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Bitcoin could see a rapid decline to the low $70,000s if it fails to maintain support at $75,000, according to an analysis by crypto market maker Wintermute. The firm noted that this week, only assets driving inflation have risen in the broader market, with cryptocurrencies taking a bigger hit than stocks. Wintermute stated that structural buying pressure remains, with exchange reserves at multi-year lows, long-term holders still accumulating, and progress being made on the Clarity Act. However, the firm pointed out that institutions used the recent price rally as an opportunity to take profits rather than to buy, a trend that currently outweighs the structural buying pressure. The analysis suggests keeping an eye on the $76,000–$78,000 range. If Bitcoin can hold this level until Nvidia's (NVDA) earnings announcement on May 20, the uptrend could resume. A break below $75,000, however, could trigger a swift decline. "Maintaining a long position in the current situation is like hoping for institutions to re-enter amid rising interest rates and re-accelerating inflation," Wintermute explained. "This may be an unreasonable expectation until the market digests the changing macroeconomic environment."

The cryptocurrency industry is building security systems comparable to those of major financial institutions in response to a surge in physical threats, Bloomberg reported. The media outlet noted that Coinbase is set to spend approximately $7.6 million on CEO security in 2025, an increase of over 20% from the previous year and a figure that surpasses the security costs for chief executives at major Wall Street banks. Executive Risk Services, a security firm specializing in the crypto sector, now receives one client inquiry per week, a significant increase from one per quarter just two years ago. The report also highlighted that at last month's Bitcoin 2026 conference, most key speakers were accompanied by personal bodyguards, and a workshop on protecting crypto assets during a home invasion was fully booked, underscoring security's emergence as a core issue for the industry.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a noted cryptocurrency opponent, has accused the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) of failing to control crypto companies that she says are operating as de facto banks. Her criticism targets the trend of stablecoin issuers seeking trust licenses to manage collateral assets, a practice that has grown since the start of the second Trump administration. According to Bloomberg, Warren stated in a letter to the OCC that the agency has chartered at least nine crypto firms in a manner that may violate banking laws. She highlighted that affiliates of Ripple, Paxos, and Coinbase have already received such approvals, allowing them to operate much like traditional banks while evading regulatory oversight.

Bitget Wallet now supports Kraken's xStocks infrastructure, providing users with access to over 130 stock tokens, Cointelegraph reported. This development enables Bitget to support trading for more than 300 real-world assets (RWA).

Africa Bitcoin Corporation (ABC), a firm that strategically invests in Bitcoin, announced via X that it will move its listing from the AltX market to the Main Board of South Africa's Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) on May 22. The Main Board's higher standards for governance, disclosure, and liquidity will expand the company's access to institutional investors. ABC was formerly known as Altvest Capital.

Binance has launched x402, a payment tool for BNB Chain. The tool allows for the integration of stablecoin payments into digital services, such as APIs, data platforms, and AI agent workflows, via the HTTP 402 protocol. It currently supports four stablecoins: U, USD1, USDT, and USDC.

Cryptocurrency mining companies are entering a period of structural benefit from the expanding demand for AI infrastructure, according to research and brokerage firm Bernstein. The firm assigned outperform ratings to Iren (IREN), Riot Platforms (RIOT), CleanSpark (CLSK), and Core Scientific (CORZ), while maintaining a market perform rating for MARA Holdings (MARA). Bernstein explained that with global AI-related infrastructure contracts currently valued at $90 billion, miners have plans for a total of 27 GW in power infrastructure. The firm noted that miners hold a structural advantage due to their existing power infrastructure and access to large-scale land.

Nine addresses have profited $2.4 million from bets on U.S. military operations via the prediction market Polymarket, achieving a 98% win rate, according to an analysis by Bubblemaps. Cointelegraph reported that these addresses placed concentrated bets immediately before significant U.S. military actions. Evidence also suggests they intentionally placed small, losing bets to evade detection. Bubblemaps noted that while insider trading cannot be confirmed, it is clear the addresses possessed an unfair informational advantage. Amid growing concerns over potential insider trading on prediction markets, authorities in major countries, including the U.S., are advancing related legislation.

