Decentral Block Post

Opinion by: Grigore Roșu, founder and chief executive officer of Pi Squared

For some, the audacity of questioning the primacy of blockchain in Web3 is borderline heretical. The idea that decentralization and progress could exist without blockchains seems absurd to those who built careers around Bitcoin, Ethereum, and their descendants. Given blockchain's well-documented scaling limits, however, there is an argument to be made that Web3 doesn't actually need blockchains to thrive. Instead, it requires payment systems and verifiable settlement systems that are super fast. Blockchains are just one way to achieve that, not the only way.

While blockchain solved the double-spending problem, it introduced its own architectural burden: the rigid fixation on total ordering, dictating that every transaction must wait its turn in a global queue, processed through a monolithic consensus mechanism. Initially, this made sense in the context of payments, where security and simplicity were paramount. Still, in the context of Web3, where complex applications require speed, flexibility, and scale, this same mechanism has become a constraint. It imposes a kind of serialized tyranny, throttling throughput and locking developers into a narrow lane of design options. 

The undeniable influence of FastPay

Mobile remittance app FastPay proved that double-spending can be avoided differently without a total order. This inspired systems like Linera, which use independent local orderings while maintaining global verifiability, proving that a different, more scalable future is possible and already underway. FastPay also inspired the likes of POD and Sui's single-owner objects protocol. If FastPay had been invented before Bitcoin, blockchain might never have captured the cultural or technical imagination in the way that it did.

Recent: Beijing to invest in blockchain, integrate into infrastructure

The top 220 holders of US President Donald Trump’s memecoin met yesterday at the president’s golf course in Virginia for an exclusive dinner and purported meet-and-greet.

Attendees spent a grand total of $148 million for an “ultra-exclusive VIP reception with the president,” which crypto industry advocates and critics alike saw as a potential opportunity to discuss crypto policy with the president. 

The crowd contained a number of foreign crypto executives and influencers who otherwise would not have access to the US president, raising questions around corruption and foreign influence. 

Concerns were further augmented when White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to release a list of attendees, stating that the event was a private affair outside of Trump’s presidential duties.

However, some attendees spoke to the press or took to social media to talk about the dinner. Here are just a few:

Key takeaways:

Ethereum is forming a bull flag on the daily chart, with a potential breakout to $4,000.

If Ethereum’s network activity and total value locked continue to grow, ETH price may see further gains.

Ether’s price printed a “bull flag” on the daily chart, a technical chart formation associated with strong upward momentum. Could a strengthening technical setup and increasing transaction fees signal the continuation of ETH’s rally toward $4,000?

Ethereum transaction fees rising is bullish

Marketwide recovery, fueled by Bitcoin’s rise to new all-time highs and improving macroeconomic conditions, saw Ether’s (ETH) price rise by nearly 56% to an eight-week high of $2,734 on May 23, from a low of $1,750 on May 6. 

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a civil forfeiture complaint to seize more than $24 million in cryptocurrency from Rustam Rafailevich Gallyamov, a Russian national accused of developing the Qakbot malware.

According to a May 22 announcement, the DOJ unsealed charges against the 48-year-old Moscovite with a federal indictment. Gallyamov is allegedly the malware developer behind the Qakbot botnet.

“Today’s announcement of the Justice Department’s latest actions to counter the Qakbot malware scheme sends a clear message to the cybercrime community,” said Matthew Galeotti, head of the DOJ’s criminal division.

Screenshot of the indictment. Source: US Department of Justice

Galeotti highlighted that the DOJ is “determined to hold cybercriminals accountable.” He added that the department will “use every legal tool” to “identify you, charge you, forfeit your ill-gotten gains, and disrupt your criminal activity.”

Related: Microsoft takes legal action against infostealer Lumma

The bounty offer to recover stolen funds from Sui-based decentralized exchange (DEX) Cetus closely resembles a successful strategy used by a Solana project three years ago.

It turns out that Cetus shares the same development team as Crema Finance, a Solana-based DeFi project that suffered a $9-million hack in 2022 but recovered most of the funds by negotiating with its hacker. Now, Cetus is relying on the same strategy.

