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Stani Kulechov, founder of the DeFi lending protocol Aave (AAVE), has urged U.S. lawmakers to approve the CLARITY Act ahead of a vote in the Senate Banking Committee, calling the bill a potential turning point for the industry. In a post on X, Kulechov described the legislation as fundamental, stating it would establish strong protections for DeFi developers to build services in the U.S. with greater confidence. He argued that for the U.S. to lead in DeFi, it must not impose obligations designed for centralized models on developers of decentralized protocols, adding that other countries will follow America's lead if it succeeds. Kulechov also noted that the issue of yield is not particularly important, suggesting the CLARITY Act's passage could provide the same kind of tailwind for DeFi that the GENIUS Act brought to the stablecoin sector. He stressed that providing clarity and confidence to developers is paramount.

The x402 protocol, an open AI payment standard developed by Coinbase, has launched a new feature for the batch settlement of multiple micropayments made by AI agents, Cointelegraph reported. This system is designed to reduce payment costs by bundling frequent, ultra-small transactions into a single settlement. Jesse Pollak, a developer for Coinbase's Layer 1 Base, explained that the feature enables AI agents to make ultra-micropayments of under $0.0001 for on-demand resources such as computing and inference.

Blockchain analytics firm Arkham has released an on-chain tracking map of cryptocurrency wallets believed to be owned by the Central Bank of Iran, Cointelegraph reported. The map is based on two Tron (TRX) TRC-20 addresses that the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list on April 24. It is designed to help law enforcement and the public track connected addresses and fund flows. At the time, U.S. authorities announced they had frozen over $344 million in USDT with Tether's cooperation. Meanwhile, Iran's total cryptocurrency trading volume is estimated at around $11.4 billion for 2024 and approximately $10 billion for 2025.

Nasdaq-listed Upexi, which has been strategically accumulating SOL, reported a net loss of $109.3 million for the first quarter of 2026, a significant increase from the $3.8 million loss in the same period last year, The Block reported. The result was primarily driven by $92.3 million in unrealized valuation losses on its digital assets. Although revenue grew to $4.6 million from $3.2 million year-over-year, it was insufficient to offset the losses. Upexi CEO Allan Marshall stated that during the quarter, the company increased its treasury SOL holdings by 9% and repurchased approximately 2.5 million of its own shares to boost its SOL holdings per share. As of the end of March, the company held 2.36 million SOL, valued at $184.9 million, and earned $3.5 million in staking revenue. Upexi also conducted a $36 million private placement of convertible notes in exchange for 265,500 locked-up SOL.

Liquidity on the crypto lending protocol Aave has returned to normal levels, according to on-chain analysis firm Sealaunch Intelligence. The firm noted that in Aave's core market, WETH liquidity stands at approximately $448.61 million, while USDT and USDC liquidity is around $400 million. Utilization rates for these three markets are moving within a range of 89% to 92%. Sealaunch added that liquidity for other major cryptocurrencies has also recovered to healthy levels. The recovery follows a $10 billion outflow of deposits from the protocol last month in the wake of the hack on ETH staking protocol KelpDAO's rsETH. Aave, which is leading the 'DeFi United' initiative, announced yesterday that it had completed the first phase of technical recovery related to the rsETH hack.

The foundation for the artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure project Gensyn (AI) announced via its official X account that it plans to move a large volume of tokens to a new wallet for internal operations over the next few days. It added that all moved tokens will remain locked and will not enter circulation.

Selling pressure from Bitcoin short-term holders (STH) at a loss has disappeared, according to CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju, who cited data from on-chain analyst Axel Adler Jr. Adler Jr noted on X that the STH loss pressure indicator, which stood at 22% at the end of March, has registered 0% for the past five consecutive days. He added that the proportion of STH supply has also hit a 90-day low of 22.2%. Adler Jr identified the key support range for BTC as $78,000 to $79,000.

The Spot Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) chart analyzes the order book for the BTC/USDT spot pair, showing a Volume Heatmap at the top and the CVD indicator at the bottom. - The Volume Heatmap tracks the volume of trades at specific price levels. The background color brightens when the price remains in a certain range for an extended period or moves significantly. These brighter areas can indicate potential support and resistance levels. - The CVD indicator shows buy and sell orders categorized by trade size. As buy orders increase, the corresponding colored line rises. The yellow line represents orders between $100 and $1,000, while the brown line tracks large orders between $1 million and $10 million.

