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Chinese crypto tycoon targets Hong Kong capital for bitcoin asset management
Li Lin, a Chinese crypto-tycoon, plans to transfer a trading system and 'team from his family office to Hong Kong listed Bitfire Group where he is the biggest holder in order to tap into demand for digital assets among investors and institutional buyers. Bitfire, an investment firm, announced on Wednesday that it had purchased the trading systems and investment team of Avenir Group (Li's family office) for $1.6million. Li, a Hunan native, transformed Huobi – now called HTX – into one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, before a Beijing crackdown reshaped this industry. Hong Kong has been working to make it a virtual asset hub. After selling his controlling stake in Huobi to crypto-entrepreneur Justin Sun for $1 billion in 2022, Li shifted his attention to his family business. Livio Wong, Bitfire's CEO, stated in an interview that Bitfire will?raise external money? to?provide regulated asset management services using bitcoin-denominated currency, called the "Alpha BTC strategy". Weng stated that the strategy would aim to attract an investment equivalent to over 10,000 bitcoins, worth $760 million. This is to be achieved within one year. Weng stated that "market demand for such products are huge", as an increasing number of local companies hold bitcoins, but lack the means to profit from it. He said that the strategy would generate profits through derivatives, such as options trading, with bitcoin or IBIT ETF used as an underlying asset. Crypto-native investors as well as Hong Kong-based companies were his target clients. According to Bitfire estimates, at least 40 Hong Kong listed companies hold bitcoin. Bitcoin last traded at $76,000. This is a rebound from the first quarter's weakness amid high volatility. Avenir is Asia's biggest?bitcoin ETF Investor since?2024. According to its filing, the firm owned?18.3 millions shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust valued at $908 million by 2025. (Reporting and editing by Summer Zhen, Sumeet chatterjee, and Thomas Derpinghaus).
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FAA investigates close call between 2 passenger jets at New York JFK Airport
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration'said Tuesday that it was investigating a close call between?two passenger planes at New York John F. Kennedy International Airport. The?crew?of Republic Airways Flight 4464 made a go-around after they missed the intended approach path at John F. Kennedy International Airport and flew too close to Jazz Aviation Flight 554 which was cleared to land on a parallel?runway. The FAA released a statement on Monday about the?incident. Both crews responded to the?onboard alarms. The FAA is currently investigating the incident, it said. According to Flightradar24, the two planes were within 350 feet (106.68 meters), vertically, and 0.62 miles (997.79 metres), horizontally. According to an ABC News affiliate, the two planes landed safely after circling. The?ABC affiliate reported that anti-collision alerts could be heard in both the cockpit and tower of the air traffic control audio. The report states that controllers instructed pilots of both planes to abort the landing and then the jets made safe 'landings. Report: The pilots informed the controllers that they were responding to RA alarms, also known as "resolution advisory", the most serious anti-collision alerts for pilots. The report said that last month at New York's LaGuardia Airport, an Air Canada Express jet collided with a firetruck, killing both pilots. (Reporting and editing by Don Durfee in Washington, Kate Mayberry and Kanishka Singh)
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Investors assess the prospects for US-Iran Peace Talks and lower oil prices
Investors weighed the outlook for U.S. peace talks with Iran after?the U.S. Extension of the ceasefire. Brent crude futures fell 21 cents or 0.2% to $98.27 per barrel at 0039 GMT after reaching $99.38 in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate futures dropped 28 cents or 0.3% to $89.39 after reaching as high as $90.71. On Tuesday, both benchmark contracts increased by about 3%. U.S. president Donald Trump announced that he would extend the ceasefire indefinitely with Iran, just hours before it expires, so as to allow for talks to continue and end a conflict that has claimed thousands of lives and shook the global economy. It was unclear whether Iran or U.S. allies Israel would agree to extend a truce that began two weeks ago. The market is unable to make a clear decision because the Strait of Hormuz has been closed and the outcome of the talks are still uncertain, said Hiroyuki Kikukawa. He was the chief strategist of Nissan Securities Investment. Kikukawa said that prices will likely remain near the current levels until fighting resumes. Trump said that the U.S. Navy will continue to blockade Iran's ports, shore and coastline. Iranian leaders have called this a war crime. The most senior Iranian leaders did not immediately comment on Trump's extension of the ceasefire. Tasnim News Agency affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Iran did not ask for the extension. It reiterated its position that it would break the U.S. Blockade using force. Only three ships passed through the Strait?Hormuz in the last 24 hours. This is a waterway that normally channels around 20% of the world's oil and gas. The Israeli military also claimed that Hezbollah had fired rockets on its troops in the southern part of Lebanon. They accused the Iran-backed movement of violating a ceasefire before the U.S.