Chipmaking giants Nvidia and AMD have seen their share prices slide in after-hours trading after Nvidia said US restrictions on artificial intelligence chips to China would cause it to face major costs.

Nvidia stated in an April 15 regulatory filing that it is expecting around $5.5 billion in charges associated with its AI chip inventory due to significant export restrictions imposed by the US government affecting the company’s business with China. 

Nvidia said that the US government informed it on April 9 that export licenses are now required for its popular H20 integrated circuits and any chips with similar bandwidth capacity.

“First quarter results are expected to include up to approximately $5.5 billion of charges associated with H20 products for inventory, purchase commitments, and related reserves.”

The restrictions specifically mention China, Hong Kong and Macau, and the government indicated that the license requirement “addresses the risk that the covered products may be used in, or diverted to, a supercomputer in China.” 

The H20 is the most advanced AI chip Nvidia can export to China under previous export rules. Government officials have been calling for stronger export controls on the chip, which was reportedly used to train models from China-based AI startup DeepSeek. 

The Trump administration initially put the restrictions on hold following President Donald Trump’s meeting with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang earlier this month, NPR reported. 

Related: Nvidia’s stock price forms ’death cross’ — Will AI crypto tokens follow?

On April 14, Nvidia announced that it would spend hundreds of millions of dollars over the next four years manufacturing some AI chips in the US. 

However, that has not prevented the stock slump in light of the latest filing and predicted impact on its upcoming revenue report. “Truly no company is safe from tariffs,” commented the Kobeissi Letter. 

Nvidia’s first quarter of fiscal year 2026 ends on April 27.

Nvidia, AMD stocks slump after hours 

Shares in Nvidia (NVDA) fell 6% in after-hours trading on April 15 to $105, according to Google Finance.

Nvidia’s share price is down 22% so far this year, slumping in a wide market rout caused by Trump’s escalating trade war and tariff threats. 

NVDA price tanks in after-hours trading. Source: Google Finance

Rival chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) saw a similar share price drop, falling more than 7% to $88.55 in after-hours trading. AMD shares have declined by more than 25% since Jan. 1. 

Magazine: Illegal arcade disguised as … a fake Bitcoin mine? Soldier scams in China: Asia Express

Bitcoin could be heading into another extended consolidation phase, with short-term indicators suggesting a more bearish outlook, contrary to the broader crypto community’s view, according to the head of research at 10x Research.

While many crypto analysts predict new Bitcoin (BTC) all-time highs by June, Markus Thielen said in an April 14 markets report that he is skeptical, pointing out that onchain data signals “more of a bear market environment than a bullish one.”

Short-term indicators signal potential market top

Thielen said the Bitcoin stochastic oscillator — which compares a particular closing price to a range of prices over a specific period to determine momentum — shows patterns “more typical of a market top or late-cycle phase rather than the early stages of a new bull run.”

Bitcoin is trading at $83,810 at the time of publication. Source: CoinMarketCap

“As a result, short-term signals are not aligning with longer-term indicators, highlighting the disconnect in the market outlook,” Thielen said.

“Bitcoin is no longer a parabolic ‘Long-Only’ retail-driven market,” he added, explaining it now “demands a more sophisticated, finance-oriented approach.”

“Bitcoin’s rally over the past year hasn’t been driven by typical ‘crypto-bro’ speculation but by long-term holders seeking diversification and adopting a buy-and-hold strategy,” Thielen said. 

Over the past 12 months, Bitcoin is up 32.80% and is trading at around $83,810 at the time of publication, according to CoinMarketCap.

Bitcoin price action may repeat 2024 pattern

Thielen reiterated his stance that Bitcoin may consolidate for an extended period, much like it did in 2024. 

“Despite our cautious optimism, we view Bitcoin as trading within a broad range of $73,000 to $94,000, with a slight upward bias,” he said.

In March 2024, Bitcoin reached its then-all-time high of $73,679 before entering a consolidation phase, swinging within a range of around $20,000 until Donald Trump won the US elections in November.

Related: Bitcoin price recovery could be capped at $90K — Here’s why

Many crypto analysts are eyeing June as the month when Bitcoin could surpass its current all-time high of $109,000, which it reached in January just before Trump’s inauguration.

Swan Bitcoin CEO Cory Klippsten told Cointelegraph in early March that “there’s more than 50% chance we will see all-time highs before the end of June this year.”

Sharing a similar view, Bitcoin network economist Timothy Peterson and Real Vision chief crypto analyst Jamie Coutts have also marked June as when Bitcoin could reach a new high.

“It is entirely possible Bitcoin could reach a new all-time high before June,” Peterson said.

Meanwhile, Coutts said, “The market may be underestimating how quickly Bitcoin could surge – potentially hitting new all-time highs before Q2 is out.”

Magazine: Riskiest, most ‘addictive’ crypto game of 2025, PIXEL goes multi-game: Web3 Gamer

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Developers behind the Ethereum layer 2 Aztec Network have launched a whistleblowing platform called StealthNote that allows workers to vent about their employer without revealing themselves.

StealthNote uses zero-knowledge proofs to prove that posts on its platform are written by someone with access to an email address of the company that they’re reviewing.

Aztec Labs developer Saleel Pichen wrote in an April 14 X post that StealthNote creates a zero-knowledge proof of a Google JSON Web Token, which is used to authenticate users and allows the platform to prove a poster owns “an email from a company domain without revealing any personal info.”

Two of the latest posts on StealthNote from personnel at Aztec Labs and Cornell University. Source: StealthNote.xyz

According to Aztec’s documentation, the privacy solution had been in development since at least Oct. 22, while the first test post from Aztec occurred about three months ago.

Workers from Ethereum Foundation, StarkWare and Scroll as well as Columbia and Cornell universities have made posts on StealthNote, primarily sharing greetings and voicing their support for privacy solutions.

“Let’s make privacy cool again,” a worker from Nim Network wrote.

ZK-proofs needed more than ever, says Buterin

ZK-proofs have become an increasingly used privacy solution in the internet age as concerns over data security and government surveillance continue to grow.

The concerns were raised in an April 14 blog post by Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin, who criticized the assumption that governments are generally well-intentioned when it comes to sacrificing privacy for a more “transparent society.” 

Related: Vitalik Buterin unveils roadmap for Ethereum privacy

He championed ZK-proofs as a solution to mitigate this trade-off, highlighting the technology’s ability to provide “fine-grained control of who can see what information.”

Related: Vitalik Buterin unveils roadmap for Ethereum privacy

The privacy-focused Aztec Network launched on Ethereum in February 2020. 

The firm raised $100 million in Series B funding led by the tech-focused venture capital firm Andreessen “a16z” Horowitz in December 2022, with A Capital and King River also contributing.

Magazine: Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again