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The NY Times in a new deep dive of what governing structures now look like inside Iran says what's already long been obvious to many in the wake of longtime Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's death: "When Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ruled Iran as the supreme leader, he exerted absolute power over all decisions about war, peace and negotiations with the United States. His son and successor does not play the same role."

The publication says it was able to interview at least half-a-dozen Iranian insiders, including IRGC officials, and individuals who know the younger Khamenei "well". The NY Times describes of Mojtaba Khamenei: "His father, wife and son were all killed. Access to him is extremely difficult and limited now. He is surrounded mostly by a team of doctors and medical staff who are treating the injuries he sustained in the airstrikes."

Apparently even top 'trusted' generals and IRGC commanders do visit him for fear of being surveilled and tracked to his location by Israel and the United States.

Per the sources cited in the Times, "Though Mr. Khamenei was gravely wounded, he is mentally sharp and engaged, according to four senior Iranian officials familiar with his health."

And more: "One leg was operated on three times, and he is awaiting a prosthetic. He had surgery on one hand and is slowly regaining function. His face and lips have been burned severely, making it difficult for him to speak, the officials said, adding that, eventually, he will need plastic surgery."

All of this provides an explanation as to why he has never been seen or heard from in public since Trump's Operation Epic Fury began on February 28. He has not so much as been photographed, and when state media has issued a few prior statements, it does so via text or what appears to be AI-configured audio over state media airwaves.

This fact has unleashed an avalanche of speculation as to his fate over the course of the war, and who is "really in charge". And yet it's also well-known that Iran is able to function militarily based on autonomy and dispersion of command among units, with the IRGC given more independence to act.

The White House has alleged there are essentially two factions vying for power and direction over the war - the civilian leadership and the IRGC command sides. 

"Mojtaba is not yet in full command or control," Sanam Vakil, the director of the Middle East and North Africa for Chatham House, claimed in the NYT report. But as expected the situation is nuanced: "There is, perhaps, deference to him," he continued. "He signs off or he is part of the decision-making structure in a formal way. But he is presented with fait accompli presentations right now."

As we and other have pointed out, in public at least the de facto day-to-day leader of the country remains speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. He has taken point as lead negotiator with the United States in Pakistan, and has been the public face of updating his country and the world on both the status of the war and the now stalled negotiations.

One other interesting detail in the Times report is seen in the following:

Messages to him are handwritten, sealed in envelopes and relayed via a human chain from one trusted courier to the next, who travel on highways and back roads, in cars and on motorcycles until they reach his hide-out. His guidance on issues snakes back the same way.

Some pundits have correctly pointed out that skepticism is warranted, also given the NYT's often deeply inaccurate reporting on Bush's Iraq war invasion, and other Mideast conflict zones including Syria:

With all due respect, remain skeptical about the credibility of the The New York Times report.

- If leaks of this magnitude were truly that easy, it would have been just as easy for Mossad to obtain precise information on Mojtaba Khamenei’s whereabouts, with obvious… https://t.co/g36ONAQUpd

— Babak Vahdad (@BabakVahdad) April 23, 2026

The NY Times alleged findings has it to the conclusion that even big decisions are currently under control of the generals and IRGC apparatus: "The combination of concern for his safety, his injuries and the sheer challenge of reaching him has resulted in Mr. Khamenei's delegating decision making to the generals, at least for now," the report concludes.

Authored by Micah Zimmerman via Bitcoin Magazine,

The United States military has an active node on the Bitcoin network, according to Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM). The disclosure, made at a House Services committee hearing, marks the first known confirmation that a U.S. military combatant command is directly participating in the Bitcoin peer-to-peer network.

“We have a node on the Bitcoin network,” Paparo wrote. “We’re doing a number of operational tests to secure and protect networks using the Bitcoin protocol.”

The statement landed one day after Paparo made waves in Congress with testimony that framed Bitcoin as a tool of American power.

JUST IN: ???? Four-star military officer Admiral Samuel Paparo confirms the USA is running a Bitcoin node.