-mediated negotiations with Lebanon scheduled for this week. Hezbollah did not immediately comment. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, said that the Druzhba pipeline pumping Russian oil into Europe is ready to resume operations. However, three industry sources said that Russia will stop oil exports to Germany via Druzhba from Kazakhstan on May 1. The?U.S. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) will publish inventory data. Market sources cited American Petroleum Institute data on Tuesday to say that U.S. crude stock fell by 4.5 mn?barrels after three consecutive weeks of gains. Gasoline and distillate stocks also decreased. Analysts predicted a crude oil draw of 1.2 million barrels for the week ending April 17.
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US will extend ceasefire indefinitely, but it is unclear whether Iran agrees
?U.S. Donald Trump announced that he would extend the ceasefire indefinitely with Iran in order to facilitate further peace talks. However, it was unclear on Wednesday whether Iran or Israel, a U.S. allie in the two-month conflict, would agree. Trump stated in a social media statement that the U.S. agreed to the request of Pakistani'mediators' "to delay our attack on the Country of Iran" until their?leaders or representatives could come up with an unified proposal... and discussions were concluded. Pakistani leaders hosted peace talks at Islamabad in order to put an end to a war which has claimed thousands of lives and shook the global economy. Trump said that he would not only continue the U.S. Navy blockade on Iran's maritime trade, which Iran considers an act of warfare, even though he appeared to announce a unilateral ceasefire. Early on Wednesday, senior Iranian officials did not respond to Trump's statement. However, some early reactions from Tehran indicated that Trump's remarks were being treated with skepticism. Tasnim News Agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said Iran did not ask for a ceasefire and repeatedly threatened to break the U.S. Blockade. The adviser of Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Trump's announcement carried little weight, and could be a ploy. Trump's wartime rhetoric has been erratic. Trump's wartime rhetoric has veered between extremes. Trump's announcement was a last-minute retreat from his threat to bomb Iran’s bridges and power plants. Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations and others condemned these threats. They noted that international humanitarian law prohibits attacks on civilians or civilian infrastructure. Next Peace Talks Uncertain On February 28, the U.S., Israel and other countries began a war by bombarding Iran with air strikes. The conflict spread quickly to Gulf states which host?U.S. The conflict quickly spread to Gulf states that host?U.S. military bases, and then to Lebanon when the Iran-allied militant group Hezbollah entered the fight. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has been trying to remove Iran's leadership for decades. Trump, however, has provided shifting and contradictory reasons for joining Israel in launching this war, and for how he sees it ending. This has caused confusion on global markets. The war has caused more than 3,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of displacements in the region, mainly in Iran and Lebanon. It also led to a virtual closure of Strait of Hormuz - a crucial chokepoint between Iran and Oman in the global energy market. This sent oil prices skyrocketing and sparked fears of a global recession. Iran has used its control over oil tankers, and other ships in the strait to respond to U.S. attacks and Israeli strikes. Trump stated in his statement that he would be willing to extend the truce because "the government of Iran is severely fractured, and not unexpectedly," a reference the U.S./Israeli assassinations in the first weeks of the war of some of Iran's leaders, including the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has now been succeeded by his child. Trump told CNBC a few hours prior to his announcement that the U.S. Military was "ready to go" and he did not intend to continue the temporary truce. These comments were made as tentatively planned peace talks in Islamabad appeared to be on the brink of collapse: U.S. vice president JD Vance was scheduled to return to Pakistan, on Tuesday, after the Iranians had requested his presence. A senior Iranian official said that Iran's negotiators were willing to continue talks with the U.S. if they abandoned their policy of?threats and pressure, and rejected any negotiations that would lead to surrender. Iran's foreign ministry has accused the U.S. government of "state terrorism" and "piracy at Sea" for seizing and intercepting two commercial Iranian vessels at sea, the second on Tuesday. Iran has been condemned by the U.S. and other countries for preventing freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. The first round of talks, which took place 10 days ago, failed to produce an agreement. Iran's high-enriched uranium stockpiles were the main focus. Trump wants the uranium to be removed from Iran to stop the country enriching the material to the point that it could produce a nuclear bomb. Iran claims it only has a civilian peaceful nuclear program, and that the country has a sovereign right as a signatory to the nuclear weapons nonproliferation agreement to continue this.
