Today's news tips:
Ukraine Plans to Launch Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Under New Crypto Law
MetaMask co-founder says its team is still considering launching a native token
Regulatory/Macro
According to Korean media reports, actress Hwang Jung-eum was indicted for allegedly embezzling funds from her actual controlling brokerage company to invest in cryptocurrencies. On May 15, the Jeju District Court held the first public trial of the case. According to the indictment, Hwang Jung-eum embezzled a total of 4.34 billion won from the company's funds from early to December 2022, of which 4.2 billion won was used for cryptocurrency investment. Hwang Jung-eum's lawyer admitted the charges, saying that she invested in cryptocurrencies for the sake of developing the company, and emphasized that the company's profits ultimately belonged to Hwang Jung-eum. Currently, Hwang Jung-eum has repaid part of her losses by selling cryptocurrencies and planning to sell real estate. The court accepted the request and allowed the compensation-related procedures to continue.
Singapore Court Approves Sonic Labs’ Application to Liquidate Multichain Foundation
According to Cointelegraph, the Singapore High Court ruled on May 9 to approve Sonic Labs' application to liquidate the Multichain Foundation. KPMG was appointed as the liquidator to handle the liquidation of the foundation's assets. The ruling stems from the hacker attack on Multichain in July 2023, which resulted in the loss of assets on multiple chains including Fantom and Ethereum, with a total amount of more than US$210 million. Michael Kong, CEO of Sonic Labs, said that the company had to take legal action because former Multichain employees had always refused to cooperate with the investigation. The liquidator will initiate an asset recovery procedure, and if the funds are successfully recovered, they will be returned to the affected users. Multichain ceased operations in July 2024, and its CEO was previously detained by the police.
Mastercard to launch new stablecoin payment card in partnership with MoonPay
According to Decrypt, Mastercard has reached a cooperation with the crypto payment company MoonPay to launch a stablecoin payment card service for 150 million merchants worldwide. The service is based on the technical architecture of Iron, a stablecoin payment company acquired by MoonPay in March this year, and will be automatically converted into legal currency during transactions. This is another layout of Mastercard in the field of crypto payments after its cooperation with OKX, Nuvei and Circle in April.
According to Cointelegraph, the U.S. Senate may pass the bipartisan stablecoin bill, the GENIUS Act, as early as next week after deleting statements about President Trump and his family's cryptocurrency interests. Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis believes that passing it before May 26 is a "reasonable goal." Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said the wording of the bill has been revised to delete clauses targeting Trump's cryptocurrency projects, such as Meme coins. She emphasized that the revised bill has improved consumer protection and other aspects, and is not focused on Trump's moral issues, but is aimed at regulating the stablecoin field. Previously, Senate Democrats withdrew their support on May 8 because they were worried that the bill would not solve Trump's profitable cryptocurrency transactions. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong hopes the Senate will vote early next week, but declined to comment on the impact of Trump's Meme coin on the bill. The cryptocurrency industry is pushing Congress to pass the bill and another market structure bill before the midterm elections on November 3, 2026. Industry insiders said that the time window for passing legislation before the midterm elections is narrow, and Trump is expected to sign the two bills before the August recess.
According to Bitcoin.com, BTCS (stock code: BTCS), a Nasdaq-listed blockchain company, announced that it has raised $57.8 million through convertible notes to strategically increase its holdings of Ethereum. The first $7.8 million bond has been subscribed by ATW Partners. The company's CEO Charles Allen personally invested $95,000, and his affiliated trust followed with $200,000. The financing will be used to purchase Ethereum to expand the verification node and staking business. Previously, BTCS has increased its holdings of ETH through Aave protocol lending. HC Wainwright served as the exclusive placement agent for this financing. BTCS said it will follow the MicroStrategy strategy to obtain continuous income through staking and block construction. The company also operates the ChainQ data analysis platform, and the relevant transaction details have been submitted to the SEC for filing.
