Bitcoin
Ukraine considers establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve.
The Ukrainian government is preparing to establish relevant legislation for a national strategic Bitcoin reserve. It is reported that Ukraine currently holds approximately 46,351 BTC, valued at about $4.8 billion. These Bitcoins mainly come from donations during the war, asset seizures, and fundraising activities. Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak stated that the relevant bill has entered the final drafting stage and is expected to be submitted to parliament for review soon. The bill aims to formally integrate Bitcoin into the national fiscal strategy. Previously, the Ukrainian parliament had passed a virtual asset bill, but it was withdrawn under pressure from the presidential office and the national securities commission. Currently, the national securities commission has proposed 80 amendments to improve the legal framework for crypto assets. This initiative by Ukraine marks an increasing emphasis on cryptocurrency within its national financial strategy.
The US spot Bitcoin ETF saw a net outflow of $478.7 million this week.
According to TraderT monitoring, the US spot Bitcoin ETF saw a net outflow of $478.7 million this week.
The US fast-food chain Steak 'n Shake now supports Bitcoin payments.
According to the official X account of Steak 'n Shake, its stores now support Bitcoin payments, with the caption 'The revolution is underway,' signed 'Steaktoshi' in tribute to Satoshi Nakamoto, symbolizing the embrace of digital currency by traditional fast-food brands. Last week, it was reported that all Steak 'n Shake locations began accepting Bitcoin payments from May 16.
Luxury watch manufacturer Top Win partners with Sora Ventures to implement a Bitcoin reserve strategy.
Luxury watch manufacturer Top Win officially rebranded as AsiaStrategy and announced a partnership with Sora Ventures to implement a Bitcoin reserve strategy. Sora Ventures founder Jason Fang will join the board of AsiaStrategy and serve as co-CEO. This move marks another listed company joining the Bitcoin reserve trend, similar to the business model of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy). AsiaStrategy stated it will continue its luxury watch manufacturing business while concurrently developing a Bitcoin accumulation strategy.
Blockchain company Coinsilium raises £1.25 million to establish Bitcoin reserves.
British blockchain company Coinsilium Group announces the raising of £1.25 million, planning to establish a Bitcoin reserve vault.
The Nasdaq-listed company Heritage will accept Bitcoin and Dogecoin as payment methods.
Whiskey manufacturer Heritage Distilling (NASDAQ: CASK) announced the implementation of a cryptocurrency financial strategy, accepting Bitcoin and Dogecoin as payment methods and holding them as strategic assets, led by the technology and cryptocurrency committee of the board, chaired by Matt Swann.
Ethereum
The Ethereum Foundation announces the launch of the 'Trillion Dollar Security Initiative'.
The Ethereum Foundation announced the launch of the 'Trillion Dollar Security Initiative' on May 14, 2025, aimed at comprehensively enhancing the security performance of the Ethereum ecosystem to support global economic infrastructure levels. The initiative will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the security status across all layers of the Ethereum technology stack, implement key improvements, and strengthen security communication. The project is led by Fredrik Svantes and Josh Stark, with support from three experts in blockchain security. The Ethereum Foundation also calls on community members to provide feedback through designated channels to participate in this security upgrade plan.
1confirmation founder: optimistic about the long-term value of L2 for Ethereum.
Nick Tomaino, founder of 1confirmation, emphasized the positive impact of L2 solutions on Ethereum (ETH) in a social media post, noting that application chains provide autonomy for developers while also bringing value to Ethereum. He stated that L2 has multiple benefits: distributing ETH, expanding the EVM developer network effect, and burning ETH through activities, and remarked that 'most people still believe the false narrative that L2 success is detrimental to ETH.'
The Ethereum Fusaka upgrade aims to introduce PeerDAS to reduce costs for L2 and validators.
Following the successful deployment of the Pectra upgrade, Ethereum core developers have shifted their focus to the next major upgrade, 'Fusaka', scheduled to go live by the end of 2025. It has been confirmed that proposals related to PeerDAS will be included, aiming to reduce the operating costs of Layer 2 scaling solutions and validators. PeerDAS (Peer-to-Peer Data Availability Sampling) is a data availability sampling mechanism that allows nodes to verify its availability without downloading the entire dataset, thereby improving network efficiency and reducing resource consumption. This mechanism is expected to further optimize Ethereum's scaling capabilities, enhancing the network's scalability and decentralization features. The specific content of the Fusaka upgrade is still under discussion, but developers have reached a consensus on introducing PeerDAS.
Xiao Feng: The Ethereum Foundation should not stay away from the Chinese market, suggesting to set up an office in Hong Kong.