Cetus is asking the hacker to return all but $6 million, or 2,324 Ether (ETH), of the stolen funds in exchange for a promise not to pursue legal action. The protocol lost $223 million to an exploit on May 22.

The size of the bounty has sparked backlash from users, with many calling for a formal compensation plan instead. Several community members argue that even if funds are recovered, most of the damage has already been done — especially to holders of the CETUS token, which plummeted in value following the incident.

Meanwhile, Sui validators are also under fire for their role in freezing the funds. The move is aimed at aiding recovery, yet critics say it exposes centralization risks in the network.

In this week’s episode of Byte-Sized Insight, on Decentralize with Cointelegraph, we break down a pivotal moment for US crypto legislation. 

In a 66–32 procedural vote on May 19, the US Senate advanced the GENIUS Act, a landmark bill aimed at establishing a comprehensive regulatory framework for stablecoins. Meanwhile, across the Capitol, Representative Tom Emmer reintroduced the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, backed by bipartisan support.

Breaking down GENIUS

The GENIUS Act — short for “Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act” — seeks to answer foundational questions around stablecoin issuance and oversight.

“It defines this idea of a payment stablecoin,” explained Rashan Colbert, director of US policy at the Crypto Council for Innovation, in this week’s interview. Colbert emphasized that the bill doesn’t stop at definitions. 

“It outlines in a robust way just who’s allowed to do this and what they need to look like.” 

By this, he’s referring to guidelines on who can be permitted issuers like bank subsidiaries, credit unions and approved non-bank entities.

Digital asset lender Ledn is transitioning to fully collateralized Bitcoin lending and discontinuing support for Ethereum, in moves designed to consolidate its BTC-focused business and further safeguard client assets against credit risks.

In adopting a full custody structure for Bitcoin (BTC) loans, Ledn will no longer lend out client assets to generate interest, the company disclosed on May 23. Instead, Bitcoin collateral will remain under full custody by Ledn or one of its designated funding partners. 

“This means assets aren’t rehypothecated, reused, or loaned out to generate yield,” Ledn co-founder and CEO Adam Reeds told Cointelegraph.

Reeds said the move brings the company back to its roots and aligns more closely with Bitcoin’s founding principles.

“Bitcoin was created as a direct response to the risks of fractional reserve banking and unchecked use of client assets to generate interest,” said Reed, adding:

Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States are heading for a record-breaking month, helping push Bitcoin to new all-time highs amid rising institutional demand.

The US-listed spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs recorded more than $1.5 billion in combined inflows over a two-day period, with $608 million on May 21 and $934 million on May 22, according to data from Sosovalue.

A repeat performance of the past two days’ inflows would see monthly inflows surge to $6.68 billion, surpassing the monthly record of $6.49 billion from November 2024.

Bitcoin ETF inflows, monthly, all-time chart. Source: Sosovalue

Related: German gov’t missed out on $2.3B profit after selling Bitcoin at $57K

ETF inflows helped Bitcoin rise to a new all-time high of $112,000 on May 22 before retracing to above $110,700 on May 23, up over 19% in the past week, TradingView data shows.

Singapore-based artificial intelligence firm Genius Group has added more Bitcoin to its corporate treasury after being temporarily banned from doing so.

In a May 22 announcement, Genius Group explained that it has resumed accumulating Bitcoin (BTC) following a favorable ruling by the US Court of Appeals. It follows Genius Group being temporarily barred from expanding its Bitcoin treasury after a US court order had banned it from selling shares, raising funds and using investor funds to buy more BTC.

Genius Group announced it increased its Bitcoin Treasury 40% with the purchase of 24.5 BTC, worth around $2.7 million. The company now holds 85.5 BTC acquired for a total of $8.5 million, at an average price of $99,700 per coin.

“We are pleased to be able to begin the task of rebuilding shareholder value from the damage caused by the legal actions of third parties, and delivering on our 2025 plan,” the company’s CEO, Roger Hamilton, said.

Related: Swedish health firm jumps 37% on first Bitcoin buy, China EV seller to buy 1K BTC

Binance co-founder and former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has pushed back against a report in The Wall Street Journal, calling it a “hit piece” filled with inaccuracies and negative assumptions. 

