News

The US and Iran are closing in on a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with global crude benchmark Brent tumbling about 6% to its lowest in more than two weeks on Monday as expectations grew that an agreement may be near, according to Bloomberg. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in New Delhi he was "very confident" any deal would be a strong one, though officials cautioned that nothing is ready to be signed and final approval could take several days. The proposed pact would lift the US blockade, with Iran agreeing in principle to dispose of its highly enriched uranium, though the draft does not contain an explicit ban on enrichment nor address Iran's missile stockpile. The US does not plan to unfreeze Iranian assets under the current proposal. Iran's Tasnim news agency reported the draft could still collapse over outstanding clauses. Axios reported the deal would include a 60-day ceasefire extension and an end to the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon.

Singapore's Monetary Authority is collaborating with private banks to implement a 'risk-based' approach to expedite the account opening process. According to Odaily, the authority's director stated the goal is to reduce the account opening time to less than a month. Currently, the median time for complex cases is approximately six weeks or longer. This initiative seeks to maintain high standards while avoiding unnecessary and excessive scrutiny of clients' wealth sources.

According to Odaily citing SoSoValue data, during the trading week (May 18 to May 22, Eastern Time), Bitcoin spot ETFs experienced net outflows of $1.257 billion.
The Bitcoin spot ETF with the largest net outflow last week was BlackRock's ETF IBIT, with a weekly net outflow of $1.008 billion. IBIT's total historical net outflow currently stands at $64.77 billion. It was followed by Fidelity's ETF FBTC, which had a weekly net outflow of $112 million, bringing its total historical net outflow to $10.76 billion.
The Bitcoin spot ETF with the largest net inflow last week was Morgan Stanley's ETF MSBT, with a single-week net inflow of $1.1107 million. MSBT's total historical net inflow has now reached $234 million.
As of press time, the total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETFs stands at $98.87 billion. The ETF net asset ratio (market cap as a percentage of Bitcoin's total market cap) is 6.49%, and the cumulative historical net inflow has reached $57.08 billion.

Ethereum spot ETFs experienced a net outflow of $216 million during the trading week from May 18 to May 22, according to Foresight News. Data from SoSoValue indicates that the Blackrock ETF ETHA recorded the largest outflow, amounting to $189 million, bringing its historical total net inflow to $11.62 billion. Fidelity's ETF FETH followed with a weekly outflow of $21.01 million, with its historical net inflow reaching $2.18 billion. Conversely, the Blackrock ETF ETHB saw the highest net inflow of $5.52 million for the week, with a historical net inflow of $518 million.
As of the time of reporting, the total net asset value of Ethereum spot ETFs stands at $11.84 billion, with an ETF net asset ratio of 4.73% compared to Ethereum's total market capitalization. The cumulative historical net inflow for these ETFs has reached $11.62 billion.

Michael Saylor, founder and executive chairman of Bitcoin Treasury company Strategy, announced on the X platform that he has purchased bonds this week instead of Bitcoin. According to Odaily, Saylor mentioned that ₿itVac is currently recharging.

According to The Block, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin published a blog post outlining a leaner future for the Ethereum Foundation, pledging to sell less ETH and focus on "longevity over breadth" as the foundation navigates a wave of high-profile researcher departures. Buterin warned that pursuing high TPS at the cost of decentralization is "a route to mediocrity," arguing it is unacceptable for Ethereum to rely on social consensus and hard forks to recover from 34% of nodes going offline. He described ETH as Ethereum's most valuable product financially and said the EF will be a "smaller ship" and "more opinionated" going forward, with its new structure stabilizing over the next few months.

Cryptocurrency markets have seen a recovery of approximately $75 billion in total capitalization following an update from U.S. President Donald Trump regarding a peace agreement with Iran. According to Cointelegraph, Trump announced on Truth Social that a deal has been "largely negotiated" between the United States, Iran, and several Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain.
Trump stated that the agreement is subject to finalization and that the final aspects and details are currently being discussed, with an announcement expected soon. A significant component of the deal includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway whose closure has led to increased global energy prices and impacted the cost of living in many countries. The closure has also affected investments in high-risk assets like cryptocurrencies, which have seen a retreat in recent times.
The announcement comes amid a fragile ceasefire that began in early April, following several unsuccessful attempts to reach an agreement between the U.S. and Iran. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during a visit to India, reiterated Trump's demands for a peace deal, emphasizing that "Iran can never have a nuclear weapon," and that the straits should be open without tolls, with Iran required to turn over its enriched uranium.
In response to the news, the cryptocurrency market reacted positively. Bitcoin prices, which had fallen to a five-week low of $74,250 on Saturday, saw a recovery, reaching the 50-day exponential moving average at $77,000 in early trading on Sunday. However, it later fell back to $76,800 at the time of publication. Despite the minor recovery, Bitcoin remains in a downtrend, having failed to break resistance at $82,000, and is still down 39% from its peak in October.

