Today's top news highlights:

Regulation & Macro

South Carolina signed a bill protecting Bitcoin self-custody rights and prohibiting discriminatory taxes.

The governor of South Carolina signed S.163, which protects Bitcoin self-custody rights, prohibits discriminatory taxes on Bitcoin, and protects the state's proof-of-work mining activities.

The U.S. Department of Justice reached a settlement with Trump, permanently prohibiting the IRS from auditing Trump's past tax returns.

The U.S. Department of Justice has signed an agreement to permanently ban the IRS from reviewing past tax returns filed by President Trump, his family, and corporations. The Department of Justice has also agreed to establish a nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate Trump allies who have been unfairly prosecuted.

The US CFTC has filed a lawsuit against Minnesota's first state-level bill that explicitly bans prediction markets.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Department of Justice have sued the state of Minnesota and its governor, Tim Walz, among other officials, alleging that the state's newly signed omnibus bill illegally bans prediction markets. The lawsuit, filed less than 24 hours after the bill's signing, alleges that Minnesota is attempting to regulate federally regulated derivatives markets that fall under its exclusive jurisdiction, marking the first time in the U.S. that prediction markets have been subject to a comprehensive ban. The CFTC and the Department of Justice argue that these are federally regulated products and swaps traded on exchanges approved by the CFTC, and that the state has no right to criminalize or prohibit them. This lawsuit is the latest escalation in a jurisdictional conflict between the state's gambling regulator and federally regulated prediction market platforms.

Trump ordered the U.S. federal government and the Federal Reserve to review the access of crypto companies to payment channels.

US President Trump signed an executive order requiring the federal government to update the regulatory framework to integrate digital assets and innovative technologies into traditional financial services and payment systems. The executive order requires heads of financial regulatory agencies to review existing rules within three months to identify rules or documents that unduly hinder cooperation between fintech companies and federal regulators. Within six months, regulators must take steps to promote innovation, including requiring the Federal Reserve to review how to allow non-insured depository institutions and non-bank financial companies access to payment accounts and services, and whether the 12 regional Federal Reserve banks can grant payment accounts independently of the Federal Reserve Board. This provision may particularly benefit Wyoming special purpose depository institutions.

Japan's Financial Services Agency has officially included foreign trust-based stablecoins in its regulatory framework for electronic payment methods, with the amendments set to take effect on June 1.

Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) announced an amendment to the Cabinet Office Ordinance, formally recognizing foreign trust beneficiary rights, which are considered "equivalent" to Japan's electronic settlement methods, as electronic settlement methods under the Payment Services Act. The amendment will take effect on June 1st. This revision clarifies two points: first, it establishes a legal basis for providing services to eligible foreign trust-type stablecoins within Japan; second, it stipulates that when dealing with foreign electronic settlement methods, the equivalence standard should be based on their eligibility to the Japanese system. Simultaneously, related foreign trust beneficiary rights will be excluded from the category of securities under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act and will be regulated solely as electronic settlement methods.

Project Updates

Vitalik: Ethereum is moving towards native privacy, with short-term measures including the integration of AA and FOCIL.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin outlined several short-term native privacy initiatives that Ethereum is currently pursuing, including the combination of AA and FOCIL (providing best-in-class support and strong packaging guarantees for privacy protocol transactions), the Keyed Nonces scheme, and work related to the access layer (covering features such as Kohaku and private reads).

The euro-denominated stablecoin project Qivalis has secured the backing of 37 banks.

Amsterdam-based Qivalis has secured the backing of 37 European banks for its yet-to-launch stablecoin, including BNP Paribas, ING, and UniCredit. The 25 newly added banks include ING, Intesa Sanpaolo, and Rabobank. Qivalis has applied for a license from the Dutch Central Bank, hoping to obtain it in the second half of this year, and aims to be operational by the time the license is granted.

GitHub updates security incident investigation: An employee's device was compromised, involving a compromised VS Code extension.

GitHub detected and controlled an intrusion incident involving an employee's device that resulted in a malicious VS Code extension. GitHub has removed the malicious extension, isolated the affected endpoints, and initiated an incident response. The assessment indicates that only internal repositories experienced data leakage, and the attacker's claim of approximately 3,800 repositories is roughly consistent with the investigation findings. GitHub has prioritized rotating critical credentials and is analyzing logs, verifying the credential rotation, and monitoring subsequent activity. 23pds, Chief Information Security Officer of SlowMist, stated that the hackers may have used Anthropic's Mythos security AI to breach GitHub's defenses, stealing approximately 4,000 core internal repositories, including Copilot source code, CodeQL algorithms, Actions runtime, and billing system information. Further attacks are possible, potentially having a profound security impact on the open-source community.

