Decentral Block Post

As the question of stablecoin regulation heats up in the US Senate, so has the issue of which members are personally invested in cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency firms.

On May 19, the Senate voted to invoke cloture and move ahead with the GENIUS Act, which would provide a regulatory framework for stablecoins. The measure passed 66-32, with 16 Democrats supporting the bill.

Democratic concerns over corruption and politicians’ ties to cryptocurrency firms made the bipartisan move controversial. After the vote was finished, Colorado Senator Michael Bennet introduced the STABLE GENIUS Act. The bill would prevent members of Congress from issuing or investing in digital currency and require them to put their crypto in a blind trust while in office.

Bills to prevent members of Congress from investing in companies they regulate have had little success. However, lawmakers are still required to disclose rough estimations of their, their spouse’s and their children’s investments. Here are 11 US senators who have invested in crypto firms.

Montana

Tim Sheehy, Republican

Cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) can help investors protect their eroding purchasing power during an era of exponential currency debasement, according to analysts and industry leaders.

Investing in digital assets is becoming increasingly important in the “world of the exponential age and currency debasement,” according to Raoul Pal, founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor.

“You don’t own enough crypto. When you do, you don’t own enough NFT’s, as art is upstream of wealth. Both will never be this cheap again,” Pal said.

NFTs are “the single best long term store of wealth I know and you get to buy it before network effects kick in,” he added in another response.

Source: Raoul Pal

“There is some validity to the statement that NFTs, and in extension art, become a vehicle for the wealthy once a certain level of wealth is reached,” wrote Nicolai Sondergaard, research analyst at Nansen, calling it a “natural move” for asset diversification.

What if a financial system could run itself not by burning electricity, but by rewarding good behavior? That’s the promise of staking, a mechanism that powers many modern blockchains by turning users into network operators. 

In this week’s episode of The Clear Crypto Podcast, hosts Gareth Jenkinson and Nathan Jeffay sit down with StarkWare’s Noam Nisan to unpack how this trustless engine works, why it matters and what’s really at stake.

Understanding staking

Jeffay began by highlighting how staking is part of the backbone that keeps the blockchain running, and runs itself, with volunteers.

“By doing this, they’re saying, OK, we’re taking this task of running the blockchain seriously. Here's some of our money. We're putting it down. We're showing that we're serious about doing this.”

To help unpack this topic further and examine the deeper mechanics behind staking, the hosts are joined by Noam Nisan, principal researcher at StarkWare and a widely respected computer scientist who has held roles at Google and Princeton.

Related: How to handle crypto trading gains and losses on your balance sheet

Key takeaways:

Memecoins like Fartcoin, WIF, SPX6900, and Popcat are outperforming Bitcoin in the short term amid renewed crypto market euphoria.

Bullish technical patterns signal more upside for top-performing memecoins.

Popcat stands out with a potential 350% rally, while Fartcoin and WIF also eye significant gains in the coming weeks.

Bitcoin (BTC) has surged 7.35% over the past three days, hitting a new all-time high near $112,000 on May 22, but memecoins are stealing the spotlight.

Key takeaways:

XRP price has gained 4% over the last 24 hours to $2.43, and its open interest has risen by 25%.

Positive spot market activity flips the futures funding rate positive, suggesting a return of investor optimism.

XRP could rally to $14 if a classic bull flag pattern is confirmed.

XRP printed a “bull flag” triangle on the weekly chart, a technical pattern associated with strong upward momentum. Breaking above this technical setup and a surge in XRP futures demand could signal a rally to $14.

The United Kingdom’s Court of Appeal partially dismissed a lawsuit brought by Bitcoin SV investors against major crypto exchanges, including Binance, for allegedly conspiring to delist the token in 2019.

In a judgment handed down on May 21, the court ruled that investors who held BSV through the delisting period (classified as “sub-class B”) were not entitled to billions in speculative damages based on BSV’s hypothetical growth.

