OPEC+ said attacks on energy infrastructure can disrupt oil supply because restoring damaged facilities to full capacity is costly and time intensive. In a committee statement reported by Reuters, the group also stressed that securing international maritime routes is vital to keep energy flows uninterrupted.

The United States is preparing to devote nearly its entire inventory of stealthy JASSMER cruise missiles to the next stage of military operations against Iran, Bloomberg reported. An order issued at the end of March directed that the roughly $1.5 million-per-unit weapons be drawn from stockpiles in the Pacific. Missiles held at facilities across the continental United States are also set to be moved to US Central Command bases and to RAF Fairford in the UK. The report comes as President Donald Trump warned Iran that "time is running out" and threatened to unleash "all hell" on the country.

Hong Kong's Financial Secretary said market momentum stayed strong in the first quarter of 2026, with average daily turnover exceeding HK$260 billion in the first two months of the year, up 17% year on year, according to ME News. Trading picked up further in March, when average daily turnover in the Hong Kong stock market rose above HK$300 billion, more than 8% higher than the same period last year. The article said investors are increasing allocations to Hong Kong, seeing it as both a dependable capital haven and a beneficiary of China's steady growth and a growing pipeline of high-quality listings that expand investment choices. As global competition in frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence accelerates, the piece noted that large amounts of funding are needed for core breakthroughs, supply-chain development and broader commercial applications. Hong Kong's listing platform is playing a key role, with the IPO market maintaining last year's strong momentum. IPO proceeds in the first quarter surpassed HK$103 billion as of March 27, ranking first globally. Including follow-on offerings, total fundraising reached about HK$237 billion. More newly listed companies are from emerging sectors including AI, semiconductors, robotics, autonomous driving and biotechnology. More than 500 listing applications are currently in the pipeline, and a growing number of companies are treating Hong Kong as a major gateway for fundraising and international expansion. (Source: ChainCatcher)

BlockBeats reported that on April 5, the Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government published a review of Hong Kong's economic performance in the first quarter of 2026, saying market activity stayed strong. Average daily turnover topped HK$260 billion in the first two months of the year, up 17% year over year. Trading picked up further in March, with average daily turnover in Hong Kong stocks exceeding HK$300 billion, more than 8% higher than the same period last year. The article said investors are increasing asset allocations to Hong Kong, viewing it not only as a dependable destination for capital but also as a market benefiting from steady mainland China growth and a growing pipeline of high-quality listings that provide broad investment opportunities. It also noted intensifying global competition in frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence, which is driving demand for significant funding to achieve breakthroughs in core technologies, scale the full industrial chain, and expand application scenarios. Against this backdrop, Hong Kong's listing platform is taking on a larger role. In the first quarter, the IPO market extended last year's momentum, with fundraising exceeding HK$103 billion as of March 27, ranking first globally. Including follow-on financings, total fundraising reached about HK$237 billion. A rising share of new listings is coming from emerging sectors including artificial intelligence, semiconductors, robotics, autonomous driving and biotechnology. More than 500 listing applications are currently pending in Hong Kong, and more companies are treating the city as a key gateway for fundraising and international expansion.

BlackRock trimmed its crypto exposure again over the past week, with on-chain data showing roughly $320 million in combined outflows from its Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds amid broader market volatility. The larger share came from BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF, which saw about $185.1 million leave across five trading sessions. Selling pressure was front-loaded, highlighted by a $201.5 million redemption on March 27. Outflows resumed on April 1 with another $86.5 million. Brief inflows on March 30 and March 31 failed to change the tone, as flows turned negative again in early April. Ethereum exposure moved in step. BlackRock's ETHA recorded net outflows of around $134.9 million over the same period. The biggest single-day drop was March 27, when $70.8 million exited, followed by additional redemptions on April 1 ($32.3 million) and April 2 ($46.7 million). The synchronized withdrawals across both assets suggest institutional demand has cooled after strong inflows late in March. While intermittent inflows point to selective buying, the overall pattern reflects caution tied to near-term uncertainty and profit-taking. Flows across the broader spot ETF market also appeared choppy but weakening. Bitcoin ETFs saw sharp daily swings, including a net outflow topping $170 million on April 1, with isolated inflows in some funds outweighed by heavier redemptions in major products. Ethereum ETFs showed scattered inflows among smaller issuers, but continued outflows from larger funds dominated. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs had rebounded in March 2026, drawing $1.32 billion in net inflows and snapping a four-month run of outflows—the first positive month of the year and the first since October 2025. That recovery followed heavy early-2026 redemptions of about $6.4 billion as Bitcoin fell from its all-time high above $126,000. Even so, the first quarter still ended with roughly $500 million in net outflows. Spot Ethereum ETFs remained under pressure, posting about $46 million in net outflows in March and extending a five-month streak of negative flows.

