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Bitcoin Tops $70,000 as US-Iran Ceasefire Talks Lift Risk

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BTC and XRP holders turn to NOW DeFi's quantum cloud mining

Bitcoin climbed above $70,200 on Monday for the first time since March 25, as a report that the US and Iran are negotiating a 45-day ceasefire sent risk assets sharply higher across global markets.

Summary

  • Bitcoin surged more than 3.5% on April 6, peaking at $70,200 after Axios reported that the US, Iran, and regional mediators are actively discussing a 45-day ceasefire
  • The move triggered $273 million in short liquidations across crypto markets within 24 hours, according to Coinglass
  • Markets remain cautious, with Polymarket giving the ceasefire roughly 30% odds by April 30, and a White House official confirming Trump has not yet signed off on the proposal

Bitcoin (BTC) reclaimed $70,000 on Monday for the first time in nearly two weeks, rising more than 3.5% to a peak of $70,200 as Axios reported that the US, Iran, and a group of regional mediators are discussing terms for a potential 45-day ceasefire. The report, citing four US, Israeli, and regional sources, sent fresh capital flowing into risk assets on the first trading day after Easter.

Ethereum climbed as much as 5.1% alongside Bitcoin, while the total crypto market cap crossed back above $2.5 trillion. Major altcoins followed, with SOL, XRP, and DOGE all registering gains.

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Pakistan is brokering what sources describe as the “Islamabad Accord,” a two-phase deal that would begin with a 45-day ceasefire and transition into negotiations for a permanent end to the conflict. The plan also envisions the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the key shipping lane that has remained closed since the war began six weeks ago.

A White House official confirmed the proposal is under active consideration but told reporters: “The President has not signed off on it. Operation Epic Fury continues.” Trump, who extended his strike deadline on Iran to Tuesday at 8 pm ET, told Axios he is “in deep negotiations” with Tehran, adding: “There is a good chance, but if they don’t make a deal, I am blowing up everything over there.”

Six Weeks of Conflict Have Kept Crypto Range-Bound

The US-Iran war has kept roughly 20% of global crude supply constrained behind the closed Strait of Hormuz, sustaining oil prices at elevated levels and dampening risk appetite since the conflict began. Bitcoin had already been weighed down by weeks of escalation headlines, with the asset trading within a $65,000 to $73,000 range even as ceasefire rumors produced repeated short-term spikes. Prior diplomatic attempts collapsed after Iran rejected earlier terms, keeping the strait closed and pressure on risk markets intact.

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$273 Million in Shorts Cleared, Open Interest Signals Fresh Capital

Coinglass data shows $273 million in bearish crypto bets were liquidated within 24 hours of the ceasefire reports surfacing. Short positions made up the overwhelming majority of losses, reflecting how heavily traders had positioned for further downside heading into the holiday weekend.

Bitcoin’s notional open interest rose 7%, and Ethereum’s climbed 11%, both outpacing spot price gains. As crypto.news noted, rising open interest alongside positive funding rates suggests fresh capital entering the market rather than a pure short squeeze. Polymarket currently gives the ceasefire roughly 30% odds by April 30, up from 18% before the Islamabad Accord came to light.

Whether the deal clears Trump’s Tuesday deadline remains the critical variable. Any breakdown in talks risks an immediate reversal, with analysts flagging $65,000 to $66,000 as the key support zone to watch if ceasefire optimism fades.

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Every 5 Minutes: Korea’s New Rule for Crypto Exchanges

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South Korea’s financial regulator has ordered all crypto exchanges to verify user asset balances every five minutes, following a massive overpayment incident that shook market confidence earlier this year.

One botched reward payout exposed systemic cracks across the entire industry.

What Triggered the Rules

In February, Bithumb accidentally sent 2,000 BTC per person instead of 2,000 Korean won ($1.40) during a promotional event. The error amounted to roughly $42 billion in misallocated crypto. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) launched emergency inspections across all five major Korean exchanges immediately after. What they found went far beyond a single human mistake.

Most exchanges were only reconciling their books once every 24 hours. Three had no automatic kill switch to halt trading when discrepancies appeared. Four lacked multi-step approval systems for high-risk manual transactions. Two exchanges hadn’t even separated their general accounts from high-risk transaction accounts — a basic safeguard.

