BSC News

On-chain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence has flagged a significant Ethereum withdrawal, with two newly created wallet addresses pulling a combined $125.91 million in $ETH from @krakenfx and @BitGo. The move has drawn immediate attention from traders and analysts, with Arkham noting that the purchase patterns closely mirror prior accumulation behavior linked to @fundstrat and @BitMNR.
Fresh Wallets, Familiar Patterns
Blockchain data shows the two newly created wallets withdrew a combined 44,523 ETH, valued at approximately $125.91 million during the withdrawal period. One wallet received ETH from Kraken, while the second withdrew funds from BitGo shortly afterward. The use of fresh addresses is consistent with institutional practice. Analysts quickly flagged the movement because fresh wallets rarely handle such large sums, and most institutional buyers tend to prefer new addresses for security reasons.
Arkham's flag connecting the activity to Bitmine is notable given the company's well-documented accumulation strategy. Arkham Intelligence data showed that a total of 60,000 Ether was recently deposited into two newly created crypto wallets believed to belong to Bitmine, worth about $125.9 million. The holdings were traced from Kraken and digital-asset custodian BitGo to wallets linked to Bitmine, which as of May 17 held 5,278,462 Ether, equal to 4.37% of Ethereum's circulating supply of 120.7 million ETH.
Bitmine's Relentless ETH Accumulation
Bitmine Immersion Technologies ($BMNR), chaired by Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee, has been one of the most active institutional buyers of Ethereum in 2026. The company's crypto holdings rank as the number one Ethereum treasury and the number two global crypto treasury, behind Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ: MSTR). Since the start of 2026, Bitmine has acquired over one million ETH and has accumulated more than 4.3% of the ETH supply, with the firm's holdings effectively reducing available supply as tokens are staked and removed from circulation.
Bitmine may slow the pace of its ETH accumulation as it inches closer to its accumulation goal, Chairman Tom Lee indicated at Consensus 2026 in Miami. The firm has recently been acquiring roughly 100,000 ETH per week and could hit its 5% supply target within six weeks. Whether the latest $125.91 million withdrawal represents another leg of that strategy remains unconfirmed, but the on-chain fingerprints have been enough to put the market on notice.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
Sources:
CoinFomania: ETH Whales Move $125M, Is Tom Lee Quietly Buying Ethereum?
Bloomingbit: BitMine Shows Signs of Buying 60,000 More Ether
CoinDesk: Bitmine May Slow ETH Purchases as It Nears Accumulation Goal

TVL Climbs More Than 75% in Under Two Months
The total value locked on @Coredao_Org's $CORE network has nearly doubled since the start of April. According to data from DefiLlama, TVL on the Bitcoin-focused chain grew from $4.71 million on April 4 to $8.25 million at the time of writing, representing more than 75% growth in under two months.
The recovery is notable, even if the figures remain a long way from the network's former peak. Core DAO's TVL crossed $1 billion in December 2024, a milestone that reflected the network's early momentum in the BTCfi space. The subsequent drawdown has been steep, but the recent uptick suggests that capital is beginning to return to the network.
Core is not alone in facing this kind of retracement. Across the broader DeFi landscape, many protocols and networks saw significant reductions in locked capital following the peaks of late 2024, as risk appetite cooled and liquidity consolidated into more established venues.
A Bitcoin-Focused Chain With a Distinct Model
Core DAO positions itself as a Bitcoin-native DeFi platform. Its Satoshi Plus consensus mechanism combines Delegated Proof of Work from Bitcoin miners with Delegated Proof of Stake using $CORE tokens, leveraging Bitcoin's security while enabling non-custodial staking and low transaction fees under $0.01.
Through self-custodial Bitcoin staking, Core enables users to earn rewards by timelocking their Bitcoin directly on the Bitcoin blockchain while maintaining full custody, powering an EVM-compatible blockchain with a growing suite of Bitcoin DeFi applications.
The network's Dual Staking model, which allows $BTC holders to boost yields by also staking $CORE tokens, has been a key driver of ecosystem engagement. As of May 2025, roughly one third of all $CORE staked was dual staked alongside Bitcoin. Earlier in the year, Core's DeFi TVL denominated in CORE grew 40% quarter-over-quarter in Q1 2025 to reach 1.1 billion CORE.
Whether the current dollar-denominated TVL recovery can build into something more sustained will depend on broader market conditions and the network's ability to attract and retain liquidity. For now, the trajectory is pointing in the right direction.
Sources:
DefiLlama: Core Chain TVL and DeFi Metrics
Coinfomania: CoreDAO DeFi Ecosystem Grows 40% in Q1
Core DAO: Why Bitcoin Holders Are Becoming CORE Holders

$GRASS Surges 32% in Seven Days
The @Grass native token is emerging as one of the stronger altcoin performers of the week, posting a gain of more than 32% over the past seven days and pushing its market capitalization toward the $100M mark. According to CoinMarketCap, the token's live market cap has crossed $100M, a level that puts it back on the radar of traders tracking the DePIN space.
The weekly move stands out against a broader market that has been largely flat. Grass has been outperforming the global cryptocurrency market, which was down roughly 2.9% over the same period, as well as comparable Solana ecosystem tokens. Despite the strong weekly print, the token remains down around 6% on the month, a reminder that the broader recovery from its lows is still a work in progress. $GRASS hit an all-time high of $3.90 in November 2024 and an all-time low of $0.1663 in February 2026.
DePIN Narrative Finds Fresh Momentum
$GRASS sits at the intersection of two closely watched themes: decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) and AI data. Grass Network enables users to monetize unused internet bandwidth by contributing to a network that scrapes public web data for AI training, transforming idle bandwidth into structured datasets used in AI model development. The network is powered by over 3 million users running nodes to scrape petabytes of data for AI models.
The project's fundamentals have been building quietly. The project has reported $33M in verified revenue and serves major AI clients. GRASS was also listed on OKX for spot trading in April 2026, a move that broadened its accessibility and likely contributed to the pickup in volume.
The token's renewed momentum arrives as the wider DePIN sector attempts to regain footing after a difficult 2025. DePIN led a surprising rebound at the start of 2026 after being one of the weakest-performing sectors the prior year. By early 2026, DePIN's combined market capitalisation sits in the $910 billion range, larger than the oracles sector, while generating tens of millions in monthly on-chain revenue. Whether $GRASS can hold its gains and push toward meaningful resistance levels will depend on whether that broader sector momentum continues.
Sources:
Grass (GRASS) Price and Market Data, CoinMarketCap
DePIN Crypto Sector 2026, KuCoin
DePIN and Crypto Gaming Led a Surprising Rebound, Blockworks

