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James Comer, the chairman of the U.S. House Oversight Committee and a Republican lawmaker, has written to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, requesting information regarding potential conflicts of interest related to personal investments and OpenAI. The investigation focuses on Altman's extensive personal investment network. Since Altman does not hold equity in OpenAI, his estimated net worth of approximately $3.5 billion primarily comes from his personal investment portfolio, which includes companies like Helion, Stripe, and Reddit.According to a previous report by The Wall Street Journal, Altman had pushed for OpenAI to invest $500 million in the fusion company Helion, while Altman himself has invested at least $375 million in the company. Comer stated that this has raised concerns about whether Altman is using OpenAI to enhance the valuation of his personally held companies. Additionally, attorneys general from states such as Florida, Montana, Nebraska, Iowa, West Virginia, and Louisiana have also written to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, requesting an investigation into whether Altman has engaged in "self-dealing" and serious conflicts of interest.Meanwhile, Altman is set to testify in court on Tuesday and Wednesday in the case where Musk is suing OpenAI. Musk accuses Altman and OpenAI co-founders of violating the original "non-profit" commitment by shifting OpenAI to a profit-making operation. Although the conflict of interest investigation and Musk's lawsuit are independent events, Altman's personal investment issues have been raised multiple times during the trial. OpenAI board chairman Bret Taylor defended Altman in court, stating that he has been "open and transparent" regarding personal investment matters.

Web3 security company CertiK has released the "Skynet North Korea Cyber Threat Report." The data shows that since 2016, North Korean hacker groups have plundered approximately $6.75 billion in digital assets. In 2025 alone, the losses from thefts they orchestrated reached as high as $2.06 billion, accounting for nearly 60% of the total losses in the global cryptocurrency industry for the entire year (including the $1.5 billion Bybit theft case). As of early 2026, this threat trend continues, with losses accounting for about 55%.The report emphasizes that the attack patterns of North Korean hackers have undergone a fundamental shift, evolving from simple code vulnerability exploitation to a national-level attack system that combines social engineering, deep supply chain attacks, and "physical infiltration." In the recent Drift protocol incident, attackers even spent six months lurking at offline industry conferences, establishing trust through real funds and interpersonal interactions before executing their attack.CertiK security experts warn that in the face of such systemic attacks, simple technical defenses have become weak. Cryptocurrency institutions urgently need to fully implement a "zero trust" hiring model, strengthen third-party supply chains, establish fund circuit breaker mechanisms, and collaborate with professional security organizations to build a comprehensive lifecycle defense system covering code audits, round-the-clock risk monitoring, and on-chain anti-money laundering/KYT (Know Your Transaction) fund tracking.

According to Crypto in America, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee has scheduled a formal markup of the cryptocurrency market structure bill, the Clarity Act, for Thursday. The final text of the relevant provisions is expected to be published before the meeting, and lawmakers must submit amendments by the deadline.Previously, the initial review was temporarily halted due to opposition from industry insiders, including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, regarding the stablecoin yield provisions. Currently, cryptocurrency institutions like Coinbase generally accept the new text, but some banks serving retail customers are still sending letters to the Senate through industry associations, requesting further tightening of the "interest on deposits" space for stablecoins to prevent depositor migration.Meanwhile, some Democratic lawmakers may vote against the bill in its entirety during the committee stage due to dissatisfaction with potential conflicts of interest clauses related to Trump and his family involving crypto. This could lead to the bill passing through the committee along party lines, but facing uncertainty in garnering bipartisan support in the full chamber later.

Global leading cryptocurrency asset trading platform Gate announced that it will hold the "Gate x Inter XIII: Champion's Circle" offline event in Milan on May 21.This event coincides with Inter Milan Football Club securing the championship three rounds early in the 2025-26 Serie A season, successfully winning the club's 21st league trophy, while Gate also celebrates its thirteenth anniversary. As the official sleeve sponsor of Inter Milan, Gate witnesses the championship moment alongside the team, with its brand influence continuously rising in both the sports and Web3 industries.During this event, Gate will invite participants to the Inter Milan headquarters to closely view the trophy that symbolizes championship glory and experience the history and culture of a top-tier club. Legendary Inter Milan players will appear to share behind-the-scenes stories from the pitch and locker room, and there will be opportunities for photos and autograph interactions.At the same time, Gate's CMO will engage in a community development dialogue with Inter Milan executives, discussing topics such as global user growth, brand culture, and community operations. The event will also include a tasting session for the limited edition Gate x Inter Milan co-branded pizza. After the event, Gate will publicly release the co-branded pizza recipe to further extend community interaction and festive atmosphere.In addition, Gate's compliance progress in Europe is continuously advancing, with its Malta company Gate Technology Ltd having obtained European MiCA and PI licenses under the supervision of the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), further strengthening its global compliance layout. Leveraging top-tier sports IP and the popularity of international events, Gate will continue to expand the boundaries of connection with mainstream culture.