These investors had claimed over 8.9 billion British pounds ($11.9 billion) in damages, asserting that Binance’s delisting deprived holders of the chance to profit from BSV’s potential rise to a “top-tier cryptocurrency” like Bitcoin (BTC) or Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

The court rejected this “foregone growth effect” theory, stating, “BSV was obviously not a unique cryptocurrency without reasonably similar substitutes,” pointing to the representative’s own use of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash as comparators.

Sub-class B’s central claim was that delisting led to a missed opportunity to benefit from price appreciation. However, the court determined that those investors had ample opportunity to mitigate losses by selling or reinvesting in other crypto assets.

Update (May 22, 2025, 1:27 pm UTC): This article has been updated to add further data and statements by Hacken.

Cetus, a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on the Sui blockchain, is suspected to have been hit by a massive exploit that may have drained more than $200 million worth of digital assets.

Pseudonymous Web3 researcher COMDARE3 posted on X that “users report” that Sui-based DEX Cetus is being exploited.” They also shared a screenshot of Cetus market data on DEX Screener, showing many assets losing well over half of their value over the last 24 hours.

The team behind Extractor, an onchain monitoring tool developed by crypto cybersecurity company Hacken, confirmed that “at least $63m was already bridged to Ethereum, 20k ETH was just transferred to a fresh wallet” in a single transaction. A Hacken representative told Cointelegraph that these findings were confirmed by the company’s Web3 researcher, Yehor Rudytsia.

Cetus pool data shows that as of the time of writing, the DEX processed $2.9 billion worth of transactions on May 22, a significant increase over the $320 million reported on May 21. This heightened level of activity may have been caused by funds being siphoned out of the protocol.

A crypto trader spent $3.8 million to buy Ether at a significantly higher price after selling the asset for almost the same amount about a month ago. 

On May 22, blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain reported that a crypto wallet spent $3.8 million to purchase 1,425 Ether (ETH) at $2,670 per coin, reentering ETH after a major rally. 

On April 13, the same wallet sold 2,522 ETH for $3.9 million, when the asset was trading at about $1,570, a decision that, in retrospect, looks poorly timed. 

“Think twice before selling your bags,” Lookonchain wrote, highlighting the potential gains if the trader just held on to their Ether instead of selling and repurchasing it at a higher price point. 

Whale buys ETH after selling over a month ago. Source: DeBank

Trader loses out on $2.67 million gain

With ETH up over 70% since the sale, the trader lost out on over 1,000 ETH, or roughly $2.67 million, in the process of buying back in. If the trader had decided to hold on to their Ether, the assets would be worth about $6.7 million. 

Crypto awareness in Singapore has reached an all-time high, with 94% of respondents in a recent survey indicating familiarity with at least one digital asset.

However, ownership declined, falling to 29% in 2025 from 40% the previous year, according to Independent Reserve’s fifth annual Singapore Crypto Market Survey released on May 21.

The survey, conducted in February with 1,500 participants, revealed that men remain more active in crypto investing than women, 35% compared to 24%.

Millennials and Gen X (aged 25–54) dominate the investor base, comprising 71% of all holders. Among those trading at least once a week, 76% fall into this age group.

Related: Singapore’s Grab taps Solana DePIN project Natix to ‘reshape mapping’

The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has selected Avalanche to power its dedicated blockchain network for non-fungible tokens and digital fan engagement, the organization announced on May 22.

FIFA’s layer-1 (L1) blockchain will be powered by the Avalanche network’s scalability-focused infrastructure for the association’s five billion fans worldwide.

The move comes nearly a month after FIFA announced its initial plans to launch a new network for its blockchain-based collectibles. AvaCloud’s Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility will enable smoother integration with decentralized wallets and applications.

Related: Bitcoin hits new all-time high of $109K as trade war tensions ease

The move will enable FIFA to deliver “unique digital collectibles and immersive fan experiences, powered by the speed, scalability, and EVM compatibility,” according to Francesco Abbate, CEO of Modex and FIFA Collect.

The market cap of the world’s first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, surpassed that of retail and tech behemoth Amazon on “Bitcoin Pizza Day.”

Market data shows that Bitcoin (BTC) had a market cap of $2.205 trillion at the time of writing, $70 billion more than the $2.135 trillion Amazon valuation.