"We have a node on the Bitcoin network right now. We're doing a number of operational tests to secure and protect networks using the Bitcoin protocol." pic.twitter.com/4JIOIMtlTW

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) April 22, 2026

What Paparo said yesterday

On April 21, Paparo testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee during a FY2027 defense authorization hearing. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) asked Paparo whether U.S. leadership in Bitcoin could give the country an edge against China in the Indo-Pacific theater.

Paparo did not deflect. He told the committee that INDOPACOM’s research centers on Bitcoin as a computer science tool — not as a financial asset.

“Our research into Bitcoin is as a computer science tool,” Paparo said.

“It’s the combination of cryptography, a blockchain, and a proof of work. And Bitcoin shows incredible potential as a computer science tool that through the proof-of-work protocols, actually imposes more cost than just the algorithmic securing of networks and our ability to operate.”

He described Bitcoin as “a peer-to-peer, zero-trust transfer of value” and said that “anything that supports all instruments of national power for the United States of America is to the good.”

The testimony was notable for what Paparo did not say. He did not describe Bitcoin as a reserve asset, a payment system, or a speculative instrument. He framed it as a computer science system with direct military relevance — a distinction that set his remarks apart from most official government commentary on crypto.

What running a Bitcoin node means

A Bitcoin node is a computer that runs the Bitcoin software, maintains a full copy of the blockchain, and independently validates every transaction and block against the network’s consensus rules. Nodes do not mine Bitcoin. They enforce the rules of the protocol and relay data across the peer-to-peer network.

Running a node gives an operator direct, trustless access to the Bitcoin network without relying on any third party. The operator’s computer connects to other nodes worldwide, verifies incoming transactions and blocks, and rejects anything that violates Bitcoin’s protocol rules.

For INDOPACOM, operating a node positions the command as a first-hand participant in the Bitcoin network, not an observer.

The disclosure that the military is conducting “operational tests to secure and protect networks using the Bitcoin protocol” suggests the command is moving beyond theoretical research and into active experimentation with Bitcoin’s cryptographic architecture as a defensive tool.

As of early 2026, there are an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 publicly reachable full nodes on the Bitcoin network, though the actual number is likely higher since many nodes operate behind firewalls and are not publicly visible.

Republicans in Congress are taking action to shield U.S. energy producers from “Climate lawfare,” the relentless barrage of frivolous lawsuits orchestrated by radical environmental activists.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced S.4340, a bill that would bar frivolous lawsuits from green activist groups seeking damages, injunctions, or other relief for harms allegedly caused by the end use of energy products. Senators Ted Budd (R- NC), Tom Cotton (R-AR), and Mike Lee (R-UT) are cosponsoring the legislation. The House companion bill, H.R. 8330, was introduced yesterday by Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY). The bill would also void any energy penalty law and preempts any states’ attempts to regulate interstate and global emissions.

RELEASE: Sens. Cruz, Cotton, Budd, Lee Introduce Bill to Combat Climate Lawfare and Defend American Energy https://t.co/XN4KgDIhE4 pic.twitter.com/Q3jWNb7J7m

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) April 20, 2026

“Radical environmental groups have waged a coordinated campaign to weaponize our judicial system against American energy producers, including many in Texas,” Cruz said in a statement. “They’re using meritless lawsuits to bankrupt our energy industry, kill good paying jobs, and drive up the cost of electricity and gasoline for hardworking families. I am proud to lead this bill to stop that abuse to protect American jobs, lower energy costs, and defend American energy dominance.”

“Energy security is national security, and we will not self-sabotage our critical industries with a cascade of costly lawsuits and extreme penalties that jeopardize American drilling. America’s energy producers should be protected from the dangerous legal precedent that would be set by the retroactive punishment of lawful activity,” Hageman said.

The bill has already won applause by energy groups aligned with President Donald Trump’s pro-growth agenda.

“Green left activists have always gone to extraordinary lengths to impose their anti-energy agenda on Americans. Filing sweeping lawsuits against oil and gas companies in an attempt to force policy outcomes they have failed to achieve in the legislative and administrative arenas is some of their most egregious work yet,” American Energy Alliance president Tom Pyle said. "This kind of politically motivated litigation threatens not only energy stability, security, and affordability but also the integrity of our legal system.”