In an X post, Zhao criticized the publication’s portrayal of his alleged involvement with World Liberty Financial, the decentralized finance project backed by a business entity affiliated with US President Donald Trump. Trump’s sons — Eric and Donald Jr. —are involved in the management of the company.

Zhao said the WSJ article portrayed him as acting as a “fixer” for the WLF team and its co-founder Zach Witkoff during foreign trips. 

The article suggested Zhao facilitated introductions and meetings for WLF leaders during foreign trips, including a visit to Pakistan that reportedly resulted in a memorandum of understanding with a local official.

“I am not a fixer for anyone,” Zhao said, firmly denying that he connected Pakistani official “Mr. Saqib” with WLF or organized any engagements abroad. “They had known each other way back, whereas I only met with Mr. Saqib for the first time in Pakistan.” 

Key takeaways:

Bitcoin hit a new all-time high of $111,970 on May 22, but retraced to $110,700, with analysts noting mixed signals on market overheating.

Funding rates and other metrics suggest a “healthy upward phase.”

Bitcoin’s (BTC) price recorded a new all-time high of $111,970  on May 22. However, BTC price retraced shortly after to trade at $110,700 at the time of writing.

Despite the correction, there are mixed signals about whether the price rally is overheated or whether this is a healthy pullback.

Cetus is offering a $6 million white hat bounty in an effort to recover $220 million in stolen digital assets, while emergency responses from the Sui Network have raised concerns about decentralization.

Sui-native decentralized exchange (DEX) Cetus was exploited for over $220 million worth of cryptocurrency on May 22. However, Cetus managed to freeze $162 million of the stolen funds shortly after.

Cetus has since offered a white hat bounty of up to $6 million for the exploiter for returning the stolen 20,920 Ether (ETH), worth over $55 million, along with the rest of the stolen funds currently frozen on the Sui blockchain.

“In exchange, you can keep 2,324 ETH ($6M) as a bounty, and we will consider the matter closed and will not pursue any further legal, intelligence, or public action,” Cetus wrote in a message embedded in a blockchain transaction on May 22.

A bounty offer to the hacker. Source: Suivision

However, Cetus will “escalate with full legal and intelligence resources” if these assets are off-ramped or sent to cryptocurrency mixers and not returned promptly.

Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetuals exchange operating on its own layer-1 blockchain, has submitted formal comments on 24/7 derivatives trading to the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

In a May 23 X post, Hyperliquid Labs announced that it has “submitted two comment letters to the [CFTC] in response to its recent Requests for Comment on perpetual derivatives and 24/7 trading.” The team behind the decentralized exchange (DEX) added:

“We commend the CFTC for its proactive engagement on these topics, understanding of which is fundamental to the evolution of global markets.”

Hyperliquid stated that it is committed to the advancement of the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. The team also claimed that its implementation “exemplifies how core DeFi principles can be put into practice to enhance market efficiency, market integrity, and user protection.”

Source: Hyperliquid

Related: CFTC exodus: Fourth commissioner to depart 'later this year'

CFTC’s 24/7 derivatives plans

Hyperliquid’s remarks follow CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger recently saying that crypto perpetual futures contracts could receive regulatory approval in the US “very soon.” Perpetual crypto futures “can come to market now,” she said.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms have a major cost advantage over traditional banks when it comes to onboarding new users, according to Anton Bukov, co-founder of decentralized exchange (DEX) 1inch.

Speaking at a panel during Dutch Blockchain Week on May 22 in Amsterdam, Bukov said traditional banks spend between $100 and $300 per user to verify documents and set up accounts. Online banks, he said, spend about $20 to $30. In contrast, DeFi requires almost nothing beyond a smartphone and internet access.

“Onboarding to DeFi literally costs zero,” Bukov said. “You don’t need brick-and-mortar infrastructure or lengthy verification processes. Just connect and transact.” 

Bukov said that this gives DeFi an edge over traditional financial institutions in reaching the 1.4 billion unbanked people who remain excluded from traditional finance due to high onboarding expenses.