Hong Kong's OSL Group, in partnership with stablecoin issuer Anchor Point Financial, has completed a test transfer of the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin HKDAP on the Ethereum mainnet, Foresight News reported. The test covered the entire process of converting Hong Kong dollars into reserve assets before minting and transferring the stablecoin. Standard Chartered Bank provided custody services, ensuring the full issuance was 100% backed by reserve assets. HKDAP is scheduled for a phased rollout at the end of the second quarter of this year.

Market maker Jane Street significantly reduced its holdings in Bitcoin ETFs during the first quarter while increasing its positions in Ethereum ETFs, according to a 13F filing reported by Cointelegraph. The firm's holdings in BlackRock's IBIT fell by approximately 71% from the previous quarter to 5.9 million shares, valued at around $225 million, while its stake in Fidelity's FBTC dropped by about 60% to two million shares, worth roughly $115 million. Jane Street also cut its holdings in MicroStrategy (MSTR) stock by about 78% and reduced its exposure to major mining stocks such as IREN. In contrast, the company increased its positions in BlackRock's ETHA and Fidelity's FETH by a combined $82 million. It also expanded its holdings in other crypto-related stocks, including Riot Platforms (RIOT), Coinbase (COIN), and Galaxy Digital (GLXY), signaling a selective portfolio reallocation.

According to crypto trading firm QCP Capital, Bitcoin's downward momentum is weakening, but the asset is likely to continue trading within a range with $84,000 as major resistance. The firm noted that Bitcoin has remained above $80,000 despite ETF outflows and a higher-than-expected CPI release. However, QCP Capital pointed to supercore inflation, which excludes energy and rent, as a key concern. This measure of core services inflation has risen for three consecutive months, reducing the likelihood of a rate cut by the Fed. QCP Capital identified several short-term variables that could influence Bitcoin's direction: the upcoming U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) data, a potential U.S.-China summit, and any progress on the Clarity Act. Absent a new catalyst, the firm expects volatility to decrease and for BTC to remain in a trading range below $84,000.

South Korean crypto exchange Upbit announced it will list UP2 (Superform) for trading against KRW, BTC, and USDT at 11:30 a.m. UTC on May 13.

Bitcoin is setting the stage for a major rally after defending a key technical support level for four consecutive weeks amid macroeconomic headwinds, according to an analysis by U.today. The outlet noted that BTC/USD has closed above the Bollinger Bands middle line (the 20-week moving average) for four straight weeks, which it interprets as a sign that whales are systematically accumulating on dips. On the daily chart, the price is in a zone where the upper Bollinger Band ($82,970) and the 200-day moving average ($82,278) converge. U.today suggests that while this price level tends to attract concentrated selling pressure, a successful break above this resistance could trigger a short squeeze.

According to crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe, there is no clear reason for Bitcoin to drop suddenly, and the current trend could push it toward the next resistance zone of $85,000 to $88,000. He noted that bears are arguing BTC is in a bear flag pattern and will see a drop to $50,000 later this year. He drew parallels to the sharp decline in February, the COVID-19 crash, and the 2018 bear market, when many predicted further losses before Bitcoin ultimately recovered. While acknowledging that BTC could retest the $70,000 to $75,000 range, he stated that the current trajectory is higher. He explained that Bitcoin is trading above its 21-day moving average (MA), has successfully broken through key resistance levels and converted them into support, and is seeing continued buying pressure amid a strong Nasdaq.

According to Onchain Lens, an anonymous whale address starting with 0x3dC withdrew 3.79 million LIT, worth approximately $3.55 million, from OKX and Bybit about an hour ago before depositing the funds into Lighter Vault. LIT is currently trading at $0.9401, down 3.26%, according to CoinMarketCap.

Oh Kyung-seok, CEO of Dunamu, has outlined a vision for Upbit to evolve from a digital asset exchange into an on-chain financial platform. Speaking at a special lecture on digital assets at Korea University's Seoul campus on May 13, he announced plans to launch a proprietary wallet and blockchain infrastructure this year, according to the Electronic Times Internet. Oh added that the goal is to support Upbit's 13 million users in their transition to on-chain activities. He also mentioned an expansion into the APAC market, stating that the company is building services through its Kiwa Wallet and Kiwa Chain to help Web2 users conveniently enter the Web3 market. He emphasized that this move is not just a service expansion but an effort to open "the most powerful on-chain gateway in APAC."