According to The Block, JPMorgan analysts have stated that Bitcoin is gradually surpassing gold as a currency devaluation hedge tool following the Iran conflict.Analysts led by Managing Director Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou noted that Bitcoin ETFs recorded inflows for the third consecutive month in May, while gold ETFs are still struggling to recover the funds that flowed out during the outbreak of the Iran conflict in March. This indicates that since the conflict began, retail investors are choosing Bitcoin over gold for devaluation hedge trades.The analysts stated that Bitcoin purchases are not limited to retail investors through ETFs. JPMorgan's position proxy indicators based on CME Bitcoin futures and offshore perpetual futures have also reached new highs, indicating that institutional investors are similarly increasing their exposure. The momentum signals for Bitcoin and gold have also rebounded since the conflict began. Investors are also indirectly buying Bitcoin through Strategy, with the company's purchase volume potentially reaching around $30 billion this year if the current pace is maintained.

According to Jinshi reports, Federal Reserve official Daly stated that the current monetary policy is "slightly tight." He pointed out that if the conflict between the United States and Iran is resolved, it will create downward pressure on inflation.

The globally leading cryptocurrency trading platform Gate announced that it will hold an offline event in Milan on May 21. This timing coincides with Inter Milan Football Club securing the championship three rounds early in the Serie A league for the 2025-26 season, successfully winning the 21st league trophy in the club's history.At the same time, Gate is also celebrating its thirteenth anniversary. As the official sleeve sponsor of Inter Milan, Gate has gained significant global exposure alongside the team's championship journey, with brand awareness continuously amplified by the excitement of the events, attracting widespread attention in both the sports and Web3 industries.As a traditional powerhouse in Italian football, Inter Milan's return to the top further solidifies its competitive position on the elite stage. Gate, the official sleeve sponsor of Inter Milan, will invite clients, KOLs, and institutions to participate in this event, engaging in multidimensional communication and interaction around the event's milestones and brand culture.Leveraging the traffic and emotional resonance brought by sports events, Gate accelerates the expansion of its connection with mainstream culture, injecting new momentum into its brand internationalization process.

According to Jinshi reports, U.S. President Trump stated that despite small-scale conflicts, the stock market reached a historic high today.

According to market news, Binance has announced the launch of a user-controlled "Withdraw Protection" feature, aimed at preventing offline coercion attacks (commonly known as "wrench attacks") against cryptocurrency holders. This feature allows users to actively lock their account withdrawal permissions for 1 to 7 days and provides a stricter "lock mode," which cannot be lifted early during the set period.Binance stated that this locking mechanism cannot be overridden by platform customer service but is controlled by internal policy, not an on-chain cryptographic lock. Binance's Chief Security Officer, Jimmy Su, indicated that this move stems from the risk trends observed on the platform, including cases where some users in high-risk areas have been forced to transfer funds. By setting a withdrawal delay, it can buy users time to respond and recover in extreme situations.Data shows that incidents of offline coercion against cryptocurrency users are significantly rising in 2025, with related attacks often bypassing traditional account security mechanisms, as the actions are completed by the users themselves under pressure. Industry insiders believe that the time-lock mechanism can change this risk model to some extent. Binance emphasizes that this feature does not affect law enforcement agencies' ability to act in accordance with the law, while also advising users to strengthen API key management and privacy protection to reduce the risk of being targeted.

The leader of the Reform Party, Farage, has been accused by the opposition of having a conflict of interest. In 2024, he received a personal donation of £5 million from cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne, after which the Reform Party proposed a regulatory draft for the cryptocurrency industry, aiming to reduce the stamp duty on cryptocurrency transactions from 24% to 10%, and proposed the establishment of a national Bitcoin reserve and a reduction in capital gains tax on crypto assets.Farage has admitted to receiving the aforementioned donation, and the Reform Party stated that policy-making is unrelated to donors. Additionally, Harborne donated £12 million to the party last year, and cryptocurrency businessman Ben Delo also donated £4 million this year. Farage is currently facing allegations of violating House of Commons rules, which could result in the suspension of his parliamentary status and trigger a by-election in severe cases.

