Today's Crypto Pulse
Bitcoin slides below $70k as energy‑price worries spark $1.8B in liquidations
Bitcoin fell under $70,000 amid heightened energy‑price uncertainty linked to U.S.–Iran tensions. The dip triggered roughly $1.8 billion in crypto liquidations, while institutional investors pulled more than $4.2 billion from digital‑asset positions.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Strive acquires 2,500 Bitcoin for $185.2M
Butter Bridge V3.1 Exploit Mints 1 Quadrillion MAPO Tokens, Triggers $180K ETH Dump
ButterNetwork confirmed that its MAP Bridge V3.1 on Ethereum and BNB Chain was exploited, allowing an attacker to mint nearly 1 quadrillion MAPO tokens. The attacker sold about 1 billion MAPO for roughly 52.21 ETH ($180K), while the bulk of the tokens remain in the attacker’s wallet, underscoring ongoing risk for the protocol.
Trump Media Moves Over $200 Million in Bitcoin as Losses Pile Up: Arkham
Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) transferred roughly 2,650 Bitcoin, valued at about $204 million, to Crypto.com addresses on Thursday evening. The move follows earlier Bitcoin purchases that brought the firm’s total holdings to roughly $533 million. DJT reported a Q1 2026...
How Crypto APIs Enable Seamless Web3 Experiences
Web3 developers are turning to specialized crypto APIs to replace costly, multi‑chain infrastructure, enabling faster wallet integration, liquidity routing, and blockchain indexing. By abstracting node operation, price feeds, and compliance tools, APIs act as a translation layer that simplifies cross‑chain...
XRPL’s May 27 Upgrade Shows How Validators and Markets Decide a Blockchain Split
On May 27 the XRPL network activated amendment fixCleanup3_1_3 (version 3.1.3), delivering critical fixes for NFTs, permissioned domains, vaults and the lending protocol. The upgrade required more than 80% of trusted validators to sustain a Yes vote for two weeks...
MetaComp Group Announces Completion of Tether Gold (XAUT) Proof-of-Concept, Launches Commercial Tokenised Gold Capabilities for Institutional Clients
MetaComp Group announced the successful completion of a proof‑of‑concept using Tether Gold (XAUT) for three institutional scenarios: cross‑border payments, treasury preservation and gold‑collateralised lending. The pilot included a $10,000 USD‑to‑EUR transfer via XAUT and a $300,000 XAUT‑backed loan, demonstrating gold...
US Congress Opens Formal Probe Into Kalshi and Polymarket, Targeting KYC and Trade Surveillance
On May 22, the House Oversight Committee issued formal information requests to prediction‑market operators Kalshi and Polymarket, demanding internal records on identity verification and trade‑surveillance practices. The companies must submit documentation by June 5, less than two weeks away. The probe...
Bitcoin ETF Demand Turns Lower Again
Bitcoin’s institutional demand is slipping as ETF outflows resumed, erasing much of the progress made since the October drawdown. Rolling 30‑day ETF flows have turned negative, a bearish signal that precedes price weakness in the model used by Ecoinometrics. Historical...
PayPal USD Expands Africa’s Digital Finance Reach
PayPal announced that its USD‑backed stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), is now available in 70 markets worldwide, including several African countries. The rollout lets users buy, hold, send, receive and earn rewards on PYUSD directly from their PayPal accounts. By offering...
NEAR Launches Confidential Payments via Intents Protocol
NEAR Protocol has rolled out confidential payments on its Intents platform, enabling users to transfer NEAR tokens and receive ETH while keeping transaction data private. The feature supports private cross‑chain value transfers without exposing details on the blockchain, addressing privacy...
Crypto Firms Need to Get Serious About Consumer Safeguards
Crypto firms face a credibility hurdle because most consumer products lack built‑in safety nets. Users risk irreversible losses from phishing, lost devices, or forgotten passwords, a burden that traditional finance mitigates with fraud monitoring and deposit insurance. Industry leaders argue...
US Quantum $2B Bet Amid Aggressive Crypto Regulation
In today's Unchained Daily newsletter: 🔬 The US just made a $2B quantum bet, and Bitcoin may be on the clock 🏛️ Hours later, a bill moved to lock US bitcoin for 20 years 📋 Blockchain.com is finally eyeing a...
