ChainCatcher reports that, according to two insiders, cryptocurrency exchange giant Kraken has laid off hundreds of employees across all business areas in the past few months as the company prepares for a public listing in the United States and continues to streamline its operations.It was reported that at the end of October last year, Kraken laid off 400 employees, about 15% of its total workforce, at which time Silicon Valley investor and Kraken board member Arjun Sethi was serving as co-CEO alongside David Ripley. One insider stated that "hundreds of people have left" since Sethi took on the role of co-CEO, noting that in addition to the 15% reduction in staff at the end of last year, the company plans to continue with layoffs.

ChainCatcher news, according to official sources, the AI computing power economic layer GAIB has announced the upcoming launch of AID Alpha. AID (AI Synthetic Dollar) is supported by GPU financing transactions, GPU cash flow, treasury reserves, and other liquid assets, bringing real AI returns to the on-chain market and providing sustainable real returns for on-chain users.As of now, over 500,000 people have joined the AID waiting list.AID Alpha, as a pre-storage phase before the mainnet launch, will allow users to pre-store stablecoins such as USDT or USDC in vaults on chains like Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, BNB Chain, and Story Protocol. After pre-storage, users will receive AID(alpha) receipt tokens, and the corresponding funds will be invested by the protocol in T-bills (U.S. Treasury bills) or other yield-generating assets to produce stable returns. Once the AID mainnet is launched, AID(alpha) will be proportionally exchanged for mainnet AID tokens.It is reported that the early incentive mechanisms for AID include point rewards, referral rewards, NFT whitelist, and priority participation rights in the mainnet.

ChainCatcher news, according to Reuters, Ivan Chebeskov, head of the Digital Financial Assets Department of the Russian Ministry of Finance, stated that Russia should launch its own stablecoin to adapt to the evolving trends of the global payment system. He pointed out that the current global payment system is undergoing fundamental changes, with several countries developing their own digital currencies, and Russia should not be absent. He also emphasized that stablecoins could play an important role in international settlements, especially in the context of existing payment channels being restricted. Previously, the Central Bank of Russia had begun testing the digital ruble.

ChainCatcher news, dedicated to building a decentralized AI computing infrastructure, AIDverse announces the official launch of its supernode program on April 25, 2025, marking the entry of its RWA-supported DePIN ecosystem into the commercialization phase.As a core component of the ecosystem, AIDverse supernodes will have a limited release of 500 slots, with an initial price of 3,000 USDT. Each node will receive an exclusive node NFT as a proof of identity and rights.Supernode holders will play a key role in the AIDverse ecosystem, participating in network governance, enjoying profit sharing, and gaining priority access to various innovative features.

ChainCatcher message, according to on-chain analyst @ai_9684xtpa monitoring, "56,995 ETH near liquidation whale" has repaid again, currently reducing the liquidation price to $1,269.67.In the past 2 hours, he has sold another 5,324.29 ETH to repay a loan of 8.268 million DAI, currently collateralizing a total of 43,694.35 ETH to borrow 32.63 million DAI.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Metaplanet announced that the previously issued 2 billion yen (13.5 million USD) ninth series of ordinary bonds was redeemed early and fully repaid on April 4.It is reported that the company disclosed this news on April 7. These zero-coupon bonds were issued in March through Metaplanet's Evo fund for the purpose of acquiring additional Bitcoin (BTC, priced at 78,509 USD). The company stated that since these bonds are zero-coupon bonds, the repayment will not have a significant impact on the company's performance for the fiscal year 2025.

ChainCatcher news, according to on-chain analyst @ai_9684xtpa monitoring, "the 'whale' holding 56,995 ETH is on the verge of liquidation" sold 3,920 ETH for 5.77 million DAI and repaid the loan.Currently, the liquidation price for this whale has dropped to $1,495.17.

