The Bank of Korea has called for the introduction of a "circuit breaker" mechanism in South Korea's cryptocurrency market, pointing to the recent incident involving Bithumb as evidence of the need for stronger safeguards.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on April 13 that the United States would commence a blockade of all vessel traffic to and from Iranian ports, effective 10:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on the same day. This significant policy shift was reported by Huo Xing Finance, citing a post made by Trump on his personal social media platform at 10:00 a.m. ET. The directive follows a period of intensified tensions and unsuccessful U.S.-Iran negotiations. Just one day prior, on April 12, President Trump had publicly expressed his indifference to Iran potentially returning to the negotiating table, further stating his disappointment with NATO's perceived lack of support for U.S. actions targeting Iran. The blockade marks a critical escalation in U.S. pressure tactics.

BlockBeats reports that U.S. President Donald Trump posted on his personal social media account early April 13 Eastern Time that the United States will impose a blockade on vessels entering and leaving Iranian ports starting at 10:00 a.m. ET on April 13. He said the move follows failed U.S.-Iran negotiations. In remarks on April 12, Trump said he did not care whether Iran returns to the negotiating table and reiterated the plan for a 10:00 a.m. ET start on April 13, adding that he was disappointed NATO did not back U.S. actions against Iran.

The European Central Bank has endorsed proposals to centralize oversight of major crypto companies by shifting supervision of large firms from national regulators to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). The move is aimed at strengthening cross-border financial supervision across the EU. The plan would build on the bloc's existing Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework and could curb regulatory arbitrage between member states.

Apr. 13 (UTC+8) — Hong Kong has yet to set a schedule for issuing a second batch of stablecoin licenses, as the decision will hinge on the "operational performance" of the first two licensees, Eddie Chan, Deputy Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), said, according to ME News. Chan also noted that the overall number of stablecoin licenses will be kept very limited. Sources said Chinese-funded institutions that had already submitted applications were given regulatory "window guidance" asking them to pause further stablecoin licensing efforts for now. Some of these institutions have nonetheless remained in contact with the HKMA in recent months. Market participants said that once Chinese-funded institutions are excluded, most remaining potential applicants have relatively limited capabilities, and only a small number of institutions currently fully meet the requirements under the Stablecoin Ordinance. Separately, Li Guankang, head of PayMe at HSBC, said any PayMe user can open a stablecoin account to send funds to family and friends, pay merchants, or invest in products pegged to stablecoins. Users of the HSBC app cannot open such accounts directly; they must wait for HSBC to identify eligible customers who can then apply. PayMe registration is restricted to Hong Kong residents, while HSBC app users include customers from mainland China. Under Hong Kong's current rules, only Hong Kong residents are allowed to participate in virtual asset transactions. As a result, even mainland customers who use PayMe via HSBC Hong Kong are not eligible to apply for stablecoin accounts. (Source: Foresight News)

The European Central Bank said it supports an EU proposal to transfer financial market supervision, including oversight of cryptoasset service providers, from national regulators to a centralized EU-level authority.

President Trump said a blockade set to take effect at 10 a.m. will prevent Iran from selling oil. He added that other countries are cooperating to ensure the measure is effective.

U.S. regulators are moving to accelerate crypto oversight by relying on interpretive rules, a tactic aimed at delivering faster clarity than traditional rulemaking. A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) review outlines the procedural route taken for a joint Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule, published April 8. The report focuses on process rather than evaluating the policy's merits. Central to the GAO's findings is the agencies' decision to frame the action as interpretive. The report states the rule "provides an interpretation of the definition of 'security' as applied to crypto assets." That classification determines which legal requirements apply and which can be avoided. By treating the guidance as an interpretive rule, the SEC and CFTC were able to bypass standard notice-and-comment procedures. The GAO notes the agencies concluded the interpretation could "take effect immediately" under 5 U.S.C. § 808(2) because interpretive rules are exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act's notice and comment requirements. It also records that the agencies did not publish a proposed rule or solicit public comments. The GAO further reports that regulators described the framework as one that "should reduce costs for issuers of digital securities and crypto asset-related securities," while indicating a formal cost-benefit analysis was not required. The document also notes the agencies' approach to categorizing crypto assets "based on their characteristics, uses, and functions," signaling a structured effort to map digital assets to existing securities-law concepts. While the GAO does not assess effectiveness, the review underscores a broader regulatory trend: using interpretive authority to move crypto policy into place more quickly, a development likely to influence market structure and adoption.

CFTC Chairman Mike Selig said at the Vanderbilt University Digital Assets Summit that the agency will continue to assert in court that it holds exclusive regulatory authority over prediction markets. Selig said products lawfully listed on exchanges under CFTC jurisdiction—covering sports, politics, and other event-based contracts—are within the commission's remit. He added that states cannot use gambling laws to supersede federal derivatives rules. He also noted that the DoddFrank Act empowers the CFTC to decide whether such contracts run counter to the public interest, and said the commission is moving to formalize a regulatory framework for prediction markets through the legislative process. Separately, Selig pointed to last month's final interpretive guidance issued jointly by the CFTC and the SEC, which sets out a classification system intended to clarify accountability in the handling of assets such as tokenized securities.