US Administration Shifts Toward Crypto, Citing Military Edge
The Trump administration has reversed the Biden-era stance on digital assets, championing cryptocurrency as a national security asset. Officials cite bipartisan bills such as the GENIUS Act and a push for the CLARITY Act, while arguing that blockchain technology can...
Sergey Nazarov’s Vision: Chainlink’s Insane Complexity & Life Philosophy
My conversation with @SergeyNazarov has been one of the most fascinating conversations I've had on @new_era_finance. The complexity of the product of Chainlink is beyond insane. If you've had that vision already multiple years ago, I can only hugely respect that....
Tagus Bytes (22.05.26)
Bitcoin Pizza Day commemorates the 16th anniversary of Laszlo Hanyecz’s 2010 purchase of two pizzas for 10,000 BTC, now worth roughly $770 million. Hanyecz also built the first macOS Bitcoin client, expanding the ecosystem beyond Windows and Linux. He demonstrated that NVIDIA...
Visa Says Stablecoins Are ‘Pretty Big’ for Africa’s Payments Future
Visa’s head of South and East Africa, Michael Berner, told TechCabal that Africa’s digital payments are expanding faster than any other region, with mobile‑money transactions reaching $1.4 trillion in Sub‑Saharan Africa in 2025. The payments giant is four years into a...
Revolutionizing Compliance: AML Regulations in the Era of DeFi
The U.S. Treasury is intensifying anti‑money‑laundering (AML) oversight of decentralized finance (DeFi), urging platforms to register as money‑services businesses under the Bank Secrecy Act and adopt traditional KYC and transaction‑monitoring procedures. Global regulators, following FATF guidance, now treat virtual‑asset service...
Level Up Your Skills: The Power of Cryptocurrency AML Training
As cryptocurrencies expand, regulators are tightening anti‑money‑laundering (AML) expectations, creating a gap that traditional compliance programs can’t fill. Specialized cryptocurrency AML training equips compliance officers, risk managers, and financial crime analysts with the knowledge to identify pseudonymous transactions, decentralized network...
The Paradoxes of Stablecoin Regulation
Stablecoins such as USDT and USDC have grown into a $262 billion market, processing $33 trillion in transactions in 2025. Regulators worldwide—through the U.S. GENIUS Act, the EU’s MiCAR, and similar frameworks—are racing to impose prudential, consumer‑protection, and systemic rules. The article...
HBAR’s Quiet Foundations Signal Long‑Term Utility Potential
HBAR has continued building quietly over the past two years without major headlines. The network has strong security architecture, active governance council members, and a use case thesis centered on permissioned AI solutions and Web3 applications. Those fundamentals might translate...
Spot Bitcoin ETFs Near New High, Show Resilience
Nice chart on the cumulative net flows for the spot bitcoin ETFs, which were close to a new high water mark bf a step back this week, still tho amazing resilience considering a 50% drawdown and being down 11% YTD...
SEC Commissioner Peirce Clarifies Scope of Proposed Innovation Exemption for Onchain Stock Trading
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce clarified that the SEC’s proposed innovation exemption for on‑chain trading of tokenized NMS stocks is limited to digital representations of existing listed equities, explicitly excluding synthetic assets. The exemption would allow on‑chain trading of the same securities...
Polymarket Hacked on Polygon, $520K Stolen
🚨 POLYMARKET EXPLOITED ON POLYGON The UMA CTF Adapter contract appears to have been hacked. Over $520K has been drained so far. Attacker address: 0x8F98075db5d6C620e8D420A8c516E2F2059d9B91T This is still developing. https://t.co/YqFQUMCJrF
Hyperliquid (HYPE) Token Jumps 55% in a Week as Short Squeeze and ETF Inflows Drive Price Near $59
Hyperliquid’s native token HYPE surged to $58.64, a 55% gain since May 14, as a wave of short liquidations, whale accumulation and fresh ETF inflows pushed the price within 2% of its $59 all‑time high. The rally generated $30.6 million in...
XRP Ledger Teams with Project Eleven to Guard Against Quantum Attacks
The XRP Ledger announced a partnership with post‑quantum security firm Project Eleven to audit its validator, wallet and custody layers and develop hybrid signature schemes. The move positions the blockchain to transition to quantum‑resistant cryptography before quantum computers become capable...
