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On-chain analyst Tom Wan noted that ETH utilization has fallen below 90%, with the ETH borrowing rate (APY) dropping to 1.9%. He explained that following the hack of the rsETH LayerZero bridge, deposits of wstETH and weETH decreased by approximately $1.2 billion and $1.76 billion, respectively. However, Wan added that the profitability of looping leverage strategies based on wstETH and weETH has recently turned positive again, making the potential recovery of ETH leverage demand a key point for the market to watch. He also mentioned that there is speculation in the market that some funds could move to alternative lending protocols such as Spark and Morpho.

Kelp DAO, which was previously affected by a $292 million hack, announced on its official X account that it will no longer support rsETH bridging on 20 cross-chain bridges after June 15. The discontinuation will affect bridging on OP, MANTA, Mode, SCR, X Layer, ZK, ZRC, SWELL, HEMI, BERA, S, HyperEVM, Unichain, TAC, AVAX, XPL, STABLE, MEGA, MON, and MOVE. Kelp DAO advised users holding rsETH on these chains to bridge their assets to the Ethereum mainnet. It added that a fee of 100 USDC per address will be charged for bridging after the deadline.

Three X account hacks over the past month, including that of GameStop meme stock figure Roaring Kitty, were carried out by the same organization, according to on-chain analyst Specter. Specter stated on X that after Roaring Kitty's account was compromised on May 11, the Solana memecoin RKC was issued. The hackers, who had pre-loaded several wallets with the token, sold off their holdings as the price surged, netting over $600,000. "By tracing the wallet fund flows, it was determined that this group had accumulated over $14 million by issuing fraudulent tokens like USOR and VDOR using the same method," Specter explained. The analyst added that the group uses influencers to promote their schemes on platforms like Telegram and then uses the resulting retail buying pressure as exit liquidity. The fund trail also overlaps with a $2.45 million wstETH phishing attack from 2024. "This is an organization that will use any means, including phishing and hacking, to find opportunities to make money," Specter warned, advising users not to connect their wallets to unknown platforms.

A Bitcoin whale address starting with 0xB4d has sold an additional $15.46 million worth of WBTC, according to on-chain analyst ai_9684 xtpa. This brings the address's cumulative sales over the past three days to $35.73 million. The address, known for its frequent interactions with block builder Titan builder, still holds approximately $125 million in on-chain assets. About 95% of these holdings are reportedly in ETH and WBTC.

The Verus Ethereum cross-chain bridge has been targeted in a suspected hack, resulting in approximately $11.58 million in losses, Blockaid reported on X.

Binance Research has analyzed four on-chain indicators suggesting that selling pressure on Bitcoin is weakening. The firm pointed to several factors: - Over 60% of addresses have held BTC for more than one year. - Long-term holders are dominating the market. - The supply of BTC on exchanges is decreasing. - Short-term holders have moved out of unprofitable positions. The analysis notes that the amount of dormant supply is at an all-time high, speculative short-term traders have largely exited the market, and a recent partial price recovery has allowed short-term holders to return to profitability, alleviating sell-side pressure. Binance Research added that these indicators suggest a low probability of new selling pressure emerging, concluding that the current market phase exhibits a typical pattern often seen before a sustained rebound.

Ethereum (ETH) founder Vitalik Buterin has explained that regarding the issue of state storage, even if only a hash (Merkle root) is stored on-chain while users hold the actual data, the data needed for proof verification must still be stored and updated. On X, Buterin added that the size of this verification data could eventually approach the size of the entire state. "Solutions exist, but they require significant trade-offs and complex components compared to Ethereum's current structure," he noted. His comments follow an explanation from DeFi content creator marilyn100x.eth, who previously highlighted Ethereum's long-term state storage cost problem. The creator explained that EIP-8037 addresses this by increasing the cost of creating new contracts, accounts, and storage slots, rather than imposing a continuous storage fee.

