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Morning News | Ether Machine terminates $1.6 billion SPAC deal; SpaceX holds approximately $603 million in Bitcoin; Michael Saylor releases Bitcoin Tracker information again
整理：ChainCatcher
Important News:
- SpaceX holds approximately $603 million in btc-42">Bitcoin, while recording nearly $5 billion in losses due to the integration of xAI
- Ether Machine terminates $1.6 billion SPAC deal due to unfavorable market conditions
- Michael Saylor releases Bitcoin Tracker information again, may increase Bitcoin holdings next week
- Bitcoin mining companies face more severe halving pressure in 2028, industry accelerates transformation towards energy and infrastructure
- Robinhood excludes some prediction market contracts due to concerns about market manipulation and insider trading risks
- Bittensor co-founder accuses Covenant AI founder of betraying the community, plans to launch a locked staking mechanism
What important events have occurred in the past 24 hours?
Security experts: North Korea's "public" theft of crypto assets has become its means of financing
According to ChainCatcher, as the infiltration and attacks targeting the crypto industry continue to escalate, security experts point out that the core difference between North Korean hackers and those from other countries is that crypto assets have become a significant direct source of financing for maintaining military expenditures. Reports indicate that during a recent months-long infiltration operation targeting Drift Protocol, North Korean hackers once again caused industry shockwaves.
Experts state that this model is not merely a "fund transfer tool," but rather a direct "predatory profit" mechanism used to bypass international sanctions and acquire immediately usable hard currency. Security researchers note that unlike countries such as Russia and Iran, North Korea lacks sustainable foreign economic and commodity export capabilities, thus relying more heavily on crypto theft as a core source of income to support its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Experts also emphasize that North Korean hacker targets have expanded from simple phishing to exchanges, wallet services, and key holders of DeFi protocols, commonly employing long-term social engineering and identity disguise infiltration methods. Due to the irreversible nature of blockchain transactions, the crypto industry is far weaker than the traditional financial system in terms of freezing and recovering funds, making such attacks more destructive in speed and scale. Security personnel warn that this "long-term infiltration + precise power seizure" attack model has yet to be effectively addressed by the industry.
Bitcoin mining companies face more severe halving pressure in 2028, industry accelerates transformation towards energy and infrastructure
According to ChainCatcher, as reported by Cointelegraph, with about two years until Bitcoin's fifth halving, mining companies are facing a harsher operating environment than during the 2024 halving. At that time, block rewards will decrease from 3.125 BTC to 1.5625 BTC, compounded by record-high network hash rates, rising energy costs, and a more cautious capital market, significantly compressing industry profit margins.
On the balance sheet front, several leading mining companies have begun actively deleveraging. MARA Holdings sold over 15,000 Bitcoins in March to reduce leverage, Riot Platforms sold over 3,700 in the first quarter, Cango sold 2,000 to repay Bitcoin collateralized debt, and Bitdeer's Bitcoin holdings dropped to zero on February 20.
Industry insiders generally hold a cautious outlook. Cango's communications head, Juliet Ye, stated, "The middle ground has almost disappeared; operators with scale and diversified layouts can cope, while those lacking these conditions will struggle in the next halving." GoMining CEO Mark Zalan pointed out, "Capital discipline is now more important than maximizing hash rate," and new deployment projects must meet stricter return thresholds.
In terms of business models, pure block rewards have become an "increasingly thin business," with strong operators gravitating towards power and data center businesses, exploring additional revenue through grid peak shaving and waste heat utilization. Cango is transitioning to a dual-track model focusing on computing power and AI workloads, with Ye stating, "The truly important facilities in five years will be those that can do multiple things simultaneously."
Tether-linked Super PAC's first ad expenditure goes to Tether's U.S. CEO co-founded company, raising conflict of interest concerns
According to ChainCatcher, as reported by CoinDesk, documents submitted to the U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC) by the Super Political Action Committee (Super PAC) Fellowship, linked to Tether, show that its first expenditure of $300,000 went to Nxum Group, a company co-founded by Tether's U.S. CEO and former Trump administration crypto advisor Bo Hines, along with his father Todd Hines and third-party partners.
This expenditure was used to purchase campaign ads for Georgia Republican House candidate Clay Fuller, coinciding with Fuller winning a special election to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene as a congressman. Notably, Fellowship did not publicly announce this expenditure nor include Fuller in its public endorsement list.
Fellowship appointed Tether's U.S. Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Jesse Spiro as committee chair on April 1, officially reactivating its political presence. When the committee was announced last year, it received a total funding commitment of $100 million, but its FEC disclosure documents currently show a zero account balance, and related donations have not been made public. Tether International responded that it has no connection or regulatory relationship with Fellowship PAC, while Tether U.S. declined to comment.