The legislation arrives as California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont have taken landmark legal action aimed at holding fossil fuel companies accountable for misrepresenting to the public about their products’ role in climate change.

On Friday, the Supreme Court delivered a unanimous procedural victory for sanity, ruling that certain environmental damage lawsuits, including one against Chevron for alleged destruction of coastal wetlands in Louisiana, can be removed from hostile state courts to more neutral federal forums.

“Chevron’s case fits comfortably within the ordinary meaning of a suit ‘relating to’ the performance of federal duties,” said Justice Clarence Thomas. “Chevron has plausibly alleged a close relationship between its challenged conduct and the performance of its federal duties —not a tenuous, remote, or peripheral one.”

Goldman analyst Christine Cho has published her latest quarterly survey of 2,000 consumers for 1Q26, pointing to a softer restaurant environment. Muted demand backdrop suggests that the K-shaped economy continues to fester, with working-poor consumers still facing the greatest downward pressure.

Respondents expect their visits to limited-service restaurants (LSRs), restaurants where customers generally order and pay at a counter, kiosk, drive-thru, or app, such as McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Chipotle, CAVA, Sweetgreen, Panera, and others, to hold steady for the next three months, while casual dining still has some room for visit growth, though at a slower pace than in prior quarters. 

The respondents under most pressure to spend on food away from home were among lower-income households, with roughly half of consumers earning under $70,000 saying they plan to dine out less.

Another key takeaway is the growing divide in perceptions of value. Fast food's "bang for the buck" has improved since 3Q25, while casual dining's value perception has deteriorated to the lowest level in Goldman's dataset.

Cho attributes the improvement in fast food partly to value menus, meal deals, and marketing tie-ins, which are boosting scores for value, quality, and willingness to pay more.

"Consumers still see grocery as better value," Cho noted.

Intention to spend was flat. 

GS Brand Scores — Major fast food brands showing sequential improvement with stepped-up value focus

Exhibit 11: Summary of GS Restaurant Survey Scores - % change vs. 3Q25 Summary

Exhibit 12: Summary of GS Restaurant Survey Scores - YoY % change Summary

Cho then covered which restaurant stocks looked the strongest or weakest in the survey:

Stock callouts. QSR was a standout in the monthly dashboard, showing trends consistent with higher brand scores vs. 3Q25 for Burger King (+6.5%), Popeyes (+3.6%), and Tim Hortons (+1.7%) in our survey. DRI remains a casual dining outlier as accelerating NPS trends align with positive transaction growth and an increase in Olive Garden brand score vs. 3Q25. MCD and YUM are successfully pivoting toward value-led growth, contrasting deterioration in conversion and quality scores at SG and BLMN.

The S&P 500 Restaurants Sub-Industry Index has largely traded sideways since early 2025. 

Our takeaway is that fast food's aggressive marketing of meal deals and other value offerings has clearly resonated with budget-conscious consumers amid K-shaped economy woes. 

Professional subscribers can read "Deep-dive into 1Q26 restaurant survey" at our new Marketdesk.ai portal

Three weeks ago, when Bloomberg pointed out that Andurand was the best performing hedge fund in March thanks to its notorious levered long oil positioning (and really nothing else), we said they may want to refresh his exposure after the April 7 oil crash.

May want to F5 on Andurand after today's near record oil crash https://t.co/tlkgz3dXJa

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 8, 2026

Three weeks later, they did: according to a report published this morning, Pierre Andurand’s largest "hedge fund" (and when it comes to Andurand, the word "hedging" is a catastrophic misnomer), plunged about 52% in the first half of April, wiping out all of its first quarter gains and then some made on bullish oil bets at the start of the Iran war. 

His fund slumped this month through April 17 and is now down almost 37% for the year despite oil being substantially higher YTD. It comes after the Andurand Commodities Discretionary Enhanced fund delivered a 31% gain in March even as other hedge funds were caught off guard by the huge swings in commodities prices and inflation expectations unleashed by the war. Perhaps in the parallel universe inhabited by the ultra liberal trader, oil can somehow magically rise to infinity without demand destruction. Well... no.

