Boston Celtics guard Derrick White has been named the 2025-26 NBA Sportsmanship Award winner, earning the Joe Dumars Trophy.
Presented annually since the 1995-96 season, the NBA Sportsmanship Award honors a player who best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court. The trophy is named for Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer and two-time NBA champion Joe Dumars, who won the inaugural NBA Sportsmanship Award and played his entire 14-year career with the Detroit Pistons.
Each team nominated one of its players for the Sportsmanship Award.
From the 30 nominees, a panel of league executives selected six finalists (one per division).
Current NBA players then voted to select the winner from the finalists.
Each NBA team nominated one of its players for the 2025-26 NBA Sportsmanship Award. From the 30 team nominees, a panel of league executives selected six finalists (one from each NBA division). Current NBA players then voted to select the winner from those finalists. The complete voting results are available here.
White has won the NBA Sportsmanship Award for the first time. The Celtics have now had recipients in consecutive seasons after Jrue Holiday earned the honor last season.
A nine-year NBA veteran, White is a two-time Kia NBA All-Defensive Team selection and an NBA champion with Boston (2023-24). He also helped the Austin Spurs win the NBA G League championship during his rookie season with the San Antonio Spurs (2017-18). White won a gold medal with the USA Men’s National Team at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
President Donald Trump has said he ordered the United States Navy to “shoot and kill” any Iranian boat laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, a move that could jeopardise the fragile ceasefire between the two countries.
The US president also said on Thursday that the military will heighten its efforts to remove explosives from the strategic waterway.
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“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be (Their naval ships are ALL, 159 of them, at the bottom of the sea!), that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz. There is to be no hesitation,” Trump wrote in a social media post.
“Additionally, our mine ‘sweepers’ are clearing the Strait right now. I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled-up level!”
Iranian officials have repeatedly promised that their country would defend itself and respond to any US attack.
Hormuz – which had been open without interruption before the war – has emerged as a major point of contention in this war.
Iran closed down the strait in response to the US-Israeli military campaign, and it is now suggesting that it has rights to the passage that links the Gulf to the Indian Ocean – parts of which go through Iranian territorial waters.
The closure of Hormuz has spiked oil prices, putting political pressure on Trump at home in the US, where the price of one gallon (3.8 litres) of petrol has surpassed $4, up from $3 before the conflict.
A satellite image shows a fleet of small boats at sea, north of the Strait of Hormuz near the Kargan coast, Iran, April 22 [File: European Union/Copernicus Sentinel-2/Handout via Reuters]
Dueling blockades
About 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas flowed through Hormuz before the war.
After a two-week ceasefire came into effect last month, Trump announced a naval siege on Iranian ports and kept it in place even after Tehran announced reopening Hormuz in response to the inclusion of Lebanon in the truce.
Iran has set lifting the blockade as a precondition for resuming talks with the US.
Trump extended the ceasefire that was set to expire on Wednesday, but Washington has kept its blockade on Iran-linked ships.
The Pentagon said on Thursday that the US military conducted a “maritime interdiction and right-of-visit” to a tanker carrying Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean.
Earlier this week, the US military also said it seized an Iranian vessel and ordered dozens of others to turn around.
Meanwhile, Iran has also captured foreign commercial vessels around the Hormuz Strait, which it said were in violation of naval regulations.
The duelling blockades risk re-igniting the war. The US has not set a deadline for the extended truce.
The White House said on Wednesday that Trump is “satisfied” with the siege on Iran.
Trump says Hormuz ‘sealed up tight’
Although Iran has all but halted vessel traffic in the waterway, Trump said on Thursday that the US has “total control over the Strait of Hormuz”, adding that the passage is “sealed up tight”.
The US president also reiterated his claim that the Iranian leadership is divided.
“Iran is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is! They just don’t know!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“The infighting is between the ‘Hardliners’, who have been losing BADLY on the battlefield, and the ‘Moderates’, who are not very moderate at all (but gaining respect!), is CRAZY!”
Earlier in the day, Trump shared a post by conservative commentator Marc Thiessen, calling for the assassination of Iranian officials who oppose diplomacy with the US.
“If there are two factions in Iran, one that wants a deal and one that doesn’t, let’s kill the ones who don’t want a deal,” it said.
Despite Trump’s repeated claims, there has been no evidence of a rift within the leadership in Iran.
