President Donald Trump is expected to unveil a $1.5 trillion defense budget, which would mark the largest year-on-year increase in U.S. military spending since World War II, Reuters reported.

Central banks continued to add to gold reserves in February despite escalating geopolitical tensions and heightened economic uncertainty. While the outlook for official-sector gold demand remains clouded by inflation pressures and the widening conflict involving Iran, new data indicate buying persisted up to the onset of hostilities. The World Gold Council (GOLDCOUNCIL) reported that central banks purchased a combined 19 tonnes of gold in February, led by the National Bank of Poland. Full article: Kitco

UPDATE: Blockchain analytics firm @Elliptic said the $285M exploit targeting @DriftProtocol shows multiple signs consistent with North Korean state-sponsored involvement. The firm pointed to money-laundering behavior that matches patterns seen in prior DPRK-linked crypto thefts.

ALERT: Technology companies announced 18,720 job cuts in March, more than 24% higher than a year earlier. Major layoffs announced so far this year include Amazon (16,000), Oracle (20,000–30,000) and Block (up to 5,100).

SpaceX has confidentially filed for an initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Bloomberg reported, setting the stage for a potential listing as early as June 2026. The company is seeking to raise as much as $75 billion as it ramps up funding for Starship development, Starlink expansion and broader infrastructure investment. Bloomberg said SpaceX submitted a draft registration statement under rules that allow companies to begin SEC review privately before launching a public marketing campaign. Key terms including pricing and share allocation are expected in subsequent filings. For the underwriting syndicate, SpaceX has tapped Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, according to the report. The company is also weighing a dual-class share structure that would preserve outsize voting control for insiders, including CEO Elon Musk. If the capital raise reaches $75 billion, it would far exceed Saudi Aramco's $29 billion IPO in 2019. Axios reported that such an offering could imply a debut valuation above $1.75 trillion, potentially making SpaceX the first company to list with a market capitalization over $1 trillion. Axios also said SpaceX may set aside up to 30% of shares for individual investors, a higher-than-usual retail allocation for a major IPO. The IPO push comes as Musk's businesses undergo structural shifts. SpaceX recently acquired xAI, forming a combined entity valued at $1.25 trillion, Axios said, while noting investors would have limited historical financial data under the merged structure. SpaceX has indicated IPO proceeds would be directed toward increasing Starship launch cadence, expanding space-based data infrastructure and supporting development of a lunar base, alongside continued Falcon 9 operations and further global rollout of the Starlink satellite network. As the process advances, SpaceX is likely to face heightened regulatory scrutiny, including around executive communications during the IPO period.

The FBI has formally designated a suspected Chinese cyber intrusion into its internal surveillance management system as a "major incident" under federal law, the government's most severe cybersecurity classification. The breach was first detected on February 17 after analysts observed abnormal log activity. Officials said the attackers targeted an unclassified network used to administer court-authorized wiretaps and intelligence surveillance warrants. The affected environment held law-enforcement sensitive information, including call metadata, pen register and trap-and-trace returns, and personally identifiable information tied to subjects of active FBI investigations. Investigators believe the intruders entered through the infrastructure of a commercial ISP vendor rather than by directly compromising FBI systems, a supply-chain pathway resembling the "Salt Typhoon" campaign that hit major U.S. telecom providers in 2024. Former FBI cyber-division officials noted that the FISMA "major incident" threshold is rarely applied to the bureau's own systems. The classification requires notification to Congress and reflects the FBI's assessment that both personal-data exposure and acute national-security risks are involved. The White House, NSA, DHS, and CISA are participating in the investigation. The incident is the second major breach of U.S. law-enforcement data reported under the current administration.

Blockchain data show that 361,353,370 USDC, worth about US$361,371,437, was transferred from Coinbase Institutional to an unidentified wallet.

ME News reported that on April 3 (UTC+8), spot Brent crude—the physical-delivery benchmark for North Sea crude—rose above $140 per barrel, marking its highest level since 2008. S&P Global data showed North Sea-delivered Brent at $141.37 a barrel, the strongest reading since 2008. The surge comes as the Strait of Hormuz has been closed for more than a month. The International Energy Agency has described the situation as the largest supply disruption in the history of the oil market. Roughly one-fifth of global oil shipments typically pass through the strait, and refiners have struggled for weeks to secure available barrels. Spot Brent was just under $128 a barrel a day earlier and has now moved above the highs seen during the 2022 Russia-Ukraine crisis. Brent futures remain below those levels, while spot Brent captures pricing over a much shorter trading window. (Jinshi) (Source: ODAILY)

ALERT: U.S. equities shed $777,000,000,000 in market value at the opening bell.