Fidelity Digital Assets highlights 'growing evidence' of shift from dollar-based systemsThe investment firm said nation-states and central banks are increasingly turning to assets like Bitcoin and gold as alternative settlement systems outside of US control.Recent moves by the Iranian government to Bitcoin for oil tolls as gold overtakes US dollar assets in global central bank reserves signals a “shift away from dollar-based systems,” according to crypto financial services company Fidelity Digital Investments.Tehran's acceptance of BTC for oil shipments passing through the Strait of Hormuz represents the emergence of “alternative settlement mechanisms,” according to the company’s just-released "Six Key Trends Shaping Digital Assets in 2026" report. Accepting Bitcoin for shipping toll payments is evidence that the biggest cryptocurrency could replace the US dollar as the global reserve currency because of its neutral, confiscation-resistant and decentralized properties, supporters of BTC say.Read more

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Solana open interest drops 30% as altcoins slump: Is $68 SOL next?Bulls abandon ship as SOL futures open interest dropped 30% in May. With the price weakening near $80, Solana may be destined for new lows.Solana (SOL) futures dropped sharply in May as traders reduced leveraged exposure across all exchanges. SOL open interest (OI) dropped to $1.90 billion on Thursday from $2.75 billion on May 11, a 30% decline, while funding rates remained close to neutral. The combination points to weakening investor sentiment as SOL eyes a retest of its yearly low at $68. The aggregated funding rate for Solana futures held near -0.005, showing balanced positioning between longs and shorts. SOL traders have not built aggressive directional bets despite the recent price slide to $80. Media Read more

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Gemini taps Grok for personalized AI-powered prediction market feeds Gemini is leaning into AI features for its prediction market, following other crypto exchanges in moving beyond crypto trading amid a market slump.Crypto exchange Gemini has partnered with Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI to launch an artificial intelligence-powered feature for its prediction markets platform that will allow users to curate personalized feeds.Gemini said on Thursday that its “Command Center” offering would show markets based on users’ open positions and watchlists, and can track crypto, sports, commodities, politics, economics and culture.“Rather than forcing you to dig through social feeds to find what's relevant, Command Center meets you where you are,” Gemini said. “It learns from your open positions, watchlists, and prediction history to surface the intelligence most likely to inform your next move.”Read more

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Bitcoin’s trapped under $74K while $9B options expiry looms: Are bears back in control?Bears hold the upper hand for Friday's $9 billion options expiry, keeping Bitcoin under pressure amid heavy ETF outflows and corporate sellingKey takeaways:Bitcoin (BTC) retested the $72,500 level for the first time in six weeks on Thursday, triggering $342 million in liquidations for bullish leveraged positions. Despite a subsequent relief bounce to $73,500, traders are worried that bears will keep control due to the upcoming $9 billion monthly options expiry. Media Read more

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Sui Network back online after ‘crash bug’ causes 6 hour outageThe Sui mainnet has resumed after a bug in a network update took it offline for 5 hours and 55 minutes.Sui Network is back online after a nearly six-hour outage on Thursday, which it attributed to a bug introduced by an update, marking the layer-1 blockchain’s second period of downtime in 2026.Sui posted to X on Thursday that activity on its mainnet had resumed after “a halt due to a crash bug in the gas charging logic introduced by the 1.72 release. A full incident review will be shared in the coming days.”Sui had earlier shared that the blockchain was “experiencing a network stall” and said that transactions could be paused until a fix is rolled out. Read more

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Bitcoin’s major holders halt buys as demand slows: CryptoQuantCryptoQuant says that the holding structure for large Bitcoin holders is deteriorating, a trend that has historically preceded “sustained price weakness.”An increasing number of Bitcoin holders are seeing their investments turn red as the holding structure continues to deteriorate across major cohorts, according to CryptoQuant. Annual balance growth for whale accounts holding between 1,000 and 10,000 Bitcoin (BTC) has turned negative in the fastest contraction this year, CryptoQuant said in a report on Thursday.Monthly growth has been flat since February, suggesting a shift from accumulation to mild distribution mirroring the 2022 bear market, it added.Read more

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SEC approves Paxos as ‘blockchain-native’ clearing agencyPaxos says its approval as a blockchain-focused clearing agency represents a “critical piece of financial market infrastructure” as Wall Street becomes more interested in crypto.Blockchain infrastructure platform and stablecoin issuer Paxos says it has become the first “blockchain-native” firm that the US Securities and Exchange Commission has granted registration as a clearing agency.Paxos said on Thursday that its subsidiary, Paxos Securities Settlement Company, has become “the only blockchain-native firm” that the SEC approved to provide clearing and settlement services as a central securities depository in the US.The approval represents a “critical piece of financial market infrastructure” as blockchain technology and traditional capital markets continue to converge, the company added. Read more