Binance Alpha will list Nexus (NEX)

Binance Alpha will list Nexus (NEX) on May 20th. Eligible users can claim an airdrop using Binance Alpha Points on the Alpha event page after trading opens on Alpha.

SlowMist: The GitHub and Grafana security incidents are likely related to a large-scale "mini sandworm" supply chain attack.

Recently, several high-frequency npm packages, including AntV, Echarts-for-react, and the Python SDK durabletask, have been targeted by the Mini Shai-Hulud supply chain attack. On May 19, the npm account atool was compromised, and the attacker automatically released 637 malicious versions involving 317 packages within 22 minutes. From 00:19 to 00:54 Beijing time on May 20, the attacker continuously uploaded versions 1.4.1, 1.4.2, and 1.4.3 of durabletask within 35 minutes, bypassing normal release controls and impersonating official Microsoft releases. The large-scale GitHub token leak and the ransomware attack on Grafana Labs are likely related to this supply chain attack. Affected components include high-frequency components in the npm ecosystem such as AntV and Echarts-for-react, as well as the Python packages durabletask 1.4.1, 1.4.2, and 1.4.3. Attackers can steal cloud and on-premises credentials, gain unauthorized access to internal repositories and sensitive cloud infrastructure, move laterally to developer machines and CI/CD pipelines, sell and exploit leaked GitHub tokens, and carry out ransomware and data breach threats. SlowMist recommends immediately rotating all exposed credentials, replacing affected packages, isolating potentially infected systems, and implementing strict dependency review policies.

Binance will perform wallet maintenance on the Ethereum network (ETH).

Binance will be performing wallet maintenance on the Ethereum network (ETH) at 14:00 (UTC+8) on May 21, 2026. To support this maintenance, Binance will suspend deposit and withdrawal services on the Ethereum network at 13:55 on May 21, 2026. The maintenance is expected to take 1 hour and will automatically resume upon completion.

GitHub: Investigating unauthorized access to internal GitHub repositories

GitHub is investigating an unauthorized access incident to its internal codebase. There is currently no evidence that customer information stored outside of internal repositories has been affected, but the platform is closely monitoring its infrastructure as a precaution. If any user data or service is confirmed to be affected, customers will be notified through existing channels.

Hyperliquid HIP-3 Documentation Update: The 500,000 HYPE staking threshold will be gradually lowered.

Hyperliquid has updated its HIP-3 official documentation. The 500,000 HYPE staking requirement for deploying a perpetual DEX will gradually decrease as the infrastructure matures. Any portion exceeding subsequent staking thresholds can be unstaking. Any deployer meeting the staking requirements can deploy a perpetual DEX, and each perpetual DEX has independent margin, order book, and deployer settings. Future upgrades may support multiple DEX deployments sharing the same deployer and staking requirements.

In addition to the Bitcoin ETF, Truth Social also withdrew applications for two other crypto ETFs.

Yorkville America, an asset management firm, has withdrawn applications for several crypto ETFs submitted on behalf of Truth Social, a company under the Trump administration, citing a shift in product strategy. The company stated it will abandon products registered under the Securities Act of 1933 and switch to a structure under the Investment Company Act of 1940, believing the latter offers stronger investor protection and tax efficiency. The withdrawn products include the Truth Social Bitcoin ETF, the Bitcoin & Ethereum ETF, and a crypto blue-chip ETF.

Zhao Changpeng issued a warning regarding the GitHub security incident: If your code contains an API key, you should immediately review and replace it.

OpenClaw is integrated with the X platform; users can link their Grok or X Premium subscriptions.

Warning: The "Mini Sandworm" worm has recently caused widespread infections in open-source code repositories. Developers should be vigilant and investigate.

A code worm dubbed "Mini Sandworm" has recently caused widespread infections in open-source code repositories. Victims include frequently used components such as Alibaba's data visualization suite antv (with hundreds of packages infected with malicious code), echarts-for-react, and timeago.js; echarts-for-react alone sees 1.1 million installations per week. The infection originated from a hacker's account, a tool, where obfuscated malicious code was injected into version 3.2.7. Within 19 minutes of release, all vulnerabilities were flagged as malicious by security scans. Security company Socket has identified 639 compromised npm package versions out of 323 individual packages, including 558 versions of 279 individual @antv packages. 23pds, Chief Information Security Officer of SlowMist, has reminded developers to be vigilant and investigate.

Bankr: 14 Bankr wallets were compromised by attackers; all lost funds will be fully compensated.

Bankr has confirmed that attackers compromised 14 Bankr wallets. The platform has temporarily locked the relevant systems to investigate the details and will fully compensate all lost funds. Yu Xian, founder of SlowMist, disclosed that this was a social engineering attack that exploited a vulnerability in the trust layer between automated agents, specifically the interaction between grok and Bankrbot, leading to the execution of unauthorized transaction signatures.