@TrustlessState David Hoffman, co-founder of the popular crypto media platform @Bankless, has publicly announced that he sold the last of his personal $ETH holdings. The disclosure did not specify the exact amount of ETH sold or the total value of the transaction. The move has surprised many in the crypto community, given that Hoffman had built much of his public profile around a strongly pro-Ethereum investment thesis, making him one of Ethereum's most outspoken supporters.
The End of Bankless's First Era
The sale coincided with a significant structural shift at Bankless. Co-founder @RyanSAdams posted that "the first era of Bankless has ended," describing the moment as the conclusion of his six-year collaboration with Hoffman exploring crypto, DeFi and Ethereum. Adams is stepping into a more backseat role at Bankless, reducing his involvement in content direction and guest interviews while continuing to appear regularly on the podcast and supporting Hoffman as he takes over leadership of the platform.
Adams, for his part, stated that he remains optimistic on $ETH, and despite stepping back operationally, said the transition marks the beginning of a new chapter for the platform rather than a departure from crypto. The two co-founders are now moving in notably different directions: Adams stopped short of endorsing Hoffman's move, with one co-founder liquidating his position while the other quietly steps back from the mic but insists he is still optimistic.
Broader Context for Ethereum
Bankless has been one of Ethereum's loudest and most effective megaphones since 2019, evangelizing DeFi, helping thousands navigate self-custody, and turning "bankless" from a slogan into a lifestyle brand. Hoffman's exit from $ETH is therefore more than a personal portfolio decision. According to reports, Hoffman pointed to a significant shift in crypto Twitter sentiment over the past two weeks, and his move was not a rebalancing. It was a clean exit.
Ethereum's recent price performance has fallen short compared to several major crypto assets, with the token hovering around $2,111 at the time of writing, marking a decline of about 57% from its all-time high recorded in August 2025. Ethereum has underperformed Bitcoin every single week of May 2026. Against that backdrop, Hoffman's clean exit from one of crypto's most prominent Ethereum advocates carries weight beyond one person's wallet.
Sources:
Crypto Briefing: Bankless co-founder sells last of his ETH as media outlet enters second era
Blockchain Reporter: Bankless Co-Founder Dumps All ETH As First Era Closes
Crypto.news: Bankless reportedly axes most of team as co-founder declares end of first era

A $54 Million Bitcoin Transfer Hits OKX
Blockchain tracker @whale_alert has flagged a sizeable on-chain move: an unknown wallet sent 717 $BTC, worth approximately $54.2 million, to the @OKX exchange. The transfer landed on May 23, 2026, and quickly drew attention from traders monitoring large exchange inflows.
The identity of the sender remains unknown. Whale Alert tracks and reports large cryptocurrency transactions across multiple blockchains, broadcasting significant transfers in real time to help the community monitor large-holder activity.
What Does a Large CEX Deposit Actually Signal?
Moving Bitcoin to a centralized exchange is widely read as a potential precursor to selling. As OKX's own research notes, when whales transfer large amounts of $BTC to exchanges, it often signals an intent to sell, increasing selling pressure and potentially pushing prices lower. Analysis from CryptoRank adds that large inflows to exchanges often correlate with increased volatility, as they raise the immediate supply of Bitcoin available on the platform's order books.
That said, a single transfer is not a definitive signal. The sender could equally be moving funds for custodial reasons, to collateralize a loan, to access exchange-based financial products, or simply to consolidate wallets. The pseudonymous nature of Bitcoin addresses makes it difficult to identify the party involved or their precise motive without additional context such as wallet history or subsequent trading activity.
Market analysts generally treat these events as one data point among many. Sustained periods of exchange inflow carry more weight than any single transaction, and broader metrics such as derivatives positioning, stablecoin flows, and long-term holder behavior all factor into a complete picture of selling pressure.
For now, the 717 $BTC transfer remains an open question. Traders watching OKX order book activity in the hours and days ahead will be looking for signs of whether the coins are sold into the market or simply parked on the exchange.
Sources:
Whale Alert: Blockchain transaction tracker
OKX Research: Whales Selling BTC and Price Impact
CryptoRank: Bitcoin Whale Transfer to OKX Analysis

