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
Bitcoin Reclaims $81,000 As ETF Inflows Surge Despite Iran Escalation
Bitcoin surged past $81,300 on Tuesday, its highest level since January, pushing the total crypto market capitalization to $2.77 trillion. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $532 million inflows on Monday, adding to Friday’s $630 million for a two‑day total of $1.16 billion, bringing cumulative net inflows since launch to $59.25 billion. The rally persisted despite heightened geopolitical tension as the UAE intercepted Iranian missiles and drones over the Strait of Hormuz. Ethereum ETFs also posted back‑to‑back inflows, reinforcing institutional appetite for digital assets.
How I’m Trading XRP on Today’s Oil News
The author outlines a two‑headline trading playbook that uses oil‑related geopolitical news to time XRP positions. Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would guide oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz sparked a brief rally, lifting Bitcoin above $80,000 and pushing...
NPR Went Looking for Polymarket's Panama Headquarters. It's Elusive
Polymarket, a $15 billion‑valued prediction‑market platform, lists its corporate headquarters on the 21st floor of the Oceania Business Plaza in Panama City, an address it shares with more than a dozen other crypto firms. NPR’s investigation found the listed office is...
A16z Crypto Raises $2.2B Fund to Turn New Infra Into Everyday Products
Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm closed its fifth dedicated fund, Crypto Fund 5, at $2.2 billion—about half the size of the $4.5 billion Fund 4 raised in 2022. The new fund aims to turn crypto infrastructure into everyday products, with stablecoins cited as proof of...
SUI Poised for Mean‑Reversion Breakout, Target $1.75
A lot of protocols are ready to do a 'mean reversion' trade. This means that they'll follow $BTC in its footsteps and have a relatively strong run. Stronger than Bitcoin percentage-wise, as the higher Bitcoin goes, the more confidence there is. One...
Total Return Swaps Thrive; PUT System Delivers $1M Volume
Still personally most exited about Total Return Swaps coming out, but so incredibly happy and proud of the team for shipping all this in under 60 days. The PUT system is working even in these stressed environments, exactly what it was...
Toncoin Surges as Telegram Takes Direct Control of TON Network
Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced that the messaging app will replace the TON Foundation as the primary steward of The Open Network and become its largest validator. The news sent Toncoin up roughly 33% to an intraday high of $1.90,...
Arbitrum DAO Elects Six New Security Council Members Amid Ongoing Kelp Fallout
Arbitrum DAO elected six new members to its 12‑person Security Council, with the cohort taking over signing duties on May 21. The council, which recently froze roughly $70 million in ETH (about 30,000 ETH) after the Kelp bridge exploit that siphoned $290 million, is...
Eurodollar Crisis Drives Bitcoin Toward $1 Million
I sat down with Nik Bhatia, ex-Treasury bond trader, USC professor, and author of Layered Money and The Bitcoin Age. While Bloomberg's Mike McGlone is calling Bitcoin to $10,000, @timevalueofbtc says $1 million is coming sooner than anyone thinks. "The US built...
A16z Crypto Raises $2.2B for Fifth Venture Fund as Andreessen Horowitz Doubles Down on Digital Assets Despite Slumping Market
Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm, a16z crypto, closed a $2.2 billion fifth venture fund, bringing its cumulative capital to $9.8 billion since the inaugural $300 million fund in 2018. The raise coincides with a deep crypto market correction, as Bitcoin and Ethereum trade roughly...
AI and Crypto Empower Agents, Automate Online Shopping
What our lives will look like when the crypto x AI future is in full bloom, according to Ali Yahya of @a16zcrypto: 1. having AI eliminate the tedium involved with buying online 2. telling your agent what you're looking for and...
Cross‑zone Composability Faces Hurdles in Privacy Blockchains
🧩 In a world of privacy blockchain, where switching from chain to chain can create data leakage, what does that mean for DeFi's money legos? "I don't think the composability dream is dead. I think you can have composability within zones....
Drift Sets Out Token-Based Recovery Framework for $295M April Exploit
Drift Protocol unveiled a token‑based recovery plan to compensate users affected by the April 1 exploit that caused $295.4 million in losses. The scheme issues SPL tokens worth $1 per verified loss, funded by the protocol’s $3.8 million reserve, a $127.5 million commitment from...
VVV Locks Yield AI Compute Tokens as Demand Soars
DIEM & VVV tokenomics... • 1 DIEM = $1/day of daily renewing AI compute credits, spendable on any model from Qwen to Opus 4.7 to Grok to Nano Banana via Venice (app or api) • As demand for AI compute rises, DIEM...
Privacy Blockchains Must Include Traceable Safeguards for Hackers
We are shifting from a world of public blockchains to a world of privacy blockchains ... But once a hack happens on a privacy blockchain, how does that affect our ability to track down the hackers? "You can build a system that...