“By surpassing Amazon in terms of capitalization, Bitcoin has attracted even more attention from the non-crypto audience,” said Alex Obchakevich, founder of Obchakevich Research.

Obchakevich said the latest rally “will strengthen confidence in Bitcoin and lead to new injections into the crypto market.” The surge came as Bitcoin set a new all-time high and traded above $110,000, which Obchavich said will “attract new investors to large funds.”

Obchakevich noted that institutional players continue to expand their role in the digital asset space:

Key takeaways

ChatGPT-powered AI agents automate trading tasks using natural language prompts and API integrations, improving speed and consistency.

Successes occur when ChatGPT is used as a support tool, not a fully autonomous trading system.

Failures happen when traders over-rely on ChatGPT without real-time data, proper risk management or manual oversight.

Regulatory focus on AI in trading is increasing, with new frameworks emerging to ensure transparency, accountability and compliance.

What if a crypto trader didn’t need to constantly check charts, worry about emotions, or stay up all night watching for sudden price swings? What if those tasks could be handled by an intelligent agent that understands instructions in plain English — and reacts within milliseconds? That’s where ChatGPT-powered AI agents come in.

Travelers using cryptocurrency for booking arrangements spend more than twice as much as regular travelers using fiat money, according to a joint report from Binance Pay and crypto travel platform Travala shared with Cointelegraph.

Crypto-based bookings on Travala reached $80 million in 2024, up from $45 million the year before. Crypto travelers are also outspending their fiat counterparts, with an average booking value of  $1,211 per transaction, over 2.5 times more than fiat users who spend $469.

Additionally, the report said crypto users were three times more valuable over their lifetime due to longer stays and higher repeat bookings, with crypto travelers 57% more likely to make a repeat hotel purchase.

Source: Binance Pay, Travala

Juan Otero, CEO of Travala, attributed these travel preferences to the flexible nature of Web3 jobs:

“Many also work in the digital asset industry or have flexible, remote work lifestyles, which makes them more likely to travel frequently and stay in one place for longer while seeking out destinations that support seamless, global payments.”

Crypto-based transactions have become more common in the travel sector and beyond. Airlines that have integrated digital currencies into their booking systems have seen a 40% boost in bookings, with travel and hospitality representing 14% of all crypto transactions in 2024, according to a Feb. 21 report by Triple-A.

David Sacks, US President Donald Trump’s top adviser on crypto and artificial intelligence, said the administration expects the stablecoin bill to clear the Senate with bipartisan backing.

“We have every expectation now that it’s going to pass,” Sacks told CNBC on May 21, following a key procedural vote that saw 15 Democrats join Republicans to clear the filibuster threshold.

The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act is the most advanced federal effort yet to establish a legal framework for dollar-pegged digital assets.

Sacks said the bill could trigger “trillions of dollars” in demand for US Treasurys by unlocking stablecoin growth under clear rules.

“We already have over $200 billion in stablecoins — it’s just unregulated,” he added. “If we provide legal clarity, we create enormous demand for Treasurys practically overnight.”

Newly updated guidelines from Dubai’s crypto regulator include provisions on real-world asset (RWA) tokenization and clarify rules for issuers. 

On May 19, Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) released its updated Rulebook for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) operating in the region. The regulator gave market participants until June 19 to comply with the new rules. 

The regulator previously told Cointelegraph that it had enhanced supervisory mechanisms and brought consistency across activity-based rules. One of the more prominent changes includes regulatory clarity on RWA tokens. 

Irina Heaver, partner at the United Arab Emirates-based law firm NeosLegal, told Cointelegraph that the updated rules clarify RWA issuance and distribution. 

“Issuing real-world asset tokens and listing them on secondary markets is no longer theoretical,” Heaver told Cointelegraph. “It’s now a regulatory reality in Dubai and the broader UAE.”

Key points:

Bitcoin all-time highs matter little to those seeing a BTC price correction as long overdue.

Both the latest surge and the bull market itself are on borrowed time, traders say.