Coinbase adds MetaDAO (META) and Derive (DRV) to its listing roadmap

Coinbase has announced the addition of MetaDAO (META) and Derive (DRV) to its listing roadmap. The listing of these assets still depends on the availability of market-making support and technical infrastructure. The specific listing time will be announced separately once the relevant conditions are met.

OpenAI founding member Andrej Karpathy joins large model company Anthropic

Andrej Karpathy, a founding member of OpenAI and former head of AI at Tesla, has joined Anthropic, a company specializing in large-scale language models, and plans to focus on cutting-edge research and development of large-scale language models in the coming years.

Polymarket partners with Nasdaq to launch private company prediction market

Decentralized prediction platform Polymarket has partnered with Nasdaq Private Market to launch a prediction market linked to the performance of unlisted companies, marking the first time private equity data has been systematically integrated into a prediction platform. The new contracts will be designed around key milestones such as private company valuations, IPO timelines, and secondary market trading activity, with Nasdaq Private Market providing the data required for settlement. This move not only provides users with more tradable events but also offers institutional investors an additional tool for private equity valuation and price discovery. Currently, there are approximately 1,600 unicorn companies globally with valuations exceeding $1 billion, representing a combined valuation of over $5 trillion.

Google launches Gemini 3.5 series models and the all-weather AI agent Gemini Spark.

Google announced the Gemini 3.5 Flash model, claiming it to be its fastest and most efficient model to date, and will be made freely available to all users worldwide. In the realm of AI agents, Google launched Gemini Spark, a 24/7 personal AI agent that helps manage digital life and execute tasks on command. Running on Gemini 3.5 and built on Google Antigravity, this model can easily perform long-running tasks in the background. Because it runs on a dedicated virtual machine in Google Cloud, users don't even need to keep their computers on. Spark will seamlessly integrate with various Google tools and will soon connect to third-party applications via MCP. Additionally, Google announced the Gemini Omni model for video generation and editing.

Former FTX executive launches "zero-loss" AI trading platform UpsideOnly

Former FTX executive Patrick Gruhn launched UpsideOnly, an AI trading platform where users can submit simulated trading strategies for assets such as crude oil, gold, and stocks. His self-developed BayesShield AI then selects the most likely profitable strategies, which are executed live using the company's own funds. 50% of the profits are distributed to the user who provided the signal, and users do not invest any capital or bear any losses. The model has been trained on 22 billion historical trading records. Gruhn stated that the goal is to improve execution efficiency using a "human + AI" approach, and he is currently in talks to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to support proprietary trading; he has personally committed $100 million. The FTX collapse prompted him to emphasize that the platform does not hold user funds in escrow.

Investment and financing news

Duan Yongping purchased 200,000 shares of Circle stock in Q1, corresponding to a market value of approximately US$19.08 million.

According to the latest 13F filing for Q1 2026 disclosed by H&H International Investment, a company under Duan Yongping, its total US stock holdings are worth approximately $20 billion, comprising 19 stocks. This quarter, it significantly increased its holdings in NVDA, GOOG, BRK.B, and PDD, while completely liquidating its positions in BABA, ASML, and CoreWeave. Duan Yongping also initiated a position in Circle Internet Group in Q1 2026, purchasing 200,000 shares at an average price of $95.41, corresponding to a market value of approximately $19.08 million, representing about 0.1% of the overall portfolio.

Stablecoin infrastructure company Checker raises $8 million in funding.

Stablecoin infrastructure startup Checker has raised a total of $8 million in Pre-Seed and Seed rounds, with investors including Galaxy Ventures, Al Mada Ventures, Framework Ventures, as well as Bitso, Airtm, DFS Lab, Onigiri Capital, SNZ Capital, and Velocity. Checker provides a single API to institutions, helping B2B cross-border payment and other financial institutions access stablecoin liquidity, accounts, and compliance capabilities. It currently serves over 30 licensed institutions globally, processing over $3 billion in stablecoin transactions in the past 12 months, representing approximately 1% of the global annual B2B stablecoin payment transaction volume. The company plans to use the new funding to expand into the Brazilian, Kenyan, Hong Kong, and US markets, and launch embedded lending (settlement financing) and AI-powered agent tools for account opening, compliance auditing, and fund management.

Eisen, a US-based company that helps recover dormant assets, has raised $10 million in Series A funding.

According to Fortune, compliance technology startup Eisen announced the completion of a $10 million Series A funding round, bringing its total funding to $18.5 million. Investors include MissionOG, Index Ventures, and First Round Capital. Eisen provides brokerage firms, fintech companies, and crypto platforms with a one-stop escheatment compliance and customer retrieval service, helping to locate users and prevent funds from being transferred to state governments before assets are used for extended periods. The report cites co-founder and CEO Allen Osgood as saying that U.S. states currently hold approximately $70 billion in escheated funds, including stocks and crypto assets; of the crypto assets Eisen is tracking, approximately $700 million is expected to be at risk of being seized by state governments by 2026, with many states already classifying crypto assets as escheatable property.

