Merkle3s Weekly Review: Geopolitical tensions enter a "negotiation window" as ceasefire talks hang by a thread; DeFi security alerts sound as BTC rebounds but narrative shifts. 1️⃣ Macro: On the Eve of Ceasefire Expiry, Markets Toss Between Hope and Fear ➡️ The second round of U.S.-Iran negotiations takes place April 20–21 in Islamabad, Pakistan; Iran confirms delegation attendance, and Vance travels to advance talks—but the ceasefire expires imminently (April 23), leaving markets on edge. ➡️ Trump claims Iran has “agreed to indefinitely suspend its nuclear program”; Iranian officials deny “total surrender,” while the U.S. proposes a 20-year pause and Iran counters with a 5-year proposal. ➡️ Hormuz Strait status fluctuates: Open fully on Friday → closed again on Sunday, causing oil prices to surge ~8.5% in a single day. ➡️ On day 52 of conflict, U.S. Navy intercepts Iranian cargo ship MV Touska in the Gulf of Oman; Trump declares ceasefire extension “extremely unlikely.” 2️⃣ AI/Technology: Morgan Stanley Says AI Value Chain Is Being Restructured—GPU No Longer the Sole Core ➡️ Morgan Stanley report: Agentic AI is expanding chip spending beyond GPUs to include CPUs, with rising value share in inference and application layers. Projected to add $32.5–60 billion to the data center CPU market by 2030. ➡️ Growth board’s computing hardware sector sees broad correction; market sentiment shifts from “compute arms race” to “application deployment.” 3️⃣ Capital Flows: DeFi Security Alerts Trigger Chain Reactions and Freezes ➡️ Kelp DAO suffers $300M hack: Attackers forge LayerZero lzReceive messages, extracting ~116,500 rsETH (18% of total supply). ➡️ Chain reaction: Aave, SparkLend, and Fluid urgently freeze rsETH markets; Ethena pauses LayerZero OFT cross-chain bridge for ~6 hours; Arbitrum freezes $71M in ETH. 4️⃣ Crypto: BTC Rebounds Above $75K as Narrative Shifts from “Safe Haven” to “Institutional Buying” ➡️ BTC trades this week at $75,900–$76,300, up +15% for April. Rally driver shifts: After $427M in short liquidations triggered by ceasefire news on April 9, institutional ETF buying becomes sustained momentum. BlackRock’s IBIT saw $284M inflow on April 17—the largest single-day inflow since January. ➡️ ASTEROID: Fifteen-year-old cancer patient Liv Perrotto designed a Shiba Inu plush toy named “Asteroid” for SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission. Before her passing, she wished Elon Musk would make it SpaceX’s official mascot; Musk recently replied “Ok.” In response, the ETH-based token surged over 900% from low market cap to over $1 billion.