Global markets tumbled on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones (-1.91%), the S&P 500 (-1.61%), and the Nasdaq (-1.41%) all closing lower. Investors grew increasingly concerned about the US trade war as G7 officials gathered in Canada, while President Trump's attacks on companies warning about tariff price increases added to market jitters. The US dollar also faced pressure, with Asian currencies gaining on bets of potential US trade deals. Meanwhile, the UK reported a higher-than-expected inflation rate of 3.5% in April, and the IMF urged the US to curb its deficit amid rising debt fears.
Bitcoin continued its rally, hitting a brand new record high above $111,000.
In crypto, the global crypto market cap increased 2.55% in 24h to $3.48tn. The total crypto market 24h volume increased 57% to $191bn.
In the past 24 hours, crypto liquidations increased 93% and totaled $483.77m, with 63% of them short positions. BTC positions made up 46.3% of all liquidated positions.
US Bitcoin spot ETFs extended their rally in flows on May 21, pulling in $609 million—the fourth consecutive day above $300 million and the strongest since May 2. BlackRock’s IBIT led by a wide margin with $530.6 million, its second-largest daily inflow on record. Fidelity’s FBTC and Bitwise’s BITB followed with $23.5 million and $20.5 million, respectively, while VanEck’s HODL and Ark’s ARKB saw moderate gains. Grayscale’s legacy GBTC remained flat.
Meanwhile, US spot Ether ETFs saw a sharp slowdown in demand on May 21, recording just $587,000 in net inflows—down from $64.9 million the day before and marking their weakest showing in over a week. BlackRock’s ETHA was the lone bright spot, attracting $24.9 million in fresh capital. However, this was nearly offset by a $24.3 million outflow from Fidelity’s FETH.. All other ETFs posted flat flows. The stagnation in aggregate flows follows several choppy sessions and suggests investors are turning more selective with ETH exposure despite high trading volumes.
World, a digital identification project led by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has raised $135 million to expand its iris-scanning infrastructure and global coverage, despite facing regulatory challenges and criticism over its collection of biometric data and implications for data privacy and ethics.
Kristin Johnson, a US Commodity Futures Trading Commission commissioner, has announced her plans to depart the agency later this year after completing her term and serving since March 2022, during which she worked on issues related to decentralized financial products and digital assets.
South Korea's Financial Services Commission has introduced new rules to regulate digital asset transactions, including stricter listing standards and compliance requirements for nonprofit organizations and virtual asset exchanges, set to take effect in June.
Trugard and Webacy have developed an AI-based system that detects crypto wallet address poisoning with a 97% success rate, leveraging machine learning and onchain analytics to combat a costly and underreported scam in the cryptocurrency space.
The US Senate is set to debate the GENIUS Act, a bill that aims to regulate stablecoins by setting clear rules for collateralization and compliance with anti-money laundering laws, which could lead to a surge in institutional adoption and legitimize stablecoins as a better form of money.
A data breach at Coinbase, which went undetected for nearly six months, affected nearly 70,000 users, resulting in $400 million in losses and prompting a flurry of lawsuits against the company for its alleged failure to notify victims in a timely manner.
The American banking lobby is panicking over the potential of stablecoins, particularly yield-bearing ones, to disrupt their traditional business model by offering interest or rewards to holders and undermining their ability to maximize profits through fractional reserve banking.
A New York jury has convicted Braden John Karony, the former CEO of cryptocurrency company SafeMoon, of conspiracy, money laundering, and wire fraud after a two-week trial, in a case seen as a bellwether for US prosecution of digital asset fraud.
Bitcoin Suisse has received in-principle approval from the Abu Dhabi Global Market's Financial Services Regulatory Authority, paving the way for the company to offer regulated crypto financial services in the region through its subsidiary BTCS (Middle East).
The Texas House of Representatives has passed a bill that would establish a strategic bitcoin reserve in the state, which will now go to Governor Greg Abbott for approval, allowing the state comptroller to invest in bitcoin and potentially other cryptocurrencies with a market cap above $500 billion.
Banco Industrial, Guatemala's largest bank, has integrated Sukupay's crypto infrastructure into its mobile banking app, allowing locals to receive remittances from the US instantly with a $0.99 flat fee, without needing a crypto wallet or international bank account number.
Hong Kong's Legislative Council has passed a stablecoin bill, paving the way for a regulated framework.
Synthetix has abandoned its $27 million plan to acquire crypto options platform Derive due to negative community feedback regarding the proposed token exchange deal and its terms, including a three-month token lock-up period and the deal's price.
A crypto whale, claiming to be James Wynn, has expanded a 40x leverage long bitcoin bet to a record-breaking $1.1 billion on the Hyperliquid decentralized exchange, with the position currently up $36 million and representing the first-ever trade to exceed $1 billion on the platform.
Yield-bearing stablecoins have surged to $11 billion in circulation, with Pendle, a decentralized protocol, accounting for 30% of the total value locked, as the market capitalizes on the potential for stablecoin holders to earn interest, estimated to be over $9 billion annually.
VanEck is launching a private digital assets fund in June that will invest in tokenized Web3 projects built on the Avalanche blockchain network, targeting liquid tokens and venture-backed projects across various sectors, with a focus on real-world assets and managed by the team behind its Digital Assets Alpha Fund.
Crypto.com has secured a Markets in Financial Instruments Directive license, allowing it to offer cryptocurrency financial derivatives in the European Economic Area and further expand its presence in the region.