The Spot Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) chart analyzes the order book for the BTC/USDT spot pair. It consists of a Volume Heatmap on top and the CVD indicator at the bottom. - The Volume Heatmap at the top tracks trading volume at specific price levels. The background color brightens when the price lingers in a certain range or makes a significant move. These brighter areas can potentially act as support or resistance levels. - The Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) indicator at the bottom shows buy and sell orders categorized by trade size. As buy orders increase, the corresponding colored line rises. For example, the yellow line represents orders between $100 and $1,000, while the brown line indicates large orders ranging from $1 million to $10 million.

A series of resignations by key personnel at the Ethereum Foundation (EF) over the past several months is causing deep concern within the community, PA News reported. The departures began in February with the resignation of co-Executive Director Tomasz Stańczak. In April, Josh Stark and Trent Van Epps, who led major Ethereum upgrades, also resigned. This was followed in May by a string of key researchers, including Protocol Research co-lead Alex Stokes, Barnabé Monnot, and Tim Beiko, who either resigned or took leaves of absence. The outlet added that the talent drain stems from pushback against a censorship resistance pledge required by the foundation, as well as industry-low salary levels. In response to the departures, the foundation has appointed new co-leads, including Will Corcoran, Kev Wedderburn, and Fredrik Svantes.

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)-listed company Hyperscale Data (GPUS) announced that it held 692.4 BTC, worth $53.6 million, as of May 17. The company plans to allocate its cash assets to purchase more Bitcoin in the future.

Most altcoins have given back their gains from last week, crypto market-making firm GSR's market researcher Slater Santer said on X. He noted that most sectors have entered a downtrend.

Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) today announced a revised enforcement ordinance and new guidelines to clarify the domestic handling standards for stablecoins issued overseas, Nada News reported. The new rules are set to take effect on June 1, 2026. The amendment specifies that trust-type stablecoins issued under foreign laws will be recognized as "electronic payment instruments" under the country's Payment Services Act, provided they meet certain conditions. It also clarifies that such assets will not be classified as securities under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. For Japanese businesses to handle foreign stablecoins, the issuer must hold a foreign license equivalent to that required in Japan, ensure collateral assets are properly managed and audited, and be supervised by a foreign regulatory authority capable of sharing information and cooperating with the FSA upon request.

The Bank of England (BoE) is considering a regulatory approach that would manage the total supply of stablecoins rather than imposing individual holding limits, Bloomberg reported. This marks a significant shift from a proposal last November that would have capped individual holdings at £20,000 ($26,800) and corporate holdings at £10 million ($13.4 million). BoE Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden said the new approach could reduce the cost burden on the industry while allowing for a broader range of payment applications, including high-value corporate settlements. The BoE is expected to release a draft of its final regulatory framework next month, with the rules set to be finalized by the end of the year.

A petition on South Korea's National Assembly e-petition system calling for the abolition of virtual asset taxation is approaching 40,000 signatures. The petition currently has 39,956 signatures, reaching 80% of the 50,000 required for it to be referred to a parliamentary committee. Posted on May 13, the petition is open for signatures until June 12. The petitioner argued that the current tax system needs a fundamental review rather than simple adjustments or delays, stressing that premature taxation without proper institutional foundations, investor protection, and international fairness would only burden the public and hinder the industry.

Shinhan Investment & Securities' Hong Kong subsidiary is in discussions with the city's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) to expand its business scope to include tokenized assets (STOs and RWAs) while maintaining its existing license for traditional securities, The Herald Business reported. A senior official at Shinhan Investment & Securities said the company is currently in preliminary talks with Hong Kong's financial authorities. The official added that they are primarily reviewing a strategy focused on STO issuance and distribution to professional investors such as institutional investors, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals.

Cryptocurrency analyst Michaël van de Poppe noted on X that despite large-scale liquidations of BTC long positions and a surge in trading volume during this week's correction, Bitcoin did not experience a sharp drop. He added that, unlike in past corrections, altcoins also saw limited losses relative to BTC. However, van de Poppe cautioned that trends on the weekly and monthly charts are still showing bearish signals, so the possibility of a further decline cannot be entirely ruled out. He concluded that if BTC can maintain support in the key $75,000 to $76,000 zone, it could rally to $79,210, where last week's CME gap is located.