Ukraine Plans to Launch Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Under New Crypto Law
Ukraine is developing a legal framework for holding Bitcoin in its national reserves, and a special parliamentary committee led by a finance official is finalizing the draft legislation, according to Coincentral. Senior MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak confirmed that Ukraine plans to establish a cryptocurrency reserve infrastructure, and he is responsible for overseeing the preparation of the relevant draft law. The proposal aims to regulate the way the country acquires, stores and manages Bitcoin reserves, and strives to be consistent with the cryptocurrency regulations expected to be introduced in 2025. The law will support the holding of digital assets for national fiscal planning, and the authorities will ensure transparency, compliance and supervision by the central bank and regulators. It is reported that Ukraine is receiving support from Binance to establish a national Bitcoin reserve. The cooperation includes providing guidance on the reserve mechanism and technical infrastructure, and the two sides are actively discussing the implementation of the reserve strategy. In addition, Ukraine plans to coordinate with the National Bank and the International Monetary Fund to pass a comprehensive digital asset law in early 2025, covering fiscal policy formulation, exchange regulations, anti-money laundering measures and capital gains tax, and clarify the legal responsibilities of market participants and state institutions.
Brazil’s central bank proposes strict regulation of stablecoin transfers
According to The Defiant, several Brazilian government sources familiar with the plan revealed that Brazilian government officials are considering issuing the country's first sovereign bond denominated in RMB. Currently, this move is still under consideration and no final decision has been made. The potential plan to issue RMB-denominated sovereign bonds will be a significant development in Brazil's financial strategy. At the same time, as part of the new cryptocurrency regulatory framework, the Central Bank of Brazil has proposed strict regulation of stablecoin transfers. These proposed rules include restrictions on sending stablecoins to wallets controlled by non-Brazilian entities, reflecting the country's tightening stance on domestic cryptocurrency transactions.
Viewpoint
Jim Chanos, a well-known Wall Street short, said at the Sohn Investment Conference in New York that he is conducting an aggressive long-short trade involving MicroStrategy and Bitcoin. Chanos is bullish on Bitcoin and shorting MicroStrategy at the same time, believing that the company holds a large amount of Bitcoin through leverage, and the stock price is at a large premium relative to its Bitcoin holdings. Chanos pointed out that it is unreasonable for MicroStrategy and its imitators to promote the idea of buying Bitcoin through corporate structures to retail investors and value it at a similar premium. He said that by shorting MicroStrategy stock and buying Bitcoin, it is equivalent to buying it for $1 and selling it for $2.5. Over the past year, MicroStrategy's stock price has risen by more than 220%, while Bitcoin has risen by nearly 70% over the same period.
Arthur Hayes said in a new post that he has re-added to crypto at market lows and believes that now is a good time to pick quality altcoins that can outperform Bitcoin in a bull market. He is particularly bullish on two projects: $PENDLE and $ETHFI. The return of foreign capital and the massive depreciation of US debt will be the two major catalysts that will drive Bitcoin to $1 million by 2028. He mentioned that the 2028 US presidential election may bring policy uncertainty, but now is a critical period for Bitcoin to benefit. Although he believes that Bitcoin will rise to $1 million, there are still opportunities for short-term tactical shorting. He pointed out that capital controls and money printing are coming, but the road ahead is full of uncertainty. Trump's team is not consistent on capital controls, so there may be different policy directions.
Crypto analyst Topher questioned the "50% creator revenue share" policy announced by pump.fun, pointing out that this may just be an additional fee charged to the community. In the previous PumpSwap fee model, the liquidity pool fee was 0.20% and the platform fee was 0.05%; the current model adds a 0.05% creator fee share on this basis. Topher believes that it is actually the community that pays extra fees to support creators, and Pump's own income has not returned 50% of DEX revenue as claimed, which is misleading. He questioned why Pump should charge an additional 2.5 basis points on DEX, given that the bonding curve contributes almost all of Pump's revenue. In his opinion, this is not a wise move.
Blockstream CEO: Bitcoin could rise to $500,000 to $1 million in this cycle
According to Decrypt, Adam Back, CEO of blockchain company Blockstream, said that considering the continuous inflow of institutional funds and the improvement of the policy environment, the current price of Bitcoin at $103,000 is significantly undervalued. He believes that in this cycle, Bitcoin may rise to $500,000 to $1 million. Back pointed out that the US Bitcoin spot ETF has attracted more than $41 billion in net inflows, coupled with the Trump administration's crypto-friendly policies, the market fundamentals are significantly better than in previous years.
