Executive brief
The crypto market is currently navigating a period of significant macro pressure as geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran drive oil prices to six-month highs. These conditions have reinforced a risk-off sentiment across global markets, evidenced by Bitcoin and ether prices struggling to maintain momentum while traditional safe havens like gold surge. Despite the ongoing ETF outflows, institutional adoption continues through structured products and regulatory advancements. White House talks regarding stablecoin yields are reportedly making progress, potentially breaking the deadlock on the long-awaited CLARITY Act.
Corporate activity remains high, though sentiment is mixed. While Peter Thiel fully exited his position in the Ethereum treasury firm ETHZilla, other major players are doubling down on infrastructure. Societe Generale’s SG-FORGE launched its euro stablecoin on the XRP Ledger, and Ledn successfully raised $188m through the first-ever bitcoin-backed bond securitisation in the asset-backed market.
However, the market faces a “ceiling” of underwater holders. Technical analysts suggest Bitcoin’s 14-day RSI indicates a long grind ahead, with potential consolidation around the $60,000 region. For investors, the opportunity lies in the expansion of 24/7 trading by CME Group, though the risk of persistent ETF redemptions totalling over $8.5b since October remains a primary headwind. Eric Trump’s $1 million prediction provides a long-term bullish counterpoint, but near-term volatility, spurred by Fed hawkishness, dominates the current tape.
1) Top 20 news headlines
- Eric Trump reiterates claim bitcoin is just getting started on its road to $1 million; Trump acknowledged volatility but cited upside potential while prices hover below $70,000.
- Latest White House talks on stablecoin yield make progress with banks; policy experts met to break down hurdles halting the digital market structure bill.
- SocGen taps XRP Ledger for euro stablecoin distribution; the French banking giant expanded its EUR CoinVertible to a third blockchain to deepen institutional use.
- Ledn raises $188m with first bitcoin-backed bond sale; the crypto lender packaged more than 5,400 bitcoin-collateralised loans into a first-of-its-kind securitisation.
- Peter Thiel fully exits ETHZilla treasury shares; the Founders Fund-related vehicles reported 0.0% beneficial ownership after the stock fell 95%.
- CME Group to launch 24/7 crypto futures and options trading on 29 May; the move follows record volumes as traditional financial exchanges expand hours.
- Fed’s Neel Kashkari calls crypto utterly useless; the Minneapolis Fed president argued stablecoins fail basic real-world tests.
- UAE sits on $344m unrealised profit from bitcoin mining; royal family-linked rigs are reportedly producing about 4 BTC a day.
- Robinhood Layer 2 testnet sees 4 million transactions in first week; the Ethereum L2 is built on Arbitrum to support tokenised real-world assets.
- SEC leadership outlines innovation exemption for tokenised securities; Commissioners Peirce and Atkins described the move as an incremental step for the agency.
- Tokenised xStocks surpass $25b in total transaction volume; Kraken reported approximately $3.5b in onchain trading activity across Solana and Ethereum.
- Bitcoin miner Bitdeer tumbles 17%; the drop followed a $300m convertible note offering to fund expansion and AI data centres.
- Susquehanna-backed Blockfills up for sale after $75m loss; the firm temporarily suspended client withdrawals due to financial conditions.
- Trump-linked World Liberty taps Securitize for hotel tokenisation; the partnership aims to structure revenue tied to a resort project in the Maldives.
- Bitcoin ETFs sit on $53b in cumulative net inflows; heavy recent outflows have not erased the overall success of spot products according to Bloomberg analysts.
- Hacker returns $21m in stolen bitcoin to South Korea; prosecutors recovered approximately 320 BTC that was stolen from their custody last year.
- Bitcoin RSI crash signals consolidation around $60,000; historical data suggests a long, slow grind ahead following the rare oversold signal.
- Hyperliquid launches DeFi lobby with $28m backing; the policy center will advocate for rules regarding perpetual derivatives in Washington.
- Aptos eyes tokenomics overhaul to scale APT deflation; the proposal includes a 2.1b token hard cap and staking reward reductions.
- Bitcoin $40,000 put becomes second-largest options bet; heavy positioning signals rising demand for downside protection ahead of expiry.
2) BTC and ETH ETF flows
| Metric | BTC | ETH |
|---|---|---|
| Net inflow | -$133,269,749 | -$41,827,440.93 |
| Value traded | $2,762,168,831.61 | $892,435,341.40 |
| Net assets | $83,625,226,367.73 | $11,120,567,869.30 |
| Cumulative net inflow | $54,090,603,873.81 | $11,654,658,523.23 |
3) X trending news
- Oil prices hit 2025 highs; US crude futures extended gains to 12% over the last month amid escalating US-Iran tensions.
- Crypto structure bill near 90% certainty; Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse says there is a high probability the legislation will pass by April.
- Crypto funds see fourth week of outflows; funds posted -$173m in withdrawals last week, with Bitcoin leading the selling.
- Binance stablecoin reserves hit $45b; the exchange now holds 65% of all stablecoins currently sitting on centralised platforms.
- US rents fall for 32nd month; housing data indicates a persistent downward trend in domestic rental costs.
- UAE mines $455m in Bitcoin; the government-linked mining operations reached the milestone through Citadel-managed infrastructure.
- Spot gold surges above $5,000; the precious metal and silver spiked as Middle East tensions pushed investors toward safe havens.