Today's top news highlights:
Regulation & Macro
Key market focus next week: Wednesday: Australia's April CPI; Thursday: US core PCE price index, initial jobless claims, Q1 GDP revision, ECB April monetary policy meeting minutes, New York Fed President Williams' speech; Friday: Japan's April unemployment rate, France and Germany's CPI, Fed Governor Bowman's speech, US May Chicago PMI. US stock markets will be closed on Monday for Memorial Day.
Trump: A decision on whether to resume war is likely to be made on Sunday.
Trump said he would discuss Iran’s latest proposal with negotiators later that day and would likely decide on Sunday whether to resume the war, taking a “50/50” stance on either reaching a good deal or bombing Iran.
Trump claimed that a basic agreement between the US and Iran was reached, and the Strait of Hormuz would be open. Iran countered that even with an agreement, the Strait of Hormuz would remain under Iranian control, allowing the number of ships to return to pre-war levels, but this would not mean free passage; management and route planning would still be entirely under Iranian control.
Mediators stated that the United States and Iran are close to reaching an agreement to extend the ceasefire for another 60 days. Iran proposed maintaining its uranium enrichment level below 3.6% for 10 years, reducing its uranium enrichment by more than 20%, and pledging not to develop nuclear weapons, while demanding the retention of limited uranium enrichment rights.
Trump is willing to give "more time" for US-Iran negotiations.
Trump convened a meeting of his national security team but did not formally decide to launch a new military strike against Iran, expressing a willingness to give diplomatic negotiations more time while retaining the option of military action. The mediators are advancing diplomatic consultations, with the current goal of first finalizing a document similar to a memorandum of understanding to extend the ceasefire and establish a framework for negotiations. If a limited agreement cannot be reached, the US and Israel may launch a limited military strike against Iran within days.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that progress has been made in negotiations with Iran, and an announcement may be made in the coming days. An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson indicated that the visit of the Pakistani Army Chief of Staff to Iran aimed to convey a concrete message, with the core focus being ending the war. The two sides have engaged in in-depth discussions on points of contention, and Iran has reached a memorandum of understanding with the mediators, awaiting a response from the United States. The proposals include ending the war, lifting the blockade, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and withdrawing US troops; the nuclear issue has been temporarily sidelined.
An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson stated that the focus is currently on finalizing a memorandum of understanding with the United States, with negotiations centered on ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon. Details regarding the nuclear issue will not be discussed at this time, but will begin in 30 or 60 days. The current mediation process is time-consuming and laborious, and differences remain between the two sides.
The U.S. Clarity Act may drive the growth of new revenue-as-a-service business models.
The US Clarity Act may drive growth in the crypto sector's revenue-as-a-service model. The bill prohibits income generation solely based on asset holdings, forcing the industry to shift towards compliant, proactive capital management strategies. AI-driven fund management and lending/collateralized lending tools will become core infrastructure. The bill has passed the Senate Banking Committee and is expected to be voted on in July, with a one-year implementation period. The interplay between the banking and crypto industries is becoming apparent, suggesting a potential for convergence and coexistence.
An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson stated that significant differences remain between the US and Iran. The Iranian Foreign Minister held a second meeting with the Pakistani Army Chief of Staff, following discussions on the Iranian proposal.
The Cangshan District Procuratorate in Fuzhou announced that a man was sentenced to 12 years and 7 months in prison and fined 300,000 yuan for stealing other people's Bitcoin wallet keys and data, and profiting approximately 900,000 yuan from four Bitcoins. The procuratorate believes that Bitcoin possesses the characteristics of property and falls under the category of property crimes.
Changqiao Securities responded to the regulatory requirements for cross-border securities business, stating that it will actively respond to the regulatory guidelines of both regions and steadily advance its compliance work. The scope of this account cleanup is limited, mainly targeting accounts opened using suspicious or forged documents and inactive accounts with zero balances; normal compliant accounts are unaffected.
Project Updates
The stablecoin USDR has decoupled from the EURR, causing the EURR to drop by 20%.
The stablecoin USDR, issued by StablR, has decoupled from EURR, causing EURR to drop by 20%. Earlier reports indicated that two contracts related to StablR were suspected of being attacked, with potential losses exceeding $3 million. The attackers allegedly used funds from the CCTP platform on Noble.
ZachXBT disclosed that two contracts related to the European stablecoin issuer StablR were suspected of being attacked, with potential losses exceeding $3 million (EURR and USDR). The attackers' funds came from the CCTP platform on Noble, and seven attacker addresses were disclosed.
Former FTX law firm Fenwick & West agreed to pay $54 million to settle a client fraud claim, auditor Prager Metis paid $11.75 million, and former NBA player Udonis Haslem paid $420,000, totaling approximately $66.17 million. Fenwick denies wrongdoing and still faces a $525 million lawsuit in Washington.
Investment and financing news
Opinions & Analysis
Analyst Michael van de Poppe stated that Hyperliquid's continued rise and renewed attention to AI-related crypto projects have led to a recovery in risk appetite in the altcoin market. HYPE hit a record high after launching two related ETFs in the US, with European traders accelerating their flow to the platform. Hyperliquid's expansion into tokenized stocks and other areas reinforces the trend of on-chain asset tokenization, potentially pushing HYPE towards $100. Solana offers greater long-term certainty and is transforming from a speculative ecosystem into institutional-grade infrastructure. NEAR and Bittensor remain undervalued; while long-term demand exists in the privacy sector, it faces regulatory pressure, and the future may be dominated by zero-knowledge proofs and compliance solutions. At the macro level, bond yields and central bank policies remain the core driving factors.
Important data
WLFI spent over $115 million in four months to expand the market for USD1, including CEX interest rate subsidies, event subsidies, and on-chain lending platform interest rate subsidies. USD1's size increased by 50%, from $3.137 billion to $4.76 billion, rising from 7th to 4th place among USD stablecoins, surpassing USDe and PYUSD, and ranking only behind USDT, USDC, and DAI. USD1's trading volume increased tenfold, from an average of $200 million per day to $2 billion per day.
An Ethereum OG bought another 3,942 ETH.
An Ethereum OG bought 3,942 ETH ($8.08 million) after the market crash, at an average price of $2,049. This same OG had previously bought 12,001 ETH at an average price of $7.58 and sold them at $2,856, making a profit of $34.2 million.
SkyBridge Capital's flagship fund, the SkyBridge Opportunity Fund, fell 12.9% in the first quarter, marking its second consecutive quarter of losses, primarily due to volatility in crypto assets. The fund's holdings are 64% concentrated in crypto and digital assets, which have already fallen 18% by the fourth quarter of 2025.