According to the announcement from Binance, the platform is introducing a limited-time promotion for its Fiat Liquidity Provider Program. This initiative is designed to offer newly enrolled fiat market makers the highest available maker fee rebate rate during the specified Promotion Period. The promotion is set to run from 2026-06-01 00:00 (UTC) to 2026-08-30 23:59 (UTC), targeting market makers who enroll after 2026-05-11 00:00 (UTC). Participants in eligible fiat markets, including TRY, EUR, BRL, JPY, and USD, will automatically receive the highest rebate rate if they meet the qualification criteria, which requires achieving a Maker Volume Percentage of 0.5%.
The qualification review for promotional rebates will commence on 2026-06-01 00:00 (UTC), with liquidity providers undergoing weekly performance reviews. Maker fee rebates will be updated weekly starting from 2026-06-09 00:00 (UTC), based on the previous week's Spot trading performance across selected fiat markets. Existing participants who joined the program before 2026-05-11 00:00 (UTC) are not eligible for this promotion. The rebate rates for qualified fiat markets are set at -0.01% for TRY and EUR, and -0.015% for BRL, JPY, and USD. Calculations for rebates are based on the user's weekly Spot Maker Volume percentage relative to the total Binance Spot Maker Volume in each fiat market.
Qualified participants will benefit from maker rebates and standard VIP taker fees across eligible fiat markets, while unqualified markets will incur zero maker fees and standard VIP taker fees. The program is limited to specified fiat markets on Binance.com, with rebates settled in fiat currency regardless of the quote asset. Binance reserves the right to amend or terminate the program due to regulatory changes, technical issues, or other significant reasons.

Morgan Stanley has projected that the global semiconductor industry could reach a market size of $1.5 trillion by 2030, with AI-related semiconductor products contributing significantly. According to Odaily, major cloud service providers continue to maintain strong cloud capital expenditures.
Morgan Stanley's cloud capital expenditure tracker estimates that by 2026, cloud capital spending will approach $811 billion. The research highlights that proxy AI is creating increasing opportunities for CPU applications. As AI transitions from inference to execution, the intensity of GPU computing is expected to rise. The institution has raised its baseline scenario for the total addressable market (TAM) of orchestration CPUs to $79 billion, with the market's additional value forecasted to reach $238 billion.

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, disclosed on X that nearly 90% of his net worth is in ETH. According to Odaily, the remaining portion consists of approximately $40 million in on-chain fiat currency. Each dollar of this fiat is allocated to various open-source biotechnology, software, or hardware projects.

According to Bloomberg, White House chief economic adviser Kevin Hassett said an eventual Iran peace deal would send energy prices plummeting and create room for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. "As soon as there's a deal, we expect energy prices to plummet — and when that happens, there will be a lot of room for the Fed to do the right thing at lower rates," Hassett said on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures. He noted that core inflation has been "barely moving" and argued that a drop in energy costs could even produce negative inflation. The remarks came as Trump posted that Iran negotiations are "proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner." The April CPI rose 3.8%, the fastest in nearly three years, while core CPI hit 2.8%. Hassett also praised newly sworn-in Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, emphasizing he respects the central bank's independence.

Aave founder and CEO Stani Kulechov has expressed concerns over the use of Total Value Locked (TVL) as a primary metric for valuing DeFi lending protocols. According to ChainCatcher, Kulechov argued that TVL measures net collateral rather than actual lending activity. He highlighted that by the end of 2025, Aave's supply scale is projected to be around $52 billion, with active loans at approximately $22 billion and borrowing interest flow exceeding $700 million. In contrast, SoFi's deposits are estimated at $37.5 billion, with a loan book of about $38 billion and loan income around $1.8 billion.
Kulechov pointed out that in traditional finance, deposits are considered liabilities or capital costs, while loans are income-generating assets. Lenders typically evaluate based on loan books, interest income, spreads, and asset growth. However, the DeFi market tends to focus on TVL and DAO retained fees. He emphasized that Aave's lending business, under a traditional financial accounting framework, aligns more closely with a $700 million lending operation rather than a $150 million revenue protocol. Kulechov concluded that TVL is not the income foundation for lending protocols; instead, loan books and interest flows are the core metrics.

