THE LATEST CRYPTO NEWS

Raydium (RAY), a decentralized exchange on the Solana (SOL) blockchain, said Wednesday that it had suffered a $1.34 million exploit tied to its retired automated market maker, or AMM, V3 program.  Raydium Pools Drained  The protocol said the attacker removed about 150,000 RAY, 5,600 SOL, and nearly 900,000 of Circle’s USDC stablecoin from Raydium pools involving RAY-SOL, USDC-RAY, and SRM-RAY. Raydium attributed the compromise to a weakness in how the older AMM V3 handled liquidity provider (LP) mints. The platform said the vulnerability “stemmed from insufficient validation of the LP mints, which in practice allowed the attacker to bypass intended proportion checks. Related Reading: Prediction Markets’ Wild West Days May Be Over: CFTC Drafts Its First Major Framework According to the description of the mechanism, because the legacy AMM V3 program did not properly verify the LP mint address, an attacker was able to create a new mint and use it as the LP token, letting it evade the checks that were supposed to control how assets could be accounted for in the Raydium pools. The exchange emphasized that the affected AMM V3 program was no longer available through Raydium’s interface, explaining that the legacy AMM V3 program was phased out in 2021 and was effectively unreachable via Raydium’s current user tools.  Funds Traced Across Two Blockchains Details on the alleged laundering trail were provided by PeckShield, which described how the attacker’s funds were initially funded via KuCoin and then bridged from Solana to Ethereum (ETH).  Related Reading: Treasury Stablecoin Proposal Draws Major Warning From Hyperliquid Policy Center–Here’s Why PeckShield said that 810 ETH had already been sent to Tornado Cash, and that 7 ETH had been moved to FixedFloat, framing both moves as part of an active effort to launder the Raydium funds.  In Raydium’s own breakdown of the exploit, the firm reiterated that its current programs were unaffected by the incident, and said it is in the middle of security review work on all mainnet programs by Raydium core contributors. Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com 

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has unveiled its first regulatory framework for prediction markets, releasing what it described as a proposed approach to governing the industry under American law.  The plan, issued by the agency on Wednesday, would establish standards for certain types of wagering while leaving markets tied to elections and politics largely outside the category of activities that would trigger more intensive scrutiny. Where The Line Is Drawn The new proposal sets out how the agency would start determining whether a contract should be prohibited. Under the draft, the CFTC said it preliminarily views both sporting wagers and wagers involving games of chance and pure luck as falling under “gaming.”  At the same time, it suggests that wagering on sports outcomes is likely not broadly contrary to the public interest, while staking money on gambling or games of pure luck likely would be.  The framework further argues that prediction markets based on sports scores, price spreads, win-loss outcomes, tournament advancement, and similar data may serve a “price discovery” function and provide meaningful information. Related Reading: XRP May Reach $10 By 2027—But Bearish Conditions Could Push It Below $1, Expert Says Where the proposal draws sharper boundaries is with specific categories of sports-related betting. The CFTC indicated that wagering on player injury, fighting, children’s sports, officiating, or wagering structured in a way that could encourage cheating was unlikely to meet the public interest standard.  The draft also addresses election-related contracts, noting that election wagers are “contests, not gaming,” and therefore fall outside the “enumerated activities” that would allow the CFTC to apply its 90-day review process to event contracts. The agency’s proposal also focuses heavily on how it would evaluate whether a contract crosses too far into areas like terrorism, war, or assassinations—topics that, the draft notes, domestically regulated exchanges have largely avoided offering.  45-Day Comment Period For Prediction Markets In its announcement, the CFTC acknowledged that the rules released Wednesday are “thin,” and said additional rulemaking about prediction markets could be introduced in the future. After Wednesday’s release, the proposed rule will undergo a 45-day public comment period. CFTC Chair Mike Selig emphasized the commission’s intent as it prepares for further steps in the rulemaking process. He said in a statement that the CFTC would protect the integrity of its regulated markets while still allowing “responsible innovation. Selig added that the new prediction markets proposal provides a durable and transparent framework for identifying the contracts Congress directed the agency to scrutinize, while also letting legitimate markets continue.  Related Reading: Treasury Stablecoin Proposal Draws Major Warning From Hyperliquid Policy Center–Here’s Why Beyond defining the types of wagering that may fall on different sides of the line, the proposal lays out a step-by-step process for prohibitions. The CFTC would first determine whether the contract is actually tied to an event happening.  It would then evaluate whether the event fits within the categories defined in the Commodity Exchange Act, and finally conduct a public interest analysis to decide whether the prediction markets’ contract should be banned or allowed. Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com 

The Hyperliquid Policy Center (HPC), together with venture capital firm Paradigm, submitted a joint comment to the US Treasury on Tuesday, urging the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to refine parts of its proposed stablecoin compliance rule tied to the GENIUS Act.  The rule is intended to implement anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions requirements for “permitted payment stablecoin issuers” (PPSIs), a category the proposal says should be able to innovate in payment stablecoins while operating under an “appropriately tailored” regime designed to manage illicit-finance risk. Narrower Compliance, Less Burden While they did not oppose the overall goal of the framework, Paradigm and the Hyperliquid Policy Center argued that key elements of the proposal need clearer boundaries—especially where compliance obligations may unintentionally spill over into areas that do not fit the GENIUS Act’s structure or Congress’s intent. A major focus of the comments is how permitted payment stablecoin issuers’ duties should work in the secondary market, where PPSIs do not have a direct relationship with the underlying counterparties.  In their view, the law makes clear Congress expected due diligence by PPSIs on their own customers, but did not intend a requirement for PPSIs to conduct additional diligence for trading that occurs in the secondary market. Related Reading: XRP May Reach $10 By 2027—But Bearish Conditions Could Push It Below $1, Expert Says The firms drew an analogy to traditional banking, saying that once regulated institutions run KYC when funds enter the system, they are not expected to monitor every spending event after cash is withdrawn.  In the same way, Paradigm and the Hyperliquid Policy Center argued that decentralized peer-to-peer transfers of stablecoins—and other digital assets—should generally involve KYC only at the regulated on-ramps and off-ramps, with compliance costs focused where the relationship exists.  They warned that a contrary approach could drive requirements for PPSIs to file large numbers of low-value suspicious activity reports (SARs), creating “noisy” reports with false positives that would impose costs on both PPSIs and FinCEN without clear public benefit.  Hyperliquid Policy Center Urges Clarification The comment also addresses the way the proposed rule defines and assigns obligations related to “lawful orders.” Paradigm and the Hyperliquid Policy Center said the proposal defines “lawful order” by incorporating the GENIUS Act definition of “person,” which in turn determines who may have to build technological capabilities. They argued that, as drafted, the proposed rule could be interpreted too broadly, potentially pulling in developers of distributed ledger protocols, decentralized self-custodial interfaces, and other technologies that Congress excluded from the GENIUS Act’s definition of a “digital asset service provider.”  The firms said this result would not align with Congress’s intent, and they recommended a clarification in the final rule to explicitly state that certain entities and technologies are not included within the scope of lawful order requirements. Related Reading: Dogecoin (DOGE) At $0.086–Two Scenarios Ahead, Including A New 32% Crash According to Paradigm and the Hyperliquid Policy Center, failing to make that clarification could unintentionally impose lawful order obligations on every validator on networks like Ethereum (ETH), Hyperliquid (HYPE), Solana (SOL), and Layer 2 systems that validate transactions involving PPSI-issued stablecoins.  They argued the predictable outcome would be that US validator stakes would move offshore, US blockbuilding operations would relocate, and the US share of the chain validator base would decline—outcomes they said would undermine both the GENIUS Act’s onshoring objectives and broader US interests. Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com 

Monday’s Bitcoin (BTC) rebound—pushing back above the $63,00 area—has revived a major question: was last Friday’s drop to $59,000 the bottom for BTC?  Seeking to answer that, market analyst Ali Martinez released a new technical note on X (formerly Twitter), arguing that Bitcoin appears poised to reach a market bottom while a “major macro accumulation cycle” begins to form. Why The Sell-off Could Signal A Bottom In Martinez’s view, BTC’s decline to its lowest level since 2024 served as an important cleansing function for the market—effectively shaking out “overleveraged premiums” across the board.  That type of flush, Martinez argues, is often what makes bottoms possible: it removes leverage stress and forces late and speculative positions to unwind. Related Reading: Bitcoin Recovery Needs This To Happen, Glassnode Analyst Reveals A central part of his explanation is the role of long-term holders. Martinez claims that long-term investors distributed more than $3.25 billion worth of spot Bitcoin during the downswing.  He says this distributed supply temporarily raised exchange reserves, which can translate into increased potential selling pressure as coins move closer to trading venues.  Supporting that point, Martinez also cites data indicating that over 54,000 BTC have moved onto trading platforms over the past two weeks, which he frames as a further contributor to the selling dynamic. Next Bitcoin Targets Even with Monday’s recovery, Martinez emphasizes what happened at the downside. He points out that following the move down to $59,000, more than 10.46 million BTC are currently held at a loss.  In his technical framework, that’s a key threshold to watch. Martinez notes that historically, when the “supply-in-loss” metric crosses the extreme 10 million BTC level, it has helped time macro bottoms with notable accuracy. From there, Martinez turns to the MVRV Pricing Bands, which he describes as offering “geometric targets” for where Bitcoin accumulation windows tend to mature.  Related Reading: Dogecoin Will ‘Pump Hard’ After This Happens, Analyst Clocks Generational Entry According to his post, the most reliable accumulation periods historically occur when Bitcoin settles within the 1.0 to 0.8 MVRV bands. Martinez says those bands align with two specific target areas: approximately $53,900 and $43,150.  In other words, if the bottom is indeed approaching or forming now, he suggests the market may gravitate toward those zones as the next stages in a broader consolidation-and-accumulation process. Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com 