Comparisons to previous price cycles remain in use despite the booming institutional investment scene.

Bitcoin (BTC) traders are calling for a pullback after all-time highs and seven “green” weekly candles.

The hacker behind the data breach targeting Coinbase users mocked blockchain investigator ZachXBT with an onchain message following a major crypto swap.

On May 21, the hacker used Ethereum transaction input data to write “L bozo,” followed by a meme video of NBA player James Worthy smoking a cigar.

The message came after the attacker swapped about $42.5 million from Bitcoin (BTC) to Ether (ETH) via THORChain.

ZachXBT flagged the message on his Telegram channel, linking it to the same entity responsible for the Coinbase data breach affecting at least 69,400 users.

Coinbase hacker trolling ZachXBT. Source: ZachXBT.

On May 22, blockchain security firm PeckShield reported that the hacker had continued to move funds, swapping 8,697 ETH for 22 million Dai (DAI). A separate but closely linked address, which received 9,081 ETH via THORChain, also converted the assets into 23 million DAI.

Tech giant Microsoft says it has taken legal action against the information-stealing malware Lumma Stealer and has blocked thousands of websites related to the software.

Microsoft said in a May 21 blog post that a federal court in Georgia allowed the firm’s digital crimes unit to take down, block or suspend nearly 2,300 websites critical to Lumma’s operations, and it has collaborated with local and international law enforcement agencies to dismantle the project’s infrastructure.

The company said the US Department of Justice seized Lumma’s central command structure and disrupted marketplaces where the tool was sold to other cybercriminals. 

Microsoft says that Lumma has been sold via underground forums since 2022 and that it has undergone multiple upgrades since its launch.

Domains seized by Microsoft. Source: Microsoft Blog

Europol’s European Cybercrime Center and Japan’s Cybercrime Control Center also facilitated the suspension of locally based Lumma infrastructure.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance has reportedly endorsed the creation of a dedicated body to regulate blockchain-based financial infrastructure in the country.

The Pakistan Digital Assets Authority (PDAA) will serve as a regulatory body to oversee licensing, regulate exchanges, custodians, wallets, tokenized platforms, stablecoins and decentralized finance applications, according to a May 21 report from the state-owned broadcaster, PTV.

Muhammad Aurangzeb, federal minister for finance and revenue, told the broadcaster, “Pakistan must regulate not just to catch up, but to lead” in the industry.

“With the PDAA, we are creating a future-ready framework that protects consumers, invites global investment, and puts Pakistan at the forefront of financial innovation,” he said.

Muhammad Aurangzeb, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue. Source: Pakistan Ministry of Finance

The PDAA will also be tasked with tokenizing national assets and government debt, facilitating monetization of Pakistan’s surplus electricity through regulated Bitcoin mining, and helping startups build blockchain-based solutions at scale.

A crypto whale has expanded an existing 40x leverage long Bitcoin bet to $1.1 billion on the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, which has stunned the crypto community and is believed to be the first-ever position exceeding $1 billion on the platform.

The X account “James Wynn” claims to be behind the position, which is now up $36 million on the trade, data from Hypurrscan’s block explorer shows.

A $28.4 million margin position was used across several trades to increase the Bitcoin (BTC) position, now worth $1.13 billion. The average Bitcoin entry price was $108,065.

Perp futures positions of wallet address “0x507.” Source: Hypurrscan

“He did it fellas,” crypto analyst Sigma^2 wrote on X. “First position [on Hyperliquid] to exceed $1B."

Wynn’s long position was at a loss of about $16.3 million before it shot back up as Bitcoin broke through $110,000 on May 21. The position sits comfortably above its liquidation price of $103,790, as Bitcoin has well surpassed $110,000 and neared $112,000 in early trading on May 22.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has seen its largest inflow in the past two weeks as traders allocate to US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to scoop up the rocketing cryptocurrency.

IBIT’s May 21 net inflows hit $530.6 million, its biggest single-day net inflow since it took in $531.2 million on May 5, according to Farside Investors. The ETF hasn’t had an outflow since April 9.

