WEEKLY BRIEF May 10–May 17, 2026

Headlines
• Circle raises $222M for ARC token presale at a $3B valuation from BlackRock and Apollo
• Strategy acquires 535 BTC for $43M at an average price of $80,340
• Payward reportedly raises fresh funding at a $20 billion valuation
• U.S. CPI comes in at 3.8% YoY, exceeding market expectations of 3.7%
• Google in talks with SpaceX to launch data centers in orbit
• Coinbase acquires Hyperliquid’s USDH brand assets and stakes $20M in HYPE
• Ledger puts U.S. IPO plans on hold due to unfavorable market conditions
• OpenAI considers legal action against Apple and begins developing its own hardware
• SoftBank and Arm attempted to acquire Cerebras weeks before its planned IPO

Weekly ETF Flows
• BTC: -$995.5M net outflows
• ETH: -$255.2M net outflows
• SOL: +$58.2M net inflows

Exchange Listings
• Upbit: $VVV (KRW spot), $UP2 (KRW spot), $IRYS (KRW spot)
• Bybit: $CRWV (futures), $BABA (futures), $MRVL (futures), $ARM (futures), $BZ (futures), $BMNR (futures), $LLY (futures), $IWM (futures), $SPY (futures), $PHAROS (futures)
• Bithumb: $UP (spot)
• Binance: $PHAROS (futures), $STAR (futures), $AIGENSYN (spot), $GENSYN (spot)
• Hyperliquid: $PURRDAT (HIP-3), $SPCX (HIP-3)

Regulatory
• Clarity Bill advances through Senate Banking Committee with bipartisan vote
• CME and NYSE urge U.S. regulators to oversee Hyperliquid over manipulation concerns

Market Flows
• Anchorage and Grupo Salinas ink partnership for cross-border payments in Mexico
• Polymarket indicates Cerebras IPO will close at $256/share vs $150-$160 pricing
• Strategy buys back $1.38B of previously issued debt notes

$AIGENSYN listed on Bithumb spot

via @NewListingsFeed

$TRAC listed on Upbit spot (KRW)

via @NewListingsFeed

$AI listed on Bithumb spot

via @NewListingsFeed

$GWEI listed on Bybit futures — Trade now

via @NewListingsFeed

$CBRS listed on Binance futures

via @NewListingsFeed

STRATEGY BUYS 24,869 BITCOIN FOR AGGREGATE PURCHASE PRICE $2.01B: BBG

SOURCE

STRATEGY HAS ACQUIRED 24,869 BTC FOR ~$2.01 BILLION AT ~$80,985 PER BITCOIN

SOURCE

STRATEGY BUYS $2.01B IN BITCOIN OVER PAST WEEK, ALSO DID NOT SELL ANY BITCOIN, POLYMARKET ODDS THAT THEY SELL BITCOIN BY MAY 31ST AT 36%: FILING

SOURCE

STRATEGY HAS ACQUIRED 24,869 BTC FOR ~$2.01 BILLION AT ~$80,985 PER BITCOIN

SOURCE

IRAN STARTS BITCOIN-BACKED SHIPPING INSURANCE FOR HORMUZ STRAIT: BBG

SOURCE

PLAYGROUND GLOBAL RAISES $475 MILLION VC FUND: AXIOS

SOURCE

ETF Flows: 18 May 2026

🔴 Bitcoin ETFs: -$648.6M net outflows

🔴 Ethereum ETFs: -$86.4M net outflows

🟢 Solana ETFs: $2.1M net inflows

$VVV listed on Robinhood spot

via @NewListingsFeed

POLYMARKET PARTNERS WITH NASDAQ TO OFFER PREDICTION MARKETS ON PRIVATE COMPANIES - ALLOWING USERS TO TRADE BASED ON VALUATION, IPO TIMINGS, AND SECONDARY MARKET VALUATIONS: REUTERS

SOURCE

ANDREJ KARPATHY, COFOUNDER OF OPENAI, JOINS ANTHROPIC: X

SOURCE

$ALGO listed on Robinhood spot

via @NewListingsFeed

$META, $DRV added to Coinbase roadmap

via @NewListingsFeed

SPACEX PLANS TO GO THROUGH WITH DEAL TO BUY CURSOR FOR $60B, 30 DAYS AFTER IPO, WILL PAY $10B IN CASH IF DEAL FAILS: BBG

SOURCE

ETF Flows: 19 May 2026

🔴 Bitcoin ETFs: -$331.1M net outflows

🔴 Ethereum ETFs: -$62.3M net outflows

🟢 Solana ETFs: $3.8M net inflows

🟢 Hyperliquid ETFs: $11.0M net inflows