Regarding conflicts of interest, Michael Beckel of the political reform organization Issue One stated that it is not illegal under U.S. campaign finance rules for Super PACs to pay founder-linked companies, provided that services are genuinely rendered and rates are in line with market prices. Fellowship's financial officer Mitchell Nobel currently works at Cantor Fitzgerald, which manages Tether's global business assets, and its former chairman is current Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Currently, Fellowship's expenditure scale is still vastly different from that of the leading crypto industry Super PAC Fairshake. Fairshake has invested millions in several primary elections, while the candidates currently supported by Fellowship are almost all deep-red state Republicans.
Trump: The U.S. Navy will block the Strait of Hormuz, intercepting all ships paying tolls to Iran
According to ChainCatcher, Trump stated on Truth Social that the meeting went smoothly, with most content reaching consensus, but the only truly important issue—the nuclear issue—remains unresolved.
Starting today, the most elite U.S. Navy will begin blocking all ships attempting to enter or exit the Strait of Hormuz. We will ultimately achieve a situation where "all ships can enter and exit," but Iran has obstructed this process by claiming "there may be mines somewhere," which only they know about. This is extortion on a global scale, and world leaders, especially U.S. leaders, will never yield to such extortion.
I have instructed the Navy to search for and intercept all ships paying tolls to Iran in international waters. Anyone illegally paying tolls will not be able to safely navigate the high seas. We will also begin destroying the mines that Iran has laid in the strait. Any Iranian who dares to fire at us or peaceful ships will be blown to smithereens! Iran knows better than anyone how to end this crisis that has already destroyed their country.
Their navy is gone, their air force is gone, their air defense systems and radar are virtually nonexistent, and Khomeini and most of their "leaders" are dead, all stemming from their nuclear ambitions. The blockade
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Before using Musk's "Western WeChat" X Chat, you need to understand these three questions
The X Chat will be available for download on the App Store this Friday. The media has already covered the feature list, including self-destructing messages, screenshot prevention, 481-person group chats, Grok integration, and registration without a phone number, positioning it as the "Western WeChat." However, there are three questions that have hardly been addressed in any reports.
There is a sentence on X's official help page that is still hanging there: "If malicious insiders or X itself cause encrypted conversations to be exposed through legal processes, both the sender and receiver will be completely unaware."
No. The difference lies in where the keys are stored.
In Signal's end-to-end encryption, the keys never leave your device. X, the court, or any external party does not hold your keys. Signal's servers have nothing to decrypt your messages; even if they were subpoenaed, they could only provide registration timestamps and last connection times, as evidenced by past subpoena records.
X Chat uses the Juicebox protocol. This solution divides the key into three parts, each stored on three servers operated by X. When recovering the key with a PIN code, the system retrieves these three shards from X's servers and recombines them. No matter how complex the PIN code is, X is the actual custodian of the key, not the user.
This is the technical background of the "help page sentence": because the key is on X's servers, X has the ability to respond to legal processes without the user's knowledge. Signal does not have this capability, not because of policy, but because it simply does not have the key.
The following illustration compares the security mechanisms of Signal, WhatsApp, Telegram, and X Chat along six dimensions. X Chat is the only one of the four where the platform holds the key and the only one without Forward Secrecy.
The significance of Forward Secrecy is that even if a key is compromised at a certain point in time, historical messages cannot be decrypted because each message has a unique key. Signal's Double Ratchet protocol automatically updates the key after each message, a mechanism lacking in X Chat.
After analyzing the X Chat architecture in June 2025, Johns Hopkins University cryptology professor Matthew Green commented, "If we judge XChat as an end-to-end encryption scheme, this seems like a pretty game-over type of vulnerability." He later added, "I would not trust this any more than I trust current unencrypted DMs."
From a September 2025 TechCrunch report to being live in April 2026, this architecture saw no changes.
In a February 9, 2026 tweet, Musk pledged to undergo rigorous security tests of X Chat before its launch on X Chat and to open source all the code.
As of the April 17 launch date, no independent third-party audit has been completed, there is no official code repository on GitHub, the App Store's privacy label reveals X Chat collects five or more categories of data including location, contact info, and search history, directly contradicting the marketing claim of "No Ads, No Trackers."
Not continuous monitoring, but a clear access point.
For every message on X Chat, users can long-press and select "Ask Grok." When this button is clicked, the message is delivered to Grok in plaintext, transitioning from encrypted to unencrypted at this stage.