Trump Orders Fed to Review Crypto Access to U.S. Payment Rails
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on May 19 directing the Federal Reserve to audit rules that block non‑bank crypto and fintech firms from accessing core payment infrastructure. The order gives the Fed 120 days to report findings, sparking...
Europe’s FTX-Era Crypto Rules Strain Under Wall Street’s Blockchain Push
The European Commission has reopened the Markets in Crypto‑Assets (MiCA) framework for public and institutional comment, marking the first major review just two years after its rollout. Regulators cite rapid market evolution, including Wall Street’s aggressive push into blockchain tokenization...
Hold XRP Until It Breaks $1.4238 Resistance
XRP rejects bullish narrative; chart leads. Catalysts (CLARITY, SBI ETF, whale buys) remain unpriced. 200‑day MA $1.4238 is key resistance; supports $1.35→$1.20. Avoid longs until a daily close above $1.4238. — Viktor Kopylov, PhD, CFA More insights: t.me/si14Kopylov
Blockchain.com Files Confidential Draft S‑1, Paving Way for Crypto‑Focused IPO
Blockchain.com submitted a confidential draft registration statement to the SEC, moving the Dallas‑based crypto platform toward a public offering. The filing comes as the firm, which runs a wallet with over 80 million users and has processed $1.2 trillion in transactions, seeks...
World Liberty Financial Rebound Gives Dormant WLFI Holders an Exit as AI Financial Warns of Survival Risk
World Liberty Financial is attempting to revive its WLFI token after an 88% plunge by burning 3 billion tokens (about $180 million) and launching its USD1 stablecoin on Binance and Bybit. The exchange integrations unlocked a 45 million WLFI rewards pool offering up...
Senate Banking Committee Moves Forward on Digital Asset Market Structure Bill
On May 14, 2026, the Senate Banking Committee advanced a substitute version of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, introducing a comprehensive market‑structure framework for digital commodities. The bill defines “network tokens” and “ancillary assets,” adds disclosure and certification requirements,...
Satoshi’s 1.1 Million Bitcoin and Millions More Can Be Saved From Quantum Attack, Says Expert
AmericanFortress unveiled a patent‑pending post‑quantum signature scheme that would protect existing crypto assets, including dormant wallets, via a backward‑compatible soft fork. The protocol aims to freeze and secure pre‑BIP32 Bitcoin addresses—such as Satoshi’s 1.1 million BTC and roughly 5 million dormant coins—while...
US Lawmakers Push New Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act to Secure $25 Billion Federal Stash
U.S. lawmakers introduced the American Reserve Modernization Act (ARMA) of 2026, a bill that would formalize a strategic Bitcoin reserve and create a separate digital‑asset stockpile within the Treasury. The legislation would lock the government’s 328,372 Bitcoin—worth over $25 billion—into a...
Petition to Scrap South Korea's Crypto Tax Reaches 50K Threshold
A petition to repeal South Korea’s upcoming 22% crypto gains tax has surpassed the 50,000‑signature threshold, forcing the Finance and Economic Planning Committee to review the measure. The tax, scheduled for January 2027, is criticized for imposing heavy reporting burdens...
XRPL Trades Speed for Compliance, DEX, and Interoperability
Several networks offer higher throughput than the XRPL. Holochain and Hedera Hashgraph both have strong performance metrics. What differentiates the XRPL is not raw speed but the compliance infrastructure built through amendments, the depth of the built-in DEX for routing...
Zero Fees on AlphaX Tradfi Assets via Decentralized Exchange
Now you can get zero trading fees on AlphaX on Tradfi assets 🔥 That's right, zero fees and it's a decentralized exchange (backed by BingX)🤝 Check it out
Harvard Endowment Cuts Bitcoin ETF Holdings by 43%, Exits Ethereum Fund Entirely
Harvard Management Company reduced its exposure to crypto spot ETFs in Q1 2026, trimming its BlackRock Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) position by roughly 43% and liquidating its BlackRock Ethereum ETF holding entirely. The shift was disclosed in the endowment’s latest SEC Form 13F...