Polkadot has announced a vote on significant changes to its network staking architecture. According to ChainCatcher, the proposal, known as Referendum 1890, suggests that validators on Polkadot must lock at least 10,000 DOT as self-stake.
This reform is a prerequisite for the next phase of staking upgrades, which include features such as exemption from slashing for nominators and faster unbonding times, reducing the period from 28 days to approximately 24-48 hours. The proposed changes aim to have validators absorb slashing risks through substantial self-stake exposure, allowing nominators to continue earning staking rewards without risking their principal.
If approved, these changes will remove two major barriers to participation in Polkadot staking, thereby reducing risk for nominators and shortening exit times.

The Federal Reserve's April meeting minutes reveal a significant change in its stance, according to analyst Eamonn Sheridan. The previous emphasis on responding 'flexibly and swiftly' to economic data has been replaced with new language. According to ChainCatcher, persistent high inflation and uncertainties surrounding the Iran conflict may necessitate a prolonged pause in policy adjustments.
New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh faces a complex inflation scenario, with officials noting that rising fuel costs are impacting shipping rates and airline ticket prices, thereby spreading inflationary pressures. Market expectations suggest that if inflation does not subside, the Federal Reserve might consider raising interest rates again by late 2026 or early 2027.

According to the announcement from Binance, the platform has introduced a new Word of the Day (WOTD) game, focusing on the theme of "Binance AI Safety." This educational initiative aims to enhance users' crypto vocabulary and keep them informed about the latest market trends. The activity period is set from 2026-05-25 00:00 (UTC) to 2026-05-31 23:59 (UTC).
Participants can engage in up to two WOTD games daily, testing their knowledge on the specified topic. Users who correctly answer at least three questions during the activity period will qualify to share a 12 BNB reward pool. The distribution is based on the proportion of correct answers each user provides, with a maximum reward cap of 0.01 BNB per user. Additionally, those who achieve at least three correct answers and participate on five or more separate days will be eligible to share an extra 3 BNB reward pool equally among all qualifying participants. All rewards will be distributed by 2026-06-15 23:59 (UTC) to the users' Rewards Hub, and eligible users must claim their vouchers before they expire.
To enable a second WOTD game, users need to click the "Get A New WOTD" button after the first game and share the featured link on social media. The second game unlocks once the shared link is clicked by a logged-in user. New users registering with the "WOTD" referral code during the activity period will receive a 10% discount on Spot trading fees and may qualify for additional welcome rewards by completing tasks at the Rewards Hub within 14 days of registration.

Polkadot has introduced a proposal to set a minimum staking requirement of 10,000 DOT for validators, with voting currently underway. According to Foresight News, the proposal outlines the use of the Dynamic Allocation Pool (DAP) mechanism to optimize issuance and expenditure structures. Validators must meet the minimum staking requirement by the end of May. Additionally, nominators will no longer face forfeiture risks and will benefit from a quick unbinding period of up to two days. Starting mid-June, the protocol will implement budget splitting, separating validator staking incentives from nominator rewards management. By the end of 2026, validator operating costs are expected to transition to fixed stablecoin payments, with adjustments to the number of active validators based on actual demand.

Aptos has announced the successful implementation of three tokenomics proposals. According to Foresight News, these changes include the activation of a hard cap supply limit of 2.1 billion tokens, a reduction in staking rewards from 5.19% to 2.6%, and a tenfold increase in gas fees.

According to 10x Research's post on X, Bitcoin's trend model has flipped bear, with Strategy's signal that it could eventually sell some of its 843,000 BTC acting as a key catalyst. The firm said that shift alone has driven $2.7 billion in Bitcoin ETF outflows since May 7, with the pace accelerating and total May outflows reaching a net $1 billion. Ethereum dominance has dropped below 10% for the first time since July 2025, while Bitcoin implied volatility sits in the 6th percentile and Ethereum volatility in the 1st percentile. 10x Research identified $76,088 as Bitcoin's critical bull/bear line, noting funding rates near zero and volume at the 12th percentile signal low conviction positioning that could break sharply in either direction. The firm's core relative-value trade remains long Bitcoin versus short Ethereum.