This design is not a vulnerability but a feature. However, X Chat's privacy policy does not state whether this plaintext data will be used for Grok's model training or if Grok will store this conversation content. By actively clicking "Ask Grok," users are voluntarily removing the encryption protection of that message.
There is also a structural issue: How quickly will this button shift from an "optional feature" to a "default habit"? The higher the quality of Grok's replies, the more frequently users will rely on it, leading to an increase in the proportion of messages flowing out of encryption protection. The actual encryption strength of X Chat, in the long run, depends not only on the design of the Juicebox protocol but also on the frequency of user clicks on "Ask Grok."
X Chat's initial release only supports iOS, with the Android version simply stating "coming soon" without a timeline.
In the global smartphone market, Android holds about 73%, while iOS holds about 27% (IDC/Statista, 2025). Of WhatsApp's 3.14 billion monthly active users, 73% are on Android (according to Demand Sage). In India, WhatsApp covers 854 million users, with over 95% Android penetration. In Brazil, there are 148 million users, with 81% on Android, and in Indonesia, there are 112 million users, with 87% on Android.
WhatsApp's dominance in the global communication market is built on Android. Signal, with a monthly active user base of around 85 million, also relies mainly on privacy-conscious users in Android-dominant countries.
X Chat circumvented this battlefield, with two possible interpretations. One is technical debt; X Chat is built with Rust, and achieving cross-platform support is not easy, so prioritizing iOS may be an engineering constraint. The other is a strategic choice; with iOS holding a market share of nearly 55% in the U.S., X's core user base being in the U.S., prioritizing iOS means focusing on their core user base rather than engaging in direct competition with Android-dominated emerging markets and WhatsApp.
These two interpretations are not mutually exclusive, leading to the same result: X Chat's debut saw it willingly forfeit 73% of the global smartphone user base.
This matter has been described by some: X Chat, along with X Money and Grok, forms a trifecta creating a closed-loop data system parallel to the existing infrastructure, similar in concept to the WeChat ecosystem. This assessment is not new, but with X Chat's launch, it's worth revisiting the schematic.
X Chat generates communication metadata, including information on who is talking to whom, for how long, and how frequently. This data flows into X's identity system. Part of the message content goes through the Ask Grok feature and enters Grok's processing chain. Financial transactions are handled by X Money: external public testing was completed in March, opening to the public in April, enabling fiat peer-to-peer transfers via Visa Direct. A senior Fireblocks executive confirmed plans for cryptocurrency payments to go live by the end of the year, holding money transmitter licenses in over 40 U.S. states currently.
Every WeChat feature operates within China's regulatory framework. Musk's system operates within Western regulatory frameworks, but he also serves as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This is not a WeChat replica; it is a reenactment of the same logic under different political conditions.
The difference is that WeChat has never explicitly claimed to be "end-to-end encrypted" on its main interface, whereas X Chat does. "End-to-end encryption" in user perception means that no one, not even the platform, can see your messages. X Chat's architectural design does not meet this user expectation, but it uses this term.
X Chat consolidates the three data lines of "who this person is, who they are talking to, and where their money comes from and goes to" in one company's hands.
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Soaring 50 times, with an FDV exceeding 10 billion USD, why RaveDAO?
1 billion DOTs were minted out of thin air, but the hacker only made 230,000 dollars
After the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, when will the war end?
Before using Musk's "Western WeChat" X Chat, you need to understand these three questions
The X Chat will be available for download on the App Store this Friday. The media has already covered the feature list, including self-destructing messages, screenshot prevention, 481-person group chats, Grok integration, and registration without a phone number, positioning it as the "Western WeChat." However, there are three questions that have hardly been addressed in any reports.
There is a sentence on X's official help page that is still hanging there: "If malicious insiders or X itself cause encrypted conversations to be exposed through legal processes, both the sender and receiver will be completely unaware."
No. The difference lies in where the keys are stored.
In Signal's end-to-end encryption, the keys never leave your device. X, the court, or any external party does not hold your keys. Signal's servers have nothing to decrypt your messages; even if they were subpoenaed, they could only provide registration timestamps and last connection times, as evidenced by past subpoena records.
X Chat uses the Juicebox protocol. This solution divides the key into three parts, each stored on three servers operated by X. When recovering the key with a PIN code, the system retrieves these three shards from X's servers and recombines them. No matter how complex the PIN code is, X is the actual custodian of the key, not the user.
This is the technical background of the "help page sentence": because the key is on X's servers, X has the ability to respond to legal processes without the user's knowledge. Signal does not have this capability, not because of policy, but because it simply does not have the key.