ChainCatcher news indicates that according to the IPO S-1 filing submitted by stablecoin issuer Circle to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Binance has become the first approved participant under the stablecoin ecosystem protocol in November 2024. Under the cooperation agreement, Binance is required to promote USDC on its platform and hold a certain amount of USDC in its financial reserves.Circle pays Binance a one-time upfront fee of $60.25 million and agrees to pay monthly incentive fees based on the USDC balance held by Binance. The incentive fees are only paid when Binance holds at least 1.5 billion USDC, while Binance commits to holding 3 billion USDC (with exceptions in specific circumstances).The cooperation is divided into two parts: marketing promotion and financial reserves, both of which are for a two-year term. If Binance terminates the marketing promotion agreement early, it is still required to fulfill one year of reduced rate payments and promotional obligations. Both parties may terminate the agreement early under specific circumstances.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Washington Post, three insiders revealed that White House aides have drafted a proposal to impose tariffs of about 20% on at least most goods imported to the U.S.If this plan is implemented, it would have a huge impact on the securities market and the global economy. Moody's Chief Economist Mark Zandi stated that if permanent tariffs take effect this quarter and provoke strong retaliation from U.S. trading partners, the U.S. economy would almost immediately fall into recession, lasting more than a year, with unemployment rates exceeding 7%. Zandi described this outcome as the worst-case scenario.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, a large Bitcoin options trade recently occurred on the Deribit exchange, where a trader paid over $1 million to purchase 1,180 put options with a strike price of $70,000, expiring on April 25.

ChainCatcher news, encrypted KOL EnHeng posted on platform X, expressing gratitude for receiving $100,000 support from Binance co-founder Zhao Changpeng. The first phase of funding aimed at victims of the SOL chain-based Argentina token rug has been fully completed, with all operations traceable on-chain.As there is still $30,000 unused, EnHeng has decided to return the original amount to Zhao Changpeng for continued development of the BNB Chain.It is reported that this funding has supported the meal expenses of over 800 university students and the treatment of cancer patients.EnHeng stated: "Doing charity is not a show, but a long-term value. Openness, transparency, and responsibility are the bottom lines I always adhere to."Previously, the Argentina presidential token rug incident caused many crypto users to suffer losses. To help the affected users, EnHeng decided to donate $50,000 and accepted donations through a BSC address. EnHeng expressed that this aid is a transmission of hope, encouraging everyone to help those in distress and provide them with more courage and strength.Binance co-founder Zhao Changpeng commented under EnHeng's tweet, expressing support and sponsoring 150 BNB (approximately $100,000).

ChainCatcher news, according to Matrixport analysis, the correlation between the rise in global liquidity and the increase in Bitcoin prices has certain limitations. The global liquidity indicator, measured by the total money supply of 28 central banks (in USD terms), although visually correlated with Bitcoin price trends, has its predictive accuracy questioned due to the non-stationarity of the time series and scale differences.The analysis points out that while the growth of money supply may have a lagging effect on the Bitcoin market, this lag time lacks strong theoretical support. Furthermore, although the correlation between Bitcoin and Nasdaq has slightly increased in recent years, it remains below the 60% peak during COVID, indicating that Bitcoin trading is more driven by its own dynamics rather than acting entirely as a proxy asset for tech stocks.Matrixport believes that the broad consolidation of Bitcoin prices may continue, and solely relying on liquidity indicators to predict market trends may not be reliable enough. In contrast, focusing on native driving factors of cryptocurrencies or macro variables with direct policy impacts (such as political leaders supporting cryptocurrencies) may be more valuable. Although market perceptions may have mathematical flaws, their widespread acceptance could still have a tangible impact on market behavior.

ChainCatcher news, Binance founder Zhao Changpeng (CZ) stated on social media that his Pay to Reach concept, published on Binance Square 18 days ago, has quickly come to fruition. A developer provided a prototype just days after seeing the article, and after discussions, adjustments, and security reviews, the product went live yesterday.Zhao Changpeng mentioned that he has added the service URL (Reachme platform link) to his profile on the X platform. Initially priced at 0.04 BNB (about $24) per message, he immediately received a large number of short and meaningless messages; after raising it to 0.1 BNB, he still received over 100 messages. Currently, he has further adjusted the price to 0.2 BNB (about $120) and stated that he will continue to look for the right price point, hoping to control the average daily message volume to about 10 messages. He also suggested that users read his communication skills guide before sending messages to improve communication efficiency.Previous news, Zhao Changpeng's X account biography has added a DM link, allowing users to pay BNB to send him messages.

ChainCatcher news, Frederik Ducrozet, head of macroeconomic research at Pictet Wealth Management, stated in a report that the Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates unchanged at tonight's meeting, and Fed Chair Powell may reiterate that there is no rush to cut rates. It is anticipated that the Fed will lower its GDP forecast for 2025, raise its inflation forecast, and acknowledge increased uncertainty.The dot plot is expected to show that the median expectation for two rate cuts this year remains unchanged, with risks leaning towards one rate cut. The Fed is expected to cut rates once in June, and due to inflation accelerating again, there will be no further cuts in 2025.