Bitcoin (BTC) extended its decline on Friday, sliding to levels not seen since early February, leaving the broader market under renewed pressure and deepening bearish sentiment.  Since reaching its all-time high of $126,000 last October, Bitcoin is now down roughly 52%, reinforcing the sense that the sell-off is more than a short-term dip. Bitcoin Treasury Stocks Fall From $134B To $72B While traditional market weakness has been part of the story, whale activity has also played a major role in the most recent drop. One of the clearest signals that unnerved traders came from Strategy (MSTR).  Related Reading: XRP Price Falls To 4-Month Lows—Charts Signal Sell, On-Chain Data Turns Bearish As previously reported by NewsBTC, Strategy sold Bitcoin for the first time in nearly four years. The company offloaded 32 BTC for approximately $2.5 million—an amount that may look small compared with overall market volumes.  However, the real impact has been psychological. Watching the largest Bitcoin public holder and the face of the “never sell” narrative break that behavior sent a shockwave through crypto sentiment. The broader market’s reaction has been visible in equity-linked crypto holdings as well. Artemis data cited by Bloomberg shows that the combined market value of fully diluted Bitcoin treasury company stocks has fallen to about $72 billion, compared with nearly $134 billion at the most recent peak in early October. That means roughly $62 billion has been erased during the downturn.  Support Could Form Between $54,000 And $50,000 Hayden Hughes, managing partner at Tokenize Capital, said the current environment forces difficult choices for these digital-asset treasuries. In his view, once prices unwind, companies face a stark decision: either default on their debt obligations or sell assets.  Hughes added that this kind of forced selling damages the market’s earlier assumption that Bitcoin treasury holders would behave like permanent “buy and hold” participants. When that expectation breaks, sentiment can deteriorate quickly, making rebounds less likely under these conditions. Related Reading: Coinbase Reveals First Mortgage With Bitcoin Collateral Under Fannie Mae Coverage  Market analyst Ali Martinez recently posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Bitcoin is approaching a market bottom. Martinez identified the MVRV Pricing Bands as a useful framework for determining where support could emerge.  He stated that the next significant support level is between $54,000 and $50,000, which could serve as a floor for the cryptocurrency. However, this would require an additional 17% retracement from current trading levels of $60,444.  Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com 

Nearly four months after crypto exchange Coinbase and the Federal National Mortgage Association—better known as Fannie Mae—announced their partnership, the companies have now disclosed what they describe as the first-ever mortgage backed by crypto collateral.  No Need To Sell Crypto The concept was originally unveiled in March, when Better Home & Finance and Coinbase announced a joint mortgage product designed for prospective homebuyers who hold crypto but struggle with the cash requirements of traditional financing.  Instead of requiring customers to liquidate their digital holdings to raise down payment funds, the Coinbase program allows borrowers to pledge crypto—such as Bitcoin (BTC) or Circle’s USDC stablecoin held in a Coinbase account—so those holdings can secure a separate loan intended to cover the down payment.  Importantly, the actual home mortgage remains a conventional Fannie Mae–backed loan, meaning the structure is built around the existing conforming mortgage framework rather than replacing it with a new, fully crypto-based mortgage system. Related Reading: XRP Price Falls To 4-Month Lows—Charts Signal Sell, On-Chain Data Turns Bearish In Thursday’s update, Better Home & Finance and Coinbase said the first loan has already been closed. The borrowers are Joe and Amy, a married couple in their early 30s from Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Coinbase reported that both had meaningful savings in digital assets, but ran into a challenge that blocks many qualified buyers: they didn’t have enough cash available for a traditional down payment.  According to the companies, instead of selling their long-term Bitcoin position—an action that could trigger capital gains taxes and potentially force investors to exit exposure—they used the program to pledge their crypto as collateral. They then completed the purchase of their first home. Coinbase Sees New Path To Homeownership Joe, a software engineer, explained that homeownership has been the goal for some time, but he wasn’t willing to give up his long-term investment plan simply to qualify for a down payment.  He said the mortgage helped him avoid liquidating his Bitcoin, avoid having to time the market, and avoid having to reset his finances in a way that would delay his path to buying a home. Joe said:  We closed on our home, and my Bitcoin stayed intact. We didn’t have to liquidate, didn’t have to time the market, and didn’t have to start over financially to achieve our homeownership goals. That meant everything. Related Reading: Bitcoin Drops Below $66,000 Amid Mounting ETF Outflows, $4B Withdrawn In 12 Days Coinbase framed the milestone as part of a broader message about utility for crypto holders. Mark Troianovski, Head of Consumer & Platform Partnerships at Coinbase, said the company believes Bitcoin should do more than sit idle in a wallet.  He described the first token-backed conforming mortgage as a concrete example of that idea and pointed to the scale of digital-asset ownership in the US. Troianovski further stated: Funding the first token-backed conforming mortgage is one of the most tangible demonstrations of that vision that we have seen. Tens of millions of Americans have built real wealth in digital assets. That wealth now has a direct path to homeownership, creating new opportunities for the next generation of homebuyers. Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com

A heavy wave of US Treasury issuance, a $250 billion IPO pipeline, and a shift in big tech cash toward AI spending are among the pressures Jamie Coutts says could keep markets tight for a while longer. The Real Vision chief crypto analyst still thinks Bitcoin buyers in the $60,000s may be getting a rare long-term entry point, even if the market has not fully washed out yet. Related Reading: XRP Dips In The Short Run, But A Bigger Setup May Be Forming: Analyst The Pressure Building Coutts framed the recent drop as part of a broader reset, saying Bitcoin has already fallen about 50% from its highs and that the move fits past bear-market swings on a volatility-adjusted basis. He stopped short of calling the bottom, however, and said another leg lower is still possible before the market steadies. His view rests less on Bitcoin itself than on the state of global money flows. He pointed to a crowded IPO market pulling in capital, large technology firms reducing buybacks as they pour cash into AI infrastructure, and rising Treasury supply that could push yields higher. That mix, in his telling, is enough to leave risk assets under pressure in the near term. Still, he argued that the strain cannot last forever because higher borrowing costs and weaker tax receipts make it harder for the US government to keep yields in check. Why The $60Ks Matter For Coutts, the price zone matters because it may offer long-term buyers a level that looks cheap in hindsight. He described anything in the $60,000 range as an attractive place to accumulate Bitcoin on a multi-year view, even if the market is not yet done falling. That call was not presented as a fast trade or a clean timing signal. It was closer to a patient case for buying into weakness while the larger liquidity picture is still working through its next phase. The analyst also tied the outlook to the way governments and central banks react when markets come under stress. He said that if stocks fall hard and tax revenue weakens, deficits widen further and financial conditions get harder to manage. Related Reading: Bleeding Bitcoin Holders Signal Stress — $60K Becomes Critical Battleground Why The Fed Still Matters From there, Coutts drew a straight line to the Federal Reserve. He said the most realistic escape from that pressure would be new liquidity from the central bank, which has often helped support Bitcoin and other risk assets during past downturns. That leaves Bitcoin in a familiar place: weak enough to make traders cautious, but close enough to a possible support zone to draw in buyers who think in years, not weeks. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