The @pudgypenguins token $PENGU fell more than 14% in the past 24 hours on May 23, 2026, making it the worst performer among CoinMarketCap's top-100 cryptocurrencies for the session. @JupiterExchange's $JUP and @Chiliz's $CHZ also recorded daily losses, though neither matched the scale of $PENGU's decline.
Supply Pressure in Focus
The sell-off comes after a turbulent few weeks for the token. On May 17, 2026, approximately 703 million PENGU tokens vested and became available to early investors, team allocations, and ecosystem partners. The vesting cadence continues monthly through July at the same 703 million size each cycle. Analysts had flagged the risk ahead of the unlock. DNTV Research analyst Bradley Park cautioned that PENGU's rally in late April may have been orchestrated to absorb the token unlock, with data showing the unlocked tokens were quickly dispersed to 19 wallets, a pattern suggesting large holders sold into the rally's liquidity.
The monthly unlocks pose ongoing supply-side risks through at least July 2028. The SEC filing for the Canary PENGU ETF explicitly states that Pudgy Penguins has not announced any particular use for PENGU or any benefit for PENGU holders other than closer association with the Pudgy Penguins community, and that the token has very few identified use cases apart from a collector's item.
Brand Strength vs. Token Performance
The price pressure sits awkwardly alongside the project's broader business momentum. The Pudgy Penguins ecosystem has generated $40 million in revenue through its expansion into physical merchandise, content, and digital collectibles. The brand ships physical toys to Walmart, Target, and Amazon through Pudgy Toys, runs one of the most successful PFP NFT collections on Ethereum, and offers a branded debit card through a Kast partnership accepted at 150 million merchants across 170 countries.
However, the lack of value accrual mechanisms, such as automatic token buybacks or revenue-sharing systems, means that business growth does not directly benefit token holders, creating a valuation disconnect where the brand's success does not automatically translate to token appreciation. CBOE has filed for a PENGU and Pudgy Penguins ETF listing, a regulatory milestone no other memecoin has crossed in 2026. Whether that catalyst is enough to offset persistent selling pressure from vesting schedules remains the central question for holders.
Sources:
Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) price and market data, CoinMarketCap
Pudgy Penguins Revenue Surges $40M as PENGU Token Faces Unlock Pressures, AInvest
PENGU Up 17% Then a 703M Token Release Hits May 17, Phemex Blog

No Outflow Days Since April 30
Spot $XRP ETFs have now gone the entire month of May without recording a single day of net outflows. The last time investors pulled more capital than they put in was April 30, when net redemptions amounted to just $5.83 million. Since then, the products have attracted consistent daily inflows, bringing the monthly total to approximately $116.74 million. The funds collectively hold $1.13 billion worth of $XRP.
The unbroken run adds to an already strong year for the products. XRP spot ETFs have pulled in $1.39 billion in cumulative net inflows since their November 2025 launch, per SoSoValue, with May already surpassing April's $81.59 million to become the strongest month of 2026. That pace puts $XRP ahead of most other altcoin ETF products. In total, all spot XRP ETFs have added over $1.37 billion in inflows, making them the third-largest after Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Broader Context: Institutional Appetite Holds Firm
The consistency of inflows is notable given that broader crypto ETF demand has been uneven. The US spot XRP ETF recorded $60.5 million in weekly inflows at its strongest weekly performance of 2026, standing out while Bitcoin ETF products saw almost $1 billion in withdrawals over the same period and Ethereum products suffered approximately $65 million in withdrawals. Italy's largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, also drew attention after putting $18 million into the Grayscale XRP Trust.
The renewed interest follows Ripple's closing of a $200 million debt facility for its Ripple Prime brokerage and a successful pilot tokenized U.S. Treasury settlement on the XRP Ledger with JPMorgan, Mastercard, and Ondo Finance. @bgarlinghouse and the @Ripple team have pointed to these institutional use cases as evidence of real-world utility beyond speculative trading, a narrative that appears to be resonating with allocators.
Several major financial firms now offer XRP ETF products, including Franklin Templeton, Bitwise, Grayscale, Canary Capital, and 21Shares. XRP ETFs have recorded net positive inflows in roughly 77% of weeks since they launched in November 2025, with outflows occurring in just six weeks out of about 26 trading weeks.
Whether the pace of inflows is enough to translate into a sustained price move for $XRP remains an open question. May was the best inflow month of the year, and XRP still did not break out, suggesting the current run-rate of ETF demand is not yet the variable that re-rates the price.
Sources:
CoinDesk: Spot XRP ETFs Attract Biggest Inflows Since January
24/7 Wall St: Ripple XRP ETF Inflows Near $1.4 Billion
The Coin Republic: XRP Price Faces Key Test as ETF Inflows Hit 2026 High

PancakeSwap Pulls Ahead on Weekly Fees
@PancakeSwap has generated approximately $1.78 million in protocol fees over the past week, edging out @Base, the Ethereum Layer 2 network backed by @Coinbase, which brought in roughly $997,000 over the same period. The comparison is striking given that Base has established itself as one of the most active L2 networks in the broader Ethereum ecosystem.
The figure is not a criticism of Base. It is instead a reflection of just how productive the $CAKE platform has become. PancakeSwap processed $2.36 trillion in trading volume during 2025 and captured 37.8% of total DEX market share, entering 2026 on the back of a record-breaking year. The protocol has built a substantial and loyal user base, with over 35 million unique traders using the platform in 2025 alone.
PancakeSwap generates revenue through trading fees that typically range from 0.17% to 0.25% per swap, alongside farm and pool fees and lottery mechanisms. That diversified fee model has helped the protocol sustain strong revenue even during quieter market periods.
Context Around Base's Fee Numbers
The comparison with Base is worth examining carefully. In 2025, Base generated $78.2 million in total network sequencer revenue across L1 fees, L2 base fees, and L2 priority fees. On a weekly basis, however, sequencer revenue can vary considerably depending on network activity levels, which explains the relatively modest $997,000 figure cited for the period in question.
Base's core distribution advantage is that on-chain activity can become a byproduct of Coinbase product usage, a user acquisition channel not available to other L2 networks, which must primarily rely on incentive programs to attract liquidity and users. That structural edge has helped Base dominate the L2 revenue landscape over longer timeframes, even if individual weekly snapshots can tell a different story.
For PancakeSwap, outpacing a prominent, well-funded L2 network on a weekly fee basis underscores the platform's continued relevance. PancakeSwap has the biggest revenues per holder for $CAKE, with DEX fees returning to levels not seen since the 2021 bull market. In April 2025, PancakeSwap Infinity launched, representing a major redesign of how liquidity pools work and how fees are managed. That upgrade, combined with sustained trading activity across BNB Chain and several other supported networks, has kept the protocol firmly at the front of the DeFi fee leaderboard.
Sources:
PancakeSwap Protocol Data, DefiLlama
PancakeSwap Leads Revenue-Sharing Tokens, Cryptopolitan
The Case for Base, DWF Labs Research

