#Gate广场四月发帖挑战 Daily Must-Read 260415 | US-Iran Talks Imminent, WTI Premium Surges Past Brent for the First Time in Four Years, Scam Coins Reappear

Crypto Industry Major Events

Cryptocurrency News

Bitcoin Rebounds to $76k
BlockBeats reported that on April 14, according to market data, Bitcoin rebounded to $76,000, currently quoted at $76,000, up 5.98% in 24 hours.
Crypto Market Rebounds, Funding Rates Show Pessimistic Sentiment Still Lingers
BlockBeats reported that on April 15, according to market data, Bitcoin is at $74,489.57, up 0.45% in 24 hours. Major CEX and DEX funding rates continue to signal bearishness, and market sentiment remains subdued.
Specifically, BTC funding rates on major platforms like Bn are negative, with shorts paying longs to maintain positions, indicating a broadly bearish outlook. ETH rates on multiple platforms are below 0.005% or negative, showing a similar bearish pattern.
BlockBeats note: Funding rates are set by crypto trading platforms to keep perpetual contract prices aligned with the underlying asset prices. They are a mechanism for funding exchanges between long and short traders, not charged by the platform, used to adjust traders’ costs or gains to keep contract prices close to the spot price.
A funding rate of 0.01% indicates the baseline rate. Rates above 0.01% suggest a bullish market. Rates below 0.005% indicate a bearish market.

WTI Premium Surges Past Brent for the First Time in Four Years, Hormuz Blockade Reshapes Global Oil Pricing Logic
BlockBeats reported that on April 14, since the outbreak of US-Iran conflict on February 28, the global oil market has undergone a profound power reshuffle. On April 2, WTI crude near-month futures prices for the first time in four years surpassed Brent crude, reflecting the brutal reality of energy supply chain restructuring amid war.
The core logic behind the inversion is the re-pricing of "physical security." For a long time, Brent crude enjoyed a premium as a proxy for global maritime trade flows, but after the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed, Brent-related crude from the Persian Gulf, Oman, and the UAE carries a "risk discount," with soaring tanker premiums and some shipments halted entirely. In contrast, WTI oil reaches Gulf Coast refineries via established pipeline networks, making "land route advantage" a key competitive edge during this shipping crisis.
Germini Energy founder Germini said: "Market reactions are extremely fast—buyers no longer pay a premium for 'representing the global market' oil, but for 'getting the oil in hand.'"
From a market structure perspective, an extreme "spot premium" pattern has formed. Currently, December WTI futures are around $77 per barrel, about $25 lower than May futures, as investors scramble to buy spot oil amid current supply disruptions while betting that the conflict may ease in the coming months. In physical markets, some Brent crude prices have already broken through $140 per barrel.
Stratas Advisors President Pasi warned that with the US announcing a naval blockade of Iranian ports, the premium situation will become more complex, and spot Brent prices could test the $160–$190 range in the coming weeks. If prices stay high long-term, it could trigger severe "demand destruction," forcing consumers to cut usage significantly and potentially trigger a global recession. Analysts suggest this may be the only leverage to push US and Iran back to negotiations.

US-Iran Second Round Talks May Be Held on Thursday
BlockBeats reported that on April 14, according to AP citing sources, the US and Iran may soon hold a second round of talks, with Islamabad, Pakistan, again being discussed as a potential venue. Geneva, Switzerland, is also a possibility, though the location and timing are not yet confirmed, with talks possibly happening on Thursday.

Tether Announces Launch of Self-Custody Digital Wallet tetherwallet
Tether announced the launch of its self-custody digital wallet tetherwallet, marking its first direct offering of its global payment and settlement infrastructure to end users. The wallet supports USDF, USAF, XAU, and Bitcoin, covering networks like Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, Plasma, and Bitcoin/Lightning Network, and allows transfers using name@tether readable usernames without entering complex addresses.
The company states that as of March 2026, over 570 million wallets are using Tether technology, with tether wallet positioned as a "People’s Wallet" for global users. Circle CEO: Arc Network Exploring Native Token and Transition to PoS
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire spoke at an event in Seoul, mentioning that Circle is advancing its native network Arc, currently in testing, and exploring issuing a network token for governance, incentives, and economic alignment, with a gradual shift toward PoS. He said this could be the most significant platform-level move since the creation of USDC.

11-Person Team Achieves Over $76k Annual Profit, Hyperliquid Sets Global Highest Efficiency Record
BlockBeats reported that according to Forbes’ Colossus magazine, Singapore-based crypto derivatives platform Hyperliquid achieved over $900 million in profit in 2025 with only 11 team members, making it one of the most efficient tech companies globally.
The platform has traded over $4 trillion in total volume, holds a 37% share in decentralized perpetual contracts, a market cap of about $10 billion, and has never taken any risk capital.