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Buy $72K dip, or jump ship: What will Bitcoin bulls do?Investors selling across spot, futures and ETF markets pushed Bitcoin into its monthly range lows near $72,000 but data shows retail investors buying the dip and opening longs. When Bitcoin (BTC) finally escaped from its channel pattern and secured a multiple-day close above the $77,000 resistance, traders rejoiced and declared the downtrend over. 
Fast-forward to the present and BTC has fallen below multiple support levels and appears at risk of retesting $70,000, a 16% decline from its range highs. Read more

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OKX Ventures, Korea Investment & Securities to buy 19.6% Coinone stake for $106MOKX Ventures and KIS to invest $53 million each for a 19.6% stake in Coinone, deepening ties between traditional finance and crypto in South Korea’s tightly regulated market.South Korean crypto exchange Coinone said Korea Investment & Securities (KIS) and OKX Ventures agreed to invest a combined 160 billion won ($106 million) for a 19.6% stake in the platform.The investment, which remains subject to regulatory approval, would make KIS and OKX Ventures joint third-largest shareholders in Coinone behind CEO Myung-Hun Cha and existing backer Com2uS Holdings, according to a release shared with Cointelegraph. The transaction combines secondary share purchases from existing holders with newly issued shares, while Cha is expected to remain Coinone’s largest shareholder and retain management control.Read more

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DxSale drained for $7.3M in BNB Chain liquidity exploitDxSale was drained for about $7.3 million from BNB Chain liquidity providers, raising fresh concerns over old DeFi locker contracts.Memecoin launch platform DxSale was drained of $7.3 million in funds in a cyberattack that affected around 1,400 liquidity providers (LPs) on the BNB Chain. The attacker's address "0xC457" transferred $1.87 million worth of BNB (BNB) tokens into two main wallets and subsequently deposited them into multiple Binance deposit addresses, according to blockchain data platform PeckShield in a Friday X post.Back in 2021, DxSale was used to lock in liquidity for tokens launched on the BNB Chain. Blockchain analyst Tahax estimated that the locker still holds liquidity from projects launched years ago and explained that the exploiter wallet was freshly created and funded through crypto exchange Bybit.Read more

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Texas Bitcoin reserve plans shift from ETF to direct BTC custodyTexas is hiring a crypto custodian to move its $10 million Strategic Bitcoin Reserve from BlackRock’s IBIT ETF into directly held coins and build full state‑level BTC plumbing.Texas is seeking a custody and liquidity provider to help move its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve from BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) into directly held coins, according to a state procurement document. The move, posted May 7 and announced in a Thursday release from the Texas Comptroller’s office, would move Texas closer to directly held Bitcoin through a third-party custody arrangement rather than relying solely on ETF exposure, marking a shift from ETF exposure to direct onchain ownership.Texas has allocated $10 million to the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, which the state has used to buy IBIT as an interim way to hold the funds before shifting to directly custodied Bitcoin, according to the request for proposals document.Read more

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Strategy situation ‘out of hand,’ says Arca exec on $15B preferred stock burdenStrategy’s capital structure may be under pressure as Arca’s Jeff Dorman highlights $15 billion in preferred stock obligations and CEO comments on possible Bitcoin sales.Strategy is facing renewed scrutiny over its preferred stock financing model as investors question whether dividend obligations could eventually pressure the company to sell some of its Bitcoin.The Strategy situation has “gotten out of hand,” Arca chief investment officer Jeff Dorman said in an X post on Thursday, referring to its roughly $15 billion in preferred stocks carrying around $1.5 billion in annual dividend obligations.Dorman warned that the structure may become increasingly difficult to manage if market conditions remain volatile, with Bitcoin (BTC) trading about 16% lower year-to-date at roughly $73,737 at the time of writing.Read more

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Bitcoin falls out of the global top 10 assets as market cap dips below $1.5TBitcoin’s market cap has dropped below $1.5 trillion, pushing it out of the world’s top 10 assets amid AI stock and precious metal rallies.Bitcoin’s (BTC) latest drawdown to $72,000 has coincided with a sharp drop in its market capitalization, pushing it out of the global top 10 assets by market cap.Key takeaways:Bitcoin’s price has dropped sharply from around $83,000 in early May to as low as $72,400 on Thursday. This was accompanied by a fall in its market capitalization to $1.45 trillion from $1.66 trillion.Read more