How the CLARITY Act Reshapes Stablecoin Rewards
The Senate reached a compromise on the long‑delayed CLARITY Act, allowing crypto firms to reward users for holding stablecoins only when the incentives are tied to user activity, while prohibiting interest‑like yields. The change addresses banks' fears that deposit‑bearing stablecoins...
Tokenopoly Debuts First AI Real‑Estate Agent for Tokenized U.S. Homes
Tokenopoly introduced an autonomous AI real‑estate broker, OpenClaw, at the Consensus 2026 conference. The skill lets AI agents buy, sell and manage tokenized U.S. homes on Ethereum without human input, marking a new frontier for PropTech and DeFi integration.
Own XRP Directly for Utility, Not Just ETF Exposure
ETFs give you price exposure without the asset. Easy allocation, no custody headaches. The bearer asset gives you the actual XRP, access to DeFi products, and no ongoing fees to counterparties. Physical gold trades at a premium over spot for...
Crypto Firms Push CLARITY Act, Ban Passive Stablecoin Yields
Crypto companies including Coinbase are urging Congress to move on the CLARITY Act. A recent proposal would ban yield-like incentives for simply holding stablecoins, but allow rewards tied to spending or using them. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong urged the Senate...
Strategy Survives Another Bitcoin Crash With More Alchemy
Strategy Inc., Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin accumulation vehicle, weathered a fresh crypto market plunge by deploying new financial engineering tactics. The firm disclosed a $12.4 billion loss after Bitcoin lost half its value in early February, and its common shares fell even...
Coinbase Layoffs Signal the Great AI Layoff Era Is Here
Coinbase announced it will cut roughly 700 jobs, about 14% of its workforce, and expects $50‑60 million in restructuring charges. CEO Brian Armstrong said the firm will eliminate pure‑manager roles and limit reporting lines to five layers, positioning the exchange for...
Bitcoin: "The Top Is In" - Elliott Wave Analysis
The author argues that Bitcoin’s market peak has already formed, positioning the recent price rise as a Wave B counter‑trend bounce rather than a new bullish impulse. Using Elliott Wave theory, the analysis forecasts a likely “fool’s rally” followed by a...
Bitcoin’s Bear Bottom Not Final Without New Catalyst
#BTC When Bitcoin rallied to new All Time Highs in 2024, it experienced a double catalyst: the ETF and the Halving These were major factors that influenced Bitcoin to accelerate in its cycle by 260 days However over the course of the Bull...
DOGE + FET + HBAR
The author provides an update on three cryptocurrencies—Dogecoin (DOGE), Fetch.ai (FET) and Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR)—using cycle positioning and Elliott Wave analysis. No structural changes have been identified since the last review on April 9, allowing the analyst to maintain a consistent...
Kraken Partners with MoneyGram on Crypto-to-Cash Withdrawals
Kraken has entered a strategic global partnership with MoneyGram to enable crypto‑to‑cash withdrawals across more than 100 countries. The service leverages MoneyGram’s network of roughly 500,000 retail locations, allowing users to receive cash in hundreds of fiat currencies within minutes....
Bitcoin Beats Gold as On‑Chain Trading Cuts Costs
I'm super happy to see traditional assets coming on-chain. The primary reason is that everything is getting cheaper to trade, and swapping or building strategies across multiple assets is way cheaper, especially now that platforms like @GMX_IO enabled 24/7 trading of...
Stablecoin Payments Surge to $56.6T, Polygon Leads Growth
Bloomberg projects stablecoin payment flows go from $2.9T in 2025 to $56.6T by 2030. Stablecoin transactions on @0xPolygon grew 264% YoY through 2025, and in April 2026 alone we processed more than 577M! (source: @artemis) In 5 years from now the numbers...
English Soccer Club’s Crypto ‘Ownership’ Sale Goes Wrong
Chicago startup AlphaFC tried to sell 69 million tokens representing 69% of Alfreton Town FC, a sixth‑tier English club it bought for about $800,000. The five‑day sale raised only $169,000, pricing each token at less than a cent and prompting a...
Bitcoin Peaks Since January as Ethereum Gains Momentum
Bitcoin is hitting the highest levels since January. Here's how ETH is setting up https://t.co/jwDEG3x87I
Early Bitcoin Call Finally Gains Momentum
Two weeks early on this Bitcoin call, which for a trader means I was wrong (since timing is just as important as the trade idea). But here we are, finally in motion. $IBIT $BTC.X
KuCoin EU Builds ‘Bank-Grade’ AML Machine Head of MiCA Deadline
With the MiCA transitional period ending on July 1, KuCoin EU is strengthening its compliance infrastructure. The exchange has hired C. Kleinhans, former head of compliance at ICBC Austria, as its new Anti‑Money Laundering Officer, and added two ex‑regulators, Klinger and...