According to data from CoinGlass, long positions worth $787.43 million on major centralized exchanges face liquidation if Bitcoin's price falls to $75,576. On the upside, a break above $77,736 would liquidate short positions valued at $474.41 million.

BNB Chain has released the results of a test applying a next-generation signature method to BNB Smart Chain (BSC) to defend against quantum computer attacks. The team confirmed that it is possible to transition to a quantum-resistant signature algorithm certified by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). However, it noted that the new signature's data size is approximately 35 times larger than the current one, causing blocks to fill more quickly and reducing native transfer throughput by 40% to 50%. The consensus layer compresses data to about 1/43rd of its original size, keeping the burden on validators at a manageable level, BNB Chain explained. It added that while quantum computers are advancing, they are not yet capable of decrypting current cryptographic systems, describing the test as a preemptive measure for long-term preparedness.

Authorities in Taiwan have arrested a citizen for betting on the outcome of local elections on the prediction market platform Polymarket, sparking a debate within the local crypto community. The individual allegedly placed a five USDC (170 New Taiwan dollars) bet on the results of the elections scheduled for this coming November. According to a Taiwanese X user, authorities identified the bettor despite the transaction occurring on the blockchain. The user explained that police extracted the wallet address that interacted with Polymarket's smart contract via a blockchain explorer like Polygonscan. They then traced the funds back to a local cryptocurrency exchange and used the platform's Know Your Customer (KYC) data to identify and detain the suspect. While gambling on election results is illegal under Taiwanese law, the incident has raised concerns in the community about the limits of on-chain anonymity when centralized exchanges are involved.

A game on the Steam platform has been found to contain malware designed to target players' cryptocurrency wallets, Kyunghyang Games reported. IT YouTuber Eric Parker posted a video yesterday analyzing the game, "Beyond the Dark." According to the video, malware was embedded in one of the game's internal dll files. The malicious code was capable of scanning a user's MAC address and Chrome extensions, as well as communicating with an external server to download additional malicious software. Parker warned that the game is highly likely part of an attack targeting cryptocurrency users.

Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, has recently filed a trademark application in South Korea that includes its company name and logo. According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office's information search service, the application was submitted on May 14. While Tether has previously filed for domestic trademarks, those applications were primarily for its stablecoin product names. This latest move is being interpreted by some as a potential signal of a full-scale entry into the South Korean market. This follows a similar action by Circle, the world's second-largest stablecoin issuer, which also filed for a trademark with the South Korean patent office last December.

Binance has announced the delisting of eight spot trading pairs, effective at 3:00 a.m. UTC on May 22. The affected pairs are AVAX/ETH, CHZ/BTC, FET/BNB, IOTA/BTC, UNI/ETH, UNI/FDUSD, XLM/BTC, and XLM/FDUSD.

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Coinone announced today that its recurring investment service is now available on the KakaoBank app, Edaily reported. The collaboration allows users to access the service directly within KakaoBank's 'Investment Tab,' where they can set investment rules and monitor returns in real-time without switching to the Coinone app. The service supports 10 cryptocurrencies, and each user can create up to 20 investment plans. The investment amount per transaction can be set from a minimum of 5,000 won (around $3.70) to a maximum of 5 million won (around $3,700).

Bumo Sarang, the seventh-largest mutual aid company in South Korea, lost 49.3 billion won last year after investing 59.5 billion won of its operating funds into a leveraged exchange-traded fund (ETF), Hankyung reported. The ETF was designed to track twice the daily return of Bitmine (BMNR), an Ethereum-themed stock. According to a comprehensive review of 2025 audit reports for 75 mutual aid companies conducted by the newspaper, 42.7% of the firms have total assets that are less than the advance payments owed to customers. This indicates that these companies would be unable to provide full refunds if all clients were to cancel their contracts at once.