Although US and Israeli strikes killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several top officials, there have been no major defections within the ruling system.
Last month, Khamenei was replaced by his son Mojtaba, who had been wounded in US attacks, according to the Pentagon.
Mojtaba Khamenei is yet to make a public appearance since he succeeded his slain father, raising speculation about his health.
But Iranian officials, including the lead negotiators – Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf – have voiced a unified position in rejecting the US blockade.
Iranian leadership also agreed to the ceasefire and enforced it earlier this month.
On Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry praised the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the ideologically driven military branch spearheading the war effort.
“We salute the noble defenders and guardians of the homeland, and honour the memory of the crimson-shrouded martyrs of the IRGC,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a post on X, marking the anniversary of the establishment of the Revolutionary Guard.
Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. And check out our new daily news show covering all of the top stories in 5 minutes or less, downloadable on Apple Pod or Spotify.
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Today’s top news:
Crypto majors rally then reverse as oil concerns mount; BTC -1% at $77,300
The US Government discloses that it’s operating a Bitcoin node
Justin Sun sues WLFI to unfreeze his tokens
Andre Cronje’s Flying Tulip introduces a “circuit breaker” for DeFi
MegaETH gets 10th app launch with Xeet, TGE expected in May
📈📉 Bitcoin Clears $79,000, Then Reverses
Bitcoin crossed $79,000 Wednesday morning, reaching its highest level in 11 weeks after President Trump announced he was extending the US-Iran ceasefire indefinitely.
The move came after Iran refused to send negotiators to a second round of talks in Islamabad, and Trump said the extension would hold until Tehran submits a “unified proposal” to end the war.
But the price action was shortlived, with Bitcoin falling back to $77,300 overnight as oil concerns mount and the IEA Chief called that “We are facing the biggest energy security threat in history.”
Oil jumped another 4% to $94/barrel and stock futures have moved into the red after making another new ATH yesterday.
⚖️ Justin Sun Sues Trump’s World Liberty Financial Over Frozen Tokens
Justin Sun filed a federal lawsuit in California on April 21 against World Liberty Financial, the Trump family-backed DeFi project, alleging fraud, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment.
The complaint centers on a hidden blacklist function that WLFI quietly added to its token smart contract in August 2025 – without a governance vote or any disclosure to investors. Sun alleges WLFI used that function to freeze approximately 2.9 billion of his WLFI tokens in September 2025 after he moved roughly $9 million worth of holdings, a transfer he says was routine. At the time of the freeze, his stake was worth over $100 million.
WLFI fired back publicly: “We have the contracts. We have the evidence. We have the truth. See you in court.” Eric Trump went even further, commenting on Justin Sun’s $6M banana purchase. Well, I’ll let you read his comments for yourself 👇
🗳️ Kalshi Fines Congressional Candidates for Betting on Their Own Races
Prediction market platform Kalshi announced Wednesday that it had fined and suspended three congressional candidates for “political insider trading” – betting on their own elections.
The three are Ezekiel Enriquez, a Republican who ran in Texas’ 21st Congressional District primary; Matt Klein, a Democrat running in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District primary; and Mark Moran, who ran in Virginia’s Democratic Senate primary before switching to an independent campaign.
Fines were small, ranging from $539 to $6,229.30. All three were banned from the platform for five years. Two cooperated with Kalshi’s investigation though Moran did not.
Moran made clear the stunt was intentional. He wrote on X: “I traded $100 on myself, knowing this would happen… and the attention it would create to highlight how this company is destroying young men.” He said as a senator he would “go after Kalshi and impose significant penalties – 25%, a vice tax – to pay down our national debt.”
The plot thickens…
₿ The US Government Is Running a Bitcoin Node
Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), disclosed Wednesday that the US government is actively running a Bitcoin node and conducting operational network security tests using the Bitcoin protocol.
This followed his Tuesday Senate Armed Services Committee testimony, where he told lawmakers that “Bitcoin shows incredible potential as a computer science tool that, through the proof-of-work protocols, actually imposes more costs than just the algorithmic securing of networks.” He described Bitcoin as “a peer-to-peer, zero-trust transfer of value” with “really important computer science applications for cybersecurity.”
Notably, the framing tracks directly with the Jason Lowery thesis that proof-of-work can function as a physical-cost cyberdefense layer, analogous to conventional military deterrence. Paparo’s testimony marks the first time a combatant commander has publicly characterized Bitcoin as a national security asset in congressional testimony.