@Grayscale has submitted its third amended S-1 registration statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed spot Hyperliquid ETF, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst @JSeyff. Grayscale, the world's largest digital asset-focused investment platform with an AUM of $35 billion, is pushing ahead with the product as institutional appetite for $HYPE grows.
What the Filing Adds
One of the most significant changes in the latest amendment is the addition of staking. The ETF may allow investors to indirectly earn staking rewards generated from HYPE tokens held by the trust, meaning the product could offer exposure to both HYPE price movements and blockchain staking yields. Grayscale has clarified that staking functionality would still depend on regulatory approval and tax compliance requirements. The filing also notes that the ETF could eventually be renamed the "Grayscale Hyperliquid Staking ETF" if approved for listing on Nasdaq.
If approved, the product is expected to trade under the ticker GHYP on US exchanges. Anchorage Digital Bank has replaced Coinbase as custodian, while BNY Mellon continues to handle administrative and transfer-agent duties.
A Three-Way Race for $HYPE
Grayscale is entering a market that is already moving. Bitwise launched its spot HYPE ETF on the New York Stock Exchange on May 15 under the ticker BHYP, entering the market days after 21Shares launched the first-ever Hyperliquid ETF on May 12. Daily net inflows for the two live Hyperliquid ETFs have grown roughly 8x since launch, reaching about $11 million on May 19, with total net assets crossing $30 million as HYPE trades at around $51.31.
21Shares filed its own S-1 in October, proposing a passive vehicle tracking HYPE's price using Coinbase and BitGo as custodians. Its THYP product trades on Nasdaq and tracks the FTSE Hyperliquid Index, with a 0.30% fee. Bitwise's BHYP delivers staking rewards to investors through its own in-house staking division and was the first asset manager to file a Form S-1 for a Hyperliquid ETF, submitting it in September ahead of similar filings by 21Shares and Grayscale.
HYPE is now the 10th-largest crypto asset by market capitalisation, sitting near $11 billion despite less than two years of trading history. The platform processed $2.9 trillion in perpetual futures trading volume in 2025, a rise of more than 400% from the prior year, and now handles approximately $8 billion in daily volume, according to DeFiLlama data.
Grayscale's GHYP filing remains under SEC review. The inclusion of staking is a differentiator but also a potential source of additional scrutiny, as regulators continue to assess whether staking rewards constitute securities yields.
Sources:
Coinpedia: Grayscale Moves Closer to HYPE ETF Launch With Third SEC Amendment Filing
CoinMarketCap: Bitwise Hyperliquid ETF Launches on NYSE
The Block: Grayscale's Amended Hyperliquid ETF Filing

The @SECGov has approved @Nasdaq's proposal to list index options based on the price of $BTC, the latest step in the growing integration of digital assets into traditional financial markets. The decision, announced on Friday, came five days before the May 27 statutory deadline set by regulators.
A New Instrument for US Equity Traders
The instruments will give US equity traders an alternative way to gain exposure to the price of Bitcoin, beyond existing options on products such as the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF. Crucially, the new options are distinct from those already available on spot Bitcoin ETFs. Nasdaq Bitcoin Index options will be based on the CME CF Bitcoin Real Time Index divided by a factor of 100, and will be cash-settled with European-style exercise. That structure means traders receive a cash payment at settlement rather than taking delivery of the underlying asset or ETF shares, offering a cleaner route to pure Bitcoin price exposure through regulated US markets.
A Long Road to Approval
Nasdaq PHLX LLC filed the proposal with the SEC on September 23, 2025, seeking permission to list and trade Nasdaq Bitcoin Index options. The path to approval was not straightforward. On December 23, 2025, the Commission instituted proceedings to determine whether to approve or disapprove the proposed rule change. Those proceedings reflected SEC concerns around index integrity, wash trading, and surveillance-sharing arrangements with the underlying crypto exchanges. The Commission subsequently designated May 27, 2026, as the final deadline by which it would either approve or disapprove the proposal.
Friday's approval arrives as institutional demand for Bitcoin derivatives continues to build. The decision is seen as the latest sign that Wall Street is becoming more tightly integrated with the world of digital assets. For market participants, the addition of index-level options alongside spot ETF options deepens the toolkit available for hedging and speculation on Bitcoin price moves within fully regulated venues.
Sources:
Bloomberg: Nasdaq Wins SEC Approval to List Bitcoin Index Options
Federal Register: Nasdaq PHLX LLC Notice of Designation of Longer Period for Commission Action
SEC: Order Instituting Proceedings on Nasdaq Bitcoin Index Options (PDF)

