Global markets fell on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones (-0.24%), S&P 500 (-0.64%), and Nasdaq (-0.74%) all closing lower. Concerns over the US-China trade war and its impact on global growth weighed on investor sentiment, as Ford warned of a $1.5 billion profit hit from Trump tariffs. The Bank of England is expected to cut interest rates on Thursday, citing the trade war's effect on growth. Meanwhile, China risks deeper deflation as it diverts US-bound exports to the domestic market, and the US labor market shows signs of resilience despite trade tensions.
In crypto, the global crypto market cap decreased 0.7% over the past day to $2.93tn. The total crypto market 24h volume increased 16% to $64bn. The stablecoin market cap increased 18% to $226.9bn. Bitcoin decreased 0.2% in the past 24h and currently trades around $94.4k, Ether decreased 1%, currently trading around $1,800.
In the past 24 hours, crypto liquidations decreased by 20% and totaled $149.17m, with 65% of them long positions. BTC liquidated positions totaled $30.09m, equally split between $15.09m in shorts and $15m in longs.
The US Department of the Treasury has sanctioned the Karen National Army, a Myanmar militia group, for its role in facilitating crypto scams, including the "pig butchering" scam, as well as human trafficking and cross-border smuggling, which have collectively lost Americans billions of dollars.
The World ID project, developed by Tools for Humanity (TFH), has encountered regulatory roadblocks in Indonesia and Kenya over concerns tied to its handling of biometric data. On May 4, Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs suspended World ID operations, citing non-compliance with electronic system registration requirements and violations tied to improper licensing of its Indonesian entity. Meanwhile, Kenya’s High Court ruled that TFH’s biometric data collection violated national data protection laws, ordering the deletion of all previously gathered data and prohibiting future processing until a Data Protection Impact Assessment is completed. These developments underscore the mounting legal scrutiny facing global digital ID projects as they scale across jurisdictions with varying data privacy standards.
In a May 5, 2025 announcement, Ripple committed $25 million in Ripple USD to education nonprofits DonorsChoose and Teach For America through The Giving Block to address funding gaps in US education, inspired by a Gallup survey showing 55% of US parents and adults are dissatisfied with K-12 education quality.
A $243 million Bitcoin theft that began with a phone scam in Washington, D.C. in early 2025 has led to multiple arrests, international investigations, and a failed kidnapping attempt. The theft was carried out through social engineering: scammers posing as representatives from Google and the crypto exchange Gemini tricked a crypto investor into downloading remote access software, allowing them to drain 4,100 BTC from his wallet. Blockchain investigators, including pseudonymous analyst ZachXBT, quickly traced the stolen funds to wallets linked to a group of young cybercriminals. A key suspect, 18-year-old Veer Chetal from Danbury, Connecticut, was identified via a leaked Discord video showing the group celebrating the heist. A week later, Chetal’s parents were abducted in an attempted extortion plot by some of his co-conspirators who sought access to the stolen funds. They were rescued after bystanders, including an off-duty FBI agent, helped track down the getaway van. Multiple arrests followed, including Chetal and Singaporean national Malone Lam—another alleged member of the group—who had been spending stolen funds across luxury venues in the US. Several of the kidnappers have since pleaded guilty, and a portion of the funds has been recovered by federal authorities. The group behind the theft, reportedly operating under the name “the Com,” is said to have evolved from online gaming circles into a broader crypto crime network.
Michael Saylor's Strategy slowed its Bitcoin purchases, acquiring 1,895 BTC for $180.3 million, while Semler Scientific increased its buying, purchasing 167 BTC for $16.2 million, as the cryptocurrency market experiences price fluctuations and corporate investors continue to adapt their strategies.
Alex Mashinsky, former CEO of Celsius Network, is set to be sentenced on May 8 for commodities fraud and price manipulation, with prosecutors seeking up to 20 years in prison and victim statements calling for both leniency and harsh punishment, in a case that may set a precedent for crypto regulation under interim US Attorney Jay Clayton.
VanEck has filed with US regulators to list an exchange-traded fund holding BNB, the native token of Binance's BNB Chain, marking the first such filing in the US and part of a growing trend of asset managers seeking to list altcoin ETFs.
Tether is launching Tether AI, a peer-to-peer artificial intelligence platform that will feature payments in major cryptocurrencies like USDt and Bitcoin, and will provide a fully open-source, modular, and composable AI runtime that can adapt and evolve on any hardware and device.
Digital twins, virtual replicas of physical objects or systems, are being exploited by cybercriminals in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors to create synthetic identities and scam users, but blockchain technology itself can also be leveraged to combat these scams by providing secure and verifiable identity verification and transaction processes.
The Tron network is on the verge of surpassing Ethereum in Tether circulation after a recent $1 billion mint, as the stablecoin market continues to grow, with Tether's total circulation reaching a record high and pending legislation in the US that could further solidify its position.
The House Republicans' Digital Asset Market Structure discussion draft proposes a regulatory framework for crypto that aims to reduce the dominance of large firms, promote decentralization, and provide clarity on the treatment of digital commodities, while also facing opposition from Democrats and potential roadblocks in its implementation.
Cryptocurrency investment products attracted $2 billion in new inflows last week, bringing total assets under management to $156 billion, with Bitcoin accounting for the majority of inflows, despite a 41% decrease from the previous week's inflows and a significant spike in short Bitcoin ETPs.
Florida's legislative efforts to establish a state-level Bitcoin reserve have stalled as two key bills were indefinitely postponed, while Arizona remains a contender with two pending bills that could still make it the first US state to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve.