The fund - which is basically a 5x levered bet on oil, and which refuses to ever consider the possibility its manager is wrong - has no set risk limits and regularly delivers both double digit gains and losses... though in fairness it has been more losses than gains. 

Oil prices posted a record monthly rally in March, driving the firm’s gains, as war between the US and Iran throttled exports from the Persian Gulf and triggered the most severe supply disruption in history. Brent futures, an international benchmark, climbed to almost $120 a barrel on March 9. Yet instead of taking profits on the way down, Andurand appears to have doubled and tripled down. And that's how he wiped out more than half of his fund's AUM in 2 weeks.

It begs the question: which foolish prime broker generously gave Andurand the insane leverage to lose such a staggering amount of money in just two weeks?

Unlike Andurand, the Iranian chaos has been lucrative for oil trading houses that buy and sell physical cargoes of crude, driving outsize profits at firms including Vitol Group, Trafigura Group and Gunvor Group.

For Andurand, the setback in March was a reminder of how volatile commodity markets can be. The fund lost about 40% last year after making a 50% gain the previous year. Yet with the 37% drop in 2026, it is pretty clear that not a single investor in Andurand's hedge fund is even remotely close to ever breaking even on their catastrophic investment. 

Authored by Stephen Katte via CoinTelegraph.com,

Two US congressional candidates and one sitting lawmaker have received fines and bans from Kalshi after they were found betting on the outcomes of their election races, as prediction market platforms crack down on insider trading.

Matt Klein, a sitting member of the Minnesota State Senate, was fined $539 for betting on his primary race in his bid for the US House of Representatives, which is set to take place in August. Ezekiel Enriquez, who ran for a US House seat in March, received a $784 penalty, according to Kalshi's notice of settlement.

Another case involved Mark Moran, a candidate in Virginia's US Senate race, who received a $6,229 penalty and was ordered to return any profits from his trades after allegedly refusing to cooperate with Kalshi to resolve the issue. All three were banned from the platform for five years.

Prediction markets, which let users trade contracts on the outcomes of future events, have faced growing scrutiny over insider trading and possible violations of gambling laws. Kalshi and Polymarket, the two largest platforms, have pledged to introduce stricter controls and crack down on unlawful activity.

Lawmakers offer reasons for insider trades

Moran said in a statement on X that he placed his wager to test Kalshi's procedures and see how the platform would respond to insider trading.

“YES, I did bet ~$100 on myself on Kalshi because I wanted to get caught,” he said, adding that he “wanted to see (1) if Kalshi would come after me and (2) what their path would be.”

Source: Mark Moran

Klein said in a statement that he placed the wager out of curiosity about how prediction markets worked, but later learned it violated platform rules.

“In compliance with their request, I paid a penalty and agreed to be suspended from the platform. That was the only wager I have ever made on a predictions market,” he added.

Klein is a co-sponsor of a bill in the Minnesota Legislature that aims to ban wagers on the outcomes of real-world events such as elections or policy decisions.

Cointelegraph was unable to reach Ezekiel Enriquez for comment.

Kalshi’s ongoing insider trading crackdown

Bobby DeNault, Kalshi's head of enforcement, said Tuesday these cases violated Kalshi's exchange rules but didn't warrant referral to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission or the Department of Justice for further investigation and prosecution.

“Regardless of the size of a trade, political candidates who can influence a market based on whether they stay in or out of a race violate our rules. No matter how small the size of the trade, any trade that is found to have violated our exchange rules will be punished,” he added.

The platform issued a $2,000 fine and a five-year ban in February to a former California gubernatorial contender for betting on his own candidacy last year.

The Department of the Air Force (DAF) has moved forward with its Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations (ANPI) initiative, announcing specific company pairings to develop microreactors at three installations. 

Radiant Industries will partner with Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado. Radiant is developing Kaleidos, a portable 1 MW helium gas-cooled microreactor using TRISO fuel. Factory-built and transportable by truck or aircraft, the unit requires no on-site water, relying instead on air cooling with fans and passive natural convection. It targets military installations among other resilient power needs. Radiant plans its first demonstration at Idaho National Laboratory's DOME test bed, with criticality planned before July 4th.