According to analyst FilbFilb, Bitcoin's current price trend is extremely bullish and is facing a critical battle to break through $100,000 and $2 trillion in market value. He pointed out that Bitcoin has risen rapidly recently, but has fluctuated in the area above $100,000, and the market value needs to turn $2 trillion from resistance to support. FilbFilb believes that Bitcoin may fall below $100,000 in the short term, but the overall trend is favorable for bulls. In addition, he mentioned that ETH/BTC needs to rise back to the key level of 0.03 to drive a recovery in the altcoin market. Looking ahead, the market generally expects Bitcoin to re-challenge its historical high of $110,000 and may reach a target price of $120,000 to $150,000 in June. FilbFilb concluded, "In the long run, Bitcoin's trend is incredible, and although a short-term correction may occur, the overall trend is extremely optimistic."
Project News
Nous Research launches Psyche testnet for decentralized AI training network
Decentralized AI startup Nous Research announced the launch of the decentralized AI training network Psyche testnet, which aims to integrate global computing resources to train powerful AI models, allowing individuals and small communities to develop large models. Psyche is coordinated through the Solana blockchain, supports distributed GPU operations, and plans to support community-owned trusted computing resources in the future. Earlier news, decentralized AI startup Nous Research completed a $50 million Series A financing round, led by Paradigm.
Solana's decentralized exchange Kamino has concluded its third season, distributing a total of 350 million KMNOs to users in May, worth approximately $26 million. The third season distribution checker is now live, and claims will be open in the coming days. A new reward mechanism will be introduced in the fourth season, and more information will be released soon. During the third season, Kamino generated $72.9 million in interest income for users, and KMNO distribution increased its income by 35.6%. Earlier news, Binance will list Maple Finance (SYRUP) and Kamino Finance (KMNO) and add seed tags to them.
Phantom Launches Liquid Staking Token Phantom Staked SOL (PSOL)
Phantom announced the launch of its liquid staking token, Phantom Staked SOL (PSOL), which aims to provide users with a simple and powerful staking experience. Through PSOL, users can earn SOL rewards while maintaining liquidity and supporting the Solana network.
Binance announces the participation threshold for NXPC airdrop, which will consume 15 Alpha points
Binance announced the participation threshold for the NXPC airdrop, and users must reach 187 Alpha points to participate. In addition, users with 143-186 points (inclusive) and a Binance account UID ending in 9 are also eligible. Receiving the NXPC airdrop will consume 15 Alpha points. According to previous news, Binance: HODLer airdrop has been launched on Nexpace (NXPC), and will be available for spot trading at 15:30 today.
Cardano founder reveals details of privacy sidechain Midnight’s “Glacier Drop” airdrop plan
According to CoinDesk, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson announced the details of the "Glacier Drop" airdrop plan for the privacy sidechain Midnight at the Consensus 2025 conference. The plan will distribute governance tokens NIGHT and privacy tokens DUST to 37 million users of 8 mainstream public chains, explicitly excluding venture capital institutions, and all tokens are directly for ordinary users. Hoskinson also proposed a "collaborative economics" model, allowing developers to use native tokens such as ETH and SOL to pay for cross-chain applications, and validators can also earn income through cross-chain collaboration. The Midnight test network has been launched and the main network is expected to be launched at the end of 2025. This airdrop is seen as a strategic move to ease industry divisions and respond to the entry of technology giants.
Lookonchain cited Dune data and said that Pump.fun's dominance is being challenged by new platforms such as Letsbonk.fun, Believe and LaunchLab. Among the daily "graduation" tokens on the market, Pump.fun has dropped from 98% to 57.5%. Letsbonk.fun accounts for 17.9%, Believe accounts for 12.9%, and LaunchLab accounts for 5%. The most popular Meme coins (LAUNCHCOIN, GOONC, DUPE, Hosico, etc.) are all released on Letsbonk.fun or Believe.
MetaMask co-founder says its team is still considering launching a native token
According to The Block, Dan Finlay, co-founder of Ethereum wallet MetaMask, was asked in an interview on the "Crypto Beat" podcast whether to create a native MetaMask token. He responded: "Maybe, if a token is issued, it will be directly promoted in the wallet, and users can find the link directly in the wallet." Although MetaMask currently has no specific token issuance plan, Finlay believes that under the relatively loose supervision of the Trump administration, token issuance is safer. He hopes to take this opportunity to break boundaries and set a precedent. Finlay pointed out that securities laws are still securities laws, and many projects may still operate in a "gray area." He also worried that potential MASK tokens would be used by scammers, saying that relevant information would only be published in the wallet and on the official website. Since 2021, MetaMask has been discussing the issuance of a token tentatively named MASK, and ConsenSys CEO Joseph Lubin has also published a notice. In 2022, Lubin further explained the intention of issuing tokens and DAOs as part of the "progressive decentralization" plan. The DAO was described as a funding mechanism rather than a governance body, and made it clear that the token was not designed to “make a quick buck” and took steps to prevent it from being exploited by airdrop hunters.