1inch Network co-founder Anton Bukov at the Dutch Blockchain Week. Source: Cointelegraph

Reaching 1.4 billion unbanked users

“That’s why we have 1.4 billion people on the planet who are unbanked. No one’s going to invest those hundreds or tens of dollars into them because they will never return to them,” Bukov added. 

Key points:

Bitcoin buyer interest remains strong at all-time highs, contrasting with the first touch of $100,000 in 2024.

The BTC price uptrend “may continue” as a result, CryptoQuant analysis concludes.

Bitcoin short-term holders are firmly in the black in a further potential bull market boost.

Bitcoin (BTC) buyers remain dominant on exchanges as all-time highs are met with unusual optimism.

Some of the biggest banking companies in the US are reportedly exploring a team-up to launch a crypto stablecoin.

Companies owned by JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo have discussed the possibility of jointly issuing a stablecoin The Wall Street Journal reported on May 22, citing people familiar with the matter.

Other financial institutions linked to the potential stablecoin include Early Warning Services, the parent company of digital payments network Zelle, and the payment network Clearing House.

The discussions are still in the early stages, and a final decision on the project could change depending on the regulatory environment and the demand for stablecoins.

A JPMorgan spokesperson told Cointelegraph the company had no comment. Bank of America, CitiGroup, and Wells Fargo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Artificial intelligence firm Anthropic has launched the latest generations of its chatbots amid criticism of a testing environment behaviour that could report some users to authorities.

Anthropic unveiled Claude Opus 4 and Claude Sonnet 4 on May 22, claiming that Claude Opus 4 is its most powerful model yet, “and the world’s best coding model,” while Claude Sonnet 4 is a significant upgrade from its predecessor, “delivering superior coding and reasoning.”

The firm added that both upgrades are hybrid models offering two modes — “near-instant responses and extended thinking for deeper reasoning.”

Both AI models can also alternate between reasoning, research and tool use, like web search, to improve responses, it said. 

Anthropic added that Claude Opus 4 outperforms competitors in agentic coding benchmarks. It is also capable of working continuously for hours on complex, long-running tasks, “significantly expanding what AI agents can do.” 

Cybercriminals are using fake Ledger Live apps to drain macOS users’ crypto through malware that steals seed phrases, a cybersecurity firm warns. 

The malware replaces the legitimate Ledger Live app on victims’ devices and then prompts the user to input their seed phrase through a phony pop-up message, a team from Moonlock said in a May 22 report.

“Initially, attackers could use the clone to steal passwords, notes, and wallet details to get a glimpse of the wallet’s assets, but they had no way to extract the funds,” the Moonlock team said.

“Now, within a year, they have learned to steal seed phrases and empty the wallets of their victims,” it added. 

One way the scammers replace the real Ledger Live app with a clone is through the Atomic macOS Stealer, designed to steal sensitive data, which Moonlock said it has found lurking on at least 2,800 hacked websites.

Photos from within US President Donald Trump’s secretive dinner for his top memecoin buyers show attendees were treated to a three-course meal and gift bags as protesters gathered outside the event to accuse Trump of profiting from the presidency.

Pictures posted online by some of the 220 largest holders of the Official Trump (TRUMP) token — one of several crypto ventures critics have said conflicts with Trump’s ethics as president — show attendees were greeted by large posters bearing “Fight Fight Fight,” which also sat atop each table, referencing the company that launched the memecoin.

The White House said it would not publish a guest list of those who attended the dinner, but Tron CEO Justin Sun, Magic Eden CEO Jack Lu and BitMart CEO Sheldon Xia were among those sharing snaps of the dinner held at the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia.

Trump Crypto Dinner！ #TrumpCoin @GetTrumpMemes pic.twitter.com/9ZredNjOEu

— Sheldon (@sheldonbitmart) May 23, 2025

On the menu was a “Trump organic field green salad” to start, which was followed by a filet mignon and pan-seared halibut with mashed potatoes and vegetable medley, with a lava cake for dessert, according to two photos taken by apparent attendees seen by Cointelegraph.

Bitcoin futures open interest (OI) has hit record levels on crypto derivatives exchanges as traders anticipate the cryptocurrency will continue and reach new all-time highs. 