💸 André Cronje’s Flying Tulip Brings Circuit Breakers to DeFi Lending
André Cronje, the developer behind Fantom, Yearn Finance, and Solidly, is addressing one of DeFi’s most pressing issues with his newest project.
Flying Tulip, Cronje’s new AMM and lending protocol, has introduced a programmatic circuit breaker module designed to rate-limit capital outflows during abnormal withdrawal events.
The circuit breaker works by monitoring outflow velocity in real time. When withdrawals exceed a defined threshold, whether triggered by a smart contract exploit, oracle failure, or a large coordinated position unwind, the system automatically throttles the rate at which capital can exit the protocol.
Cronje has been vocal for years about DeFi’s need for TradFi-style risk infrastructure without TradFi’s centralization trade-offs. Circuit breakers are standard in equity markets (the NYSE halts trading when the S&P drops 7%, 13%, or 20% in a session) but have been largely absent from DeFi because they require either centralized admin keys or complex governance coordination to trigger. Flying Tulip’s implementation is fully programmatic, with no admin override, which means it operates the same way regardless of who is watching.
Of course the timing is notable after last week’s $292M KelpDAO exploit and accelerating issues with Defi protocols being hacked. Perhaps a DeFi-wide circuit breaker would ease the pain…
🌎 Macro Crypto and Markets
Crypto majors are red as oil concerns rise; BTC -1% at $77.7k; ETH -3% at $2,330; SOL -3% at $86; HYPE even at $41.10
Stable (+18%), DEXE (+8%), and M (+7%) led top movers
Oil +4% at $94; Gold -1% at $4,700
Stock futures are red after making another new ATH yesterday
GSR launched the first actively managed multi-asset crypto ETF in the US on Wednesday, the GSR Crypto Core3 ETF (BESO) on Nasdaq, offering exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana with weekly rebalancing and staking rewards on ETH and SOL holdings
OpenAI launched workspace agents in ChatGPT Wednesday, replacing custom GPTs with a more powerful team-oriented successor powered by Codex; workspace agents can handle complex, long-running tasks like preparing reports, writing code, and responding to messages, while operating within organization-set permissions and role-based access controls
Corporate Treasuries & ETFs
Meme Coin Tracker
Meme leaders were red on the day; DOGE -2%, SHIB -2%, PEPE -4%, TRUMP -5%, BONK -3%, PENGU -3%, SPX -3%, FARTCOIN -6%
uncraft (+100x), Burnie (+77%) and Noob (+180%) led notable movers
Pumpcade rebounded 30% to $25M
💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker
Andre Cronje’s Flying Tulip project introduced a “circuit breaker” for DeFi using a programmatic module to limit outflows in extreme scenarios
MegaETH had its 10th app launch with Xeet, meaning that the MEGA TGE should indeed happen soon
Axie Infinity’s Ronin blockchainset May 12 as the date for its migration from Ethereum sidechain to full Layer-2 network on the OP Stack; the shift cuts RON token inflation from over 20% to under 1% and jumps marketplace Treasury fees 2.5x from 0.5% to 1.25%
Believe App founder Ben Pasternakwas arrested for assault and strangulation
🚚 What is happening in NFTs?
NFT leaders were mostly green again; Punks +3% at 28.9ETH, Pudgy +5% at 4.69 ETH, BAYC -5% at 8.64 ETH; Hypurr’s -3% at 375 HYPE
Azuki (+19%), Elementals (+33%) and Doodles (+17%) led notable movers; Meebits also up 14%
Nouns jumped 160% after the founder announced that the 1 Noun/per day streak had finally been broken after 1,700+ days
An 8-Punk sweep kicked off a big day of Punk action that led to 16 overall sales, the most in weeks
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Market intelligence firm Glassnode’s risk index and moderate strategy trackers have aligned, hinting at a “cleared risk” environment for Bitcoin.
Analysts called the current setup “an excellent window for strategic accumulation” pointing to a new all-time high for Bitcoin by year-end.
Glassnode warns 54% of recent buyers are in profit, with realized profit spiking to $4.4 million, a level that has marked every local top in 2026.
Bitcoin’s sustained bullish market structure over the past three weeks has triggered a clear risk landscape signal that could hint at an extension of the ongoing rally.