The market’s leading crypto, Bitcoin (BTC), is coming under fresh pressure as multiple warning signs converge—from heavy selling in the exchange-traded fund (ETF) complex to renewed doubt around Strategy’s long-held “never sell” narrative.  The result has been a weak session: on Wednesday, the cryptocurrency slipped below the key $66,000 level, extending a selloff that has already erased about $160 billion in overall market value this week, according to Bloomberg. $2.5M Bitcoin Sale Spooks Market Earlier in the week, Michael Saylor’s Strategy sold roughly $2.5 million worth of Bitcoin from a large holding currently valued at around $56 billion. Strategy reportedly reduced its hoard by only 32 tokens out of 843,706 coins.  Even so, analysts say the size of the sale matters less than the message it sends—especially at a time when Bitcoin has been underperforming over the past few weeks. Related Reading: Mastercard Unveils Stablecoin Settlement Support Spanning 8 Blockchains, Including The XRP Ledger Rajiv Sawhney, head of international portfolio management at Wave Digital Assets, argued that the financial impact is negligible compared with Strategy’s overall position. He described the sale as “financially trivial,” calling it essentially “a rounding error” relative to a stake worth around $62 billion.  However, Sawhney emphasized that what matters is market psychology: the idea that the company has long maintained a “never sell” posture had been part of the market’s expectations.  Bitcoin’s weakness is also taking shape against a very different backdrop in traditional markets. US equities have been moving higher, and tech stocks in particular are making new highs.  Capital Rotates To AI Stocks Artificial intelligence (AI) remains the dominant theme drawing capital, and the numbers show the difference clearly. Over the past 12 months, the Nasdaq 100 has been up 42%, while Bitcoin has been down 37% and currently sits 48% below its peak. Carney Mak, a partner at FXHB Asset Management, said part of the rotation has involved moving capital from Bitcoin and digital assets into AI stocks. In his view, AI offers a more favorable risk-reward setup compared with digital assets, which has encouraged some investors to rebalance their portfolios. Related Reading: Bitcoin Crash Explained: Binance Research Blames Outflows Toward US Equities Macro and liquidity conditions are also becoming harder to ignore. Mak noted that crypto currently lacks a strong near-term catalyst, and market performance has increasingly become range-bound. In that environment, he said, results are more dependent on overall liquidity and broader economic factors.  The Bitcoin ETF market is adding another layer of pressure. Bloomberg data indicates investors have pulled nearly $4 billion from US-listed Bitcoin exchange-traded funds over the past 12 sessions—marking a record streak of consecutive outflows.  At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at around $65,721, having recorded a loss of almost 2% on Wednesday, adding to the 12% retracement recorded over the previous seven days, according to CoinGecko data.  Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com 

Mastercard said Wednesday it plans to open its global card-settlement network to regulated stablecoins, a move designed to let card issuers and acquirers clear card transactions directly on-chain.  The company says the service will operate across eight different blockchains, extending on what it describes as “real-world utility” for digital assets. Alongside the expanded on-chain settlement approach, Mastercard also plans to introduce intraday, weekend, and holiday settlement cycles. Mastercard Moves Toward On-Chain Settlement In its announcement, Mastercard said the stablecoins include Tether’s rival, Circle, and its USDC stablecoin, which Mastercard noted is already supporting early on-chain settlement activity in select markets.  Mastercard also listed stablecoins issued by Paxos, including PYUSD, USDG, and USDP. In addition, the company cited Ripple’s RLUSD and SoFi’s SoFiUSD as part of the initial stablecoin lineup for the network. Related Reading: Bitcoin Crash Explained: Binance Research Blames Outflows Toward US Equities The stablecoins will be enabled across a broad set of supported blockchain networks, including Arbitrum (ARB), Base, Canton, Ethereum (ETH), Polygon (POL), Solana (SOL), Tempo, and the XRP Ledger (XRPL).  Mastercard did not describe any changes to the type of partners who can benefit from the network, but it said the plan will allow customers to use both traditional payment settlement and digital-asset-based settlement through the same infrastructure they use today.  More Networks And Assets Planned Through 2026 Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president of Blockchain & Digital Assets at Mastercard, said the company views the next stage of stablecoin adoption as being about practical use in areas where timing and liquidity matter.  The executive pointed specifically to settlement as a key factor, and he described intraday and weekend options as a way for partners to better manage liquidity in an always-on digital economy.  Related Reading: Crypto In 401(k)s: Senators Sanders, Warren Letter Warns $14 Trillion At Risk From DOL Proposal Mastercard added that the expanded capabilities will roll out globally “subject to regulation.” The company said the initial deployment will be limited to “parts of the United States and Latin America.”  The payment giant indicated that additional regions, partners, and regulated stablecoins will be added through 2026, as its stablecoin settlement offering expands beyond the initial rollout areas. Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com 

The broader crypto market has endured one of its toughest weeks of the year, with $1.5 billion in liquidations recorded since Monday alone. The pressure intensified as Bitcoin (BTC) slipped back below the $67,000 level for the first time since April, a move that heightened selling fears and weighed on overall market sentiment.  Despite the heavy liquidation numbers, Binance Research argued that the main driver of the recent pullback may have been less about things unique to crypto and more about capital moving into traditional markets.  BTC Hit by A ‘Capital Black Hole’? In a report posted on X (formerly Twitter), Binance Research pointed to a sign of unusual strain in equity markets: the CBOE Dispersion Index (DSPX) hit 42, described as the 3rd highest reading ever.  The implication is that investors were heavily concentrating their money into a small set of S&P 500 “hot themes,” leaving less liquidity available for other assets—Bitcoin included. Related Reading: Bitcoin Price Falls To $67,000 And Breaks The Map For Bulls—Here’s What Happens Next The firm described a feedback loop that it says has repeated in the past. When equity returns run far ahead of everything else, money tends to cluster, capital concentrates, and liquidity can effectively drain away from BTC. In the report’s phrasing, this can create a “capital black hole,” pulling funds out until the concentration eases.  To show why this matters, Binance Research pointed to historical periods where sharp rotations into equities were followed by painful declines for Bitcoin.  It cited several examples: in 2015, capital rotated toward FAANG + biotech, with BTC down around 20%; in 2016, a defensive rotation coincided with BTC falling about 18%; in 2018, a late-cycle FAANG push alongside an initial coin offering (ICO) collapse lined up with BTC dropping roughly 68%.  Bitcoin Usually Recovers In Weeks The pattern also showed up during 2022, when energy stocks attracted money, and BTC fell about 50%. The research cited a more recent stress point as well: in last year’s fourth quarter, investors rotated toward artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors, with those themes reportedly gaining 200%, while BTC slid around 39%.  For this year’s second quarter, Binance Research referenced a “triple rotation” into AI, defense, and energy, noting energy strength and theme momentum, while BTC is down about 11% and ongoing. Even so, the exchange’s research arm included a more reassuring historical note. According to Binance Research, in past episodes where the DSPX peaked, Bitcoin eventually recovered.  Related Reading: Crypto In 401(k)s: Senators Sanders, Warren Letter Warns $14 Trillion At Risk From DOL Proposal In cases described as “pure concentration” with “no crypto-native crisis,” Binance Research said BTC typically bottomed in 0–20 weeks, with a median of about 2 weeks.  It also suggested that capital diversion tends to be temporary, adding that—based on the firm’s view—there is currently no crypto-native crisis, so markets could see a faster rebound once liquidity returns. Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com 

Democrats in Congress are pressing back against a US Department of Labor (DOL) proposal that could significantly expand how Americans can use 401(k) retirement accounts—particularly by allowing allocations to crypto assets.  In a letter shared with The Guardian, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and House education and workforce committee ranking member Bobby Scott of Virginia said the proposal would place an estimated $14.2 trillion in 401(k) savings at risk. They also warned that the change likely would not survive a court challenge. The Fight Over Crypto Access In Retirement Plans According to the letter, the proposal would “strip long-held investor protections from retirement savers” and encourage “more risky, complex, and expensive investments.”  The lawmakers called it harmful to American workers, pointing to the way these alternative assets can behave during market stress. They argue that extreme price swings are not a hypothetical risk but a known feature of the crypto market and other private-market products. Related Reading: Bitcoin Price Falls To $67,000 And Breaks The Map For Bulls—Here’s What Happens Next Beyond price volatility, the lawmakers warned that the change could mean higher costs. They said the rule could expose workers to higher fees and erode long-term returns. Those concerns have also been echoed by regulators and watchdog groups. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) has cautioned that crypto investments “have experienced higher levels of volatility relative to more traditional investment assets” and that “the risk of losing all of your investment is significant.”  In addition, the FBI reported that cryptocurrency fraud complaints are among the highest-loss categories in cyber-enabled fraud. The bureau said Americans reported more than $11 billion in losses in 2025, underscoring what Democrats describe as another layer of danger beyond market swings. Critics See Conflict Of Interest Democrats also raised questions about political and financial connections. They pointed to alleged links between the crypto industry and President Donald Trump, arguing the proposal could present a conflict of interest.  The Trump administration, however, has defended the approach as a way to expand investment choices. In a statement, the labor secretary’s acting counterpart, Keith Sonderling, said:  The department’s days of picking winners and losers are over. Our rule clearly spells out that managers must evaluate any and all potential product offerings by following a prudent process.  Related Reading: Binance Unveils Trading Access To Over 7,000 US Stocks, ETFs—And Adds A New Tokenization Plan Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent similarly argued the move advances the administration’s broader goals, adding that the Treasury Department is “proud of this rule-making effort,” describing it as another step toward President Trump’s “Golden Age.” Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com 

Bitcoin fell below $69,000 to a two-month low as ETF outflows hit $3.45 billion over 11 days, along with $742 million in liquidations.