Jeffrey Gundlach, CEO of DoubleLine Capital and known as the 'New Bond King,' said there will be no interest rate cut at the next Federal Reserve policy meeting. According to BlockBeats, he argued that a rate cut is impossible with the U.S. two-year Treasury yield trading about 50 bp above the federal funds rate. Gundlach predicted that due to rising oil prices from the war in Iran, U.S. inflationary pressures are building again, forecasting that the next Consumer Price Index (CPI) reading will be in the 4% range, based on DoubleLine's model. Commenting on the stock market, he noted that valuations are very expensive and speculative, but corporate earnings continue to exceed expectations and are fueling a speculative frenzy.

The spot price of gold has fallen below $4,500 per ounce for the first time since late March, dropping 0.85% on the day.

Iran has launched "Hormuz Safe," a state-run platform that issues maritime insurance for vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and settles claims in Bitcoin (BTC), Crypto Briefing reported. The system uses blockchain for instant settlement, bypassing the SWIFT network and Western intermediaries as part of a strategy to reduce reliance on the dollar-based financial infrastructure. The outlet noted that some within the Iranian government project potential revenues of over $10 billion if the platform captures a significant share of the Persian Gulf's maritime insurance market. The biggest obstacle is that regulatory authorities in major ports like Rotterdam and Singapore may not recognize "Hormuz Safe" insurance certificates. Crypto Briefing also analyzed that shipowners, trading companies, and port authorities that transact with the platform could face U.S. secondary sanctions, potentially cutting them off from the U.S. financial system.

Ripple (XRP) is likely entering a technical consolidation phase, which could lead to increased volatility in the coming weeks, U.Today reported. The outlet noted that XRP has been under strong downward pressure for several months while consolidating in the $1.3 to $1.4 range. Price action is now compressing between support and resistance levels, suggesting a significant breakout or breakdown is likely. While XRP has repeatedly attempted to break resistance near its 100-day moving average, bullish momentum remains limited. According to the analysis, a bullish breakout above the $1.49-$1.55 resistance zone could push the price toward $1.7. Conversely, a bearish breakdown below the $1.38-$1.4 support level could trigger a sharper decline. U.Today also forecast a bullish trend for Dogecoin (DOGE), identifying $0.12 as the next major resistance, and a bearish outlook for Toncoin (TON), which could fall to $1.7 if it loses the $1.9 support level.

The Korea Exchange has activated a sell-side sidecar after the KOSPI index fell by more than 5%.

According to data from Tokenomist, the major token unlocks scheduled for this week (May 18–24) are as follows: - PYTH: 2.1 billion tokens ($94.90 million), representing 36.96% of circulating supply, at 1:00 p.m. UTC on May 19 - ZRO: 25.71 million tokens ($33.16 million), representing 5.07% of circulating supply, at 11:00 a.m. UTC on May 20 - KAITO: 17.60 million tokens ($8.51 million), representing 4.70% of circulating supply, at 12:00 p.m. UTC on May 20 - MBG: 27.15 million tokens ($8.82 million), representing 8.09% of circulating supply, at 12:00 p.m. UTC on May 22 - SOON: 21.88 million tokens ($3.44 million), representing 4.60% of circulating supply, at 8:30 a.m. UTC on May 21 - SOSO: 13.32 million tokens ($4.98 million), representing 4.17% of circulating supply, at 9:00 a.m. UTC on May 24

A whale associated with BIT (formerly Matrixport) has opened a long position totaling 120,000 ETH, worth $254 million, across four addresses, Lookonchain reported. The whale expanded its position after the recent market downturn and is currently facing an unrealized loss of approximately $17.5 million.