According to Odaily Planet Daily, Hong Kong SAR Financial Secretary Paul Chan wrote in a blog post on the 5th that average daily turnover on the Hong Kong stock market topped HK$300 billion in March, up more than 8% from a year earlier. He said the figures underscore Hong Kong's appeal as a dependable safe haven for capital, supported by steady economic growth in mainland China and a growing pipeline of high-quality listings that offers investors a broad range of opportunities. Chan added that as of March 27, funds raised from Hong Kong IPOs this year had exceeded HK$103 billion, placing the city first globally. Including follow-on offerings, total fundraising reached about HK$237 billion. He also noted that a rising share of new listings is coming from emerging industries, with more than 500 IPO applications currently in the queue. Chan said this trend shows more companies are treating Hong Kong as a key platform for raising funds and expanding internationally. (China News Service)

Resolv says a coordinated attack on March 22, 2026 enabled intruders to obtain signing authority, mint 80 million USR, and rapidly swap the proceeds into ETH, draining about $25 million. The protocol's post-incident report describes a multi-stage compromise spanning GitHub, cloud environments, and exposed API keys. Resolv said direct production code deployment was blocked by safeguards, prompting the attackers to shift to a malicious workflow that quietly exfiltrated sensitive credentials. Resolv traced the initial access to a compromised third-party project connected to a contractor account. The attackers used the resulting GitHub credentials to enter internal repositories, then pivoted into cloud systems to map infrastructure and hunt for API keys. They ultimately escalated privileges by altering access policies tied to a signing key, giving them the ability to approve mint operations. With signing control in hand, the attackers executed a first mint at 02:21 UTC for 50 million USR, then began routing tokens through multiple wallets and decentralized exchanges to convert into ETH. A second transaction at 03:41 UTC minted another 30 million USR. Resolv said the conversion and extraction unfolded over roughly 80 minutes. Monitoring tools flagged unusual activity early, triggering an incident response that included halting backend services and preparing contract pauses. Resolv said it revoked compromised credentials by 05:30 UTC, cutting off the attackers' access, and paused relevant smart contracts while shutting down affected infrastructure. After containment, the protocol neutralized about 46 million USR via token burns and blacklist controls. Resolv said pre-hack USR holders are being made whole, with most redemptions already processed. External responders Hypernative, Hexens, MixBytes, and SEAL 911 are supporting the investigation. Additional reviews involving Mandiant and ZeroShadow are focused on infrastructure hardening and fund tracing. Resolv said operations remain paused as forensics and system upgrades continue.

Drift Protocol released the results of its investigation into a $285 million theft, saying the incident appears to stem from a coordinated, long-running infiltration campaign that lasted roughly six months. According to Drift, the attackers began in the fall of 2025, presenting themselves as a quantitative trading firm and repeatedly approaching team members at crypto conferences around the world. The group is said to have compromised devices by directing targets to links involving code repositories and Apple's TestFlight app. Drift added that the operation may be tied to a North Korea-linked hacking group previously associated with the 2024 Radiant Capital theft.

April 5 — Economists say the recent jump in gasoline prices, which U.S. consumers have felt immediately at the pump, is expected to show up fully in key inflation data due this week. The March consumer price index (CPI) is projected to rise 1% month over month, the biggest monthly increase since 2022. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, is forecast to increase 0.3% month over month. Earlier, the war in Iran drove U.S. retail gasoline prices up by about $1 per gallon. A day before the CPI release, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge will offer a read on price pressures prior to the conflict. Economists expect the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index to have risen 0.4% in February for a third straight month, indicating that the move toward more moderate inflation had already stalled before the fighting began. With the labor market showing signs of stabilizing, inflation proving sticky, and fresh upside risks tied to the Middle East conflict, economists say the Fed may find it difficult to deliver rate cuts this year, making easing in 2026 increasingly unlikely. (Jin Shi)