In one day alone, IBIT has accumulated over 10 times the amount of Bitcoin (BTC) mined over the same timeframe, with it scooping up 4,931 BTC against just 450 BTC produced for the day.

IBIT also saw its largest volume day since January, according to the ETF tracking X account Trader T. 

“Given trading volume today, expect these inflow numbers to increase,” said ETF Store president Nate Geraci. 

Decentralized finance platform Synthetix has axed its $27 million plan to acquire crypto options platform Derive after negative community feedback.

A Synthetix spokesperson told Cointelegraph on May 22 that its acquisition proposal, pitched to its community and to Derive’s, “did not resonate,” and both projects agreed to “step back from the proposed acquisition.”

Synthetix said on May 14 that it would acquire Derive in a token exchange deal, pricing 1 SNX token to 27 DRV tokens, which would value Derive at around $27 million, pending approval from both communities. 

Synthetix strategy lead Ben Celermajer told Cointelegraph that other community concerns were the three-month token lock-up period and the deal’s price, part of which Synthetix tried to address with no lock-up for holders of less than 1 million DRV. 

“While we understand the commercials did not resonate with all community members, a number of holders from both communities believed the deal was fair and acceptable,” he said.  

Bitcoin has topped $110,000 for the first time in a recent rally that has seen it gain 3% over the past day to break through past price highs from earlier this year.

Bitcoin (BTC) hit a new all-time high of $110,788.98 on Coinbase late on May 21, just before 11:30 pm UTC, according to TradingView.

Bitcoin has gained around 3% over the last 24 hours, surpassing its all-time high of $109,458 that it hit earlier in the day, which was the first time it traded above its previously long-held Jan. 20 peak.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency has now gained 17.5% so far this year and is up 47% since its slump to $75,000 on April 7, triggered by US President Donald Trump enacting sweeping tariffs that tanked global markets.

Bitcoin’s new peak comes as US stock markets were rattled by a weak 20-year bond auction, which sent treasury yields soaring on May 21. The S&P 500 fell 80 points in half an hour while the Nasdaq and Dow Jones mirrored the move, with all US indexes trading down on the day. 

Crypto influencer Anthony Pompliano’s fintech-focused blank-check company, ProCap Acquisition Corp (PCAPU), rose 7% on its debut Nasdaq listing after a last-minute upsizing of its initial public offering.

ProCap had boosted its IPO from $200 million to $220 million on May 20, a day before its public launch, pricing its 22 million shares on offer at $10 each.

ProCap shares closed the May 21 trading day up 7% at $10.70, which continued with a 1.6% bump after-hours to $10.87, Yahoo Finance data shows.

PCAPU’s share price closed up 7% on its debut trading day. Source: Yahoo Finance

The company has offered underwriters a 45-day option to buy up to 3.3 million additional shares at the IPO price to cover extra demand.

ProCap said in an April 30 regulatory filing that the firm will be a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) that will look to invest in, and potentially take public, companies in the financial services, digital asset, asset management or healthcare sectors.

Australia’s financial regulator will seek the High Court’s permission to appeal a lower court’s ruling favoring fintech firm Block Earner, which found the company’s crypto-linked fixed-yield earning service is not a financial product.

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission said on May 21 that it wants to ask the High Court of Australia to clarify what the definition of a financial product is and clarify the circumstances when an interest-earning product and the conversion of assets from one form to another are regulated.

“The definition of financial product was drafted in a broad and technology-neutral way, and ASIC believes it is in the public interest to clarify this,” the watchdog said.

“This clarification is important as it applies to all financial products and services whether they involve crypto-assets or not.”

On April 22, Federal Court Justices David O’Callaghan, Wendy Abraham and Catherine Button found that Block Earner’s crypto-linked fixed-yield earning product is not a financial product, a managed investment scheme or a derivative under the Corporations Act.

ASIC said the court will consider its application. Special leave is required in an appeal to the High Court, and it’s only granted in cases where it would answer significant legal questions or matters of public interest.

VanEck plans to launch a private digital assets fund in June targeting tokenized Web3 projects built on the Avalanche blockchain network, the asset manager said in a statement shared with Cointelegraph.