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair @RepJamesComer sent letters on Friday to the chief executives of @Polymarket and @Kalshi, formally opening an investigation into whether users of the two prediction market platforms have been exploiting non-public information to place profitable trades.
What the investigation covers
In the letters, Comer requests documents and information to assess how the platforms verify the identities of domestic and foreign account holders, enforce geographic restrictions, and monitor suspicious trading activity to guard against insider trading. Both platforms have been given two weeks to comply. Comer warned that the cryptocurrency infrastructure and the anonymity it affords users "may have created unintended structural conditions that bad actors, especially individuals with national security clearances, can exploit."
Comer has also signaled he may pursue legislation to bar members of Congress, administration officials, and other government employees from participating in prediction markets. "There's a concern now that members of Congress, members of the president's administration, any type of government employee, can use basic insider knowledge and make huge profits on anything government-related," Comer told CNBC.
The cases that triggered the probe
A U.S. Army Special Forces master sergeant was arrested in April for allegedly using classified information to make highly profitable bets on Polymarket related to the American military mission that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. The sergeant, Gannon Ken Van Dyke, was involved in the planning and execution of Operation Absolute Resolve, which apprehended Maduro and his wife in early January. In total, Van Dyke allegedly profited approximately $409,881.
According to a recent New York Times investigation, more than 80 Polymarket users placed suspiciously timed bets, including wagers made hours before undisclosed U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran, raising concerns that safeguards across prediction market platforms may be inadequate.
In April, Kalshi suspended three congressional candidates who wagered on their own candidacies. The prediction market platform now bans members of Congress from creating accounts.
Both companies responded to the probe with measured statements. "As a US-regulated exchange we are proud of our comprehensive protections against insider trading," said Kalshi's head of communications, Elisabeth Diana. A spokesperson for Polymarket said the company "maintains a comprehensive market integrity framework" and looks forward to engaging with the committee "on how our platform is a pioneer in transparency."
Prediction market volumes could peak at roughly $1 trillion by 2030 as the sector evolves from niche wagering into broad-based information markets, according to a Bernstein report from April. Volumes hit $51 billion last year and could reach about $240 billion in 2026. "This growing pattern of insider trading activity on prediction market platforms indicates that Congressional action may be necessary," Comer concluded.
Sources:
House Oversight Committee: Comer Launches Investigation Into Insider Trading on Prediction Market Platforms
CNBC: Oversight Chairman Comer launches congressional probe into insider trading on Kalshi, Polymarket
U.S. Department of Justice: U.S. Soldier Charged With Using Classified Information To Profit From Prediction Market Bets

The XRP Ledger ($XRP) has broken into the top four on @RWA_xyz's global rankings, carrying $4.1 billion across 302 tokenized real-world assets. The move is a significant one for a network that sat outside the top 10 just a year ago. Among permissioned chains, XRPL now sits third, trailing only Canton and Provenance.
A landmark cross-bank pilot
The ranking shift coincides with a high-profile institutional milestone. Ondo Finance announced the successful completion of the first near real-time cross-border, cross-bank redemption of a tokenized U.S. Treasury fund, conducted in collaboration with Kinexys by J.P. Morgan, Mastercard, and @Ripple. The pilot ran on XRPL as the execution layer.
As part of the pilot, Ripple redeemed a portion of its Ondo Short-Term U.S. Government Treasuries (OUSG) holdings on XRPL. Ondo processed the redemption and initiated a fiat payout instruction via the Mastercard Multi-Token Network, which routed the instruction to Kinexys by J.P. Morgan. Kinexys then debited Ondo's Blockchain Deposit Account and settled U.S. dollar proceeds to Ripple's bank account in Singapore via its correspondent banking network.
Completed in under five seconds, rather than the usual one to three business days, the pilot highlighted a hybrid model in which XRPL handled the asset token movement while traditional banking rails facilitated fiat settlement. The result establishes a framework for 24/7, near real-time cross-border settlement across global banks for tokenized asset redemption.
Energy-backed tokens and network activity
The biggest single asset on the ledger is Justoken's JMWH, a $1.76 billion energy-backed token, while Ondo Finance's tokenized U.S. Treasuries and Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin account for a combined $705 million on XRPL. The network recorded a two-month high in activity alongside the growth in energy-backed tokenization projects, and Ondo's OUSG printed its largest single mint on the chain.
The CFTC and SEC jointly classified XRP as a digital commodity in March, removing the last major regulatory barrier for U.S. institutions considering the network. The August 2025 settlement removed the litigation overhang, and the March classification gave asset managers' legal teams the green light to commit capital. That regulatory backdrop has accelerated a string of institutional partnerships. Societe Generale launched its euro stablecoin on XRPL, Aviva Investors announced a tokenization partnership with Ripple, and Deutsche Bank integrated Ripple's technology for cross-border payments.
Whether @Ripple's institutional thesis is finally getting priced into ripple:native remains an open question. The market has yet to price in the infrastructure growth, with XRP trading well below its 2025 high. The key test for XRPL is converting its growing position as a dominant tokenization warehouse into sustained, active on-chain financial flows.
Sources:
Ondo, Kinexys by J.P. Morgan, Mastercard, and Ripple official press release (PR Newswire)
Ripple's XRPL Linked to Interbank System in Major Pilot With JPMorgan, Mastercard, Ondo (CryptoPotato)
XRP Ledger Tokenized $3 Billion in Real-World Assets (24/7 Wall St.)

The @CantonFdn has approved CIP-0116, tightening the requirements for Featured App status on @CantonNetwork by making it conditional on locking canton-network:native tokens on-chain. The change shifts qualification away from a discretionary governance review and toward objective, verifiable criteria.
New Locking Thresholds
Under CIP-0116, non-issuer apps must lock 5 million $CC per participant identity to qualify for Featured App status. Asset-issuer apps face a higher bar of 25 million $CC. Apps that are already listed as Featured Apps have 30 days to meet the new thresholds or lose their status.
The move is a meaningful evolution in how Canton governs app incentives. Only Featured Apps with an approved FeaturedAppRight contract earn minting rewards, with approval previously requiring review of user base, transaction volume estimates, fraud prevention controls, and smart contract audit status. CIP-0116 adds a concrete financial commitment on top of that process, meaning applicants must now demonstrate skin in the game through locked capital, not just paperwork.
Targeting Reward Farming
The policy addresses a structural risk in Canton's reward model. From January 2026, 62% of the total rewards pool goes to featured applications, representing around 516 million $CC shared among app providers every month. With that scale of reward available, the Featured App designation was becoming a target for low-effort or speculative applications looking to capture emissions without contributing genuine utility.
The locking requirement raises the cost of entry for opportunistic participants. Real, production-ready applications with committed capital will continue to qualify. Apps built primarily to farm rewards, without the economic commitment to back them up, will find it significantly harder to meet the threshold.
The proposal fits a broader pattern of Canton governance using on-chain economic commitments to align incentives. Super Validators are already required to lock 70% of their lifetime $CC rewards to maintain full governance weight, aligning governance participation with long-term economic exposure. CIP-0116 extends that same logic to the application layer.
Canton's governance framework allows anyone in the community to make proposals and suggest Canton Improvement Proposals (CIPs), which are voted on by Super Validators under a two-thirds supermajority threshold. CIP-0116 cleared that threshold and takes effect immediately for new applicants, with the 30-day grace period applying to existing Featured Apps.
Sources
Canton Foundation CIPs repository, GitHub
Canton Network: Earn with every transaction
Messari: Understanding Canton Network