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EU finds Chinese bidder for Lisbon subway line benefitted from unfair subsidies
The European Commission revealed on Tuesday that a Chinese company, which was among those selected to build a new subway line in Lisbon, had received unfair foreign subsidies. This forced consortium leader Mota-Engil, to hire a Polish firm instead. The Commission issued a statement saying that the Metropolitano de Lisboa - which commissioned the Violet Line - was authorized to hire a consortium led by?Mota - Engil, provided the Chinese rolling stock maker Portugal CRRC - Tangshan is replaced with the Polish rival PESA. In late 2025, the Commission?began a thorough investigation that?found that the unit CRRC of the Chinese state-owned CRRC benefited from foreign subsidies which distorted the procurement process and gave it an "unfair competitive edge" at the expense of other bidders. In a statement issued after the announcement, the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU stated that the EU's rules on foreign subsidies "grant the European Commission an excessively wide and?unenforceable" discretionary power. Portugal?CRRC Tangshan has not responded to a comment request immediately. The Violet Line is a surface light-rail metro that connects Odivelas to Loures in the north of Lisbon. The project is expected to be completed in 2029. It has a price of around 700 million euros.
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US Transportation Secretary seeks $10 Billion for Air Traffic Control Upgrade
Transportation Secretary Sean 'Duffy' said he wanted $10 billion for the next phase of a massive project to modernize America’s aging air-traffic control?system, and reduce flight delays. In the last?year Congress allocated $12.5 billion to?the project?to replace outdated technology and increase understaffed air traffic towers. Duffy said in an interview that the majority of new spending will be spent on developing new software to make air travel more efficient. He said that the software used to manage airspace was the real magic. FAA air traffic telecom system was hit by several failures including major outages at Newark Airport last year. Initial $12.5 billion was raised after decades of complaints about airport congestion, flight delays and faulty technology. In March, the FAA was forced to stop all traffic at Washington's three airports for more than an hour twice because of problems with outdated technology. Duffy has asked for more money to improve towers and surface-awareness technologies. He had previously stated that he wanted $19 billion, but he is now asking Congress to give him $10 billion. Often, airlines schedule more traffic than the FAA can handle. Duffy said he could look 45 days out and see a schedule that was 50% over capacity. The FAA could now move flights in order to avoid delays. Duffy explained that "this tool allows us to see and then spread flights in a manner which allows for much less disruption." "We could fix it." In a report from 2023, it was stated that the FAA’s communications system had been outdated for years. It also said that many of its systems were no longer able to be repaired. A separate report stated that 51 of 138 air traffic control telecoms systems owned by the FAA were not sustainable. Duffy stated that the FAA had 'already replaced almost 50% of all copper wiring, converted 270 radio stations nationwide, installed new surface awareness systems in 54 airports, and changed 17 towers into electronic flight strips. Rebuilding our aviation system is not a big task for America. Duffy told an audience of aviation professionals, "We can do this." By the end of 2028 airports will be equipped with 5,000 high-speed network links on fiber, wireless and satellite, as well as 27,000 new radios, and 612 radars. (Reporting and editing by Franklin Paul, Jamie Freed, and David Shepardson)
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Transportation chief Duffy believes that saving Spirit Airlines could be a case of putting 'good money into bad'.