CirBTC Launches Testnet with Docs and Faucet
cirBTC is coming alive. Dev docs here: https://t.co/Ep8BuXxfNM Testnet Faucet on Arc and Ethereum: https://t.co/vB55edkQ8Y
Ethereum Dumping; Bitcoin Dominance Primed for Whipsaw
Anyone buying Ethereum down here? Sure feels like they’re finally puking it out. Massive potential whipsaw in Bitcoin Dominance setting up. https://t.co/hzLINzqzY0
Mark Cuban Says He Sold Most of His Bitcoin After Failed Hedge Narrative 'Disappointed' The Billionaire
Mark Cuban, the $10 billion billionaire, announced he has sold most of his Bitcoin holdings after the cryptocurrency failed to act as a hedge during the recent Iran conflict and a weakening U.S. dollar. He noted that gold surged while Bitcoin...
Ethereum’s Identity Crisis Is Deepening After High-Profile 'Brain Drain' Frustrates the Community
The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is facing an identity crisis as several high‑profile researchers and contributors, including Dankrad Feist, have departed without public explanation. Community leaders argue the EF’s focus on ideology over tokenomics and growth has eroded its economic relevance,...
Institutional Inflows Push XRP Ahead of Bitcoin and Ethereum with $67.6M Surge
Institutional investors added $67.6 million to XRP investment products last week, a 70% rise that eclipsed massive outflows from Bitcoin and Ethereum funds. The surge, driven largely by U.S. spot XRP ETFs, signals a short‑term momentum play for traders tracking alt‑coin...
Leading Crypto Presales in 2026: Comparing Early-Stage Token Projects
Crypto presales in 2026 are moving beyond simple discount models toward sophisticated token‑supply mechanics, such as tiered mini‑rounds that burn unsold tokens and permanent closures of direct purchases. The article profiles five active projects—SkyFleetDash, BlockchainFX, NOCtura, Bitcoin Hyper and SUBBD—each...
SEC Proposes Innovation Exemption for Tokenized Stock Trading as $4.2 B Deal Boosts Market
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is drafting an “innovation exemption” that would allow blockchain‑based tokenized shares of public companies to trade on decentralized platforms. The move follows a $4.2 billion acquisition by Tom Farley's crypto exchange and rising interest from...
PASS or Fail? Making the Most of the FCA’s Pre-Application Meetings for Crypto Firms
The FCA has revived its Pre‑Application Support Service (PASS) to help crypto‑asset firms navigate the new authorisation regime. PASS provides free, informal meetings where firms can discuss business plans, compliance, staffing and risk with the FCA’s digital assets team. Sessions,...
Breez SDK Enables Gasless Multi‑Asset Integration
Breez has been packaging so much goodness in their SDK on top of @spark lately. Any wallet/account can now get gasless USD earning BTC, BTC L1, Lightning, and Spark in one easy integration. Really amazing work all around.
Crypto Prediction Markets Are Turning Into Dangerous National Security Risks, and Congress Wants to Ban Them
Investigators at Bubblemaps identified 80 bets on Polymarket with a 98% win rate tied to U.S. military actions against Iran, a performance they deem statistically impossible. The bets generated roughly $2.4 million for nine accounts, highlighting a potential insider‑trading pipeline that...
Cryptocurrency Broker License: The New Standard for Regulated Digital Asset Trading
The cryptocurrency brokerage sector is shifting from a niche market to a regulated industry, making broker licenses a strategic necessity rather than a optional add‑on. Licenses enable firms to meet stricter AML/KYC standards, secure banking relationships, and expand across borders....
Crypto for Advisors: Crypto Products
CoinDesk’s "Crypto for Advisors" newsletter outlines how financial advisors should evaluate spot bitcoin exchange‑traded products (ETPs) that debuted in January 2024. It highlights fee structures, liquidity nuances, tracking error sources, and the importance of custody and sponsor profiles. The piece also...
Jupiter Is No Longer a DEX Aggregator. It Is Solana’s Distribution Layer
Jupiter launched in 2021 as a simple Solana DEX aggregator, but it has since become the chain’s primary distribution layer. It now routes more than half of daily DEX volume and hosts the largest active user base across Solana’s trading...
IG Europe Taps Bitpanda to Expand Crypto Trading Across Europe
IG Group is extending its spot cryptocurrency offering to European investors through a partnership with Austria’s Bitpanda, leveraging the exchange’s liquidity and market‑data infrastructure. The move follows IG’s 2025 launch of spot crypto in the UK and comes amid tighter...