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's much-anticipated innovation exemption for tokenized stocks did not arrive this week, despite a Bloomberg Law report on May 18 suggesting the release was imminent. The delay follows pushback from both global regulators and traditional market participants, and a significant narrowing of scope from within the SEC itself.
Peirce draws a hard line on synthetics
Commissioner @HesterPeirce moved quickly to cool expectations, posting on X that the framework would "facilitate trading only of digital representations of the same underlying equity security that an investor could purchase in the secondary market today, not synthetics." Peirce narrowed the scope of the agency's proposed innovation exemption, ruling out synthetic instruments and limiting the carve-out to digital representations of real equity shares.
That framing directly undercuts the more expansive version that Bloomberg had described, which would have allowed crypto-native platforms to tokenize shares in companies such as Apple or Tesla without issuer consent. Under that earlier version, such tokens could have been created by third parties and traded on decentralized platforms, without necessarily providing token holders with full shareholder rights such as voting or dividends.
Peirce pointed to the @SECGov's January staff statement on tokenization for context, which drew a clear distinction between custodial tokens, where real shares are held in custody, and products that offer only synthetic price exposure.
Global regulators and exchanges push back
Peirce's retreat also reflects sustained pressure from established market institutions. The World Federation of Exchanges sent a letter to the SEC, ESMA, and IOSCO urging stricter regulatory oversight of tokenized stocks. The organization argued that tokenized stocks "mimic" the equities they are designed to represent but lack the investor protections built into traditional markets.
WFE CEO Nandini Sukumar told Reuters that "the SEC should avoid granting exemptions to firms attempting to bypass regulatory principles that have safeguarded markets for decades." Citadel Securities and SIFMA have also raised concerns that broad exemptions could weaken know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering controls.
The onchain equity market is not going away. Kraken's xStocks platform already offers 100 fully backed tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs outside the U.S. market, and Robinhood has launched EU stock tokens while building a layer-2 blockchain for real-world asset tokenization. Tokenized versions of real assets reached $27 billion by April 2026, up 85 percent year-on-year, with institutional investors driving most of the gains. For now, though, the path into the U.S. market runs through traditional rails, not crypto-native infrastructure.
Sources
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce speech on tokenized securities sandbox, SEC.gov
World Federation of Exchanges urges SEC, ESMA and IOSCO to tighten oversight of tokenized stocks, Cointelegraph
SEC considers conditional exemption for tokenized securities, Morrison Foerster

Committee hurdle cleared, merger work begins
Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) is keeping the heat on Congress as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act moves into its next critical phase. On Friday, she posted that "American consumers and industry deserve a real framework, not regulatory limbo," signalling she has no intention of letting momentum slip.
The Senate Banking Committee voted 15-9 in a markup session to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (the CLARITY Act), setting up the landmark market structure legislation for a potential vote before the full Senate. The Senate Banking Committee largely voted along party lines, with Democratic Senators Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland joining all Republicans on the panel to support the bill.
The bill would provide a system of regulation for the offer and sale of digital commodities by the SEC and the CFTC. It draws a clear boundary between SEC and CFTC jurisdiction over digital assets and would permanently classify Bitcoin ($BTC) and Ethereum as non-securities.
What comes next and when
The bill must now be merged with a separate version from the Senate Agriculture Committee before a full Senate vote, which can only take place with the support of 60 members of the Senate. Once a unified Senate bill is finalised, Majority Leader John Thune will need to bring a motion to proceed, which requires 60 votes, meaning at least seven Democrats will need to support advancing the bill.
Galaxy Digital's head of firmwide research Alex Thorn raised his estimate of the CLARITY Act becoming law in 2026 to 75%, citing the Senate Banking Committee's 15-9 bipartisan vote on May 14 as the breakthrough the bill needed. Thorn posted the timeline in Galaxy Research's weekly brief on May 16: Senate Banking and Agriculture reconciliation in early June, Senate floor consideration by mid-June, final Senate passage before the end of June, House reconciliation through July, and a potential Trump signature the week of August 3.
The White House has been targeting July 4 for a presidential signature, though given the reconciliation process still ahead, August 3 now appears to be the more realistic timeline according to Galaxy Research's analysis. Lummis herself has called June "probably pretty optimistic."
Solana Policy Institute President Kristin Smith offered a more cautious 60% probability of passage, saying "a lot can go wrong" despite growing bipartisan momentum. Polymarket traders priced 2026 passage at 68% as of May 18, up from 46% at the start of the month but still below Thorn's estimate.
The measure is opposed by banks, unions, and law enforcement agencies that say various provisions would hurt consumers and endanger financial systems. Senator Elizabeth Warren's continued opposition on anti-money-laundering and ethics grounds remains unresolved, and ethics language restricting senior officials' digital asset holdings has created friction among some offices.
Sources:
CNBC: Crypto industry scores win as Clarity Act clears Senate hurdle
Crypto.news: Galaxy's Alex Thorn lifts CLARITY Act odds to 75%
Elliptic: CLARITY Act advances from Senate Banking Committee