Binance is making another push to blur the line between digital assets and traditional markets. In an announcement made Monday, the company said its users will soon be able to trade more than 7,000 US stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).  It also detailed a plan to let customers convert the stocks they hold into tokenized, crypto-style digital assets, as part of what Binance describes as a wider effort to evolve into a “multi-asset financial super app.” Binance Targets ‘Friction-Free’ Stock Trading Speaking to Fortune, Binance co-CEO Richard Teng highlighted why the move is aimed particularly at customers outside the United States. The executive said US stocks already account for well over half of the global equity market, but for many overseas investors, buying them can entail high costs and friction.  Binance’s solution, according to Teng, is to offer zero-commission stock trading for non-US users, along with fractional share purchases starting at $5, lowering both the price barrier and the complexity of participation. Related Reading: Pundit Shares Why Most People Will Miss The XRP Run Operationally, Binance said the new stock trading service will be set up with support from a broker-dealer called Nest Trading. For custody and settlement functions, a New York-based firm, Alpaca, is expected to handle custody and facilitate dividend payments and corporate actions.  Customers will be able to fund stock purchases using stablecoins such as Circle’s USDC stablecoin or Tether’s USDT, as well as a selection of other digital currencies, including Binance’s BNB. Binance also introduced a more ambitious concept alongside the trading program: “bStocks.” The company’s position is that bStocks will let users tokenize equities they purchase.  Hyperliquid Might Feel The Heat In Teng’s explanation, this would work by creating a synthetic, digital token representation of certain stocks—achieved by converting the equities into tokens on Binance’s BNB blockchain. The company says this functionality is expected to become available in the coming weeks. While other major platforms have experimented with similar models over the past year, Binance claims its approach could stand out in one important way.  Competitors such as Kraken and Robinhood have launched offerings in this space, but Binance says its bStocks plan is potentially different because it would allow customers to begin the tokenization process themselves rather than relying solely on the platform’s pre-set conversion paths. Related Reading: Bitcoin Trend That Has Held For 15 Years Shows When To Expect The Bottom And When $400,000 Will Happen The exchange’s announcement has also triggered reactions. On X (formerly Twitter), analyst Zero Kyle argued that the development could be negative for decentralized exchange (DEX) Hyperliquid (HYPE).  Kyle’s view was that while the expanded availability may not necessarily be “24/7 like” Hyperliquid’s trading venues in the way some trading systems are structured, Binance is likely to intensify competition and could create a head-to-head fight for market share.  The analyst added that the news may not be “bad for HYPE the token” specifically, but it could be “bad for Hyperliquid the exchange” due to increased competition. Meanwhile, the exchange’s native token, BNB, was trading at $692 at the time of writing. This mirrors the broader crypto market’s retracement on Monday, with a 2.3% drop recorded so far.  Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com 

The Dogecoin (DOGE) price has continued to trend downwards, fueled by general weakness in the meme coin market and a lack of sustainable bullish catalysts. Due to its poor performance, market sentiment has been in the dumps for months. However, a crypto analyst has noted that this period of prolonged consolidation and negativity occurs before every major expansion phase. He points to a chart, noting that Dogecoin’s price structure still looks dangerous, as he expects the meme coin to stage a potential rally that could catch many investors off guard.  Related Reading: Bitcoin Could Enter Freefall If This Level Cracks: Analyst Dogecoin Chart Mirrors Past Expansion Cycles  Market analyst Cryptollica is warning investors and traders not to sleep on Dogecoin after identifying a recurring cycle pattern that has preceded every major DOGE bull rally since 2021.  In an X post on May 27, the crypto expert said that Dogecoin’s current market structure is too dangerous to ignore. He explained that the reason is not because Dogecoin is a meme coin, but due to its habit of respecting and following the same cycle structure before delivering a massive price surge when the market least expects it.  The analyst pointed to his accompanying chart, noting that every price expansion since 2021 began after the market abandoned Dogecoin and stopped taking interest in it. Cryptollica noted that while “the crowd laughed,” DOGE was rebuilding its underlying structure quietly before exploding higher. Looking at the chart, Cryptollica shows Dogecoin trading near the lower boundary of a multi-year descending channel, a level that has historically acted as a launchpad for significant price expansions. The analysis reveals that every meaningful low within that structure was accompanied by the same market conditions currently present today. This includes public disinterest, negative sentiment, and the meme coin’s price sitting at or near the channel’s lower boundary.    After bottoming around $0.04 in mid-2022 and again at $0.05 in early 2023, Dogecoin staged back-to-back recoveries that brought its price to $0.22 and eventually $0.49 by mid-2024. Each of these explosive price rallies began after the asset was widely dismissed. Fast forward to today, Cryptollica has stated that Dogecoin is showing similar vertical-rally signals, with multiple bullish metrics aligning while market sentiment remains dead.  Chart Metrics Reinforce DOGE’s Underlying Bullishness In his X post, Cryptollica noted that Dogecoin’s Crypto Cycle Score, highlighted at the bottom of the chart, is reading 19.9. This suggests that the meme coin may be in a rebuilding phase even with no hype or bullish confirmation in sight. Related Reading: Unknown Wallet Destroys $8.5 Million In Bitcoin In Shocking Burn The chart shows that Dogecoin’s Mayer Multiple is sitting at 0.64, placing it well below its long-term moving average. The meme coin also has an attention score of 10.1, further confirming that public interest is dead. Meanwhile, the Bollinger Band Width is reading 138 and signaling compressed volatility and weak price action.  Cryptollica argues that all of these metrics combined with negative market psychology suggest that Dogecoin could be gearing up for an explosive price rally. He noted that this surge will likely fool many people, just as it did in past trends.   Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Robinhood (HOOD) and Coinbase (COIN) ended the week’s final session in the green, with Robinhood’s stock leading the move as US regulators took steps that could expand the local market for crypto derivatives. Shares of Robinhood rose sharply, jumping about 11% on the day to close around $94 per share, which also marked the highest level the stock has reached since February.  Coinbase (COIN) was not far behind, gaining close to 7% as the exchange’s shares finished the session near $189. That level sits in the middle of the stock’s broader consolidation range of roughly $160 to $215, a band it has been trading within since late March. CFTC Sparks HOOD And COIN Rally The rally for both companies was widely attributed to action from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Earlier on Friday, the agency announced it would allow US firms to offer perpetual (perps) futures trading, a potential catalyst for new product launches and expanded trading activity within the United States. In addition to that policy shift, the CFTC also moved that same day to issue a no-action letter to Coinbase. Under the regulator’s guidance, the letter permits Coinbase’s US customers to access the options and perpetuals the company already offers.  Related Reading: JPMorgan CEO Goes Nuclear On CLARITY Act, Calling Coinbase’s Armstrong ‘Full Of S-t’ The impact of the regulator’s steps was not limited to Coinbase. Other US-based firms have signaled they are exploring perpetuals, including trading platform Gemini and Robinhood, which already offers the product in Europe.  Mizuho analyst Dan Dolev summarized the opportunity by saying the main message from the day was that it represented a “massive market opportunity.” He added that there is potential for Coinbase and other firms to win a share of trading activity that, so far, has mostly been happening on offshore venues. Robinhood Price Targets Rise Mizuho also lifted its price target for Robinhood from $110 to $115. Separately, Citizens reiterated its “market outperform” rating and maintained a $155 price target.  One item cited in the positive sentiment was Robinhood’s plan to give users the ability to connect artificial intelligence (AI) agents to their accounts for trading, as well as for credit card purchases. Related Reading: Can Ripple’s Fed Master Account Approval Trigger A New XRP Bull Run? AI Model Says $80 Is Possible Robinhood also said customers will soon be able to direct AI agents to trade equities in a separate account, with limits set by the user. Support for options, event contracts, futures, and additional products is expected to arrive later, according to the company. Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com

As lawmakers advance the crypto bill closer to completion, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon attacked Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and criticized the CLARITY Act on Friday. Dimon Predicts Clash Over CLARITY Act Speaking at the Reagan National Economic Forum, Dimon said banks “will not accept” the CLARITY Act in its current form. He also suggested that efforts by crypto proponents are unlikely to produce a broad consensus with traditional financial institutions.  “It will be fought. No one’s gonna bow down to this guy, or that company,” Dimon said, referring to the act and Armstrong. Dimon continued: “He’s the only one, and he’s spending hundreds of millions of dollars in Washington on this thing… He’s full of shit.” Related Reading: Treasury Secretary Urges CLARITY Act Passage, Saying The US Should Be Home For Crypto As reported by NewsBTC on Thursday, the bill advanced in the Senate earlier this month. The Senate Banking Committee approved its portion, building on earlier progress from January, when the Agriculture Committee successfully voted on its version of the legislation. After a full Senate vote, lawmakers would need to complete the reconciliation steps required to finalize the measure and then secure agreement between the House and the Senate. Only after those steps would the final text move to the president for consideration. Yield And Compliance Provisions Concerns Dimon argued that the bill contains fundamental problems. He said the legislation would allow banks to earn interest on deposits, stablecoins, or related instruments “without the protection they should have,” and he also contended that it fails to address anti-money laundering (AML) and Bank Secrecy Act requirements sufficiently.  “It allows them to effectively pay interest on deposits, stablecoins, or something like that, without the protection they should have. And it does not do anything for AML/BSA,” Dimon said. Related Reading: Ethereum (ETH) Drops Below $2,000—Why Standard Chartered Still Expects $40,000 By 2030 The executive further emphasized that the pushback would not be limited to a single type of institution or one segment of the industry. He said banks of different sizes would oppose the CLARITY Act as currently written, arguing that unity spans both large and smaller players.  “The banks will not accept it that way,” Dimon said. “The ABA [American Bankers Association], the small banks, the credit unions. It’s not just the big guys.” Featured image from CNBC; chart from TradingView.com