The Risk Index—Glassnode’s proprietary metric that quantifies systemic risk on a scale of 0 to 100—is hovering at zero, the lowest possible level, indicating a “cleared risk landscape,” according to a Thursday Telegram post from the market intelligence firm. It also serves as a primary gauge of market health, with a 25 threshold that distinguishes between low- and high-risk regimes.
The Moderate Strategy, which captures upside momentum and exits when conviction fades, has flipped from “Moderate” to “High Confidence.”
The alignment of these models signals a bullish regime, analysts told Decrypt, underscored by sustained inflows into Bitcoin ETPs and aggressive demand from spot buyers.
First time since Oct 10: Moderate Strategy flips to high confidence. Risk Index at 0, signaling a cleared risk landscape.
After 7 years of research and extensive backtesting, we’re introducing Bitcoin Vector: a systematic framework for #BTC exposure, validated across market… pic.twitter.com/xWZl8QzcuS
“This is an excellent window for strategic accumulation rather than chasing deeper dips,” Lacie Zhang, research analyst at Bitget Wallet, told Decrypt. Zhang added that the firm maintains, “a strong conviction for a positive close to 2026, supported by improving market structure and institutional conviction that should drive Bitcoin to a new all-time high.”
“As the US-Iran conflict subsides, bullish bets will continue to propel the market upward in the near term,” Jeff Mei, COO of BTSE, told Decrypt.
As a result, Bitcoin hit $79,388 on Wednesday, its highest level in over three months.
Investor sentiment has also seen considerable improvement, resulting in the Fear and Greed Index jumping from “extreme fear” at the start of April to “fear.” Likewise, users on prediction market Myriad, owned by Decrypt’s parent company Dastan, see a 74% chance that Bitcoin extends its rally toward $84,000 next,up from lows of 62% at the start of the week.
A similar outlook can be seen with Ethereum, with users assigning a 54% chance that the second-largest crypto by market cap pumps to $3,000 next.
“Breaking and holding above $80K would act as a major technical and psychological catalyst, clearing the path for further recovery toward $90K and potentially $100K,” Zhang said.
Both Bitcoin and Ethereum are down 0.5% and 2.9%, respectively over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data. Bitcoin is currently trading at around $77,800, while Ethereum is around $2,330.
What’s next?
Despite Glassnode’s risk indicator and the underlying bullish developments, investors need to exercise caution, analysts argued.
“Risks include the resumption of hostilities in the Middle East, restriction of oil flows, and elevated inflation that could lead to rate hikes,” Mei added.
Geopolitical uncertainty remains a key concern, experts previously told Decrypt.
Additionally, the recent uptrend has pushed 54% of recent buyers into profitable territory, according to Glassnode’s latest report. These buyers are now at a threshold that has historically exhausted bear market rallies.
Short-term holders’ realized profit has spiked to $4.4 million, Glassnode analysts noted. That number is three times the $1.5 million threshold, which “ marked every local top year-to-date, signaling caution in the absence of a meaningful demand catalyst.”
The missing piece remains a fundamental catalyst—whether it’s the CLARITY Act, Fed rate cuts, or a lasting Middle East truce. Until then, the risk landscape may be cleared, but the path above $80,000 is not.
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But the pact isn’t over the finish line — and a new batch of Hollywood A-listers including Robert De Niro, Sofia Coppola and Holly Hunter have signed on to an open letter opposing the Paramount-WBD combination, citing the threat of lost jobs, higher costs for consumers, and fewer TV shows and movies.
As of Thursday morning, the letter had 4,194 total signatories after launching on April 13 with 1,000 names. Organizers said the list of film and entertainment industry union members, actors, and directors includes more than 75 Oscar winners and nominees. The group is hoping to sustain opposition the Paramount-Warner Bros. deal, which is still pending approval by regulators in the U.S. and Europe — and could be subject to litigation seeking to stop the merger by state attorneys general.
The coalition behind the open letter also organized a rally outside WBD’s Manhattan headquarters at 9 a.m. ET ahead of the shareholder vote. In addition, they’re planning to stage a protest Thursday at 5:30 p.m. ET in Washington, D.C., outside of a private dinner that Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison is hosting “honoring” President Donald Trump and CBS News White House correspondents. The Ellison function is being held at recently renamed “The Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace.”