The leader of the Reform Party, Farage, has been accused by the opposition of having a conflict of interest. In 2024, he received a personal donation of £5 million from cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne, after which the Reform Party proposed a regulatory draft for the cryptocurrency industry in 2025, aiming to reduce the stamp duty on cryptocurrency transactions from 24% to 10%, and proposed the establishment of a national Bitcoin reserve and a reduction in capital gains tax on crypto assets.Farage has admitted to receiving the aforementioned donation, and the Reform Party stated that policy-making is unrelated to donors. Additionally, Harborne donated £12 million to the party last year, and cryptocurrency businessman Ben Delo also donated £4 million this year. Farage is currently facing allegations of violating House of Commons rules, which could result in his suspension from parliamentary duties and trigger a by-election in severe cases.

North Korean hackers had months of offline contact and infiltration with employees of Drift Protocol before launching one of the largest social engineering attacks in the history of the cryptocurrency industry, resulting in a loss of approximately $285 million.Data from blockchain security company TRM Labs shows that North Korean hackers have accounted for 76% of all cryptocurrency hacking losses in 2026 to date.

According to Jinshi News, Max Stainton, Senior Global Macro Strategist at Fidelity International, stated in a report that the outlook for U.S. interest rates for the remainder of the year will increasingly depend on the duration of the Middle East conflict. Fidelity's baseline scenario remains slightly more dovish than market pricing, expecting that the incoming Federal Reserve Chairman Waller and the committee will generally lean towards mitigating the damage caused by energy shocks to economic growth. However, as the risk of a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz increases, the risk of energy price shocks spreading to broader inflation shocks and affecting the overall economy has become clearly visible. "We still expect a rate cut this year, but the risks are clearly skewed towards no action being taken throughout the year."

According to PRNewswire, Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee stated that since the US-Iran conflict, ETH has outperformed the S&P 500 Index by 1,696 basis points, becoming the best-performing single asset globally, aside from crude oil, and has acquired the attributes of a "wartime store of value" asset.Tom Lee added that as Wall Street accelerates the promotion of on-chain tokenization and the demand for public, neutral blockchains from the Agentic AI system continues, Ethereum will continue to benefit. His basic expectation is that we are currently in the final stage of a "mini crypto winter."

According to Jinshi reports, Danske Bank analyst Asger Wilhelm Dalsjo stated in a report that as the Middle East conflict enters its ninth week, central banks will assess its current impact and future expectations. This week, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Canada, the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, and the European Central Bank will hold policy meetings. The analyst said, "This week, monetary policy decisions will become the main driving force for the market." It is expected that the aforementioned five central banks will keep interest rates unchanged, but their assessments of the economic impact of the Middle East conflict will be closely monitored.

According to Jinshi reports, U.S. President Trump stated in response to a reporter's question that the incident that occurred at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner that day was "completely shocking." He heard a noise but thought it was a tray falling to the ground."I was observing the situation at the time," he said, "but his wife reacted faster, seemingly realizing what was happening quickly." Trump expressed his hope to continue holding the dinner and promised to reschedule the dinner date as soon as possible.Trump stated that he had not received any briefings about threats before the dinner. He also mentioned previous assassination attempts against him and called on the American public to "resolve their differences." He noted that members of both parties condemned the related events that night. Trump also expressed gratitude to media personnel, stating that the media "acted very responsibly in their reporting."When asked if the shooting incident was related to the conflict with Iran, Trump said, "I don't think so."

Due to the ongoing escalation of the US-Iran conflict and restrictions on transportation in the Strait of Hormuz, international oil prices continue to rise strongly, experiencing the longest consecutive increase since January. Data shows that Brent crude oil (XBRUSDT) on the Gate platform is priced at $99.78, an increase of about 2.31%; WTI crude oil (XTIUSDT) is priced at $96.62, an increase of about 2.22%. Against the backdrop of rising oil prices, the trading activity of related derivatives has also increased.According to Coinglass data, the 24-hour trading volume of WTI crude oil (XTIUSDT) on the Gate platform reached $20.08 million, with a position size of about $4.53 million, ranking first among all exchanges; the 24-hour trading volume of Brent crude oil (XBRUSDT) reached $10.92 million, with a position of about $3.81 million, also ranking first. Driven by high volatility, market participation continues to rise, further highlighting Gate's advantages in liquidity and trading depth in the energy derivatives sector.Gate Contracts has pioneered the commodity contract sector, covering perpetual contract trading for XBRUSDT (Brent crude oil), XTIUSDT (WTI crude oil), and NG (natural gas), providing 24/7 trading, USDT settlement, and up to 100x leverage, helping users with cross-market asset allocation and strategic layout in volatile markets.

OKX will delist the USDT AAVE (ETH network) on-chain earning product on April 20, 2026. The related funds have been fully redeemed in advance from the on-chain, and the expected arrival date is before 18:00 on April 20, 2026 (UTC+8). Users' principal and accumulated earnings will be automatically redeemed to their fund accounts without any additional action required.