According to a message from ThreeDAO on WeChat, the founder of Wanxiang Blockchain, Xiao Feng, suggested that the Ethereum Foundation set up an office in Hong Kong during a private conversation with Vitalik. Xiao pointed out that blockchain developers are mainly concentrated in the English-speaking and Chinese-speaking worlds, losing the Chinese market means losing an important global developer resource. Vitalik stated that the Ethereum Foundation's development force in Berlin mainly engages in underlying technology work, and the underlying technology of Ethereum is now mature, with only optimization space remaining. Xiao jokingly said to Vitalik: 'We have the 11th Blockchain Conference in Shanghai in October. If you come and get caught, I will go to jail with you.' He then pointed out that this was just a joke and emphasized that, in fact, China's technical departments, government agencies, and developer communities respect Ethereum technology and suggest that the foundation should not stay away from the Chinese market.
Ethereum co-founder: Ethereum is an alternative to Bitcoin, not a competitor.
At the Consensus 2025 conference, Ethereum co-founder Anthony Di Iorio stated that Ethereum 'is not meant to be a competitor to Bitcoin, but rather an alternative.' He recalled the early development of Ethereum, saying, 'We could feel it was rising.' Di Iorio initially entered the crypto field by advocating for Bitcoin and met Vitalik Buterin at a Bitcoin meetup in Toronto in 2012. He emphasized, 'Ethereum has the potential to eventually surpass Bitcoin in market capitalization... Given the number of use cases and the value Ethereum can create, I believe it has that opportunity.'
$908 billion in Ethereum on-chain stablecoin trading volume in April, setting a new historical high.
According to Techinasia, in April 2025, the Ethereum on-chain stablecoin trading volume reached a historical high of $908 billion, showcasing its increasing application in the financial sector. In this growth trend, USDC performed outstandingly, with a trading volume exceeding $500 billion in the past six months. Other stablecoins, such as DAI and USDS, also showed active trading momentum, indicating a diversification trend in the stablecoin market. Corporate giants like Meta and Stripe are currently exploring or launching stablecoin-based payment solutions. Despite competition, Ethereum remains the preferred blockchain platform for stablecoin applications due to the continuous increase in trading volume and strong corporate interest.
Other projects
The DeFi platform Exponential, supported by Paradigm, launches a cross-chain yield optimizer YO.
According to The Block, the DeFi platform Exponential, backed by crypto venture capital Paradigm, has launched a cross-chain yield optimizer YO. The platform integrates yield opportunities from protocols like Morpho and Pendle on Base, Ethereum, and Solana chains through a standardized risk framework and automated strategies. Its core innovation lies in the 'single vault multi-chain deployment' model, which simplifies operations for beginners while enhancing efficiency for professional users. Exponential completed a $14 million seed round in 2022, led by Paradigm with follow-on investments from Haun Ventures and others. The institutional-level DeFi risk assessment system developed by the team over several years serves as the infrastructure for YO, currently supporting users in automatically obtaining multi-chain optimal risk-adjusted yields through a single deposit.
The DeFi rating project Exponential launches the DeFi platform YO, providing services for beginners and professionals.
The DeFi rating project Exponential, supported by Paradigm, launched a yield optimization DeFi platform named YO, aimed at providing services for beginners and professionals. The company stated that the platform aims to significantly simplify DeFi by eliminating fragmentation and automatically searching for the 'best' opportunities to earn yields on Base, Ethereum, and Solana. Previously reported, on October 3, 2022, the DeFi rating project Exponential announced the completion of a $14 million seed round financing, which was led by Paradigm, with participation from Haun Ventures, FTX Ventures, Solana Ventures, Polygon, Circle Ventures, and over 80 angel investors.
Abstract may launch an official cross-chain bridge.
According to a preview image released by Abstract Chain developer @0xCygaar, Abstract may launch an official cross-chain bridge.
Allora collaborates with Mind Network to launch the first privacy-preserving price oracle, FHE TrustPrice Index.
On May 16, it was announced that Mind Network and Allora Network reached a strategic cooperation to jointly launch the first privacy-preserving price oracle for DeFi scenarios, the FHE TrustPrice Index. Additionally, Mind Network has open-sourced the Mind Voter prototype codebase, demonstrating the core operational mechanism of this system through the encrypted acquisition, submission, and aggregation process of BTC prices and providing reference solutions for developers to build FHE-compatible proxies.
Mastercard will collaborate with MoonPay to launch a new stablecoin payment card.
Mastercard partners with crypto payment company MoonPay to launch stablecoin payment card services for 150 million merchants globally. The service is based on the technology framework of Iron, a stablecoin payment company acquired by MoonPay in March this year, and will automatically convert transactions to fiat currency.