The Nikkei 225 Index has reached a new record high, surpassing 65,000 points. According to Odaily, the index rose by 2.64% during the day.

HYPE has ascended to the 9th position in total cryptocurrency market capitalization. According to NS3.AI, its market cap has reached approximately $15.86 billion.

10x Research has reported a bearish shift in its Bitcoin trend model, attributing this change to approximately $2.7 billion in Bitcoin ETF outflows. According to NS3.AI, the firm also noted that Michael Saylor recently suggested that Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, might consider selling a portion of its 843,000 BTC holdings in the future.

A Satoshi-era miner has transferred 2,650 bitcoins to market makers FalconX and Cumberland. According to BlockBeats On-chain Detection, this transaction was monitored on May 25. The miner still retains 6,000 bitcoins.

Bitcoin has experienced a rebound as reports suggest a potential agreement between the United States and Iran. According to PANews, the market capitalization of HYPE has surpassed that of Dogecoin (DOGE). Meanwhile, Ethereum whales are reportedly facing unrealized losses amounting to billions of dollars. Additionally, SpaceX is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO), and there has been a significant increase in on-chain transactions involving AI agents.

According to Odaily, HyperInsight monitoring reveals that Loracle, the largest short position holder of HYPE, placed a $75 million short order at a price of $64 this morning. Additionally, Loracle has added new short positions in VVV. As of the time of reporting, Loracle's total short positions are valued at $143 million, with the largest position being 1.8055 million HYPE tokens, having a liquidation price of $89.

A significant cryptocurrency holder has begun unwinding a short position on HYPE, coinciding with a surge in the token's price. According to BlockBeats On-chain Detection, the whale has unstaked 443,180 HYPE tokens. Of these, 231,899 tokens have already been sold, while 211,281 tokens remain unsold.
Despite these actions, the whale still holds a short position of 141,500 HYPE tokens, with an unrealized loss exceeding $2.5 million.

A trader has liquidated 443,180 HYPE tokens valued at $27 million, according to Odaily. Prior to a price increase, the trader sold 231,899 HYPE tokens worth $14.15 million and continues to sell the remaining 211,281 HYPE tokens valued at $13 million. The trader still holds a short position of 141,500 HYPE tokens, incurring a floating loss exceeding $2.5 million.

HYPE has reached a price of $62.42, according to Coinmarketcap data. Its market capitalization is currently reported at $15.86 billion, surpassing DOGE's $15.832 billion, placing it ninth in total cryptocurrency market value.

A prominent cryptocurrency influencer with 562,800 followers, known as @nobrainflip, has purchased 11.64 million VIRL tokens. According to Odaily, the transaction is valued at $37,870.

Two previously inactive wallets have transferred 1,650 BTC to FalconX after more than a year of dormancy, according to ChainCatcher. This transaction, monitored by Lookonchain, occurred six hours ago.

As the United States and Iran appear to be nearing an agreement to end the ongoing conflict, the Bank of Israel is anticipated to lower interest rates. According to Jin10, a survey of 14 economists revealed that eight expect the central bank to reduce the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 3.75% on Monday. Rafael Gozlan, Chief Economist at IBI Investment House, stated that inflation stabilizing near the midpoint of the target range at 1.9%, along with the significant appreciation of the shekel, supports a slight rate cut. The decision will depend on geopolitical developments; if there is no major escalation, a rate cut is expected, whereas a deterioration in the situation may lead to maintaining the current rate.
The Israeli shekel closed at 2.9 shekels per U.S. dollar last Friday, marking its strongest level in over thirty years, further reinforcing market expectations of moderate future inflation. According to a survey released by the Bank of Israel on May 19, the average inflation expectation for the next 12 months has decreased from 2.3% to 1.8%. Since the last interest rate decision by the Monetary Policy Committee at the end of March, the shekel has appreciated by 8%, with a cumulative increase of nearly 24% over the past year. Other factors supporting a rate cut include the slow recovery of Israel's economy from the conflict with Iran. Even if an agreement is reached, economic growth is not expected to accelerate significantly.