S-1 Filing and Share Resale Registration
Hyperliquid Strategies ($PURR), the Nasdaq-listed treasury company built around Hyperliquid's native token $HYPE, filed an S-1 on Wednesday to register up to 35.16 million shares for resale by Rorschach Advisors. The shares represent roughly 20.5% of outstanding stock and remain locked up until December.
The filing confirms the company holds approximately $580 million in $HYPE, acquired at an average cost of $46.372 per token during its December 2025 reverse merger with Sonnet BioTherapeutics, alongside $310 million in cash. Hyperliquid Strategies was formed through a merger of the publicly traded healthtech firm Sonnet BioTherapeutics and Rorschach, a special purpose acquisition company with a connection to prominent crypto venture firm Paradigm. The company's common stock began trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol "PURR" on December 3.
A separate $1 billion equity facility with Chardan is earmarked to fund future $HYPE purchases, giving the company a significant ongoing acquisition runway.
Institutional Backing and Treasury Growth
The board is chaired by @rediamondjr (Bob Diamond) of Atlas Merchant Capital, with digital asset custody handled by Anchorage Digital. Goldman Sachs disclosed a position in $PURR through a 13F filing last quarter, adding a notable institutional endorsement to the company's growing profile.
Hyperliquid Strategies now holds about 20 million $HYPE tokens, having deployed $216 million to acquire approximately 7.3 million tokens since its inception in December 2025. Staking revenue reached $2.6 million for the three-month period ended March 31, while interest income added another $1 million.
The firm posted a $165.4 million net loss for the nine months ended March 31, primarily attributable to $64 million in net unrealized losses on its $HYPE tokens, a one-time $35.6 million write-off related to the Sonnet acquisition, and a $60.5 million increase in deferred tax expense.
The structure draws clear comparisons to MicroStrategy's $BTC treasury playbook, adapted here for a native DeFi ecosystem. Hyperliquid is a layer one blockchain best known for perpetual futures and spot trading, with an ecosystem that also supports borrowing, lending, real world assets, and a full Ethereum Virtual Machine. $HYPE hit an all-time high of $61.86 on May 21, 2026.
Sources:
Hyperliquid Strategies S-1 Filing (SEC EDGAR)
Hyperliquid Strategies posts $165 million net loss as HYPE treasury grows (The Block)
Hyperliquid Strategies and Sonnet BioTherapeutics Announce Business Combination Closing (SEC EDGAR)

@Coredao_Org and @maplefinance announced a full and final settlement on May 22, ending both the arbitration that began in September 2025 and a parallel court case in the Cayman Islands. Terms of the agreement were kept confidential and neither party made any admission of liability.
The resolution clears the path for Maple to ship syrupBTC, its Bitcoin yield product, which had been legally blocked since October 2025. It also allows Core to refocus on its own Bitcoin product roadmap.
How the dispute began
The dispute stemmed from a partnership formed in early 2025 to create lstBTC, a product that enabled Bitcoin holders to earn yield while maintaining their assets with institutional custodians like BitGo. Core Foundation alleged that by mid-2025, Maple began secretly developing syrupBTC, a rival offering that violated their 24-month exclusivity agreement, while continuing to accept Core's capital, resources, and confidential information.
At the time the partnership launched, Maple Finance managed under $500 million in assets. The initial success of the Bitcoin Yield offering from April 2025 onward helped to kick-start explosive growth for Maple, and that early traction appears to have been the catalyst for Maple to pivot toward a competing product.
According to Core, the dispute escalated further when Maple said it would need to declare impairments on over $150 million worth of Bitcoin deposited in the lstBTC pilot. This, the DAO claimed, ran against assurances Maple had provided that all Bitcoin would be held in ring-fenced, bankruptcy-protected custody structures.
Court blocked syrupBTC, now settlement frees it
The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands granted an injunction against Maple completing its own liquid-staking token, syrupBTC, or dealing in CORE tokens pending arbitration. The foundation claimed Maple breached its exclusivity obligations and misappropriated Core's intellectual property and confidential information to develop its own product while amassing $150 million in client assets through the lstBTC partnership.
On September 26, 2025, Justice Jalil Asif KC ruled that there was a serious issue regarding Maple's alleged breach of exclusivity and misuse of confidential information. The court determined that monetary damages would be inadequate, given the risk that Maple would dispose of CORE tokens and the irreversible head-start advantage a competing product launch would provide.
With the settlement now in place, both sides can move forward. Maple gains the freedom to launch syrupBTC commercially, while Core can direct its energy toward new $BTC product development without the distraction of ongoing litigation.
Sources:
CoinDesk: Core Foundation Wins Injunction Against Maple Finance
CCN: Core vs Maple Finance Dispute
Protos: Core Slaps Maple With Injunction Over syrupBTC