Public Fury Targets SBF and Elizabeth Warren Simultaneously
This was a nice touch Consensus, people lining up to hit SBF and Elizabeth Warren on the head https://t.co/UwNCehAvBs
Merging Profitability and Conviction: The Ideal Bitcoin Company
What does the dream Bitcoin company look like? Today you have: - High profits, low Bitcoin conviction (crypto companies) - High conviction, low operating income (treasury cos) I want to build a Bitcoin company that executes the best of both worlds. That’s my vision...
Sumsub, Chainlink to Enable Privacy-Preserving KYC Credentials Across Ethereum, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Polygon, and Base
Sumsub has partnered with Chainlink to bring privacy‑preserving KYC credentials to major public blockchains via Chainlink’s Automated Compliance Engine (ACE). The collaboration introduces a Cross‑Chain Identity (CCID) framework that issues reusable on‑chain credentials—such as age verification—without exposing raw personal data....
Corporate Bitcoin Purchases Hit Record 50k in Q1
JUST IN: Companies bought over 50k bitcoin in Q1 this year, a record high amount
Coinbase Trims 14% Staff as AI, Crypto Slump Bites
Citing the impact of AI and the digital asset downturn, crypto exchange Coinbase plans to cut 14% of its workforce. BITCOIN = HIGH SPECULATIVE = NO FUNDAMENTAL VALUE. https://t.co/sMUa3HBqR9
Banks Counter Stablecoin Yield Push, BlackRock Teams With Ripple
SHOCKING BANKS STRIKE BACK on Stablecoin Yield Deal - BLACKROCK And RIPPLE Just Joined Forces? https://t.co/pfuM6R4KwK
AlphaFC’s Tokenized Soccer Club Sale Collapses, Refunds Issued
AlphaFC bought a sixth-tier English soccer team in 2025 for almost $800,000 hoping to tokenize its ownership. But the offering earlier this month didn't go well, resulting in buyers being refunded their money. A great @Sportico read from @JustBirny 👇 https://t.co/hsNPRLCmfU
Peak Bear Sentiment Passed, Still Holding Strong
Feels like we hit peak bearish sentiment in January. Cautiously optimistic we're out of the worst part of the bear cycle🫡 Regardless, I HODL.
Full Cryptographic Math Is the Key to On-Chain Privacy
🏺 The Holy Grail to providing privacy onchain would wholly cryptographic and based on math "And that's the most advanced and difficult to get right. But ultimately, we will get there." -- @alive_eth https://t.co/5tGKOqyEEC
Privacy Blockchains Gain Moat as Data Leakage Rises, Fees Compress
Data leakage is one reason Ali Yahya thinks that privacy blockchains can more easily build a moat — and why that could mean that Canton has a head start. Plus: "Blockspace is becoming commoditized, so high-performance blockchains are seeing fees being...
Privacy Becomes Crypto Moat, Boosting Canton Network
.@alive_eth says privacy will be a moat in crypto ... so is that why @CantonNetwork is a top 20 blockchain right now?? "Yes," he says. 👀 https://t.co/5tGKOqyEEC
Former Administration Aggressively Targeted Crypto, Seeking Bans
🔥 "The previous administration was overtly hostile to this space and actively trying to ban it." -- @alive_eth on the Clarity Act https://t.co/5tGKOqyEEC
Crypto Fear & Greed Index Hits Highest Since January
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index jumped 10 points in the past 24 hours to 50 (Neutral zone) its highest level since January this year. https://t.co/EOuc8aihaR
A16z Crypto Deploys $2.2B Amid Adoption Surge
Where a16z crypto’s New $2.2 Billion Fund Will Be Deployed as the Adoption Race Heats Up https://t.co/5tGKOqzcua
Discussing ZEC and TAO at Network Medici, Then Milken Institute
Great to talk $ZEC and $TAO at @NetworkMedici last night. Thanks to @adam_winnick for hosting and @DavidGrider + @SeanMFarrell for the conversation Back on stage today at @MilkenInstitute https://t.co/GIV8BecQvK
AI-Driven Layoffs Urge Upskilling and Leadership Focus
Coinbase let go of 14% of staff. It’s incredibly sad to see how AI is impacting people’s livelihoods overnight. Spend time learning AI, the new job market will depend on strong leadership skills and AI. When it comes to CLARITY, sometimes regulations...
Massive Bitcoin ETF Inflows Signal Bear Rally’s End
$2.7 billion has poured into Bitcoin ETFs over the last 3 weeks. 9 consecutive days of inflows. History says this is when bear market rallies start to fade. Remeber crypto will be unforgiving, be very careful chasing pumps.
Standard Chartered Slashes 2026 Bitcoin Target to $100k
Standard Chartered just cut their 2026 Bitcoin target from $300k to $100k. That's two downward revisions in three months. Kinda interesting they would do this after bitcoin just broke 80k...
DRAM Hits Hyperliquid, $1.5M OI in One Day
$DRAM listed on Hyperliquid already. $1.5 million in open interest in less than a day. Pretty cool. https://t.co/uE9cPNpiFQ