“As filmmakers, documentarians and professionals across the movie and television industry, we write to express our unequivocal opposition to the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger,” the letter states in part. “This transaction would further consolidate an already concentrated media landscape, reducing competition at a moment when our industries — and the audiences we serve — can least afford it. The result will be fewer opportunities for creators, fewer jobs across the production ecosystem, higher costs, and less choice for audiences in the United States and around the world. Alarmingly, this merger would reduce the number of major U.S. film studios to just four.”
Other signatories to the letter include: Florence Pugh, Pedro Pascal, Edward Norton, Atsuko Okatsuka, Joaquin Phoenix, Ben Stiller, Kristen Stewart, Adam McKay, Alan Cumming, Alyssa Milano, Boots Riley, Bryan Cranston, Cynthia Nixon, Damon Lindelof, David Fincher, Denis Villeneuve, Elliot Page, Glenn Close, Jane Fonda, JJ Abrams, Jason Bateman, John Leguizamo, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Margaret Cho, Mark Ruffalo, Noah Wyle, Patti Lupone, Ramy Youssef, Rosario Dawson, Rosie O’Donnell, Ted Danson, Tiffany Haddish, Tig Notaro, Yorgos Lanthimos and Yvette Nicole Brown.
Organizers of the BlockTheMerger.com open letter include the Writers Guild of America (WGA), Film Future Coalition, Democracy Defenders Fund, Jane Fonda’s Committee for the First Amendment, and the American Economic Liberties Project.
Diana Ross will no longer appear in “Michael” due to “certain legal considerations,” according to Kat Graham, who was hired to play the legendary Supremes singer in the upcoming music biopic about Michael Jackson.
“Ahead of the April 24 release of the Michael Jackson film, I want to share that certain legal considerations affected a few scenes, including the ones I filmed with an incredible cast,” Graham posted Thursday morning on social media. “Unfortunately, those moments are no longer part of the final cut, though the team worked hard to preserve as much of the story as possible.”
“Michael” underwent major reshoots after the third act of the film was deemed unusable. The initial screenplay had recounted a 1993 lawsuit that accused Jackson of child sexual abuse, which he denied. After the movie was shot, producers discovered a clause in the settlement with the young accuser that barred the depiction or mention of him in film or television. Although Graham didn’t specify, her part in the film was likely axed due to these creative changes. Janet Jackson, the performer’s famous sister, is not a character in the movie, either.
Jaafar Jackson, the real-life nephew of Michael Jackson, is portraying the King of Pop in the film, with Colman Domingo and Nia Long playing his parents, Joe and Katherine Jackson. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, “Michael” focuses on the singer’s early years including his relationship with his domineering father, who doesn’t want his son’s solo career to come at the expense of the family’s Motown group the Jackson 5.
“Michael” is poised to electrify the box office over the weekend, with estimates of at least $70 million domestically and $150 million globally in its debut. Those ticket sales would rank as the largest opening ever for a musical biopic, as well as the biggest hit for Lionsgate in more than a decade.
Tether froze more than $344 million worth of $USDT in coordination with the Office of Foreign Assets Control and US law enforcement agencies, the firm said Thursday.
The action targeted two wallet addresses flagged for connections to unlawful activity, locking the funds before they could be moved.
The freeze followed multiple US authorities sharing intelligence with Tether that linked the wallets to sanctions evasion and criminal networks. Once the addresses were identified, Tether restricted them.
The firm said it maintains a zero-tolerance stance toward illicit use of its products and has long followed OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals list.
“$USDT is not a safe haven for illicit activity. When credible links to sanctioned entities or criminal networks are identified, we act immediately and decisively,” CEO Paolo Ardoino stressed.
Enforcement numbers
Tether currently works with over 340 law enforcement bodies across 65 countries. Those partnerships have contributed to more than 2,300 investigations globally, roughly 1,200 of which involve US law enforcement.
The cumulative value of frozen assets has crossed $4.4 billion, with over $2.1 billion tied to American authorities.
The US Department of Justice previously recognized Tether’s involvement in enforcement operations that led to seizures of nearly $61 million and approximately $225 million in separate cases, both connected to “pig butchering” fraud schemes, where victims are groomed over weeks or months into pouring savings into fake investment platforms.
Virginia man buys 20 tickets for one lottery drawing, wins 20 times
March 27 (UPI) — A Virginia man bought 20 identical tickets for a single Pick 4 lottery drawing and ended up winning $5,000 for each ticket — a total of $100,000.
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