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The buzz around Wall Street's tokenization boom is largely overstated and will not see significant progress until the U.S. Congress establishes a clear legislative framework, according to billionaire investor Kevin O'Leary. Speaking at Consensus 2026, he argued that Bitcoin remains a non-mainstream asset that institutions will not adopt without federal regulatory clarity, CoinDesk reported. While O'Leary acknowledged that tokenization is an innovative technology capable of shortening settlement times and reducing costs, he stressed that institutions require legal certainty before committing capital. He pointed to the dramatic increase in stablecoin adoption following the passage of the GENIUS stablecoin regulation act as a case in point. O'Leary added that institutional investors are primarily interested in Bitcoin and Ethereum, with little focus on other altcoins. He concluded that the key competitive factor for blockchain platforms going forward will be their ability to secure corporate adoption.

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand stated there will be no agreement on the CLARITY Act without a provision to prevent insider trading, citing growing concerns over the Trump family's conflicts of interest in cryptocurrency, The Block reported. Speaking at the Consensus conference, Gillibrand said it is unacceptable for lawmakers or government officials to use their positions to accumulate wealth through related industries. She noted that many Democratic senators have raised concerns about the Trump family's close ties to the crypto sector. Previously, Bloomberg estimated that the Trump family had earned at least $1.4 billion from the industry. While a compromise has been reached on stablecoin interest issues within the CLARITY Act, the potential inclusion of an ethics provision for public officials is now considered the biggest variable affecting the bill's passage.

An anonymous, newly created address (0x4E53) withdrew 349,999 HYPE, worth $15.21 million, from Coinbase over the past 24 hours and transferred the funds to a staking address, Onchain Lens reported. Withdrawals from exchanges are typically interpreted as an intention to hold.

Crypto asset manager 21Shares has listed preferred shares (STRC) of Strategy (MSTR) on the London Stock Exchange, Decrypt reported. MSTR will pay STRC holders a monthly variable dividend targeting 9% annually. If STRC trades above $100, the dividend rate will decrease, while if it trades below $100, the rate will increase.

U.S. crypto exchange Kraken has begun offering spot margin trading services to its users in the country, The Block reported. The move comes less than a month after Kraken acquired Bitnomial, a Chicago-based derivatives exchange and clearinghouse, for $550 million. Previously, U.S. retail investors often had to turn to overseas exchanges for margin trading due to a lack of compliant domestic options. Kraken's physically-settled margin trading service will allow for up to 10x leverage.

Ondo Finance (ONDO) has announced the successful completion of a pilot program for the real-time redemption of its U.S. Treasury fund, in collaboration with JPMorgan's Kinexys, Mastercard, and Ripple. The pilot involved Ripple redeeming a portion of its OUSG tokens, Ondo's short-term U.S. Treasury token, on the XRP Ledger (XRPL). Ondo Finance then processed the transaction, with U.S. dollars deposited into Ripple's bank account via the Mastercard Multi-Token Network and JPMorgan's Kinexys. Ondo Finance stated that the pilot lays the foundation for a 24/7 global market by connecting public blockchains with interbank settlement networks.

The Jito Foundation, the organization behind the Solana-based liquid staking token JTO, has partnered with Solana aggregation firm Solana Company to expand validator and staking infrastructure for institutions in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, The Block reported. The two organizations will collaborate on installing and operating Solana validator servers across APAC, focusing on Solana Company's institutional infrastructure network, the "Pacific Backbone," which connects Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, and South Korea. They also plan to develop jitoSOL-based staking products for large financial institutions in Asia.

A U.S. government address deposited 3.233 ETH ($7,630) to Coinbase Prime about an hour ago, Lookonchain reported. The funds were seized from Glenn Olivio, who was indicted last year on money laundering charges. The U.S. government also deposited 2.44 BTC seized from Olivio to Coinbase Prime on April 11.

South Korean crypto exchange Upbit announced it will temporarily suspend services for several cryptocurrencies starting at 3:30 p.m. UTC on May 6 due to a Stellar network upgrade. The suspension will affect deposits and withdrawals for Stellar (XLM), as well as withdrawals for AQUA and Mobius (MOBI).

The United States and Iran are working through intermediaries to finalize a one-page, 14-point memorandum of understanding (MOU), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing sources. The document aims to establish a framework for one month of negotiations to end the war, with these discussion points set to become the core agenda for the next round of talks. Negotiations could resume as early as next week in Islamabad, Pakistan. According to the sources, Iran has shown some flexibility from its previous stance by expressing a willingness to discuss its nuclear program. However, several key issues remain unresolved and are expected to complicate the final negotiations. These include a deadline for halting uranium enrichment, whether to transfer highly enriched uranium abroad, and Iran's insistence on maintaining permanent control over the Strait of Hormuz. The timing and scope of sanctions relief could also be a stumbling block. The sources added that the one-month negotiation period could be extended by mutual agreement if progress is made. An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson stated that the country is reviewing a proposal from the U.S. and will convey its position through Pakistani intermediaries once the evaluation is complete.