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NYSE parent ICE pushes ‘level playing field’ for 24/7 onchain perpsICE’s CEO said regulators need to create a “level playing field” for launching 24/7 onchain perps contracts, which are already trading on exchanges such as Hyperliquid.Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), is urging regulators to allow regulated exchanges to offer 24/7 onchain perpetual futures trading, according to ICE CEO Jeffrey Sprecher.Speaking at a Bernstein conference on Wednesday, Sprecher said that he was urging regulators to create a “level playing field” for launching 24/7 onchain perps contracts, arguing that regulators are “prohibiting us from doing this when it's already happening.” The CEO said that ICE had multiple exploratory discussions with decentralized exchange Hyperliquid about the synergies between the crypto and traditional finance (TradFi) industries, where ICE sought to “learn” more about onchain perps.Read more

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Why is Stellar's XLM up by over 50% this week?XLM rallied after US financial giant DTCC announced a partnership with the Stellar Network, but it still risks a sharp downside in the coming weeks.Stellar’s native token, XLM, has rallied more than 50% this week, outperforming the broader crypto market, which has declined by nearly 5% in the same period.Key takeaways:XLM's price surged after a major institutional partnership announcement by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), a US financial giant that clears and settles $10 trillion to $12 trillion in securities transactions daily.Read more

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Bitcoin ETFs bleed $2.8B in record nine-day outflow streakSpot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a nine-day outflow streak totaling $2.84 billion, surpassing an eight-session outflow run in February 2025.US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) posted their longest outflow streak since launch, extending withdrawals as institutional demand for Bitcoin exposure weakened.Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded another $223 million in net outflows on Thursday, marking the record nine-day outflow streak since the funds launched in 2024, according to data from Farside Investors.The latest streak surpassed the previous record eight-session outflow run recorded in February 2025, though its roughly $2.84 billion in cumulative withdrawals remains below the $3.2 billion lost during the earlier selloff.Read more

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Here’s what happened in crypto todayNeed to know what happened in crypto today? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, Web3 and crypto regulation.Today in crypto, spot Bitcoin ETFs logged a record nine-day outflow streak totaling $2.84 billion, the SEC approved Paxos as a clearing agency, and SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce says crypto-based privacy technologies can strengthen investor protection and urged not to treat them with suspicion.US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) posted their longest outflow streak since launch, extending withdrawals as institutional demand for Bitcoin exposure weakened.Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded another $223 million in net outflows on Thursday, marking the record nine-day outflow streak since the funds launched in 2024, according to data from Farside Investors.Read more

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Ethereum analysts say ‘downside pressure’ remains as $1.8K becomes keyAnalysts warn Ether’s downside risks remain elevated as traders closely watch the $1,800 support zone for stability.Market analysts say Ether (ETH) still faces “downside pressure” that could trigger another ETH price sell-off as traders shift their focus to support at $1,800. Key takeaways:Analysts have highlighted several reasons for Ether’s potential to drop lower, including an elevated estimated leveraged ratio and positive funding rates amid a “weakening price structure,” according to CryptoQuant analyst PelinayPA. Read more

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Ex-Celsius CEO files motion to vacate sentence after lawyers withdrawFormer CEO Alex Mashinsky filed documents seeking to vacate his 12-year sentence, which included claims involving FTX and a “hostile takeover” by a former Celsius executive, who was sentenced to time served.Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO of defunct cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius, has filed a motion in a New York court to vacate his 12-year sentence for fraud and market manipulation. In a Tuesday filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Mashinsky filed a motion to vacate his 144-month sentence, set by Judge John Koeltl in May 2025. The former Celsius CEO filed the paperwork without additional counsel, having announced on May 5 that he would be proceeding pro se in his case.Although Mashinsky pleaded guilty to commodities fraud and securities fraud related to “manipulative and deceptive devices,” he filed a motion to vacate on the grounds that he had ineffective counsel and “fruit of [the] poisinous [sic] tree,” a legal doctrine referring to evidence tainted by authorities’ misconduct.Read more

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Bitcoin plums new six-week lows as analyst eyes BTC price dip 'end' at $72KBitcoin saw its lowest levels since the middle of April as BTC price action continued ot diverge from thriving US stock markets.Bitcoin (BTC) deepened six-week lows at Friday’s Wall Street open as US stock markets diverged to all-time highs.Key points:
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Coinbase brings global crypto derivatives markets to US institutional clientsThe exchange's integration with Deribit gives eligible US institutional investors access to global crypto options and perpetual futures markets.Coinbase Financial Markets has begun offering US institutional clients access to global crypto options and perpetual futures markets through a regulated futures commission merchant, including connectivity to Deribit's crypto options platform.Coinbase said the launch follows guidance from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that allows a regulated futures commission merchant to connect US clients with global crypto derivatives liquidity. The company said Coinbase Financial Markets is the first CFTC-regulated futures commission merchant to offer such access.Deribit, which Coinbase acquired in August 2025 as part of its expansion into crypto derivatives, is the largest crypto options exchange by open interest. Read more

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