The following are the key global macroeconomic events scheduled for the third week of May. All times are in UTC. - May 19, 12:00 p.m.: Speech by U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) Governor Waller - May 19, 12:15 p.m.: U.S. ADP Weekly Employment Change report - May 20, 1:00 a.m.: People's Bank of China May Loan Prime Rate - May 20, 1:15 p.m.: Speech by Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Barr - May 20, 2:30 p.m.: U.S. crude oil inventories - May 20, 6:00 p.m.: Fed meeting minutes - May 21, 12:30 p.m.: U.S. initial jobless claims - May 21, 1:45 p.m.: U.S. May Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) - May 21, 8:30 p.m.: Fed balance sheet - May 22, 2:00 p.m.: Speech by Fed Governor Waller

U.S. President Donald Trump has warned Iran that time is running out for negotiations and signaled the possibility of further military action, Axios reported. In an interview with the outlet, Trump said the clock is ticking for Iran and that the regime will face a much stronger attack if it does not present a better deal. Axios added that while Trump wants a peace agreement, the military option is being reconsidered because Iran has rejected many U.S. demands and has not made concessions regarding its nuclear program.

A whale address, believed to belong to the founder of crypto exchange Shapeshift and an early Bitcoin supporter, has purchased 2,656 ETH for 5.68 million USDC, according to Onchain Lens. The whale now holds a total of 129,667 ETH, valued at $274.78 million.

The Spot Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) chart analyzes the order book for the BTC/USDT spot pair. The top section shows a Volume Heatmap, while the bottom displays the CVD. - The Volume Heatmap tracks the scale of trading volume at specific price levels, with the background color brightening when the price lingers in a certain range or moves significantly. Brighter areas may act as potential support or resistance levels. - The CVD indicator at the bottom represents buy and sell orders categorized by trade size. As buy orders increase, the corresponding colored line rises. For example, the yellow line tracks orders between $100 and $1,000, while the brown line tracks large orders between $1 million and $10 million.

CoinMarketCap's proprietary Fear & Greed Index has registered a score of 40, continuing to hold in the neutral stage. The index measures market sentiment, with a score closer to 0 indicating extreme fear and a score closer to 100 representing extreme optimism. CoinMarketCap calculates the index based on several factors, including the price movements of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, market volatility, derivatives market data such as put/call ratios, the Stablecoin Supply Ratio (SSR), and the platform's own search data.

A 25x leveraged ETH long position held by Taiwanese singer Jeffrey Huang, also known as Machi Big Brother, has been fully liquidated, Onchain Lens reported. He has since re-entered a new 25x long position on ETH. According to on-chain data, his cumulative losses are now estimated to exceed $32.4 million.

Macro research firm TS Lombard has analyzed that the likelihood of global central banks resuming major tightening cycles is low, BlockBeats reported. The firm noted that despite the shock of rising oil prices, Europe is already showing signs of an economic slowdown and a weak labor market. This suggests the intensity of tightening by the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BOE) this year will likely be lower than market expectations. TS Lombard also views the possibility of a short-term rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve as limited, adding that any further tightening would likely not occur until after 2027.

Major exchanges have seen $527 million worth of futures liquidated in the past hour. In the past 24 hours, $626 million worth of futures have been liquidated.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has fallen below $77,000. BTC is trading at $76,987.79 on the Binance USDT market.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicted Owe Andresen, a German national identified as the operator of the dark web marketplace Dream Market, on charges of laundering approximately $2 million in cryptocurrency. According to BeInCrypto, prosecutors allege that in late 2022, Andresen accessed a dormant Dream Market wallet, moved the funds to new consolidated addresses, and then used them to purchase gold bars, which were shipped to his home in Germany. German authorities arrested Andresen on May 7, seizing gold bars worth about $1.7 million and $23,000 in cash. Dream Market was a major dark web marketplace that operated from 2013 to 2019 and was implicated in drug trafficking using BTC.

MicroStrategy (MSTR) founder Michael Saylor has hinted at another potential Bitcoin purchase with a social media post reading, "Big Dot Energy," according to BeInCrypto. The market anticipates confirmation of a large-scale BTC acquisition in an 8-K filing scheduled for release on May 19. This follows an estimate from on-chain tracking platform Strc.live that MicroStrategy accumulated an additional 15,466 BTC over four trading days last week. Speculation about the funding for this purchase has grown, as trading volume for MSTR's preferred stock reached an all-time high of 15.1 million shares during the same period. Currently, MicroStrategy holds a total of 818,869 BTC at an average purchase price of around $75,543.