Westinghouse will deploy at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana. Westinghouse brings decades of nuclear expertise and its eVinci microreactor. This heat-pipe cooled design produces about 5 MW, offering eight-plus years of fuel life with minimal maintenance. Fully factory-assembled and transportable in shipping containers, the unit operates without water cooling and supports remote or edge-of-grid applications while pairing well with renewables.

Antares Nuclear will build at Joint Base San Antonio in Texas. Antares is focused on its R1 microreactor, a sodium heat-pipe cooled system delivering 100 kWe to 1 MWe with over six years between refueling. The modular design emphasizes reliability for defense-critical assets and incorporates high-temperature heat pipes and automated controls. We recently covered Antares and their first of a kind approval from the DOE for their Mark-0 test reactor at Idaho National Lab. 

ANPI’s goal is operating at least one advanced nuclear reactor on a DAF installation by 2030 or sooner.

We reported on the ANPI program's launch and the Defense Innovation Unit's selection of eight companies in April 2025, part of a larger Pentagon push for resilient, emissions-free power at military sites. The effort aligns with the Army's related Janus program targeting operational microreactors by 2028. 

The initiative remains separate from the standalone microreactor pilot at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska. With next steps now underway, the DAF is positioning itself to deliver reliable power where it matters most.
 

Tether froze more than $344 million in USDT across two Tron addresses on Thursday, in coordination with the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), marking one of the stablecoin issuer's largest compliance actions on record.

While Tether did not name the network of the frozen funds, blockchain security firm PeckShield identified the blacklisted addresses as TNiq9...QZH81 and TTiDL...pjSr9, holding approximately $213 million and $131 million respectively.

The action comes weeks after the $285 million Drift Protocol exploit; an incident that put the entire stablecoin industry under public scrutiny and drove hard questions about issuer’s crisis responses. Tether addressed the incident by proposing a $127.5 million recovery contribution. 

“USDT is not a safe haven for illicit activity,” said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, in a statement. “When credible links to sanctioned entities or criminal networks are identified, we act immediately and decisively. Recent events have shown what happens when platforms fail to move quickly, enforcement breaks down, users are exposed, and trust erodes.”

“Our approach is different,” he continued. “We combine blockchain transparency with real-time monitoring and direct coordination with law enforcement to stop funds before they can move. That’s a responsibility we take seriously as one of the largest issuers in the market.”

As Decrypt notes, the freeze underscores Tether's expanding compliance infrastructure, which now encompasses partnerships with more than 340 law enforcement agencies across 65 countries. The stablecoin issuer said it has supported over 2,300 cases globally and frozen more than $4.4 billion in assets overall—including $2.1 billion tied specifically to U.S. authorities.

Thursday's action follows a pattern of large-scale Tether freezes coordinated with US authorities. In November 2023, the company froze about $225 million in USDT linked to a Southeast Asia human-trafficking and pig butchering scam investigation. In January 2026, Tether froze roughly $182 million across five Tron wallets in another action.

To date Tether has supported more than 2,000 cases globally, including over 1,050 tied to U.S. law enforcement, and has led to the freezing of more than $4 billion in assets, including over $1.9 billion connected to U.S. authorities. This latest action adds to a series of high-profile enforcement efforts in which Tether has supported U.S. and international authorities in tracing, freezing, and seizing funds tied to fraud, terrorism financing, and sanctions evasion.

These freezes typically involve the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the U.S. Treasury Department agency that administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions. The increasing frequency and scale of such actions reflect both the growing use of stablecoins in illicit finance and Tether's efforts to maintain regulatory compliance.

Tether’s latest action follows a pair of high-profile crypto project hacks that have been linked by investigators to North Korean hackers: the $285 million Drift Protocol attack, and $292 million Kelp DAO exploit. Tether's biggest competitor, USDC stablecoin issuer Circle, faced criticism following the Drift Protocol hack for not taking action to freeze funds linked to the attack. The firm defended its inaction, saying that it can only freeze funds when identified by law enforcement or required through court orders.