On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged Congress to pass the CLARITY Act, a bill that would provide the crypto industry with a regulatory framework and the long-awaited clarity it needs regarding the classification of digital assets.  Bessent Presses Lawmakers To Pass The CLARITY Act  In remarks at the White House, Bessent emphasized that the goal of the CLARITY Act should be to bring digital assets into the US rather than letting activity remain largely offshore. He said:  The most important thing we can do is to make digital assets come into the United States. Make the US the home. I would encourage the House and the Senate to get Clarity done. Related Reading: Ethereum (ETH) Drops Below $2,000—Why Standard Chartered Still Expects $40,000 By 2030 Bessent’s comments also targeted what he called the “wild, wild west” environment for digital assets outside the US. He argued that much of the confusion and controversy surrounding crypto stems from a lack of clear rules when the activity is happening offshore.  “When you look at digital assets, all the nonsense that happens, all the things you read about, that’s because it’s the wild, wild west offshore. So we got to bring it onshore,” he said, before urging lawmakers again to “get CLARITY Act done.” CBDCs Off The Table The push comes after the CLARITY Act moved forward in the Senate earlier this month. The Senate Banking Committee approved its portion of the legislation, building on progress from January, when the Agriculture Committee successfully voted on its version.  With those committee steps completed, the CLARITY Act must clear a full Senate vote, complete the legislative reconciliation steps required to finalize the bill, and secure a final agreement between the House and the Senate before the measure can move to the President’s desk. Related Reading: Hyperliquid (HYPE) In The Spotlight: Grayscale’s Latest Report Says What Comes Next Bessent also addressed the administration’s broader crypto policy direction, including central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). He said the US would not adopt a Central Bank Digital Currency, stating, “There will be no Central Bank Digital Currency. That would be the first step toward tracking. We took that off the table.”  Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com 

Ethereum (ETH) has followed Bitcoin (BTC) and much of the wider crypto market lower over the past 48 hours, dropping below the key $2,000 support level and reigniting concerns among some investors that a longer bear phase could be underway.  Even with the recent slide, Standard Chartered’s Digital Assets Research Head, Geoff Kendrick, says the bank is not backing away from its bullish long-term outlook for Ethereum. Ethereum Price Will Catch Up In a note to investors on Thursday, Kendrick reaffirmed Standard Chartered’s core projection for Ethereum’s performance over the next four years, including its end-2030 target of $40,000 for ETH.  He linked the current weakness to something investors may eventually look back on as a confusing, even misleading, signal. Rather than treating the price drop as proof that the network is weakening, Kendrick argued that Ethereum’s usage metrics are continuing to improve even as the token’s market value loses ground. Related Reading: Hyperliquid (HYPE) In The Spotlight: Grayscale’s Latest Report Says What Comes Next To illustrate the gap between price action and underlying progress, Kendrick drew a comparison to Amazon during the 2001 dot-com bust. His argument echoes a line often attributed to Jeff Bezos: that while a company’s stock can go the wrong way, “everything inside the company” can still be moving in the right direction.  Kendrick specifically said that Ethereum will “catch up” to those improving internal metrics and suggested that investors are effectively watching a delay between operational strength and market pricing.  ETH Upside Signals Standard Chartered’s view leans heavily on measurable indicators that Kendrick says support Ethereum’s position in key parts of the crypto economy.  One of the bank’s central points is Ethereum’s role in stablecoins. Kendrick noted that 54% of all stablecoins are currently issued on the network. He also said stablecoins make up around one-third of all Ethereum transactions in 2026 year-to-date.  Based on that momentum, Standard Chartered projects the stablecoin market cap could increase sixfold from current levels by the end of 2028. Related Reading: Perfect Crypto Week In Texas: 6 Candidates Backed, 0 Misses—What To Track Next A second major pillar of the bullish case is Ethereum’s position in tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). Kendrick said Ethereum hosts around 62% of RWAs and about 68% of active on-chain loans.  He projected that the non-stablecoin RWA sector could grow about 50 times to reach $2 trillion by the end of 2028. For Standard Chartered, tokenized RWAs are likely to expand in a way that brings Ethereum a significant share of the activity.  Kendrick’s projections suggest Ethereum could still capture roughly half to two-thirds of both tokenized assets and the related category of growth, with Ethereum hosting an estimated 50% to 65% of those segments. Kendrick’s analysis keeps the forecast unchanged: ETH at $4,000 by the end of 2026 and then $40,000 by the end of 2030. In the same reaffirmation, Standard Chartered lays out an extended path through the intervening years, projecting $10,000 by end-2027, $18,000 by end-2028, and ultimately $40,000 by end-2030. At the time of writing, ETH was trading at $1,991, having retraced by 5% in the weekly timeframe. This means that the altcoin is now trading 59% below its all-time high of $4,964, reached last year.  Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com

Political efforts tied to the crypto industry scored another set of wins in Texas, strengthening the case that the sector’s influence in US politics remains strong under a more pro-digital asset administration.  According to reporting from Eleanor Terret of Crypto In America, the crypto industry went 6-for-6 backing winning candidates in the Texas primary runoffs held Tuesday night. Anti-Crypto Hits At The Ballot Box One of the biggest results came from the Democratic primary runoff in Texas’s 18th Congressional District. In that race, Terret reported that Rep. Christian Menefee defeated 20-year incumbent Rep. Al Green.  Fairshake, the industry’s leading super political action committee (PAC), took credit for the win after spending roughly $6.5 million on the race, largely through advertisements supporting Menefee.  Related Reading: Will XRP Price Ever Reach $200? Top Expert Discloses What Must Happen First A Fairshake spokesman, Geoff Vetter, argued that Green’s loss showed how anti-crypto positions can have real electoral consequences, noting that Green was the first Democratic incumbent this cycle to lose his seat. Vetter also said Fairshake would continue to “aggressively back” leaders such as Menefee. Elsewhere in Texas, several other races also went in the direction favored by crypto-aligned groups. Candidates Alex Mealer, Tom Sell, John Bonck, and Carlos De La Cruz all won their respective runoffs. In total, Fairshake reportedly spent roughly $1.8 million backing those candidates.  Crypto-related efforts were also part of some Republican outcomes. Attorney General Ken Paxton’s upset victory over Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican Senate primary runoff reportedly drew support from crypto-aligned money as well.  California Top-Two Primary Beckons With Texas now behind them, Terrett reported that crypto political groups are already looking ahead to the next targets. The next state on Fairshake’s radar appears to be Maryland.  There, state lawmaker Adrian Boafo is running in the June Democratic primary for the state’s 5th Congressional District, and Fairshake has already spent about $2.12 million supporting him.  Related Reading: Ethereum (ETH) Next Rally Could Start With These Two Triggers, Top Analyst Says Beyond that, the industry is also expected to focus on California’s top-two primary in the state’s 32nd Congressional District next week. In that race, long-time crypto critic Rep. Brad Sherman faces Jake Levine, a former Biden White House official, as both compete to advance to November’s general election. Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com

Short Bitcoin products attracted $10 million in fresh money last week — a sign that some traders were actively betting against the world’s largest cryptocurrency as broader selling took hold across global crypto funds. Related Reading: Bitcoin Bull Thesis Goes Big: 39 Trillion Reasons To Buy, Says Gemini Founder Selling Spreads Across Borders The United States led the retreat, with $1.43 billion pulled from crypto exchange-traded products, including $1.26 billion from US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs. Switzerland and Canada followed with outflows of $16 million and $12.5 million, while Hong Kong and Germany shed $12 million and $4.4 million, respectively. The Netherlands stood out as the only market to post notable gains, drawing $6.6 million in fresh capital, with Australia adding a modest $700,000. Total withdrawals for the week reached $1.47 billion, according to CoinShares — extending the prior week’s $1.07 billion in outflows. Assets under management across all crypto ETPs closed the week at roughly $148 billion, with Bitcoin funds accounting for 80% of that figure at $120 billion. Bitcoin Takes The Brunt Bitcoin products bore the heaviest losses, recording about $1.3 billion in outflows — their worst weekly showing of 2026. Ether funds lost $223 million over the same period. CoinShares head of research James Butterfill pointed to Iran-related tensions as the main force driving risk-averse behavior among investors, even as US crypto legislation continued to advance on Capitol Hill. Not every asset lost ground. Nine cryptocurrencies posted inflows above $1 million. XRP led the pack with $31.8 million in fresh investment, while Solana pulled in $7.7 million. Smaller but still positive flows were recorded for Sui and Chainlink, at $600,000 and $400,000. Hyperliquid Bucks The Trend Data from SoSoValue showed Hyperliquid ETFs drew a little over $72 million in inflows — one of the more striking figures from a week otherwise defined by exits. The numbers suggest that while institutional money was stepping back from Bitcoin and Ether, appetite for newer and smaller assets remained intact in pockets of the market. Related Reading: When Bitcoin Gets Ignored, It Tends To Rally The Hardest, Analyst Says The week marked a shift from the previous period, when European markets had shown relative steadiness against outflows concentrated elsewhere. This time, the selling was more broadly distributed, touching most major markets simultaneously. Reports from CoinShares indicate the pattern reflected a wider mood shift among investors rather than pressure specific to any single region or product. Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView

The idea of XRP reaching $200 may sound bold, but for many analysts it’s also tied to one uncomfortable reality: the token would need more than a strong chart—it would require the market to expand to a level crypto has never reached. Market expert Sam Daodu argued in his latest report that the gap between where XRP trades today and the $200 milestone is larger than most people think, and that all major conditions in his framework must arrive together, not in stages. Why XRP Needs A Bigger Crypto Market XRP is currently about 63% below its all-time high of $3.65 reached last year, while trading at $1.34 at the time of writing, yet the debate around $200 remains unresolved.  Daodu points to the supply side as the first hurdle. XRP has over 61.8 billion tokens in circulation, and to take a $200 target seriously, that supply has to be multiplied out. At $200 per token, the total value of XRP would be roughly $12.4 trillion. That figure is about five times the total value of the crypto market as it stands today. Related Reading: XRP, ETH, SOL, LINK Look Cheap—The Catalysts That Could Drive The Next Leg Up That comparison is at the center of Daodu’s argument. He believes a $12.4 trillion market cap for XRP cannot exist inside a $2.6 trillion crypto market, which makes his first condition essentially unavoidable: a market-wide expansion would have to happen, one that exceeds anything the industry has produced before.  And even once the broader market grows, Daodu says Bitcoin (BTC) can’t just participate—it has to lead. He notes that every major XRP rally in history followed BTC rather than coming ahead of it, meaning capital would likely need to rotate into XRP only after Bitcoin has already demonstrated sustained strength. Daodu also argues that institutional involvement is a crucial part of the scale implied by $200. For XRP to attract inflows large enough to support that kind of valuation, Bitcoin would need to be in a durable breakout, with institutions already allocated. But even if Bitcoin leads and the broader market expands, XRP still has its own milestones to clear before $200 becomes a realistic conversation.  More Than A Price Target XRP’s past helps explain why the path isn’t likely to be quick. The token spent about 18 months consolidating between 2015 and 2017 before it moved into its first major cycle. Later, after years of grinding under the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit, the altcoin rallied from $0.50 to its July 2025 peak.  Across those eras, Daodu emphasizes that big XRP moves were supported by a long base, a favorable regulatory environment, and a Bitcoin-led market running in the same direction. In his assessment, those ingredients have historically been difficult to line up quickly. Related Reading: Ethereum Price Roadmap For The Rest Of 2026: Bull, Base, And Bear Scenarios Unpacked The current cycle, he says, follows the same logic. XRP is down 63% from the current price peak and remains trapped in the $1.30 to $1.50 range for much of 2026.  It is still waiting on the regulatory catalyst of the CLARITY Act, and Daodu suggests it is still more dependent on retail than on institutional flows from exchange-traded fund (ETF) activity. Because of this, he puts the earliest window for all of these factors to align around 2030. Even with all of those constraints, Daodu doesn’t call $200 impossible. Instead, he argues the market is building something that extends beyond price, including payment rails, institutional partnerships, and a regulatory framework.  Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com

The odds of the CLARITY Act becoming law this year are fading, according to TD Cowen, even after the bill cleared key legislative hurdles in the Senate.  While the measure successfully passed through the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Senate Banking Committee, a full Senate vote—and the final approval needed to send the bill to the finish line—now looks increasingly unlikely before year’s end. CLARITY Act Momentum Hits New Wall TD Cowen managing director Jaret Seiberg, writing in a Tuesday note from the firm’s Washington Research Group, said his team remains pessimistic that the CLARITY Act will be enacted this year.  In his view, the main challenge is political: whether Democrats can support the bill if it includes provisions aimed at addressing presidential conflicts of interest.  Related Reading: Ethereum Price Roadmap For The Rest Of 2026: Bull, Base, And Bear Scenarios Unpacked At the same time, Seiberg warned that Republicans could become more reluctant to advance the legislation if doing so requires them to vote against amendments intended to target or respond to Trump-related concerns. Seiberg said the progress in the Senate Banking Committee earlier this month does not necessarily signal a broad agreement across parties. Although the committee advanced the bill despite objections from Democrats and banks, he described that outcome as shifting the fight to the full Senate rather than resolving the underlying disputes.  Seiberg also pointed to several Trump-related developments he says are making the political environment tougher for the CLARITY Act. One driver, he noted, is a legal case involving the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that has already been resolved.  Washington Tensions Rise The dispute resulted in the creation of a $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund and permanently bars the IRS from auditing past tax returns for Trump, his family, and related companies.  Seiberg’s takeaway is that the fallout from that dispute is likely to further raise the temperature in Washington, making it harder to find consensus on legislation like the already delayed CLARITY Act. Seiberg also cited a recent New York Times investigative report alleging that prediction markets and crypto-related interests may have influenced efforts aimed at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).  He stressed that, as of his note, the claims have not been confirmed. Still, he pointed to a response from CFTC Chair Michael Selig, who told the New York Times that the agency is focused on major wrongdoing and is not “playing favorites.”  Related Reading: XRP, ETH, SOL, LINK Look Cheap—The Catalysts That Could Drive The Next Leg Up Another factor cited in the TD Cowen note involves government financial disclosures released earlier this month. Those reports indicated that roughly 3,600 stock trades were executed on Trump’s behalf during the first three months of 2026.  Seiberg argued that the surrounding controversy makes it more likely that lawmakers choose delay over action—especially as the midterm election approaches and the political calendar narrows the window for additional postponements. Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com 

A new report from market expert Sam Daodu argues that several large-cap cryptocurrencies, including XRP, are still “undervalued” relative to the activity and infrastructure building underneath them.  In Daodu’s view, the altcoin market hasn’t fully recovered from the drawdown that pushed crypto into bear territory—an environment where most major tokens have fallen much harder than Bitcoin (BTC) and have struggled to regain momentum. The Ethereum Puzzle The expert starts with Ethereum (ETH), pointing out an interesting disconnect; the price is down, yet the network’s usage remains strong. Ethereum is trading about 57% below its August 2025 all-time high of $4,946. But he stresses that on-chain fundamentals don’t line up with that level of weakness.  Related Reading: XRP Channel Pattern Points To $5, Says Korean Analyst Ethereum, he says, holds roughly $43 billion in total value locked (TVL) across its decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols—more than any other blockchain—while also maintaining the largest pool of DeFi capital, the widest stablecoin base, and some of the deepest trading infrastructure in the ecosystem.  Daodu links part of that valuation gap to an upgrade schedule aimed at improving performance. He points to Glamsterdam, targeted for mid-2026, as a potential catalyst that could address the longstanding complaints that have kept ETH below current peaks despite record on-chain activity.  CLARITY Act Momentum For XRP XRP is another centerpiece of the report, and Daodu’s case is built on the idea that the ledger is seeing increased activity even as price consolidation continues. He says XRP has spent much of 2026 trading between $1.30 and $1.50, sitting around 62% below its July 2025 high of $3.65.  While that looks like a stagnant range on charts, Daodu argues the XRP Ledger has been “busier than ever.” He points to daily transactions hitting 3 million in March, driven by new trading pools, stablecoins, and real-world assets (RWAs) moving onto the chain. Then came a regulatory turning point. On May 14, the US Senate Banking Committee advanced the CLARITY Act in a 15-9 vote. He describes the bill as one that would permanently classify XRP as a commodity under federal law, with the next step being consideration on the Senate floor.  Daodu emphasizes that while the joint SEC-CFTC ruling already gave XRP commodity status at the agency level, an agency ruling can be reversed by a future administration—whereas legislation is harder to undo.  That difference, he says, is part of why institutions continue accumulating XRP even as the token’s price has struggled. He adds that Standard Chartered expects the bill could bring an estimated $4 billion to $8 billion into spot XRP ETFs and push the token to at least $8. Solana’s ‘Price Vs Fundamentals’ Case Solana’s section follows a similar price vs. fundamentals theme. Daodu says SOL peaked at $295 in January 2025, then slid nearly 70% to $85. Even with that pressure on the chart, he argues the network’s trajectory remains constructive.  He highlights the March 17, 2026 SEC-CFTC guidance that classified XRP and Ethereum as digital commodities, noting that the guidance also covered Solana and cleared the security label that had kept large funds cautious.  On top of that regulatory backdrop, Daodu points to developer growth and usage metrics. Solana reportedly added more than 11,500 new developers in the first nine months of 2025, second only to Ethereum.  Why Chainlink Looks Cheap Chainlink, Daodu suggests, may be undervalued precisely because it doesn’t always dominate mainstream retail conversations. He says LINK trades around $9.50, down 82% from its May 2021 all-time high of $52.99.  But he argues that Chainlink’s role in the market is far bigger than its spot price reaction. Daodu points to Chainlink’s price feeds and its Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), describing how these tools underpin the real-world asset (RWA) economy.  Related Reading: The Bitcoin Billion-Dollar Dump: Here’s Why The BTC Price Keeps Crashing He also points to scale and volume. Daodu says Chainlink secures over $75 billion in total value across crypto, and that CCIP alone moves around $18 billion in transfer volume every month.  Analysts, he adds, project the oracle sector could grow tenfold by 2030, and that if the prediction holds, Chainlink would be positioned as the backbone of that expansion.  Featured image created with OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com