Coinbase Chief Legal Officer (CLO) Paul Grewal said at Consensys 2026 that he is confident the U.S. CLARITY Act will pass this summer, The Block reported. Grewal voiced support for a compromise on stablecoin interest proposed by Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks. He stated that despite personally participating in numerous meetings and discussions on the risk of deposit outflows claimed by banks, he has not seen any substantial evidence to support the assertion. The proposed compromise would maintain rewards based on platform activity, which are key to exchanges' stablecoin businesses, while limiting interest paid on deposit balances—a practice the banking sector has flagged as a risk. Coinbase has strongly advocated for the inclusion of stablecoin interest in the CLARITY Act.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he sees a very high probability of reaching a deal with Iran, adding that bombing would resume if no agreement is reached.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he feels the U.S. is getting close to an agreement with Iran but added that it is unlikely he will dispatch Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to the negotiations, PBS reported.

Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin miner Hut8 (HUT) has signed a 15-year lease for the first phase of its Beacon Point AI data center site in Texas. According to Decrypt, the deal is valued at $9.8 billion and includes 352 MW of AI data center capacity. While the lessee's identity remains confidential, the company is reportedly planning to build dedicated computing infrastructure to support hyperscale AI training and inference workloads. Hut8 initially acquired the site for its subsidiary, American Bitcoin, but repurposed it for AI infrastructure in response to rising power demand and expanding customer requirements. The move comes amid accelerating competition among infrastructure companies to capitalize on the surging demand for AI computing power, Decrypt noted.

Core Scientific (CORZ) has acquired Bitcoin miner Polaris for $421 million, The Block reported. The company plans to use the power Polaris secured through a contract with Oklahoma Gas and Electric to expand its AI data center operations. Following the announcement, CORZ shares rose 9.58% to trade at $24.32.

Executives from Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), OKX, and Securitize warned at the Consensys 2026 event that various synthetic stock tokens could harm retail investors because they are not backed by actual equity, CoinDesk reported. Securitize founder Carlos Domingo stated that offshore stock tokens sometimes use corporate names without the issuer's approval or have little to do with the actual shares. He noted, for example, that while multiple tokenized versions of Coinbase (COIN) stock exist, none of them represent actual Coinbase shares. Additionally, OKX Global Chief Marketing Officer Haider Rafique said the exchange has no plans to launch synthetic stock tokens before ensuring regulatory compliance, as it aims to offer products backed by real underlying assets. The outlet added that these warnings come amid recent controversies, such as Robinhood's (HOOD) OpenAI stock token not representing actual shares.

The value of tokenized U.S. Treasurys on the Ethereum network has reached an all-time high of around $8 billion, Wu Blockchain reported, citing data from Token Terminal. This figure has doubled over the past six months. Major tokens include BUIDL from Securitize, JSTRY from Centrifuge, iBENJI from Franklin Templeton, WTGXX from WisdomTree, USDY from Ondo Finance, and USTB from Superstate.

Bitcoin's next resistance level is $83,000, which aligns with the 200-day moving average on the daily chart, according to Checkmate, a lead analyst at on-chain analytics firm Glassnode. In a post on X, he explained that the first resistance was at $78,000, a level near the average cost basis for short-term holders (those holding for less than 155 days). Checkmate added that a strong break above $83,000 could lead to a rise toward $85,000, given the supply at that price point. The final resistance, he noted, is the 50-week moving average at $95,000.

An address believed to belong to BitForex founder Garrett Jin deposited 166,023 ETH, worth approximately $394 million, into Binance a short time ago, according to analysis from Onchain Lens. Following the transfer, the address now holds 381,695 ETH, worth around $900 million. Jin, who founded the fraudulent exchange BitForex, is a well-known Bitcoin OG. Last October, he faced allegations of insider trading for entering a large short position just before a sharp drop in Bitcoin's price.

South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb has announced it will temporarily suspend withdrawals for Swell Network (SWELL) starting at 2:00 p.m. UTC today due to wallet system maintenance.

South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb has announced it will temporarily suspend deposits and withdrawals for Stellar (XLM) and AQUA. The suspension will begin at 2:00 p.m. UTC today to support a network upgrade for Stellar.

Bitcoin Core, the client for running a full Bitcoin node, has revealed that it quietly patched a memory stability bug that could have been used to attack miners. According to The Block, the Core team included the bug fix in version 29.0, which was released in April of last year. Support for the vulnerable 28.x version was discontinued on April 19, 2026. The Block noted that the bug was limited to a memory handling issue in the node software and did not affect the Bitcoin consensus algorithm or allow for on-chain changes. However, it warned that a security risk remains, as approximately 43% of Bitcoin nodes may still be running software older than version 29.

Bitcoin mining company CleanSpark announced it mined 640 BTC and sold 748 BTC over the past month, resulting in a net sale of 108 BTC. The average selling price was $74,807. As of April 30, the company holds 13,453 BTC.

The three major U.S. stock indices opened higher today. - S&P 500: +0.62% - Nasdaq: +0.63% - Dow Jones: +0.10%

The use of threatening language against Iran is ineffective and could worsen the situation for the United States, Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.