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Solana (SOL) has fallen approximately 12% over the past week, marking the largest decline among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, BeInCrypto reported. The drop is attributed to a combination of factors, including selling by large-scale investors, sell-offs related to Pump.fun (PUMP), and institutional fund outflows.

Cryptocurrency trading platform Ouinex has announced it raised $3.5 million in a funding round involving traders on its platform. The platform is known for its system that protects retail investors by hiding its order book from market makers. This round brings Ouinex's total funding to $9 million.

The Solana (SOL)-based memecoin launchpad Pump.fun will begin supporting USDC trading pairs for new coin launches, SolanaFloor reported. Currently, the platform only supports trading against SOL. The update is scheduled to be implemented on May 21 and will not affect existing SOL pairs.

Strive (ASST) has purchased an additional 382 BTC for approximately $30.3 million at an average price of $79,348, CEO Matt Cole announced on X. As of May 18, the company holds a total of 15,391 BTC, valued at $1,182.78 million.

Whale Alert reported that 250 million USDC has been minted at the USDC Treasury.

More than 20 leveraged and inverse ETFs were delisted in April, with most failing to survive for a full year, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas reported on X. The closures included several cryptocurrency-related products. Direxion's 2x long crypto industry ETF (LMBO) and 1x short ETF (REKT) were delisted after just 0.68 and 0.67 years, respectively, while Tidal Investments' Altseason 2x ETF (QXAS) was shut down after 0.96 years. Hybrid products combining stock indices with Bitcoin, such as the S&P500+Bitcoin (OOSB) and Nasdaq100+Bitcoin (OOQB) ETFs, also closed within about a year of launching. Balchunas noted that firms are quick to withdraw these products once they identify a lack of demand, adding that the number of newly launched 2x leveraged ETFs each month far exceeds the number of closures.

The New Jersey State Police & Firemen's Retirement Fund, a $33 billion pension plan, has made its first-ever purchase of stock in Strive (ASST), a company that accumulates Bitcoin (BTC), according to BitcoinTreasuries. The fund acquired 14,077 shares worth approximately $220,000.

The White House has postponed a National Security Council (NSC) meeting scheduled for May 19, U.S. officials said, according to Al Jazeera. The meeting was reportedly delayed after President Trump postponed a planned attack on Iran.

BlackRock deposited 5,847 BTC, worth approximately $449.52 million, to Coinbase, according to Onchain Lens. Deposits to exchanges are typically seen as a precursor to selling. This follows a recorded net outflow of $448.40 million from BlackRock's IBIT on May 18.

Three Wall Street firms—Benchmark, TD Cowen, and Mizuho—have maintained buy or equivalent ratings on four publicly traded crypto companies: Bitdeer, DeFi Technologies, Strive, and Gemini, The Block reported. The shared rationale is that while the market continues to value these companies based on simple trading business models, they have already pivoted to areas such as AI infrastructure and capital market utilities. Benchmark maintained its buy rating on Bitdeer with a $27 price target and kept its buy rating for DeFi Technologies while lowering the target from $3 to $2. TD Cowen raised its price target for Strive from $26 to $30. Mizuho maintained its "outperform" rating for Gemini, lowering the price target from $12 to $10. Mizuho analyst Dan Dolev said the market is underestimating the speed of this transition, noting that Gemini maintained its trading revenue despite a more than 50% decline in volume.

Solana-based memecoin launchpad Pump.fun accounted for a significant portion of the network's revenue in the first quarter, despite a slowdown in the memecoin craze, Cointelegraph reported. Total revenue for all Solana-based applications reached $342.2 million, with Pump.fun contributing $124.7 million. The primary sources of fees were memecoins and real-world assets (RWA).

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.