Sean Duffy, the U.S. Transportation Secretary, raised concerns on Tuesday about using taxpayer funds to save a?low-cost?bankrupt airline Spirit Airlines. "We don't want Spirit to lose money. They've spent a lot and haven't been profitable. Would we then just delay the inevitable, and own it? Duffy stated in an interview. "Or is Spirit on a path to success and I don't know what the answer to this question is." Donald Trump stated Tuesday that he would love to see someone buy bankrupt low-cost airline Spirit and said the federal government might get involved. Trump said, "It's a 14,000 job situation. Maybe the federal government could help out." Duffy said that it seems no one wants Spirit, and it's not clear what Spirit's customers feel about the airline. What would someone buy? Duffy asked. Duffy asked. Spirit?did not immediately respond to an?request? for comment. Duffy said that he will speak to Trump about Spirit's fate on Tuesday. Duffy said that it takes more effort from within the government to determine where we should be going. If you decide to do Spirit, then who is next? "Who is the third?" "I am concerned about the Spirit employees... we also need to be good stewards with the tax dollars." We can't just put money into investments that will be lost, or to forestall the inevitable. Duffy stated that some people believe the administration wants all primary carriers to be merged with low-cost carriers. Duffy stated, "I envision a world in which I would like low-cost carriers." Low-cost carriers are well suited to a certain?market. There are also premium carriers. "I want to see each market vibrant and competitive." Spirit Airlines' bankruptcy plan was under renewed pressure last week after a sharp increase in jet fuel prices. Spirit seeks court approval for its second restructuring in less that a year after it emerged from bankruptcy in March of 2025. In 2024, the administration of 'Joe Biden' went to court to block JetBlue Airways from acquiring Spirit. They argued that this would eliminate an airline which helped keep fares low. Duffy stated, "If Spirit disappears, JetBlue will be better off." JetBlue wouldn't be happy if we bailed out Spirit. (Reporting and editing by David Shepardson, Chizu Nomiyama, and Chris Sanders).
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Senators urge US Postal Service to not implement Trump's mail-in voting order
On Tuesday, a group of?of?37 Democratic U.S. Senators urged the U.S. The U.S. Postal Service is urging the President Donald Trump to not comply with an executive order issued on March 31, tightening rules for mail-in voting. In a letter, Gary Peters and Alex Padilla along with Chuck Schumer, Dick Durbin, Maria Cantwell and others said that the executive order, issued by President Donald Trump on March 31, sought to illegally transform USPS into an election administration agency, with the ability to decide who can vote via mail, as well as to set ballot specifications. USPS has not yet commented. Trump's executive orders requires USPS only to deliver ballots to those voters who are on the approved mail-in voter list of each state. States are also required to keep election records for a period of five years. The senators stated that "this directive will have a chilling impact on the eligibility of?Americans voters to exercise their right to vote constitutionally by imposing unnecessary obstacles and would?corrupt? the independent mission of?Postal Service in determining who can vote via mail," adding USPS has the final say over whether or not to transmit a vote's absentee votes to election officials. A coalition of Democratic state attorney generals filed a lawsuit against Trump's order earlier this month. They joined other suits being pursued by the Democratic Party, voting rights activists, and arms of the Democratic Party. Trump, as a Republican has been promoting the false claim for years that his defeat in the 2020 elections was due to widespread voter fraud. He has also called for tighter voting rules by mail ahead of the midterm elections of November. In March 2025, Trump forced Postmaster General Louis DeJoy out of his job. David Steiner, the current postmaster general of USPS, warned that USPS may run out money as early as next year. Trump has nominated 4 candidates to the U.S. Postal Board of Governors are currently awaiting confirmation hearings. The state attorneys general argue that Trump's order interferes unlawfully with mail-in votes by ordering USPS to block delivery of ballots on criteria outside the control of the states. Trump has also urged Congress to pass the SAVE America Act. This bill would require proofs of U.S. Citizenship to register to vote, and photo IDs to cast a ballot. The bill was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives but is facing a long road in the Senate. (Reporting and editing by Nick Zieminski; David Shepardson)
Trump extends Iran ceasefire with peace talks in doubt
Donald Trump, U.S. president, said that he would "indefinitely" extend the ceasefire agreement with Iran in order to facilitate further peace talks. However, it was unclear on Wednesday whether Iran or Israel, a U.S. allie during the two-month conflict, would agree.
