MARA to Acquire Natural Gas Plant Operator Long Ridge for $1.5 Billion

April 30: U.S. March Core PCE Price Index YoY hits 3.2%, matching expectations (FXStreet)

On April 30, U.S. initial jobless claims for the week ended April 25 came in at 189,000—below the expected 215,000, per FXStreet.

On April 30th, South Korean prosecutors requested a 20-year prison sentence for Delio’s former CEO Jeong Sang-ho, alleging he engaged in large-scale fraud targeting thousands of investors. During closing arguments at the Seoul Southern District Court on Thursday, the prosecution cited the **Specific Economic Crime Aggravated Punishment Act** in seeking the sentence. They accused Jeong of intentional deception and false advertising, which left roughly 2,800 victims unable to withdraw their funds. Prosecutors added: “The defendant’s active fraudulent acts and false advertising caused widespread harm and massive losses to numerous victims.” They also noted Jeong’s evasion of responsibility and lack of cooperation had worsened the victims’ suffering.

On April 30, the Hyperliquid Policy Center (HPC) submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in response to the agency’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on prediction markets, per official sources. HPC noted current discussions center primarily on centralized prediction markets, and called for further clarity on the regulatory framework for decentralized prediction markets built on public, permissionless blockchains. In its comments, HPC urged regulators to establish a “function-driven, flexibly adaptable” rule system—one that lets decentralized market structures fit into compliance pathways, provides legal access for U.S. market participants, and helps the U.S. maintain its leading role in decentralized financial (DeFi) innovation. The organization argued prediction markets drive more efficient price discovery by aggregating dispersed information, with their informational value widely leveraged by financial terminals and media

April 30: The European Central Bank (ECB) held its three key interest rates steady on Thursday, matching market expectations. It’s the seventh straight meeting the central bank has kept rates unchanged. The deposit facility rate remains at 0.00%, the main refinancing rate at 0.25%, and the marginal lending facility rate at 0.50%. (FXStreet)

April 30 — PayPal announced a strategic business and executive team reorganization on Wednesday, aimed at accelerating its long-term growth strategy, streamlining decision-making, and driving innovation. The fintech giant will shift to a streamlined operating model with three core businesses: Payments Checkout with PayPal, Consumer Financial Services with Venmo, and Cryptocurrency Payment Services. **Key Personnel Moves:** - Frank Keller named President of Checkout Solutions & PayPal; - Alexis Sowa and Jeff Pomeroy tapped as interim leads for the other two major segments; - Antonio Lucio joins as Chief Marketing and Corporate Affairs Officer; - Anshu Bhardwaj takes on the role of Chief AI Transformation and Simplification Officer. PayPal said the restructuring aligns its organizational structure with its strategy to fuel sustainable growth and value creation. **Additional Business Integrations:** - Consolidated consumer and merchant ecosystems into a single strate