@BNBCHAIN published its full AI agent infrastructure stack on Thursday, alongside the launch of the BNBAgent SDK on mainnet, cementing its position as the leading network for on-chain AI agent deployments.
According to 8004scan data as of May 21, BNB Chain now hosts roughly 89,000 ERC-8004 registered agents, accounting for approximately 44.5% of all agents tracked under the standard. The Defiant reported that Base ranks second with around 16,500 agents, followed by Ethereum mainnet with just over 14,000. A separate count from NfaSCAN puts BAP-578 agent deployments on BSC at more than 132,000.
What the BNBAgent SDK Delivers
According to BNB Chain's official blog, the SDK bundles three core components into a single Python toolkit: ERC-8004 on-chain identity and reputation, ERC-8183 escrowed job workflows (also known as APEX), and UMA-based dispute resolution. Under ERC-8183, client funds are secured in contract escrow before work begins and released automatically upon completion, removing the need for manual trust between parties. When results are disputed, the SDK routes resolution through UMA's Data Verification Mechanism, where token holders weigh in on the outcome.
Payments today are handled by the $U native stablecoin. Delegated payment execution through x402 and EIP-3009 is on the roadmap, with Trust Wallet Agent Kit serving as the user-authorization layer. The SDK is also designed as a modular system, meaning developers can integrate individual components independently based on their project requirements.
Positioning Against Google's AP2
@BNBCHAIN frames its stack as complementary to, rather than competing with, Google's Agent Payments Protocol. VentureBeat noted that AP2 is an open framework developed with more than 60 payments and technology companies, designed to support secure, agent-led transactions across platforms and payment types, including stablecoins via the A2A x402 extension. In BNB Chain's framing, AP2 sets the authorization rules while the BNBAgent SDK provides the on-chain execution layer.
The agent count gives $BNB a credible position in the emerging agent economy. Whether that translates into sustained on-chain activity, and a lasting tailwind for the token, will depend on how much real economic work those agents are actually doing over time.
Sources:
BNB Chain Official Blog: BNBAgent SDK Launch
The Defiant: BNB Chain Overtakes Ethereum by Number of AI Agents
VentureBeat: Google's Agent Payments Protocol (AP2)

$NEAR is up 22% on the day and 44% on the week, trading around $2.20 with $1.2 billion in 24-hour volume, a 183% jump from recent levels. The token has also broken above its multi-year descending trendline for the first time since the 2024 cycle top, a technical milestone that has drawn fresh attention from traders.
Quantum-Safe Signing and Dynamic Resharding Coming in June
The primary catalyst is a confirmed June upgrade from @NEARProtocol. The protocol will introduce dynamic resharding, allowing the blockchain to automatically add shards as demand grows without human intervention. The upgrade also adds post-quantum-safe signing, designed to protect users from future quantum-computing threats.
Near One CTO Anton Astafiev announced the initiative, noting that NEAR is preparing to become one of the first major Layer-1 blockchains to ship a post-quantum-safe signing scheme. A Google Quantum AI paper from March 2026 estimated that breaking 256-bit elliptic-curve cryptography could require roughly 20 times fewer resources than previously believed, adding urgency to the timeline. The upgrade will use FIPS-204, also known as ML-DSA, a U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology-approved lattice-based signature standard built for post-quantum security.
Dynamic resharding ensures that when a shard hits a state-size threshold, it splits deterministically and is validated by state witnesses with no human intervention. The combination of automated scaling and quantum-resistant cryptography in a single protocol upgrade is described as unprecedented among major blockchains, with no other Layer-1 shipping both capabilities simultaneously.
A Broader Ecosystem Already Gaining Traction
The upgrade arrives against a backdrop of growing ecosystem momentum. NEAR Intents connects more than 35 blockchains through a single account, enabling cross-chain swaps, peer-to-peer settlement, and optional confidential transaction flows without manual bridging or routing. Built into NEAR Intents, Confidential Intents provides a restricted-visibility environment for cross-chain transactions, allowing users and institutions to opt into confidentiality across transfers, deposits, and withdrawals while maintaining verifiable on-chain execution. According to the original source data, Confidential Intents accounted for 87 million of NEAR's last 209 million transactions.
Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley disclosed that the Bitwise Near Staking ETP, a European exchange-traded product providing institutional exposure to $NEAR with staking yield, pulled in $7 million in investor inflows this week alone. The ETP demand signals institutional positioning ahead of the June upgrade, suggesting the dynamic resharding announcement is being treated as a fundamental catalyst by allocators rather than simply a trading event.
CoinDesk: Near Protocol to automate its own growth and its token is skyrocketing | The Crypto Times: NEAR Plans Post-Quantum-Safe Signing for Q2 2026 Testnet | PR Newswire: NEAR Unveils Confidential Cross-Chain Infrastructure for the Agentic Economy

A Grassroots Movement Comes to an End
@PolkadotAfrica has officially announced its closure. After five months of silence, the team broke the news in a post on X, bringing a quiet but meaningful chapter of African Web3 development to a close.
The group described itself as more than a funded project. It was a grassroots movement, built by African builders and dreamers who believed in Web3 early and worked to grow that belief across the continent. The team expressed no bitterness in its farewell, only honesty: "you cannot sustain what isn't resourced."
Web3 Foundation's Retreat from Regional Programs
The proximate cause of the closure is a broader strategic shift at the Web3 Foundation. The Foundation announced a major strategic realignment, stepping back from its hands-on operational role. As Polkadot's ($DOT) networks reached a level of maturity, W3F refocused its priorities toward global advocacy and disciplined long-term asset management. As part of that transition, the Foundation closed several key programs, including its General Grants Program, Support, Decentralized Voices, and Decentralized Nodes.
W3F has moved away from the open grants model, shifting toward targeted strategic funding and direct participation in Polkadot's on-chain governance instead. For a regional community initiative like Polkadot Africa, which depended on that kind of institutional backing, the consequences were direct and terminal.
Decentralized funding mechanisms remain active within the ecosystem. As the Web3 Foundation notes, the Polkadot Treasury is funded by $DOT token transaction fees and network operations, and any $DOT holder can submit spending proposals to fund projects that benefit the network. Whether groups like Polkadot Africa could realistically pivot to those models is a harder question, and one the team appeared to have answered honestly.
The Polkadot Africa team thanked all contributors for their passion and hard work, and said they believe the African Web3 ecosystem is still evolving. The seeds planted, they wrote, will continue to grow even if the organisation itself cannot.
Sources
Blockonomi: Web3 Foundation Refocuses on Global Advocacy as Polkadot Ecosystem Reaches Maturity
Web3 Foundation: Aligning Grants Program with Polkadot's Product-Centric Vision
Web3 Foundation: Funding and Support