Bithumb has announced that it will temporarily suspend Shentu (CTK) deposits and withdrawals starting at 9:00 a.m. UTC on May 19 to support a network upgrade.

Vietnam could officially launch a cryptocurrency market as early as the third quarter of this year, according to Nguyen Duc Chi, the country's Vice Minister of Finance. Speaking at the '2026 Digital Financial Trust' forum, he noted that the Ministry of Finance, in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Security and the central bank, has already approved five companies to operate crypto trading platforms. Duc Chi added that he expects the market's first official activities to begin in the third quarter, operating within an institutional framework designed to ensure safety and transparency.

Onchain School, an X account specializing in on-chain analysis, reported that an address suspected of belonging to the Billions (BILL) team (starting with 0x382b) deposited 10 million BILL to Bitget about 30 minutes ago. Onchain School added that while the address is newly created, it had previously received a significant amount of tokens from a team address. Deposits to exchanges are typically interpreted as an intention to sell. According to CoinMarketCap, BILL is currently trading at $0.1957, up 31.87%.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that a rule amendment submitted by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) regarding stock tokens has officially taken effect. The NYSE filed the rule change application on May 1, with the SEC publishing the relevant documents on May 12. Under the new rules, institutions qualified by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) for its pilot program can trade stock and ETF tokens using blockchain technology. The scope of tokenization is limited to components of the Russell 1000 index and ETFs tracking major indices. The traded stock and ETF tokens will share the same tickers as the underlying securities and will have identical shareholder rights, dividends, trading priorities, and fee structures. The DTCC's pilot program for these tokens will run for three years. The corporation had previously announced plans to begin trading the tokens in July and launch an expanded platform in October.

Metaplanet, a publicly listed Japanese company accumulating Bitcoin, announced in its first-quarter 2026 earnings report that it held 40,177 BTC as of the end of March 2026. The company stated it will strengthen its "Bitcoin Standard" strategy, holding the cryptocurrency as a core asset. This amount represents approximately 87% of all BTC held by publicly listed companies in Japan and ranks Metaplanet as the third-largest corporate holder of Bitcoin globally. According to the report, Metaplanet's consolidated revenue for the first quarter rose 251% year-over-year to 3.08 billion yen ($19.7 million), while operating profit increased 282% to 2.27 billion yen ($14.5 million). However, its current and net losses widened due to factors including unrealized losses on its Bitcoin valuation. The report also noted that the company's BTC holdings per fully diluted share are trending upward and that its goal is to grow into a capital market infrastructure firm based on Bitcoin.

Ronin (RON) has completed its migration to an Ethereum Layer 2 network, the project announced in an official newsletter. The transition has drastically reduced the annual issuance of RON from 45 million to 5 million. According to the announcement, future issuance will be distributed directly to builders and developers through a "Proof of Distribution" reward system. Ronin plans to enhance its profitability through measures such as increasing marketplace fees, with the goal of establishing itself as a gaming-specific chain within the Ethereum ecosystem.

According to Coinglass data, if BTC breaks below $79,458, long positions worth $807.82 million on major centralized exchanges are projected to be liquidated. Conversely, if the price breaks above $81,616, short positions valued at $472.85 million will be liquidated.

Michael Saylor, founder of MicroStrategy (Nasdaq: MSTR), projects that Bitcoin will rise by an average of 30% annually over the next 20 years, he said in an interview with CoinDesk yesterday. During the interview, Saylor also announced plans to launch a "Bitcoin capital gains fund." He explained that the fund is designed to pay investors based on Bitcoin's price appreciation, functioning similarly to a dividend. This would provide investors with regular cash returns linked to price gains, rather than requiring them to simply hold the asset. Saylor recently addressed concerns about MicroStrategy potentially selling its BTC holdings, stating that for every one BTC sold, the company would buy 10 to 20 more.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded approximately $233.2 million in net outflows on May 12, reversing to net outflows after just one day of net inflows, according to data from Farside Investors. - BlackRock's IBIT: -$32.9 million - Fidelity's FBTC: -$86.1 million - Bitwise's BITB: -$17.5 million - Ark Invest's ARKB: -$85.1 million - Morgan Stanley's MSBT: +$6 million - Grayscale's GBTC: -$17.6 million