XRP could reach $1,000 by 2030, according to EasyA co-founder Dom Kwok, who has repeated the forecast in public interviews and defended it when challenged on valuation grounds. The call has reignited a familiar argument in crypto markets: whether XRP should be judged as a conventional token priced by circulating supply, or as a payments rail whose future worth could expand far beyond today’s market-cap logic. For […]
Circle Internet Group shares slid nearly 10 per cent on Thursday, closing at $85.10, after a fresh Wall Street “sell” call added to investor unease over the stablecoin issuer’s margins and over criticism of its handling of funds tied to the Drift Protocol exploit. Market data showed the stock ended the session down 9.89 per cent, extending a volatile stretch for one of crypto’s most closely watched […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Dubai Police said it helped dismantle the Lyons Clan, a violent Scottish criminal network accused of drug trafficking and money laundering across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, marking the UAE’s most clearly defined public role yet in the multinational case that has unfolded over the past two weeks. Authorities in Dubai, working with the Ministry of Interior, said the force arrested a […]
Gunzilla Games, the studio behind blockchain-linked shooter Off The Grid and the new owner of Game Informer, has been accused by current and former workers of failing to pay salaries for months, opening a fresh controversy around one of gaming’s more closely watched independent publishers. Multiple reports published on April 8 and April 9 said staff and contractors alleged they had gone unpaid since late 2025, while […]
China has authorised state oil refiners to draw on commercial crude reserves as the Middle East war enters its sixth week, a move that points to mounting concern in Beijing over supply security, refinery operations and fuel stability in the world’s biggest crude importer. The decision marks a notable shift after reporting in March indicated that access to such reserves had been denied, underscoring how sharply the market backdrop has changed.
The policy adjustment comes as the conflict centred on Iran has disrupted flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a route that handled about 20 million barrels a day of crude and oil products in 2025 and remains one of the most critical chokepoints in global energy trade. The International Energy Agency said in March that the war had created the biggest supply disruption in oil market history, with flows through Hormuz falling from around 20 million barrels a day before the war to only a trickle.
For China, the timing is especially sensitive. State refiners have already been grappling with higher feedstock costs, disrupted shipping routes and a scramble for replacement barrels from outside the Gulf. Reuters reported in late March that Sinopec, the country’s largest refiner by capacity, had sought access to state reserves after deciding against buying Iranian crude, while also trimming refinery runs. Earlier reporting in mid-March said China had been building inventories rather than drawing them down, suggesting Beijing initially preferred to preserve stocks.
That stance now appears to have softened. Bloomberg reported on April 10 that authorities had given state refiners the green light to tap commercial reserves. While the precise volume and duration were not publicly disclosed, the move is significant because it signals Beijing is willing to use part of the country’s stock cushion to smooth supplies for domestic processing rather than rely solely on the spot market at a time of exceptional volatility.
The wider market has been under intense pressure even as talk of a ceasefire has briefly cooled futures prices. Reuters reported that physical crude markets in Europe and Africa remained extremely tight despite a temporary truce, with buyers in Asia and Europe competing aggressively for non-Middle East barrels. Another Reuters report said U. S. crude premiums had surged to record highs as importers sought alternatives to Gulf supplies. That matters for China because replacing lost or delayed Middle East cargoes has become more expensive just as refining margins in parts of Asia remain fragile.
Supply conditions deteriorated further this week after attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure cut output capacity by around 600,000 barrels a day and reduced throughput on the East-West Pipeline by about 700,000 barrels a day, according to Saudi state media cited by Reuters. The pipeline is vital because it allows exports to bypass Hormuz via the Red Sea. Damage there narrowed one of the few remaining alternative routes for Gulf producers trying to keep oil moving to Asian customers.
Asian refiners have already felt the strain. Reuters reported that seaborne crude imports into Asia in April were estimated at 19.22 million barrels a day, sharply below the three-month average of 25 million barrels a day. Although refined fuel prices eased after hopes of a truce, the same report said the market was still stressed and that it could take months for normality to return even if shipping improves. For Beijing, releasing commercial stocks is therefore less a dramatic emergency measure than a tactical effort to bridge a period of dislocation.
The decision also reflects China’s domestic balancing act. Authorities have been trying to keep fuel output steady even as weak underlying demand and higher crude costs squeeze refiners. Reuters reported on April 2 that officials had pressed independent refiners to maintain production despite the surge in oil prices and wartime disruption. That suggests Beijing is seeking to avoid sharp swings in fuel availability or industrial costs while preserving broader economic stability.
There is also a geopolitical layer. China has opposed any overtly force-based international response around Hormuz and has pushed for de-escalation at the United Nations, according to Reuters reporting on Security Council negotiations. At the same time, the reserve release shows that Beijing is preparing for a conflict that may not be resolved quickly and for shipping conditions that may remain uncertain even if diplomatic language softens.
