Gate Crypto Flash News and Market Updates

Gate News message: On April 1, the U.S. recorded a 0.6% month-over-month retail sales growth rate for February, exceeding the market expectation of 0.5%, reaching a new high in over six months.

Gate News: According to the latest Gate TradFi data, NKE (Nike) has dropped by 8% in a short period. Current volatility is significantly higher than recent averages, indicating increased market activity.

Richmond Fed President Barkin said that high oil prices are viewed as a short-term disruption and that there is no sign of a noticeable reduction in consumer spending. He added that rate hikes may need to be strengthened if inflation expectations rise, and there is currently no indication of that; rate cuts depend on inflation easing or the labor market weakening.

Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment plans to include OpenAI in three exchange-traded funds, with total holdings of about $240 million, reflecting retail investors’ demand for private tech companies. This is ARK’s first time offering ordinary investors the opportunity to invest in OpenAI through an ETF.

Gate News update: On April 1, U.S. ADP (Automatic Data Processing, a U.S. private-sector employment data provider) reported that employment increased by 62,000 in March, above the market expectation of 40,000, and roughly flat compared with last month’s 63,000.

At the EthCC conference, Protocol Guild contributor cheeky-gorilla said that Ethereum L1 core developers are paid less than the market, and that high-performance projects lure them away with higher salaries, which could cause critical roadmaps to stall. To protect the Ethereum ecosystem, they urged project teams to give back to Protocol Guild with a "1% Pledge," emphasizing the necessity of maintaining L1 development.

Gate News, on April 1, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon revealed that the firm is considering offering prediction market services to clients. Dimon said that JPMorgan Chase may launch prediction market services similar to Kalshi and Polymarket in the future, but it will make it clear that it will not get involved in sports and politics, and will strictly comply with regulations related to material nonpublic information. Dimon believes that prediction markets have investment attributes in certain areas, and that participants can use their deep professional knowledge to judge that their prediction of a particular outcome is better than that of the other party.

In March 2026, total funding in the crypto primary market reached $2.58 billion, up sharply 286.3% from February. DeFi, CeFi, and infrastructure are the main funding areas. The predicted-market projects Kalshi and Polymarket together raised $1.6 billion, accounting for 64.3% of the total. M&A events pushed the broader total funding amount to $4.279 billion.

A report released on April 1 shows that on March 30 and 31, Bitcoin ETFs saw net inflows of $69.4 million and $114 million, respectively, ending the outflow trend. The main sources of inflows were ARK Invest and Fidelity. In the derivatives market, shorts are dominant; the funding rate remains negative, and there is a dense liquidation zone below the current Bitcoin price of $66.5k.

Orderly will host a perpetual futures trading competition from April 1 to April 21. The focus shifts to trading technical skills and risk management capabilities, with support for AI Agents to participate. The prize pool starts at $25,000, and the dynamic prize pool can exceed $35,000. 30% of participants will receive awards and get additional points. Participants can earn extra points through social accounts and by inviting friends.

Gate News message, April 1, the intraday spot gold gain has widened to 2.00%, currently reported at 4760.61 USD/ounce. The spot silver price is 75.259 USD, up 0.13% intraday; Brent crude (the international crude oil benchmark price) is 99.86 USD, down 2.22% intraday; WTI crude (West Texas Intermediate) is 98.870 USD, down 2.87% intraday.

Grayscale research head Zach Pandl said that the current tokenization market is about $27 billion, and is expected to grow to nearly $190 trillion by 2033. Development will be rolled out in phases: early on, institution-led permissioned networks will lead, while in the long term, Ethereum will become the primary platform for decentralized finance.

Polymarket adds a new prediction event to discuss whether Trump Mobile will be released before the end of April or before the end of June. At present, the probability before the end of April is 6%, and before the end of June is 22%. A release only counts as official if it is available for the public to buy by the specified time, and the company’s past plans have been delayed.

Gate News: According to the latest Gate TradFi data, XAUUSD (Gold) has surged by 2% in a short period. Current volatility is significantly higher than recent averages, indicating increased market activity.

Ethereum Foundation researcher Devansh Mehta proposed a Validator Revenue Redistribution (VRR) plan at the EthCC conference. It would allow validators to independently redirect a portion of their staked rewards to designated smart contracts, such as public funding platforms or audit organizations. The goal of this proposal is to empower validators to participate in ecosystem governance and security building while reducing reliance on centralized donations.

Gate News update. On April 1, according to people familiar with the matter, Usman Ahmad, CEO of Zodia Markets, the cryptocurrency trading company under Standard Chartered, has left the company. The Zodia Markets website shows that Nick Philpott, who previously served as the company’s head of partnerships, has been appointed interim CEO. As of now, both Zodia Markets and Standard Chartered’s spokespeople have declined to comment on the matter.

U.S. mortgage rates have risen for four straight weeks, reaching the highest level since last August, dampening refinancing and home-buying activity. The 30-year mortgage rate rose to 6.57%, and both the home purchase application index and the refinancing index declined. Inflation concerns have driven rates higher, as the low borrowing-cost effects seen earlier in the year have faded.

Gate News message, on April 1, due to Iran shutting the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia’s oil exports in March fell by 50%.

Bitcoin mining company Cango Inc. received a remediation notice from the New York Stock Exchange because its share price stayed below $1.00 for 30 consecutive trading days. It has a six-month remediation period. If it does not meet the requirements, it will face a suspension of trading and delisting, but the company’s operations and filing obligations will not be affected.

The chairman of Iran’s government information commission, Hazratati, said that although there are disagreements within the country, the Iranian people remain united in the face of foreign aggression and have confidence in the armed forces and the government. He criticized Trump’s misjudgment of the situation in Iran and emphasized that the enemy failed to achieve its goals.