Author: John Smith

ZeroStack CEO Daniel Reis-Faria says the CLARITY Act stablecoin deal reduces investor uncertainty but has not resolved institutional hesitation yet. Summary Senators Tillis and Alsobrooks reached a CLARITY Act yield compromise on May 1, banning passive stablecoin yield and preserving activity-based rewards. Polymarket odds of the CLARITY Act passing in 2026 jumped from 46% to 64% hours after the stablecoin deal landed. Reis-Faria says larger investors will still hold back until implementation rules are fully in place, not just agreed in principle. The stablecoin deal was finalised on May 1 by Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks, drawing a clear…

XRP price climbed from $1.3840 to $1.4065 in early Asia trading on May 4 on a sharp pickup in volume, breaking through resistance at $1.40 alongside Bitcoin’s return above $80,000. Summary Volume expanded into the $1.40 breakout on May 4, confirming real positioning rather than a low-liquidity push. The $1.45 level is the critical structural barrier: 36.8 billion XRP, or 60% of supply, sits at a $1.44 average cost basis per Glassnode. Standard Chartered projects $4 to $8 billion in additional XRP ETF inflows if the CLARITY Act clears the Senate Banking Committee before May 21. XRP price broke above…

Summary Kraken’s parent company, Payward, has filed a second amended complaint in Colorado federal court accusing former custody partner Etana Custody and its CEO of misappropriating more than $25 million in client funds. The suit alleges Etana ran a “Ponzi scheme” by commingling custodial assets with its own, funding expenses and risky bets, and papering over a growing hole with falsified account statements. Colorado regulators have already hit Etana with a cease-and-desist order; the firm entered liquidation in November 2025 and is now controlled by a court‑appointed receiver. In a second amended complaint submitted to the U.S. District Court for…

Applied Digital closed a Goldman-led $300M senior secured bridge loan to accelerate its next 150 MW AI data center, layering it on top of $2.15B in notes and a $7.5B hyperscaler lease. Summary Applied Digital has completed a $300 million senior secured bridge loan, led by Goldman Sachs, to help fund construction of a new AI data center campus. The facility is secured by project assets, carries standard market terms, and can be repaid early without penalty as the company lines up longer-term capital. The bridge comes on top of a previously priced $2.15 billion senior secured notes offering to…

Nasdaq-listed DeFi Development Corp has launched a $200M at-the-market equity program, pledging to issue stock only when it boosts “SOL per share” and fuels its Solana reserve strategy. Summary Nasdaq-listed Solana treasury vehicle DeFi Development Corp has launched a $200 million at-the-market (ATM) equity program to fund further SOL accumulation. The company says proceeds will primarily support its Solana reserve strategy and that it will only issue shares when doing so is “accretive” to the value of each shareholder’s SOL holdings. DeFi Development has previously used equity raises to scale its SOL treasury toward a long-term target of one SOL…

Bitmine Immersion Technologies said its Ethereum holdings reached 5,180,131 ETH as of May 3.  Summary Bitmine added 101,745 ETH last week, pushing total Ethereum holdings to 5.18 million tokens now. Staked ETH reached 4.36 million tokens, giving Bitmine about $10.2 billion in staked assets. Ethereum Foundation sales added context as Bitmine moved closer to its 5% ETH supply target. The company valued the position at $2,336 per ETH and said the holdings equal about 4.29% of the total ETH supply. The company said its crypto, cash, and other listed holdings totaled $13.1 billion. That figure included 5.18 million ETH, 200…

Zcash (ZEC) traded at around $410 at press time, with 24-hour trading volume at $843.81 million. ZEC rose 4.89% in the past day and gained 14.43% over the past week, according to crypto.news data. Summary ZEC cleared key $398 resistance after strong weekly gains, pushing traders toward mid-$400 targets now. Zcash flipped Solana in Hyperliquid perpetual volume, showing fresh speculative demand around the privacy coin. Joao Wedson warned ZEC may lack on-chain support, raising doubts over the rally’s near-term durability. Meanwhile, the privacy-focused token has climbed nearly 16.8% in the same weekly window, placing it among the stronger performers in…

North Korea has rejected allegations of state-backed cryptocurrency theft even as new data ties it to most global hack losses in early 2026. Summary TRM Labs said North Korea-linked actors stole about $577 million in crypto through April 2026, accounting for 76% of global hack losses. North Korea’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the allegations as politically motivated, calling them “absurd slander” in remarks carried by state media. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned six individuals and two entities tied to DPRK IT worker schemes that generated nearly $800 million in 2024. According to TRM Labs, actors linked to the Democratic People’s Republic of…

Coinbase has urged U.S. derivatives regulators to keep prediction markets under existing rules, filing a formal response as legal pressure builds around event-based contracts. Summary Coinbase has submitted a letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission arguing that prediction markets fall within existing regulatory authority. Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad said event-based contracts resemble traditional futures and called for a principles-based framework. According to a letter submitted to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and addressed to Secretary Christopher Kirkpatrick on April 30, Coinbase responded to the agency’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on prediction markets, arguing that such products already…

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has received more than 1,500 public responses on its proposed rule for prediction market event contracts. Summary CFTC has received more than 1,500 public comments on its prediction markets rule, with firms backing its authority while state regulators push back. Kalshi, Polymarket, and Andreessen Horowitz supported the CFTC, urging it to retain exclusive control over event contracts. State gaming regulators from Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Missouri said sports contracts resemble unregulated betting and should fall under state oversight. According to the CFTC, the comment period for its March proposal closed Thursday after drawing submissions from…