Chainlink (LINK) has spent much of the past year in a holding pattern, lingering around the 18th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and pulling back roughly 43% year-to-date.  Still, zooming out on LINK’s longer-term picture, the oracle’s native token remains far from its peak. LINK is roughly 82% below its all-time high of $52, trading at about $9.509 at the time of writing. Despite the weak price action, Leo Sun of The Motley Fool has published a report arguing that LINK could still see substantial upside over the next five years.  How LINK’s Circulation Could Drive Big Gains The core of Sun’s outlook is that the token’s trajectory may benefit from changes in both supply dynamics and real-world adoption—especially as Chainlink’s ecosystem continues to expand. Sun points to token circulation as a key part of the long-term picture. When LINK last reached its record level in 2021, it had a circulating supply of about 410 million tokens. Since then, the circulating figure has risen to approximately 727 million as of the time of the report.  Related Reading: Hyperliquid (HYPE) Breaks New All-Time High—Surges Past $62 As Momentum Spikes Sun argues that this growth in circulation could bring LINK much closer to its supply limit within the next five years. If demand continues to rise while the supply of newly available tokens tightens, the token price would have room to move significantly—particularly if new demand arrives faster than supply expansion. Another major element of Sun’s thesis is Chainlink’s growing role in regulated finance and payments infrastructure. Over the past year, Chainlink has partnered with roughly two dozen major financial institutions, including organizations such as UBS, Euroclear, and the SWIFT network.  The purpose of these relationships, according to Sun, is to help accelerate money transfers, automate transaction workflows, and support the tokenization of real-world assets.  If Chainlink becomes a core piece of infrastructure for tokenized finance, the report suggests LINK’s value could rise further as the ecosystem’s usage expands. What Needs To Change For Chainlink? At the heart of the argument is the way LINK is positioned in the crypto market. Sun notes that LINK can’t be valued using a “scarcity model” in the same way Bitcoin (BTC) is often approached, since the mechanics of token distribution and market structure differ.  Instead, Chainlink is described more as a developer-driven asset—closer to how investors think about Ethereum (ETH) rather than a pure scarcity narrative.  Related Reading: Bitcoin Miners Warn No Bottom Yet, CryptoQuant Says—What On-Chain Metrics Reveal In that framework, LINK’s long-term prospects depend less on fixed scarcity alone and more on continued relevance to developers, integration into real financial systems, and the degree to which market interest returns. Finally, the report ties the $20 billion market cap idea to broader macro conditions. If the overall cryptocurrency market improves over the next five years—as Sun suggests could happen when the macro environment becomes more favorable—Chainlink’s market cap could move up materially. Featured image created with OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

Market analyst Aletheia released a report on Wednesday, taking a close look at the first six days of trading for Hyperliquid ETFs launched by 21Shares and Bitwise. The analysis focuses on how early inflows are stacking up across major crypto assets and what those moves may signal for demand going forward. First Six Days Under The Microscope In market-cap-adjusted terms, Aletheia found that the Hyperliquid ETFs generated more flows than Bitcoin (BTC) on three of the first six trading days. The same comparison also showed strength versus Ethereum (ETH): Hyperliquid’s ETF products logged higher inflows than Ethereum on five out of six days.  Related Reading: Bitwise Bullish on Hyperliquid: HYPE Labeled ‘Undervalued’ As It Rallies 20% The Solana (SOL) spot exchange-traded fund sector produced a different picture. According to the report, Solana posted higher market-cap-adjusted flows than Hyperliquid on four of the first six trading days.  On Tuesday, however, Hyperliquid spot ETFs recorded materially stronger inflows than any of their peers. The analyst emphasized that it’s still too early to say whether this spike is the start of a sustained trend, or whether it reflects a short-term burst of demand that may normalize over the coming days. Hyperliquid Near Bull-Run Highs Beyond the raw inflow numbers, the report reveals another layer: the Hyperliquid spot ETFs are competing with the Assistance Fund — the platform’s economic structure for token buybacks — in terms of market buying pressure.  In the first six trading days, the ETFs bought 2.5 times as much HYPE as the Assistance Fund bought and burned. The “burning” element is important context, since it differs from a straightforward accumulation mechanism.  Still, when the discussion is framed around buying pressure and market impact, Aletheia argues that the ETFs are clearly adding to the fuel. Related Reading: Solana ETF Falls Behind As XRP Collects More Cash—Here’s The Catalyst Driving The Split The combination of ETF-driven activity and increasing token demand has moved Hyperliquid close to current price peaks of $59 reached during last year’s bull run.  Data from CoinGecko shows the altcoin trading at $51.88 when writing is up 33% over the past week alone. At this level, the token is only 12% below its current record, leaving room—at least in relative terms—for a potential “discovery” phase if the ETF-related inflows continue to build. Featured image created with OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have pulled in more money than their Solana ETF counterparts even though SOL has largely outperformed XRP on price during much of the year. The difference, according to market expert Sam Daodu, appears to come down to what’s happening on the regulatory and institutional side. Different Paths For XRP And Solana ETFs Daodu highlighted that XRP ETFs have gathered $1.39 billion in cumulative inflows since their November 2025 launch. Solana ETFs, launched in October, have accumulated $1.12 billion over the same overall timeframe.  In other words, despite XRP entering a drawdown from its summer 2025 high and despite SOL’s relative price strength, XRP’s ETF flows have still landed ahead, with the inflow gap persisting at the cumulative level. Related Reading: Bitwise Bullish on Hyperliquid: HYPE Labeled ‘Undervalued’ As It Rallies 20% The pattern of ETF demand for XRP also looks particularly consistent. Daodu noted that XRP ETFs logged a 13-day streak of positive net flows in early December 2025, a run that came in ahead of Solana’s cumulative inflow total of $618.59 million within those 13 trading days.  Looking at more recent flow data, XRP reported $81.6 million in April inflows alongside a 14-day inflow streak. By the end of April, that put XRP’s year-to-date inflows at roughly $124 million.  Solana’s April inflows were far lower—$38.69 million, which is less than half of XRP’s April figure. Daodu also pointed out that Solana’s monthly inflows fell from $419 million in November 2025 to $38.69 million in April, suggesting a weaker stretch that only appears to be improving now. That recovery is showing up in May. Solana has posted more than $99 million after 19 trading days, while XRP is close behind with roughly $95 million in the same period.  Even so, the larger story remains that XRP has maintained a steadier inflow profile relative to Solana, and Daodu believes there is a catalyst supporting that steadiness—one that Solana does not have. Alpenglow Vs CLARITY Act In Daodu’s view, the structural difference is the CLARITY Act. He argued that this is the “structural difference the price charts don’t show,” because a full Senate vote would help establish a clearer legal framework around issues that matter directly to regulated institutions.  Specifically, Daodu said the bill would create defined rules for XRP custody, collateral treatment, and balance sheet exposure—an “exact compliance checklist” for pension funds and regulated asset managers that need clarity before allocating capital at scale. Related Reading: Bitcoin Could Hit Near $95,000 If It Holds Above This Critical Support, Top Analyst Says Solana, by contrast, is associated with a different kind of catalyst: Alpenglow, a network upgrade aimed at achieving sub-150ms transaction finality. Still, Daodu emphasized that throughput improvements alone don’t unlock the same category of institutional money as regulatory clarity does.  He suggested that the capital attracted by clarity is the type that could help close the gap between XRP’s $1.39 billion in inflows and the $4–8 billion inflow range JPMorgan has projected if the bill passes. The expert concluded that for XRP to break higher in price, the market likely needs an even larger catalyst—particularly regulatory clarity through the CLARITY Act and stronger institutional participation.  At the time of this writing, XRP traded at $1.37, recording a 3.8% drop on the weekly time frame, while SOL traded at $86, recording even greater losses of 6% in the same period. Featured image created with OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