Opinions & Analysis

Truth Social withdrew its Bitcoin ETF application, analysts say it may be due to increased market competition.

Truth Social, Trump's social media platform, has withdrawn its application for a Bitcoin ETF. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart believes the withdrawal is more likely related to the competitive landscape of spot Bitcoin ETFs, especially with Morgan Stanley's MSBT offering 14 basis points.

Bitwise CIO: HYPE is a "second-generation" crypto token, and its value is still underestimated.

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan believes Hyperliquid's HYPE token is still undervalued, despite a 77% year-to-date increase. Hyperliquid generated $170 billion in trading volume in the past month but is not yet available to US users and needs to be integrated into the US regulatory system. Hougan predicts that non-crypto asset trading volume will grow from nearly half to 70% of total trading volume. He views HYPE as a "second-generation" token with the potential to appreciate over time, similar to securities. 99% of the platform's transaction fees are used to buy back HYPE, demonstrating clear value accumulation. He believes the market's undervaluation stems from viewing Hyperliquid solely as a crypto asset exchange; its reach should encompass $600 trillion in global assets, not just the $3 trillion crypto market.

K33: This round of Bitcoin bear market is different; "exceptionally pessimistic" traders have limited the downside.

A K33 Research report states that this Bitcoin bear market is different, with exceptionally pessimistic traders limiting downside. Bitcoin traders remain on the defensive, reducing the risk of a leveraged crash. The current slow bottoming process has not replicated the rapid reversals seen in previous bear market rallies; in fact, derivatives data points to extreme pessimism. Bitcoin's 30-day average funding rate has been negative for 81 consecutive days, nearing its all-time low, and the CME Bitcoin futures annualized basis has fallen below 2.5%, indicating extreme caution. However, open interest in Bitcoin derivatives remains high, and further price weakness could trigger volatility. K33 maintains its basic assessment, believing that a drop to $60,000 in February could be the largest pullback in this cycle.

Important data

A trader opened long positions in BTC and ETH again with 20x leverage, bringing the total position size to $36 million.

A trader has opened a 20x long position in both BTC and ETH, with a total position value of $36 million.

Bitcoin spot ETFs saw a total net outflow of $331 million yesterday, marking the third consecutive day of net outflows.

On May 19th, Bitcoin spot ETFs saw a total net outflow of $331 million. BlackRock's IBIT ETF experienced a single-day net outflow of $326 million, with a historical total net inflow of $65.007 billion; the Valkyrie ETF BRRR saw a single-day net outflow of $3.7915 million, with a historical total net inflow of $318 million. The total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETFs was $100.286 billion, with a net asset value ratio of 6.5%, and a historical cumulative net inflow of $57.36 billion.

A whale, after setting "10 big goals," posted a trade showing it had closed its short Bitcoin positions, making a profit of $12.61 million.

a16z withdrew another 44,500 HYPE tokens from the Gate, worth $2.16 million.

RWA's total market capitalization surpassed $65 billion, with Ethereum leading the pack at 33%.

The total market capitalization of Real-World Assets (RWA) has surpassed $65 billion, a growth of approximately 44% since the beginning of the year. Ethereum holds approximately 33% of the market share, maintaining its position as the default platform for institutional tokenization. The Provenance blockchain holds approximately 27% of the market share, while BNB Chain, XRP Ledger, and Solana each hold approximately 6%. The distributed market structure indicates that no clear winner has yet emerged in the RWA space, and there is still significant room for market share changes as chains differentiate themselves through compliance tools, settlement finality, and cost structures. Due to the high stickiness of RWA funds, blockchains that secure institutional partnerships early on will gain a sustained advantage.

A16z-affiliated whales purchased another 206,300 HYPE tokens, bringing their total purchases over the past month to 2.34 million tokens.

A whale associated with a16z created another new wallet and bought and staked 206,325 HYPE tokens ($9.95 million) in the past 10 hours. Since April 14, this whale has accumulated 2.34 million HYPE tokens ($102 million).

Tokenized stocks saw record daily trading volume, reaching $3.57 billion.

Tokenized stock trading volume hit a record high of $3.57 billion on Monday. The majority of the trading volume occurred on Binance and Hyperliquid platforms. Platforms such as Kraken's xStocks, Ondo, and Bitget also contributed to the cumulative on-chain stock trading volume reaching billions of dollars. The U.S. SEC is developing guidelines and innovation exemptions for the emerging on-chain stock ecosystem.

KULR announced an increase of 56.3 BTC, and the return on Bitcoin has reached 181.1% so far in 2025

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