The following illustration compares the security mechanisms of Signal, WhatsApp, Telegram, and X Chat along six dimensions. X Chat is the only one of the four where the platform holds the key and the only one without Forward Secrecy.
The significance of Forward Secrecy is that even if a key is compromised at a certain point in time, historical messages cannot be decrypted because each message has a unique key. Signal's Double Ratchet protocol automatically updates the key after each message, a mechanism lacking in X Chat.
After analyzing the X Chat architecture in June 2025, Johns Hopkins University cryptology professor Matthew Green commented, "If we judge XChat as an end-to-end encryption scheme, this seems like a pretty game-over type of vulnerability." He later added, "I would not trust this any more than I trust current unencrypted DMs."
From a September 2025 TechCrunch report to being live in April 2026, this architecture saw no changes.
In a February 9, 2026 tweet, Musk pledged to undergo rigorous security tests of X Chat before its launch on X Chat and to open source all the code.
As of the April 17 launch date, no independent third-party audit has been completed, there is no official code repository on GitHub, the App Store's privacy label reveals X Chat collects five or more categories of data including location, contact info, and search history, directly contradicting the marketing claim of "No Ads, No Trackers."
Not continuous monitoring, but a clear access point.
For every message on X Chat, users can long-press and select "Ask Grok." When this button is clicked, the message is delivered to Grok in plaintext, transitioning from encrypted to unencrypted at this stage.
This design is not a vulnerability but a feature. However, X Chat's privacy policy does not state whether this plaintext data will be used for Grok's model training or if Grok will store this conversation content. By actively clicking "Ask Grok," users are voluntarily removing the encryption protection of that message.
There is also a structural issue: How quickly will this button shift from an "optional feature" to a "default habit"? The higher the quality of Grok's replies, the more frequently users will rely on it, leading to an increase in the proportion of messages flowing out of encryption protection. The actual encryption strength of X Chat, in the long run, depends not only on the design of the Juicebox protocol but also on the frequency of user clicks on "Ask Grok."
X Chat's initial release only supports iOS, with the Android version simply stating "coming soon" without a timeline.
In the global smartphone market, Android holds about 73%, while iOS holds about 27% (IDC/Statista, 2025). Of WhatsApp's 3.14 billion monthly active users, 73% are on Android (according to Demand Sage). In India, WhatsApp covers 854 million users, with over 95% Android penetration. In Brazil, there are 148 million users, with 81% on Android, and in Indonesia, there are 112 million users, with 87% on Android.
WhatsApp's dominance in the global communication market is built on Android. Signal, with a monthly active user base of around 85 million, also relies mainly on privacy-conscious users in Android-dominant countries.
X Chat circumvented this battlefield, with two possible interpretations. One is technical debt; X Chat is built with Rust, and achieving cross-platform support is not easy, so prioritizing iOS may be an engineering constraint. The other is a strategic choice; with iOS holding a market share of nearly 55% in the U.S., X's core user base being in the U.S., prioritizing iOS means focusing on their core user base rather than engaging in direct competition with Android-dominated emerging markets and WhatsApp.
These two interpretations are not mutually exclusive, leading to the same result: X Chat's debut saw it willingly forfeit 73% of the global smartphone user base.
This matter has been described by some: X Chat, along with X Money and Grok, forms a trifecta creating a closed-loop data system parallel to the existing infrastructure, similar in concept to the WeChat ecosystem. This assessment is not new, but with X Chat's launch, it's worth revisiting the schematic.
X Chat generates communication metadata, including information on who is talking to whom, for how long, and how frequently. This data flows into X's identity system. Part of the message content goes through the Ask Grok feature and enters Grok's processing chain. Financial transactions are handled by X Money: external public testing was completed in March, opening to the public in April, enabling fiat peer-to-peer transfers via Visa Direct. A senior Fireblocks executive confirmed plans for cryptocurrency payments to go live by the end of the year, holding money transmitter licenses in over 40 U.S. states currently.
Every WeChat feature operates within China's regulatory framework. Musk's system operates within Western regulatory frameworks, but he also serves as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This is not a WeChat replica; it is a reenactment of the same logic under different political conditions.
The difference is that WeChat has never explicitly claimed to be "end-to-end encrypted" on its main interface, whereas X Chat does. "End-to-end encryption" in user perception means that no one, not even the platform, can see your messages. X Chat's architectural design does not meet this user expectation, but it uses this term.
X Chat consolidates the three data lines of "who this person is, who they are talking to, and where their money comes from and goes to" in one company's hands.
The help page sentence has never been just technical instructions.
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