Bitcoin (BTC) futures open interest reached a peak of just over $80 billion on May 23, according to CoinGlass. It’s an increase of 30% since the start of May as derivatives speculators load up on leverage in anticipation of higher Bitcoin prices.

Open interest is the total number of outstanding futures contracts that allow traders to bet on the future price of Bitcoin, which have not been settled or closed, showing the total amount of current market speculation.

Total Bitcoin futures OI. Source: Coinglass

When OI surges, it indicates massive leveraged positions are built up in the market, with lots of traders holding large positions with borrowed money. 

If Bitcoin’s price moves against these over-leveraged positions, traders get forcibly liquidated, and the flushout can create selling pressure on Bitcoin, which can cause a rapid drop in prices and high volatility.

TL;DR

Spotting the next big crypto project before it explodes demands data, discipline and a sharp eye for real signals. This guide explores how to identify early winners by analyzing onchain metrics, tokenomics, dev activity and community traction while avoiding the common traps of hype-driven pumps and red-flag projects.

Despite the crypto space being crowded, fast-moving and full of noise, some investors manage to consistently find promising projects while they’re still under the radar.

So, how do they do it? 

Crypto trendspotters know how to read onchain data. They understand tokenomics. They read GitHub commits and follow the money. It takes more than jumping on the hype bandwagon ahead of the crowd.

This guide breaks down how to find crypto projects with real potential using lessons from past winners like Solana, Arbitrum, Chainlink and even memecoins like Pepe. Along the way, it will highlight the tools that matter, red flags to avoid and the difference between organic growth and manufactured buzz.

Shares in Swedish health tech company H100 Group AB rose 37% after it said it purchased Bitcoin for the first time as part of a new strategy, while China’s Jiuzi Holdings revealed its plan to stack 1,000 Bitcoin over the next year.

H100 said on May 22 that it spent 5 million Norwegian krone ($490,830) buying 4.39 Bitcoin (BTC) at an average purchasing price of around $111,785.

The company’s shares closed May 22 trading up 37% to 1.22 Swedish krona ($0.13) on the Nordic Growth Market following its disclosure of its Bitcoin purchase, Bloomberg data shows. 

Source: H100

The strong trading day recovered some losses from the past two months, during which the firm’s shares have fallen by over 46%.

H100’s change in share price so far in 2025. Source: Bloomberg

The firm’s CEO, Sander Andersen, said he believes “the values of individual sovereignty highly present in the Bitcoin community aligns well with, and will appeal to, the customers and communities we are building the H100 platform for.”

Crypto perpetual futures contracts could receive regulatory approval in the US “very soon,” says outgoing Commodities and Futures Trading Commission Commissioner Summer Mersinger.

Perpetual crypto futures “can come to market now,” Mersinger told Bloomberg TV on May 22. 

“We’re seeing some applications, and I believe we’ll see some of those products trading live very soon,” she said, adding it would be “great to get that trading back onshore in the United States.” 

Mersinger, who will leave the CFTC at the end of May, said having crypto derivatives trading and regulated in the US would be a “really good thing for these markets and would be really beneficial to the industry broadly.”

Crypto perpetual futures are derivative contracts that allow traders to speculate on the price of cryptocurrencies without actually owning them. Unlike traditional futures contracts that have expiration dates, perpetual futures can be held indefinitely. They can also be traded with high leverage.

A US man operating what prosecutors called a “no questions asked” cash-to-Bitcoin conversion service has been sentenced to six years behind bars and was ordered to hand over millions of dollars. 

Boston federal court Judge Richard Stearns sentenced Trung Nguyen, from Danvers, Massachusetts, to six years in prison followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered him to forfeit $1.5 million, the Boston US Attorney’s Office said on May 22. 

Prosecutors said Nguyen ran an unlicensed money-transmitting business called National Vending between September 2017 and October 2020, which used various techniques he learned in an online course to evade authorities.

As part of the course, Nguyen was taught how to conceal his actual business from banks, crypto exchanges and state authorities by masquerading as a vending machine company that accepted cash deposits, had a list of fictional suppliers, and generally avoided using the phrase “Bitcoin” where possible.