Important data
According to Lookonchain, a whale that had previously shorted BTC, ETH, and SOL successfully turned losses into profits in the market correction, and has now made a profit of $2.17 million on BTC and $1.77 million on SOL, but still lost $141,000 on ETH. The latest data shows that the whale has begun to gradually close its SOL short position to lock in profits.
Deribit officially announced that tomorrow (May 16, 16:00 Beijing time), more than $3.1 billion of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) options will expire on the platform. Among them, the nominal value of BTC options is $2.66 billion, the Put/Call ratio is 0.99, and the maximum pain point is $100,000; the nominal value of ETH options is $525 million, the Put/Call ratio is 1.24, and the maximum pain point is $2,200. The current BTC skew is neutral, while ETH put options slightly exceed call options.
According to Lookonchain monitoring, a wallet possibly associated with DeFiance Capital deposited 9.3 million LDO (worth $10.1 million) to Binance, OKX, Bybit, and Gate.io in the past two days.
According to SoSoValue data, yesterday (May 14, Eastern Time), the total net inflow of Bitcoin spot ETFs was $320 million. The Bitcoin spot ETF with the largest net inflow in a single day yesterday was Blackrock ETF IBIT, with a single-day net inflow of $233 million. Currently, the total net inflow of IBIT has reached $45.013 billion. The second is Fidelity ETF FBTC, with a single-day net inflow of $36.1349 million. Currently, the total net inflow of FBTC has reached $11.651 billion. As of press time, the total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETFs is $121.845 billion, and the ETF net asset ratio (market value to the total market value of Bitcoin) is 5.92%, and the cumulative net inflow has reached $41.399 billion.
Binance report: Meme coins account for 41% of the AI encryption market, but DeFAI is still growing
According to the latest report from Binance Research, Meme Coin dominates the AI-related cryptocurrency sector with a market share of 41%, while the DeFAI sector, which combines AI with decentralized finance, currently accounts for only 10%. The report points out that DeFAI is undergoing a transformation from proof-of-concept to infrastructure, and its development mainly relies on four core components: AI agents, development frameworks, protocol layers, and trading markets. Recent industry dynamics confirm the growth trend of DeFAI, such as Tether's newly launched QVAC project, which meets the characteristics of the DeFAI protocol framework. The report also warns of three major risks in this field: unclear ownership of AI agents, lack of operational transparency, and possible abuse in decentralized governance. Researchers believe that if an effective regulatory framework is established, DeFAI is expected to reshape the on-chain financial system.
According to Spot On Chain monitoring, Galaxy Digital transferred 39,834 ETH to Coinbase in the past 8 hours, worth approximately US$103.6 million.
Financing
DoNotPay founder and CEO Josh Browder disclosed on the X platform that his venture capital firm Browder Capital has successfully raised Browder Capital Fund Four, a $30 million fund supported by Sequoia Capital, Marc Andreessen (co-founder of a16z), Chris Dixon (partner of a16z), Arthur Patterson (founder of Accel), Walter Kortschak (founder of SignalFire) and other institutional investors, including Cendana Capital, General Endowment Management, Level Ventures, Hummingbird Ventures (Nomads and Slipstream).
a16z Crypto Leads $7 Million Seed Round in KYD Labs to Drive Blockchain Ticketing Innovation
Venture capital firm a16z Crypto led a $7 million seed round for blockchain ticketing platform KYD Labs. Built on Solana, KYD aims to empower artists and venues to control ticket sales, fan data and revenue, and solve the problem of revenue loss caused by secondary market circulation. It is said that after using the KYD system, the ticketing revenue of the well-known New York venue LPR increased by 30%. KYD plans to expand to more than 100 US venues by 2026, and launch two tokens, $KYD and $TIX, to strengthen the community and financial foundation.