Air travellers in Germany faced widespread disruption on Friday after Lufthansa cabin crew staged a one-day strike that the airline and airport officials said would force the cancellation of more than 520 flights and affect about 90,000 passengers, hitting the carrier’s Frankfurt and Munich hubs during a busy holiday return period. The walkout, called by the UFO cabin crew union, ran from 00:01 to 22:00 local time […]
A cross-border espionage campaign that targeted journalists, civil society figures and some government-linked entities across the Middle East and North Africa between 2023 and 2024 has been tied by researchers to BITTER, a long-tracked South Asian threat actor, marking what investigators describe as the first documented case linking the group to attacks on civil society in the region. The attribution remains qualified rather than definitive: Lookout said […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Louvre Abu Dhabi has launched a digital teaching platform that links museum objects directly to school subjects, widening the role of art in classrooms beyond history and humanities and giving teachers a new route to use cultural material in everyday lessons. The Museum Curriculum Portal has been rolled out as part of a broader Abu Dhabi effort to connect cultural institutions more closely […]
Bitcoin Depot, one of the biggest operators in the crypto ATM business, has disclosed that hackers stole about 50.903 Bitcoin, valued at roughly $3.665 million, after gaining access to parts of its internal technology systems and taking control of credentials linked to its digital asset settlement accounts. The Atlanta-based company said the intrusion was discovered on March 23 and later judged material on April 6, before being […]
The U.S. State Department in April 2026 indicates that demand for passports is still at an all-time high, with Consular Affairs estimating an all-time high of 24.6 million passport applications. The sudden surge in applications surpasses a record 23,308,976 applications filed in 2025. Highlights of Changes The application volume for a U.S. passport in the State Department’s recent budget narrative is forecast at an unprecedented 24.6 million. […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Abu Dhabi has issued 11 new hazardous materials guidelines in a move officials say makes the emirate the first jurisdiction to apply the 11th revised edition of the UN Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, or GHS. The framework, launched by the Abu Dhabi Hazardous Materials Management Centre in coordination with the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council, is […]
Binance has joined Abu Dhabi’s “One Nation. One People. Together, We Protect What We Love.” initiative in partnership with Design Commission Abu Dhabi, linking one of the world’s largest crypto platforms with a state-backed civic campaign built around social cohesion, shared responsibility and public participation across the UAE. The move adds a corporate technology name to an initiative launched in March under the chairwomanship of Shamsa bint […]
OpenAI is projecting a steep new revenue path built around advertising, with the ChatGPT maker expecting about $2.5 billion in ad revenue in 2026 and as much as $100 billion annually by 2030, according to a report by Axios citing investor presentation material. The same projections indicate ad sales could climb to $11 billion in 2027, $25 billion in 2028 and $53 billion in 2029, underscoring how […]
Ethereum hovered near the $2,000 mark on Thursday after a choppy stretch that left the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency caught between stronger long-term supply dynamics and a fresh wave of geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty. Ether was trading around $2,178 during the session, after moving within an intraday range of roughly $2,167 to $2,264, underscoring the tight consolidation that has kept traders focused on whether the token can build […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Attacks tied to the widening confrontation with Iran could spill far beyond the battlefield and damage global health, food security and the environment, the UAE told an international summit in Lyon, urging governments and institutions to rally around a “One Health” strategy that treats human, animal and ecosystem health as inseparable. The intervention came at a high-level gathering hosted by France on 7 […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Dubai’s financial regulator has unveiled temporary relief measures for firms in the Dubai International Financial Centre, offering regulatory flexibility on licensing, staffing, reporting and selected implementation deadlines as companies manage an exceptional operating environment. The Dubai Financial Services Authority said the package is designed to help regulated firms continue serving clients and markets while preserving supervisory standards. The measures apply both to firms […]
Polygon’s token remained under pressure on Thursday even as the network’s stablecoin business gathered pace, highlighting a widening gap between on-chain usage growth and investor sentiment around POL, the token that replaced MATIC on Polygon’s mainnet in September 2024. POL was down about 4.7% over seven days on CoinGecko as of April 9, while Polygon continued to market itself as infrastructure for global payments and stablecoin settlement. […]
Tokenised perpetual swaps tied to commodities and equities have surged into a new phase of growth, with weekly trading volume reaching about $31 billion as oil volatility and broader macro uncertainty pulled traders towards round-the-clock synthetic exposure. Oil contracts accounted for roughly $6.9 billion of that weekly turnover after geopolitical tensions rattled energy markets, while stock perpetual swaps climbed 908% to around $4.9 billion, underscoring how quickly […]
Atomic Stealer operators have opened a fresh lane into Apple computers by shifting a popular ClickFix scam away from Terminal and into Script Editor, a built-in macOS tool that many users would regard as less suspicious. The change matters because Apple moved in March to add stronger friction around Terminal-based copy-and-paste attacks in macOS Tahoe 26.4, and threat researchers now say attackers have adapted within weeks rather […]
Embedded banking is moving financial services out of the bank branch and bank app and into the software people and companies already use, reshaping how accounts, cards, payments and credit are distributed across the economy. What began as an extension of embedded payments has matured into a broader model in which regulated banks provide the licensed infrastructure while technology platforms control the customer experience, a shift that […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Saudi medical devices distributor ProMedEx has renewed an 84 million riyal Islamic financing package with Riyad Bank for one year, extending a facility the company says will be used to fund existing projects and back expansion plans as healthcare suppliers across the kingdom continue to seek working capital for inventory, imports and contract execution. The facility is equivalent to about $22.4 million. The […]
South Africa’s net foreign reserves fell to $73.19 billion at the end of March from $75.84 billion in February, as the country’s gross reserves also dropped to $77.76 billion from $81.06 billion, according to central bank data released on Thursday. The decline came after a stronger February reading and marks a pullback from levels that had been supported earlier this year by higher reserve values and foreign-exchange […]
GitLab has issued a security update covering multiple vulnerabilities in its Community Edition and Enterprise Edition products, with the latest patch aimed at denial-of-service weaknesses and an Enterprise-only code injection issue that could expose users’ IP addresses through maliciously crafted Code Quality reports. The company said self-managed customers should upgrade immediately to versions 18.10.3, 18.9.5 or 18.8.9, while GitLab. com is already running the patched release and […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Mubadala Capital has closed its biggest Brazil-focused investment vehicle at about $900 million, exceeding its original $750 million target in a sign that large overseas investors still see room for opportunistic deals in Latin America’s biggest economy despite a tougher global fundraising climate. The fund, Brazil Special Opportunities Fund III, was backed by a $250 million anchor commitment from Mubadala Capital, the investment […]