The VanEck PurposeBuilt Fund, available only to accredited investors, aims to invest in liquid tokens and venture-backed projects across Web3 sectors, including gaming, financial services, payments, and artificial intelligence. 

Idle capital will be deployed into Avalanche (AVAX) real-world asset (RWA) products, including tokenized money market funds, VanEck said.

The fund will be managed by the team behind VanEck’s Digital Assets Alpha Fund (DAAF), which oversees more than $100 million in net assets as of May 21. 

“The next wave of value in crypto will come from real businesses, not more infrastructure,” Pranav Kanade, portfolio manager for DAAF, said in a statement.

A Democratic representative in the US Congress will support a blockchain bill at a time when many left-leaning lawmakers are blocking crypto-related pieces of legislation due to concerns with President Donald Trump’s potential conflicts of interest.

In a May 21 notice, Minnesota Representative Tom Emmer said he had reintroduced the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, a bill that “solidifies that digital asset developers and service providers that do not custody consumer funds are not money transmitters.”Emmer, a Republican, said Democratic Representative Ritchie Torres would co-lead the bill, making it a bipartisan effort in Congress.

“The Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act reflects a thoughtful, bipartisan effort to get digital asset policy right,” said Torres. “While similar language was voted down in markup last Congress, we took that feedback seriously and returned with a smarter, sharper framework that protects innovation without compromising oversight.”

Reintroducing the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act on May 21. Source: Tom Emmer

Representatives of advocacy organizations, including the Crypto Council for Innovation, Solana Policy Institute, Digital Chamber, Coin Center, DeFi Education Fund and Blockchain Association, said they would support the proposed blockchain regulatory bill. It was unclear whether Emmer and Torres had a majority of votes in the House of Representatives for the legislation to pass.

Torres has supported many bills and policies favorable to the crypto industry since assuming office in 2021. Together with Emmer, he has led the Congressional Crypto Caucus to advance crypto-friendly policies in the House since March.

Kristin Johnson of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced that she plans to depart the agency before 2026.

In a May 21 notice, Johnson said she planned to step down from the CFTC “later this year,” having completed her term, which ended in April. The commissioner filling a Democratic seat at the financial regulator had served since March 2022 after being nominated by former President Joe Biden.

In her farewell message, Johnson cited her work as a sponsor of the Market Risk Advisory Committee, which dealt with “nascent issues that arise with the introduction of decentralized financial products such as digital assets or cryptocurrency and other emerging markets.” 

CFTC Commissioner Kristin Johnson. Source: CFTCJohnson on X

Her departure could come before US President Donald Trump nominates a replacement and has them confirmed by a Senate majority. Commissioners Summer Mersinger and Christy Goldsmith Romero previously said they would step down on May 30 and May 31, respectively, and acting CFTC Chair Caroline Pham said she planned to move “to the private sector” if Brian Quintenz were to be the next Senate-confirmed head of the agency.

One position on the five-seat CFTC panel has been empty since the departure of former chair Rostin Behnam in February. Under CFTC guidelines, commissioners can continue to serve beyond the end of their terms until a “successor is appointed and has qualified,” provided it is before the next session of Congress.

Solana Mobile, a subsidiary of blockchain technology company Solana Labs, has revealed the next steps for its soon-to-be-shipped Seeker device and the overall ecosystem. The steps include a new, trustless architecture, a native token, and the Seeker ship date.

According to the announcement, Solana Mobile will ship the device starting Aug. 4. Seeker is the company’s second-generation device, after the Saga Web3 phone that launched in April 2023.

The company unveiled the Seeker phone in September 2024, saying it wouldn’t just be a “memecoin phone.” So far, it has pre-sold 150,000 units.

The Solana Seeker has gone through two sale phases: The Founder window, where the price for each device was $450, and the Early Adopter window, where the price per device was $500.

Assuming the lower price window, Solana Mobile could generate at least $67.5 million in gross revenue from device sales. For comparison, the iPhone generated $199.3 billion in revenue for Apple in 2024.