Bitcoin (BTC) has slipped after failing to clear a major ceiling around the $83,000 area, with the flagship cryptocurrency down nearly 5% over the past week.  As of Tuesday evening, BTC was changing hands at roughly $76,750. Even with the pullback, market analyst Ali Martinez believes the current price action still leaves room for a rebound toward $94,850.  Bitcoin Could Drop Toward $54,270 In a Tuesday social media post on X (previously Twitter), Martinez pointed to Bitcoin’s Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) pricing bands, saying a move to $94,850 would represent about a 23.5% increase from current levels.  However, he cautioned that this upside path depends on Bitcoin holding above a specific support level at $72,960. In his view, losing that threshold would shift the outlook and open the door to a deeper drawdown. Related Reading: Zcash, Bitcoin, And Solana—Catalysts Ahead That Could Fuel Another Upswing Before May Ends If $72,960 is broken, Martinez warned that BTC could be pulled toward the realized price near $54,270. That scenario would imply an additional 29% retracement from present prices.  With that in mind, the analyst framed the $72,960 level as a key line in the sand for determining whether Bitcoin’s consolidation turns into the next leg up or extends into a more pronounced correction. Adding to the bullish outlook, Martinez also said derivatives traders are positioning as if another advance is likely. He noted that Bitcoin funding rates have climbed to 0.4%, the highest level seen in more than two months.  Key Support And Resistance Walls To Watch When Bitcoin funding rates rise to that extent, it typically signals that the derivatives market is being driven by aggressive long positioning, with market participants paying a premium to keep long exposure.  According to Martinez, this kind of demand can sometimes lead to quick liquidations if the market snaps downward and forces late buyers out, but it also reflects a broader bias that remains tilted toward expansion. Related Reading: Goldman Sachs Rebalances Crypto Exposure: XRP, SOL Out, ETH Down 70%, Hyperliquid In In another social media post issued on Monday, the analyst also highlighted additional levels to watch ahead tied to the cryptocurrency’s UTXO Realized Price Distribution (URPD) indicator.  Martinez identified new resistance levels at $78,258 and $84,569. On the support side, he pointed to $75,733 and $66,898. Together with the earlier $72,960 support marker, these zones form the set of key reference points Martinez said could shape whether Bitcoin pushes higher toward $94,850 or slides toward the realized price area. Featured image created with OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

Bitcoin (BTC) has slid sharply over the past week, retracing nearly 7% and wiping out the upside that built after last week’s Senate Banking Committee markup of the CLARITY Act. That legislative momentum helped push BTC above the $82,000 area, but the coin is now changing hands around $76,700. The Bitcoin Pullback Glassnode’s latest read on the situation points to a clear deterioration in short-term market behavior. The firm says the Bitcoin selling pressure has intensified, with Spot CVD falling by 848.7%.  At the same time, spot volume is up about 4.2%, suggesting that more coins are moving through the market. Glassnode interprets this as rising activity that may not necessarily reflect a bullish mindset, but rather traders responding more aggressively to price volatility and hedging or repositioning.  Related Reading: Goldman Sachs Rebalances Crypto Exposure: XRP, SOL Out, ETH Down 70%, Hyperliquid In Futures Open Interest also dropped 2.9%, which usually signals that traders are not as enthusiastic about adding leverage during uncertain conditions. However, Glassnode also notes that Long-Side Funding Payments have jumped 136.6%, a sign that demand for long Bitcoin exposure has reappeared.  That bullish signal is not staying dominant for long, though. The firm highlights a steep 278.7% decline in Perpetual CVD, which points to strong sell-side pressure still showing up in the perpetual market, where downside control can quickly affect broader sentiment. Sentiment from traditional finance has also softened. Glassnode points to a 6.1% drop in US Spot Bitcoin ETF MVRV, alongside a sharp deterioration in ETF net flows, implying weaker conviction from institutional players.  Bear Cycle Targets Beyond sentiment, Glassnode noted that long-term holder dominance continues to build, while NUPL and the Realized Profit-to-Loss Ratio have weakened sharply. Those shifts typically align with fading optimism—less “euphoria,” more defensive behavior as traders reassess risk after the pullback. Putting those signals together, Glassnode’s conclusion is that the Bitcoin market structure is beginning to soften. Momentum, spot demand, and speculative positioning are all described as weakening across the board.  Related Reading: How To Time The Dogecoin Bottom And When The Price Will Reach $2 Adding to the bearish backdrop surrounding the cryptocurrency’s outlook, analyst Kabuki has argued on X (formerly Twitter) that Bitcoin is still operating within a “Bear Cycle,” despite the partial recovery seen since the start of the year after brief periods of relief.  Kabuki’s analysis suggests that another bearish phase could unfold over the next few weeks, and he has highlighted specific targets for the cryptocurrency. He points to $71,000 “in days,” and then a much lower target of $42,000 in June, which could translate to a further 45% decline in BTC’s price from current trading levels. Featured image created with OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs has made a notable shift in its crypto-related exchange-traded (ETF) fund positions, according to a recent filing submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  The update shows the firm exiting XRP- and Solana (SOL)-linked ETF exposure, while also trimming its Ethereum (ETH) ETF holdings. At the same time, the filing shows it opened a new position tied to one of the largest decentralized exchanges (DEXs). Goldman Sachs Exits XRP And Solana ETFs The story starts with Goldman’s XRP ETF exposure going into the end of Q4 2025. At that point, the bank held nearly $154 million worth of XRP-related ETFs from issuers including Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, and 21Shares.  Those holdings made Goldman Sachs one of the largest institutional holders of XRP ETF products at the time. The latest SEC disclosure, however, shows that its XRP ETF positions were removed entirely, reflecting a full exit during the first quarter. Related Reading: Hyperliquid (HYPE) To $100? Expert Forecasts Major Rise Before Summer 2027 A similar change appears with Solana-linked products. Goldman Sachs had previously disclosed that it held exposure across multiple Solana investment products, including the Grayscale Solana Trust ETF, the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF, and the Fidelity Solana Fund.  However, just like XRP, those Solana-related ETF positions also disappeared in Goldman’s Q1 filing. In other words, Goldman fully exited both XRP- and Solana-linked ETF holdings by the first quarter of 2026, with no remaining trace of those positions in the updated portfolio disclosure. Even with these exits, Goldman Sachs did not leave the crypto ETF space entirely. The firm still held roughly $700 million in Bitcoin ETFs. Still, its posture toward Ethereum was more cautious: Goldman cut its Ethereum ETF exposure by about 70%, bringing the total down to approximately $114 million.  New Bet On Hyperliquid What makes the change more interesting is that Goldman Sachs appears to be redeploying at least some of that capital into other parts of the crypto market.  Alongside the ETF reductions and exits, the bank opened a new position tied to Hyperliquid (HYPE). According to the filing, Goldman acquired roughly 654,630 shares of Hyperliquid Strategies (PURR), valued at about $3.3 million.  Related Reading: Zcash (ZEC) Rockets 1,200%—Expert Says ZEC Could Soon Outgrow Cardano (ADA) Beyond Hyperliquid, Goldman Sachs’ trading activity also shows a new wave of exposure across several crypto-linked equities. The bank increased positions in Circle (CRCL), Galaxy (GLXY), and Coinbase (COIN) shares.  At the time of writing, Hyperliquid’s native token, HYPE, was trading at around $45. It has been one of the best-performing tokens over the past month, with gains of 10% in the last two weeks alone.  Featured image created with OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

The latest shareholder letter from DeFi Development Corp., a Nasdaq-listed Solana treasury company, shows that its fully converted SOL per share has grown 108% over the past year, rising from 0.0322 on May 13, 2025, to 0.0670 on May 13, 2026.  The growth is notable because it came during a difficult period for Solana’s price action, particularly in the first quarter of 2026, where the SOL price has been struggling with bearish momentum. Related Reading: XRP Records Biggest Spike In Network Usage In 2 Months Solana Treasury Growth Shows A New Source Of Demand According to a May shareholder letter from DeFi Development Corp., a Solana treasury company, the company has more than doubled its fully converted SOL per share into 108%.  The 108% growth highlighted by DeFi Development Corp. is based on SOL per share, a metric the company uses to measure how much Solana backs each fully converted share. The company reported 2,294,576 SOL and SOL equivalents as of May 13, 2026, with approximately 34.2 million fully converted shares outstanding. Interestingly, its fully converted SPS rose 1% from March 30 to May 13 and 108% from the same date last year to 0.0670 as of May 13, 2026. DeFi Development Corp. is not simply buying SOL and waiting for price appreciation. The company said more than 25% of its treasury is deployed onchain, while its validator operations generate about 7.5% yield compared to roughly 3.9% from staking SOL through Coinbase. The shareholder letter also estimated that this spread represents about $7.6 million in annualized incremental yield on its current treasury.  What This 108% Growth Means For Solana Price This 108% growth in DeFi Development Corp.’s fully converted SOL per share shows that Solana is beginning to attract the same kind of corporate treasury conviction similar to Bitcoin and Ethereum. Bitcoin has had companies such as Strategy, Metaplanet, and MARA Holdings building balance sheet strategies around BTC. Ethereum has also developed its own treasury category, with companies like BitMine Immersion Technologies. DeFi Development Corp.’s strategy is built around accumulating SOL, staking it, deploying part of it across Solana DeFi, and using capital markets only when it can increase SOL exposure per share. This means SOL is attracting a category of demand that is more structured than normal spot-market buying. Interestingly, DeFi Development Corp. is one of a few other companies that hold SOL as their primary corporate reserve asset. Other companies like Forward Industries, Inc. and Upexi Inc. also have millions of SOL tokens on their balance sheets.  Related Reading: Is Zcash The Next Bitcoin? Investors Rush Into The Privacy Coin Narrative This has real price implications for Solana, as this creates a different kind of demand base. Treasury companies like those mentioned above are long-term holders. Retail demand can disappear quickly, but corporate treasury demand is more structured and usually tied to long-term conviction. Featured image from Bunq, chart from TradingView