HK STOCKS OPEN LOWER: HANG SENG DOWN 0.69%, TECH INDEX OFF 1.02%

The Eurozone's preliminary consumer confidence index for April was -20.6, compared to -16.3 in the previous month.

Regulation & Policy - Fed pick Warsh backs crypto’s place in finance as Warren raises ‘sock puppet’ concerns in hearing - New York Attorney General sues Coinbase, Gemini for 'illegal gambling' on prediction market platforms - Bipartisan PACE Act looks to open Fed payment rails to nonbanks, draws crypto support - UK sets out plan to integrate payments rules covering stablecoins and tokenized deposits - Bank of Korea's new chief vows to push CBDC, deposit tokens; leaves out stablecoins Market & Corporate Developments - Circle tops crypto stocks with 30% gain as stablecoin growth outpaces Coinbase slump - Core Scientific plans $3.3 billion debt offering, with proceeds to help repay credit facility loans - Proposed STRC upgrade seen as shared upside lever for Strategy and Strive Shareholders: TD Cowen - SoFi adds XRP deposits but users criticize lack of external wallet transfers Institutional & Product Expansion - Peter Thiel-backed unicorn Ramp rolls out $0 conversions between USDT and dollars across product suite - Kalshi eyes crypto expansion with perpetual futures trading: report - DoorDash to offer stablecoin payouts with Tempo in push toward everyday crypto payments - Pompliano's ProCap Financial partners with Kalshi to incorporate real-time prediction market data in research - Polymarket taps Bitget Wallet's over 90 million users with integration - Japan's JSCC partners with Mizuho, Nomura to test government bonds on blockchain Technology & Ecosystem - Etherealize updates long-term ETH price prediction to $250,000 Security, Legal & Incidents - Justin Sun sues World Liberty Financial over WLFI token freeze, governance exclusion - Sui-based Volo Protocol exploited; team pledges to absorb losses - Kelp DAO exploiter launders $80 million worth of ETH, mostly through THORChain: onchain analyst - Scammers demand crypto 'clearance' fees from ships near Strait of Hormuz: report - Kelp DAO exploiter begins moving stolen funds across chains after Arbitrum ETH freeze - Arbitrum freezes $71 million worth of ETH stolen in Kelp DAO exploit