Five Things That Mattered This Week | April 10, 2026

Russian shadows in the High North, Crypto toll booth of Hormuz, an Orthodox Easter truce, Rutte does NATO PR — did we find the inventor of Bitcoin?! Come for the headlines, stay for the art.

Good morning! It’s already Friday.

There were big stories and then even bigger ones.

The U.S.-Iran 14-day ceasefire is fragile. Iran wants $2 million per vessel in cryptocurrency. President Donald Trump presented the toll booth plan as a potential “joint venture”. The European Union and oil companies have rejected this. Speaking of crypto, has the real inventor of Bitcoin, and man behind the Satoshi Nakamoto alias, been uncovered?! Rutte is on a NATO PR tour defending the alliance. Greenland isn’t far from Trump’s mind. The war in Sudan rages. China is burning its bridges in Latin America. Hungary votes on Sunday but first a “false flag attack”? The Kīlauea volcano erupted in Hawai’i.

We’ve got maps, cartoons, clips, and lots of unhinged bits to share. Grab your coffee, snacks, a cocktail, a smoothie, a pet goat — whatever is getting you through this Friday.

Thank you for reading this far. Paid subscribers get full access to Grounded Perspectives and our Friday wrap ups, plus much more. If you’re so inclined, throw a couple coins into our human battery fund — also known as mochas and green teas. We’re glad you’re here.

Between rescue and ruin, the week kept asking the same thing: what are we mistaking for safety?

Some thresholds are crossed before we know we’ve reached them. Until next time, read the currents.— Ali & Asli

Don’t doomscroll. Let us do it for you!

Kīlauea Erupts Again on Hawaiʻi’s Big Island | Kīlauea resumed lava fountaining on April 9, sending ash and volcanic debris into nearby downwind areas as U.S. geologists raised the aviation color code to RED. The eruption is confined to the summit caldera inside Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Not every rupture this week was political.

The Big Stories

🎯 Fragile Truce, Open Questions: U.S.-Iran Ceasefire Enters Dangerous Phase | The U.S.-Iran ceasefire is real, but fragile — and Hormuz is still the choke point. More than 600 vessels remain stuck in the Strait.