: Soon to Release "Regulatory Rules" on Cryptocurrency Financing
On April 7, CoinDesk reported that SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated on Monday that the agency is about to propose a "cryptocurrency regulation" plan to clarify its approach to regulating the crypto industry, and to delineate which transactions may be considered securities and which are not.
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said that the new "cryptocurrency regulation" has been submitted to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, meaning it is just one step away from official release. He mentioned that this rulemaking is mainly based on the Securities Act of 1933 and will involve issues such as financing and startup exemptions.
After the Q&A session, he added that the SEC also plans to soon introduce the long-awaited "Innovation Exemption."

Wintermute Weekly Report: Geopolitical Tensions Dominate Market, Bitcoin Up 2% Weekly, Nearly Holding 67k Support
On April 7, Wintermute released its latest weekly report, stating that macro factors last week were entirely driven by geopolitical news: on Tuesday, Iran’s president signaled a ceasefire, the S&P 500 surged about 2.9%, Brent crude oil fell back to $105; but on Wednesday, Trump made a tough speech, promising to "very severely" strike Iran within 2-3 weeks and showing no intention to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. WTI crude oil soared 11% to above $111 on Thursday, and Asian markets declined sharply. On Sunday, Trump threatened to bomb Iranian bridges and power plants on Tuesday, while also saying it is "very likely" an agreement will be reached before Monday. Reports indicate that a 45-day ceasefire framework is under discussion.
Currently, the 10-year US Treasury yield has risen to 4.36% (up 40 basis points since the conflict began), and the swap market pricing shows a zero probability of rate cuts at the Federal Reserve meeting on April 28-29. PCE data will be released on Thursday, with market focus on whether oil price shocks will transmit to the Fed’s preferred inflation indicator.

In terms of digital assets, Bitcoin rose only 2.0% last week, with the Fear & Greed Index at 9 (Extreme Fear), and social sentiment at the most bearish level since the conflict began. Institutional buying remains a key support, with March ETF net inflows of $1.32 billion (the strongest since October 2025), Strategy increased holdings by 44k BTC, and Morgan Stanley approved a spot ETF listing at a 14 basis point fee. However, in the last week of March, ETF flows turned negative with outflows of $414 million, and the whale ratio on exchanges increased from 0.34 in January to 0.79, with OTC data also showing institutions shifting from buying to neutral or net selling. Ethereum performed strongly (+4.2%), with staking yields becoming a differentiator in the "higher for longer" interest rate environment. Solana, affected by the Drift protocol hack (loss of $285 million, the second-largest hack in Solana history), fell below $80.
Wintermute notes that Tuesday’s Strait of Hormuz deadline is critical. The 45-day ceasefire is the most concrete easing effort since the conflict began, but damage to Iran’s energy facilities, Gulf refineries, and port logistics has already occurred, making a full ceasefire insufficient to restore pre-war shipping capacity overnight. If Tuesday’s "Power Plant Day" threats materialize and Iran retaliates, oil risk premiums will immediately rebuild.

Analysis: AI Computing Power Competition for Electricity Resources, Bitcoin Miners Shift to Leasing Hash Power for More Stable Income
On April 7, CoinDesk reported that AI computing power development is becoming one of the largest new sources of electricity demand in the US, coinciding with a critical decision point for Bitcoin miners: continue mining or lease their infrastructure to AI companies for income.
This trend is becoming increasingly evident. Core Scientific, through its partnership with CoreWeave, is converting most of its mining hash power into AI hosting services. Iris Energy and Hut 8 have also expanded their AI and high-performance computing (HPC) revenues. Riot Platforms, MARA Holdings, and Genius Group disclosed last week that they sold over 19,000 BTC, indicating that mining economics alone are no longer sufficient to sustain operations at current prices and network difficulty. A Bitcoin miner operating with 1 gigawatt of hash power will see its income fluctuate with Bitcoin price and network difficulty. Leasing the same 1 gigawatt to AI companies can secure contractual revenue and predictable cash flow.
At Bitcoin prices of $69,000, with network difficulty at a record high and energy costs rising due to competition among industrial users for the same grid capacity, leasing hash power to AI often yields higher returns. However, this does not mean Bitcoin mining is dying. Network hash rate continues to set records above 1 zettahash/sec. But miners surviving this cycle are more like infrastructure companies—mining Bitcoin as a byproduct while leasing their real assets—large-scale cheap electricity—to AI industries that cannot quickly build data centers.

Market View
Opinion: Polymarket can generate $54 million annual interest income from $1.25 billion user funds
On April 7, DeFiLlama founder 0xngmi discussed that Polymarket will launch its native stablecoin Polymarket USD, and stated that the total user wallet funds amount to about $1.25 billion. If the platform retains the interest income, it could generate approximately $54 million annually at current rates.
Project Updates
Polymarket fee adjustment boosts on-chain prediction market’s fee share to 97%
On April 7, after Polymarket adjusted fees on March 30, its fee income surged. In the first week of April, the platform generated about $7.1 million in fees, with an annualized yield of approximately $365 million, accounting for 96.8% of total on-chain prediction market fees.
Based on fee revenue, Polymarket has become the eighth-largest DeFi protocol, behind major projects like Circle (USDC), Tether (USDT), and Hyperliquid. The platform’s total value locked (TVL) exceeds $432 million, approaching the $510 million high during the US election in November 2024.
In terms of infrastructure, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), owner of the NYSE, completed a $600 million cash investment in Polymarket on March 27, as part of its $2 billion commitment. ICE will distribute the platform’s event-driven data to institutional clients. Additionally, Polymarket announced replacing the USDC.e collateral bridge on Polygon with a new 1:1 USDC-backed token called "Polymarket USD."

2. Macro Policy News
Federal Reserve Williams: Middle East Conflict Will Push Up Overall Inflation but Have Little Impact on Core Inflation
On April 7, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President Williams stated that the Iran war will push up overall inflation. The Fed is very focused on core inflation, and despite the Middle East conflict, core inflation has not changed much, with this year’s inflation rate expected around 2.75%. Tariffs remain an important part of the inflation story, but monetary policy is currently in a "wait-and-see" favorable position.