On April 20, sources familiar with the Bank of Japan's thinking revealed that the central bank is unlikely to raise interest rates next week. The diminishing hope for a swift end to the Middle East conflict has left Japan's economic and price outlook fraught with uncertainty. Although the final decision still carries some uncertainty and will depend on the progress of peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, the sources indicated that the bank prefers to maintain the status quo this month to allow more time to assess the impact of the conflict. One source stated, 'Given the current level of uncertainty, the Bank of Japan may consider it feasible to hold steady this month.' Another source echoed this sentiment. A third source noted that the Bank of Japan is unlikely to raise rates, as the market has already fully priced in the possibility of no rate hike this month. These sources mentioned that even if the Bank of Japan keeps rates unchanged next week, it is likely to signal readiness to raise rates as early as June, given the escalating inflationary pressures.

On April 20, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) announced a new regulatory framework to promote the trading of tokenized investment products recognized by the SFC in the secondary market, aiming to enhance digital asset trading activities in Hong Kong and support the further development of the ecosystem. The first batch of products is expected to primarily consist of tokenized money market funds. The SFC will review the operation of these products and will consider expanding the range of products in due course.

EasyDNS CEO Mark Jeftovic said the social engineering attack was highly sophisticated and the company is conducting further investigation to determine how the breach occurred.

Strategy’s Michael Saylor posted “Think Even Bigger” on Sunday, coming just a week after it disclosed $1 billion of Bitcoin buying.

The Aave token fell nearly 20% to $89.5 in just over 24 hours as users withdrew billions of dollars from the lending protocol.

On April 20, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Baghaei stated that there are currently no plans for a second round of negotiations with the United States. He emphasized that the U.S. has not learned from past experiences, and such an approach will not yield positive results.

Market data shows that BTC has fallen below $75,000, currently priced at $74,994.16, with a 24-hour decline of 0.09%. The market is experiencing significant volatility, so please ensure proper risk management.

Market data shows that ETH has fallen below $2300, currently priced at $2299.87, with a 24-hour decline of 0.2%. The market is experiencing significant volatility, so please ensure proper risk management.

Senior Iranian sources: Discrepancies in nuclear program discussions remain unresolved, and the gap has not narrowed. The ongoing US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will weaken peace negotiations between Iran and the United States. (Reuters)

On April 20, Al Jazeera reported that Ibrahim Azizi, chairman of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, stated that Iran has decided to continue negotiations with the United States. However, he emphasized that this 'does not mean negotiating at any cost' nor does it imply acceptance of 'any actions taken by the other party.' (Xinhua)