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What Exchanges Must Now Do

The FSC announced a three-pillar reform package on April 6. Exchanges must run automated balance checks every five minutes, with alerts and automatic trading halts triggered by major mismatches. Monthly external audits replace the previous quarterly schedule, and public disclosures must now include asset-by-asset blockchain holdings rather than a simple coverage ratio.

For manual, high-risk transactions such as event payouts, exchanges must use separate accounts, deploy validity-check systems that automatically reject mismatched inputs, and require cross-verification by a third party before execution.

The FSC will also require exchanges to appoint dedicated risk management officers and establish risk management committees — standards already expected of traditional financial firms. Compliance checks move from annual to twice-yearly, with results reported to regulators.

DAXA, the industry body, will complete self-regulatory amendments this month, with systems built out by May. Key provisions will feed into Korea’s forthcoming second-phase Digital Asset Act.

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The post Every 5 Minutes: Korea’s New Rule for Crypto Exchanges appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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Chaos Labs Leaves Aave Due to Budget, Risk Disagreements

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Chaos Labs Leaves Aave Due to Budget, Risk Disagreements

Chaos Labs has parted ways with the Aave ecosystem after serving as the crypto lending protocol’s main risk service provider for three years, citing a budget dispute and disagreements over how Aave should manage risk.

“This decision was not made in haste,” Chaos Labs founder Omer Goldberg said in a post to X on Monday. “We worked in good faith with DAO contributors. Aave Labs was professional and supported increasing our budget to $5m to retain us. However, we are leaving because the engagement no longer reflects how we believe risk should be managed.”

Source: Omer Goldberg

Aave Labs CEO Stani Kulechov said that Chaos didn’t depart on bad terms, but claimed that Chaos pitched a proposal seeking to become the sole risk provider and thus force out other partners — a compromise Aave wasn’t willing to accept.

Chaos played a key role in Aave’s back-end infrastructure, from pricing loans and managing risk in the Aave V2 and V3 markets since November 2022, during which Aave’s total value locked rose fivefold to $26 billion.

Risk has been a major talking point in the Aave community after a user lost $50 million in a trade while interacting with Aave’s interface on March 12. The following week, Aave said it would introduce an “Aave Shield” protection feature to deter users from high-risk trades.

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As for Chaos’ departure, Goldberg said there became an increasing misalignment over how the parties thought risk should be managed. He noted that some Aave contributors had left, raising its workload, while also arguing that Aave V4’s expanded functionality introduced additional operational and legal risks that fell on Chaos’ shoulders.

“While Aave Labs is optimistic about a swift migration to V4, history suggests these transitions take months and even years,” Goldberg said. “Until V4 fully absorbs V3’s markets and liquidity, both systems need to be operated and managed simultaneously. The workload during the transition doesn’t halve. It doubles.”

Weighing the risk of a protocol failure, Goldberg said, “There is no regulatory framework, no safe harbor, and no settled law that answers the question of what a risk manager or curator owes when a protocol fails. If things work, the work is invisible. If things break, the blame is not.”

As such, “We are walking away from a $5 million engagement,” Goldberg said.

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Chaos wanted Aave to boot LlamaRisk, Chainlink: Kulechov

Aave Labs CEO Stani Kulechov told a slightly different story, stating that Chaos wanted to be the sole risk manager and use its price oracles instead of Chainlink’s.

Following that request would have forced Aave to push out its other risk protocol partner, LlamaRisk, and thus abandon its two-layer economic risk model.

Related: DeFi lender Aave launches on OKX’s Ethereum L2, X Layer

Kulechov added Aave was unwilling to integrate Chaos-built price oracles, citing Aave’s “track record” with Chainlink’s services, which its “users are currently more comfortable with at scale.”

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He also said Chaos was already “exploring winding down its risk consultancy services,” and that Aave had offered to double its payment to $5 million to retain them.

Cointelegraph reached out to Chaos Labs for comment.

Kulechov noted that Chaos’ departure hasn’t disrupted the Aave protocol, its smart contracts, token listings or network integrations.

Moving forward, Aave said it “will work closely with LlamaRisk to ensure a smooth transition” and maintain its two-layer economic risk model. 

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Source: LlamaRisk

Chaos’ departure comes amid a protocol-wide feud over how much funding and revenue control Aave Labs should receive versus Aave’s decentralized autonomous organization.

Despite the internal issues, Aave crossed the $1 trillion mark in cumulative lending volume in late February, marking a first in the DeFi industry.

Magazine: Animoca teams up with Ava Labs, Shrapnel on Steam: Web3 Gamer