Vitalik: Ethereum System Simplification Key, Focus on Hardware Layer Development

On Wednesday, April 22, Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency again warned that Gulf Arab states still face the risk of undersea data cable cuts in the Strait of Hormuz. Fars reported that if multiple major cables are damaged simultaneously—whether by accident or sabotage—it could trigger severe internet outages across the Persian Gulf. Several undersea cables run through the Strait of Hormuz. The Gulf region has seen past internet blackouts from multiple Red Sea undersea cable cuts, and Yemen’s Houthi group has previously threatened those cables. (FXStreet)

**April 22nd (Reuters) — The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has conducted a joint raid alongside tax authorities and law enforcement on eight suspected illegal peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency trading platforms in London, issuing cease-and-desist orders to the involved entities. This marks the FCA’s first joint enforcement action with multiple agencies targeting such activities.** The FCA stated that evidence gathered during the operation supports multiple criminal investigations, focusing on potential money laundering and terrorist financing activities. The regulator emphasized that unregistered P2P crypto trading platforms may be exploited by criminals to move and hide funds, noting there are currently no FCA-registered P2P crypto traders in the UK. Industry experts note this move signals a shift in UK regulation—from issuing policy statements to taking substantive enforcement action—suggesting similar crackdowns may intensify going forward. Under the current framework

On April 22, Kimi.ai announced that its latest model, Kimi K2.6, has claimed the top spot in the OpenRouter Programming Ability Ranking, solidifying its position as the leading model in current developer-focused evaluations. Ranking data shows Kimi K2.6 outperforms several mainstream models—including Claude, the GPT series, and other open-source models—across programming tasks, highlighting its strengthened competitiveness in code generation and development task handling. This milestone is also viewed as a key step forward for domestic large language models in real-world development scenarios, further narrowing the gap with internationally leading models.

April 22 — Multiple technical indicators suggest Bitcoin (BTC) is on the cusp of a new bout of significant volatility, according to Cointelegraph. The monthly Bollinger Bands have shrunk to their narrowest range on record, with analysts noting that an expansion of this range could trigger a strong rally. Past instances of this pattern preceded the start of bull markets in 2016 and 2020. Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s monthly Relative Strength Index (RSI) has fallen to its lowest level since the 2022 bear market and has again touched a long-term support trendline. This signal combination has historically coincided with market bottoms, followed by a sharp rebound. In the near term, however, resistance remains a key hurdle. Analysts emphasize BTC needs to break above the $78k-$80k range on a sustained basis to confirm the uptrend’s continuation. Order book data points to heavy selling pressure in that zone; a successful breakout would set the stage for a test of the $84k-$86k range next.

April 22 — PeckShield monitoring shows the KelpDAO attacker has begun transferring stolen assets: they’ve sent some stolen ETH from the Ethereum mainnet to Arbitrum via Across Protocol, swapped it for USDT, then routed it to the TRON DAO ecosystem via LayerZero. This trajectory indicates the attacker is diversifying and laundering funds through multi-chain bridges and stablecoin conversions; further tracking of the fund flow remains ongoing.

April 22 – A shipping chief at a commodities trading firm warned that Iran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz have set a dangerous precedent for the free flow of global trade. Since the Middle East war broke out in late February, Iran has been trying to impose a transit fee on vessels passing through the strait, triggering strong protests from international shipping regulators. “A dangerous precedent is being set here—one that infringes on vessels’ right to innocent passage,” said Larry Johnson, Global Head of Freight at Mercuria Energy Trading. “If key shipping lanes or waterways start charging tolls, or are disrupted/threatened in a way that normalizes such fees, what’s next? The Black Sea, Danish straits, Strait of Malacca—who can say for sure? The free flow of global trade is no longer guaranteed.” (FX Street)