Prosecutors say Trung Nguyen operated a fake vending machine business to obscure the cash deposits he was receiving. Source: Pacer

According to prosecutors, among Nguyen’s customer base were several scam victims who were tricked into converting cash into Bitcoin (BTC) by con artists overseas, as well as a drug dealer who sent $250,000 in cash across 10 transactions in 2018.

Michigan lawmakers have introduced four crypto-related bills covering crypto mining, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and crypto in state retirement funds.

Republican state Representative Bill Schuette introduced House Bill 4510 on May 21, which would amend Michigan’s Public Employee Retirement System Investment Act to allow the state treasurer, currently Rachael Eubanks, to invest in cryptocurrencies that have averaged a market cap above $250 million over the last calendar year.

Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) are the only cryptocurrencies that currently meet that threshold. The bill adds that any cryptocurrencies must be held in the form of an exchange-traded product issued by a registered investment company.

A similar bill was introduced in February, permitting the state treasurer to allocate up to 10% of Michigan’s Budget Stabilization Fund into crypto.

Republican Representative Bryan Posthumus led the introduction of the second bipartisan crypto bill on May 21, HB 4511, which would prohibit Michigan from banning crypto or imposing licensing requirements on crypto holders. It would also prohibit state officials from advocating or supporting a proposed CBDC from the federal government.

An American tourist in the United Kingdom was reportedly drugged by an individual posing as a taxi driver, who stole the tourist's $123,000 in Bitcoin (BTC) stored on a cell phone.

According to a report from My London, Jacob Irwin-Cline went out to a London bar and had several drinks before calling an Uber to take him home.

Cline said that he did not thoroughly check the details of the Uber ride on his phone and left with a random private cab driver resembling the Uber driver at first glance, but driving a different vehicle — a detail Cline would only discover after the incident.

Once inside the vehicle, the US tourist said the driver offered him a cigarette, which Cline said was likely laced with a rare and potent sedative drug called scopolamine. Cline added that the cigarette made him feel extremely docile and tired, causing him to pass out for around 30 minutes before regaining consciousness.

Shortly after Cline woke up, the driver ordered him out of the vehicle. As Cline exited, the driver suddenly sped off, striking him with the car and fleeing with his cellphone, which contained his private keys and access to his crypto accounts.

Though a majority of members of the US Senate voted to advance a bill to regulate payment stablecoins on May 20, high-ranking Democrats are planning to propose an amendment to the legislation to address President Donald Trump’s connections to the cryptocurrency industry.

According to a May 22 Axios report, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jeff Merkley will file an amendment to the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act, or GENIUS Act, to block a US president from profiting from stablecoins. The proposed amendment would come after 18 Democrats sided with Republicans in the Senate in voting to advance the bill on May 20 after it failed a procedural vote on May 8.

“Passing the GENIUS Act without our anti-corruption amendment stamps a Congressional seal of approval on Trump selling access and influence to the highest bidder,” Merkley said in a May 22 X post.

Trump his three sons are involved in the crypto platform World Liberty Financial (WLFI), which launched its USD1 stablecoin in March. Critics have pointed out that the president could continue to personally benefit from legislation that helps recognize stablecoins like USD1 as financial instruments in the US. 

Related: US lawmaker introduces anti-corruption bill ahead of Trump’s dinner

Key takeaways:

The SEC’s decision on a spot XRP ETF could ignite a significant rally.

The current $2.2 billion in XRP futures hints at growing institutional investor demand.

The two most bullish events ever imagined by XRP (XRP) advocates happened in 2025, but XRP continues to underperform the cryptocurrency market. On March 6, XRP was listed as a candidate for the United States' “Digital Asset Reserve,” and Ripple Labs settled a multi-year-long complaint with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on May 8.

XRP/USD (blue) vs. crypto market capitalization. Source: TradingView / Cointelegraph

XRP fell 6% in the three months leading up to May 22, while overall crypto market capitalization rose 10%. Traders remain hopeful for a 45% rally to $3.50, with derivatives metrics signaling rising confidence.