Trump stated in a social media statement that the U.S. agreed to the request of Pakistani mediators, "to delay our attack on the country?of Iran" until their leaders and representatives could come up with an unified proposal... and discussions were concluded.
Pakistani leaders hosted peace talks at Islamabad in order to put an end to a war which has claimed thousands of lives and shook the global economy.
Trump, who announced what appeared unilaterally to be an extension of the ceasefire, also stated that he would maintain the U.S. Navy’s blockade against Iran’s maritime trade, which Iran considers a war crime.
The Iranian government did not respond to Trump's statement until Wednesday morning, but some early reactions in Tehran indicated that the remarks were being treated with skepticism.
Tasnim News Agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said Iran has?not requested a ceasefire and repeatedly threatened to break the U.S. Blockade by force. The adviser of Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Trump's statement had little meaning and could be a ploy. Trump's wartime rhetoric has been erratic. Trump's wartime rhetoric has veered between extremes.
Trump's announcement was a last-minute retreat from his threat to bomb Iran’s bridges and power plants. Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations and others condemned these threats. They noted that international humanitarian law prohibits attacks on civilians and civil infrastructure.
Next Peace Talks Uncertain
On February 28, the U.S., Israel and Iran began the war with aerial bombardments against Iran. The conflict spread quickly to Gulf States that house U.S. bases, and then to Lebanon when the Iran-allied militant Hezbollah group joined the fight.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has been trying to oust Iran’s leadership for decades. But Trump has offered shifting and at times contradictory rationales as to why he is joining Israel in launching this war, and how he sees it ending. This has caused confusion on global markets.
After Trump's announcement, U.S. stocks futures rose and the dollar weakened. Oil prices also fell. The war has caused more than 5,000 deaths and displaced hundreds of thousands of people, mostly in Iran, Lebanon and Syria. It also led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman. This sparked a spike in oil prices and raised fears of a global recession.
Iran has exploited the ability to control oil tankers, and other ships, in the Strait of Hormuz in response to U.S.
Trump stated in his statement that he would be willing to extend the truce because "the government of Iran is seriously fragmented, and not unexpectedly," a reference the U.S./Israeli assassination of several leaders of the country in the first weeks of the war, including the late Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei who was succeeded by his own son.
Trump told CNBC a few hours before he made his announcement that he did not intend to continue the temporary ceasefire and the U.S. Military was "raring for go."
These comments were made as tentatively planned peace talks in Islamabad appeared to be on the brink of collapse: U.S. vice president JD Vance whose presence had been'requested by the Iranians', was planning?to return back to Pakistan on Tuesday, but a White House Official said that he hadn’t yet left Washington and had taken part in other policy meetings.
A senior Iranian official said that Iran's negotiators were willing to continue talks with the U.S. if they abandoned their policy of threats and pressure, and if they rejected any negotiations that would lead to surrender.
Iran's foreign ministry has accused the U.S. government of "state terrorism" and "piracy at Sea" for seizing and intercepting two commercial Iranian vessels at sea, the second on Tuesday. Iran has been condemned by the U.S. and other countries for preventing freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
After extending the ceasefire for another 24 hours, Trump has redoubled his efforts to lift the U.S. Blockade. He said in a post on social media that lifting it would undermine any chances of a peaceful deal, "unless we blow up their entire country, including their leaders."
The first round of talks, which took place 10 days ago, did not produce an agreement. Much of the attention was focused on Iran's high-enriched uranium stockpiles.
Trump wants to remove the uranium from Iran to stop the country enriching it to the point that it could produce a nuclear bomb. Iran claims it only has a civilian peaceful nuclear program, and that the country has a sovereign right as a signatory to the nuclear weapons nonproliferation agreement to continue this.
(source: Reuters)