Former Star Projects Rapidly Exit During "Raging" Market, Investors Chase Scam Coins at Their Peril
BlockBeats reported that recently some altcoins like RAVE surged dramatically, driven by backdoor whales, with prices soaring dozens of times in days. Despite controversy over such pump-and-dump behavior, aggressive investors chase the next "RAVE."
Based on this sentiment, some project teams quickly pump prices to exit, often creating a 1-hour large green candle to fake a "scam coin," then rapidly dump their holdings as retail investors FOMO in, causing sharp declines. Examples include FF and INX.
FF surged from $0.07 to double within an hour on the 11th, reaching a peak of $0.17641 before dropping back to $0.07786.
INX team openly pumped and dumped, with at least two addresses unlocking about $400,000 worth of tokens and selling quickly, causing the price to halve.
It’s worth noting that both FF and INX teams were once star projects with significant funding ($20 million and $65.3 million respectively), now resorting to scams to regain liquidity—truly lamentable.

Market Opinions
US Officials: US to Terminate Iran Oil Sanctions Waivers This Week
BlockBeats reported that on April 15, Reuters cited two US officials stating that the Trump administration will let the 30-day sanctions waivers on Iran oil expire later this week. Currently, the US is enforcing a blockade on shipments from Iranian ports. The waiver issued on March 20 allowed about 1.4 billion barrels of oil into the global market, easing energy supply pressures during the Iran conflict.
Treasury Secretary Yellen said last month that the waiver would expire on April 19. Amid this, bipartisan lawmakers criticized the government for easing sanctions on Iran and Russia amid ongoing conflicts. One official said Washington has multiple tools, including "secondary sanctions," against entities buying Iranian oil.
The source added, "Furthermore, with UN sanctions on Iran reinstated and Iran’s history of disguising illegal activities through seemingly legitimate means, any dealings with Iran could trigger additional sanctions."

Opinion: Bank of Japan’s Dovish Signal Could Be Key to Bitcoin’s Rebound
BlockBeats reported that on April 14, Bank of Japan Governor Ueda Haruhiko signaled a dovish stance, citing uncertainties about Iran war impacts on Japan’s economy, which supported Bitcoin breaking above $74,000.
In recent years, BOJ rate hikes have caused crypto market volatility. On August 5, 2024, BOJ unexpectedly raised rates, causing yen carry trades to unwind and Bitcoin to drop from $64,000 to $49,000 within 48 hours. The BOJ will hold a policy meeting on April 28. (CoinDesk)

Project Updates

BlockBeats reported that on April 14, Polymarket’s smart money copy trading and analysis platform announced its official web version is live. The platform offers real-time insider wallet signals, one-click copy trading, and a professional trading panel with stop-loss and take-profit features. Aims to help ordinary users replicate smart money gains and optimize strategies to outperform.
Compared to previous Telegram and beta web versions, the official site adds backtest and optimization for copy strategies, market data dashboards, multi-market monitoring, with improved security and execution speed.

Kalshi Teases New Product Launch on April 27
BlockBeats reported that on April 14, prediction platform Kalshi released a teaser video showing a green spiral forming a perpetual loop with the word "Timeless" appearing. Community speculation suggests this update may introduce perpetual prediction markets without expiry, breaking the previous contract time limits and increasing trading flexibility.

Macroeconomic Policy News
US March PPI Rises 0.5% MoM, Energy Prices Surge on Iran Conflict
US March Producer Price Index (PPI) increased by 0.5% month-over-month, matching the previous value and below the 1.1% forecast. Goods prices rose 1.6%, the largest since August 2023, mainly driven by an 8.5% rise in energy prices, related to Iran conflict, according to BLS. Year-over-year, PPI increased 4%, the largest since February 2023.
Federal Reserve Maintains 0% Rate in April, 99.5% Probability
BlockBeats reported that as of April 15, CME FedWatch shows a 0.5% chance of a 25 basis point rate hike in April, with a 99.5% chance of no change.
Fed’s Goolsbee: Rate Cuts Might Not Happen Until 2027
BlockBeats reported that on April 15, Chicago Fed President Goolsbee said if Iran war keeps oil prices high and slows inflation’s return to 2%, the Fed might not cut rates until 2027. He noted, "I initially thought 2026 or even multiple cuts could happen; but if high oil prices persist and inflation remains high, that pushes the timing beyond 2026. Our job is to bring inflation back to 2%."
Goolsbee, once optimistic about inflation easing this year due to tariffs, now has less confidence. He said, "In some cases, rates may rise; in others, it’s temporary—if Middle East oil shocks resolve and inflation drops again, rate cuts could reappear." (Jinshi)