WTI crude oil futures experienced a significant decline, dropping 6% in a single day. According to Odaily, the current price is reported at $90.80 per barrel.

Perp DEX Primit is set to release its test version on the Avalanche platform. According to Foresight News, this development marks a significant step for the decentralized exchange as it expands its presence in the blockchain ecosystem. The launch aims to leverage Avalanche's capabilities to enhance user experience and operational efficiency.

According to Odaily citing SoSoValue data, during the trading week (May 18 to May 22, Eastern Time), XRP spot ETFs saw net inflows of $22.04 million.The XRP spot ETF with the highest net inflows last week was the Franklin Templeton ETF XRPZ, with a weekly net inflow of $11.6978 million. XRPZ's total historical net inflows now stand at $390 million. This was followed by the Canary ETF XRPC, with a weekly net inflow of $8.032 million, bringing its total historical net inflows to $452 million.As of press time, the total net asset value of XRP spot ETFs is $1.13 billion, with the ETF net asset ratio (market cap as a percentage of XRP's total market cap) reaching 1.36%. The total cumulative historical net inflows have reached $1.41 billion.

ZetaChain is set to unlock approximately 44.43 million tokens on June 1 at 0:00 UTC+8. According to ChainCatcher, this token release is valued at around $2.21 million. The unlocking event is part of the scheduled token distribution by the Web3 asset data platform RootData.

EigenCloud (EIGEN) is set to unlock approximately 38.35 million tokens on June 1 at 5:00 AM UTC+8. According to ChainCatcher, this token release is valued at around $8.48 million.

Japan's government bonds saw an increase on Monday, leading yields to move further away from recent multi-decade highs. According to Jin10, this shift comes as signs of easing tensions in the Middle East have alleviated market concerns over inflation. Last week, Japan's 10-year government bond yield reached a 29-year high but fell by 5 basis points to 2.710% today. Similarly, the 30-year yield, which had previously hit a historic high, decreased by 5.5 basis points to 3.955%.
Japan's heavy reliance on imported energy means that the rise in oil prices due to Middle East conflicts has put pressure on the country's economic and inflation outlook. Reports last week suggested that Sanae Takaichi might introduce a supplementary budget, which heightened fiscal concerns and further impacted Japanese government bonds.
Yunosuke Ikeda, head of macro research at Nomura Securities, noted, "There remains significant uncertainty among market participants regarding Sanae Takaichi's commitment to fiscal discipline. Many investors believe it is not yet the right time to buy Japanese government bonds, even though they find the current yield levels attractive and see limited room for further significant yield increases." He added, "Takaichi is well aware of market concerns, and I think investors might be pleasantly surprised in the next two months."

According to NS3.AI, recent data from SoSoValue indicates a varied performance across different cryptocurrency sectors. The Real-World Asset (RWA) sector experienced a rise of 1.92%, while the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) sector saw a decline of 4.18%. During this period of market consolidation, Bitcoin recorded a slight increase of 0.33%, whereas Ethereum experienced a decrease of 0.94%.

Solana-based DeFi project Solstice has announced changes to its Season Two dashboard's Total Value Locked (TVL) requirements. According to Foresight News, the project will shift from a single-point snapshot to a time-weighted average (TWA) for TVL calculations. This adjustment aims to reward users who maintain consistent participation by considering both the size and duration of their holdings.
The TWA TVL will directly impact eligibility for the three-month linear release option and the multiplier calculation for Season Two, while the nine-month release option remains unaffected. Solstice has stated that once SLX claims are open, users will have a 10-day grace period to adjust their TVL to meet the required levels. Failure to maintain the necessary TVL after this period will result in the loss of the Season Two multiplier or any unlocked three-month tokens.

Gold jewelry prices in China have increased, with several brands reporting a rise compared to the previous day. According to Jin10, the prices have climbed to over 1,390 yuan per gram, marking an increase of approximately 13 yuan per gram.

Hyperbot data reveals that Huang Licheng, known as Machi Big Brother, has faced partial liquidation of his 25x leveraged Ethereum long position. According to Odaily, he has continued to add to his position, now holding 5,950 ETH valued at approximately $12.5 million. The position shows a floating profit of $25,000, with a return on investment of 5.05%.