Key takeaways:

• A sharp fifty percent drop in exchange activity and decentralized application revenue is stalling Ether price growth.
• Institutional investor interest in Ether remains under pressure as major holders like Bitmine face billions in unrealized losses. 

Ether (ETH) has failed to sustain levels above $2,400 for the past three months, consistently lagging behind most of its peers. Ether’s down 21% in 2026, and investors have expressed uncertainty about the altcoin’s inability to mirror the broader market recovery.

Total crypto market capitalization vs. ETH, USD. Source: TradingView

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization is down 11% year-to-date, suggesting specific headwinds for Ether remain in play. A decline in decentralized applications (DApps) activity partially explains this fading interest. Regardless of whether this trend has affected the industry as a whole, the shift negatively affects ETH price formation.

Ethereum DEX monthly volumes vs. DApps revenue, USD. Source: DefiLlama

Decentralized exchanges (DEX) volumes fell by 53% in six months, a sector largely responsible for Ethereum’s DApps activity. Consequently, these DApps experienced a 49% decline in revenue over the same period. While the sharp drop in memecoin prices and token launches contributed to reduced DEX appeal, other factors, including protocol hacks, also played a significant role.

Multiple hacks had a negative impact on DApp activity

The cryptocurrency industry suffered $630 million in hacks in April, with KelpDAO and Drift Protocol accounting for 82% of the losses. Blockchain security company Hacken attributed the attacks to actors linked to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Aggregate crypto industry DEX activity dropped by 47% in three months.

Blockchain DApps revenue market share. Source: DefiLlama

Some Ethereum competitors have opted for base layer scalability, providing less friction for regular users. While Ethereum remains the absolute leader in the aggregate ecosystem, including its layer-2 solutions, Solana and Hyperliquid account for a combined 42% market share in DApp revenue. Such data is even more impressive given that Ethereum’s total value locked is six times larger.

Source: X/uttam_singhk

Uttam Singh, engineer at Alchemy, noted that part of the market incorrectly judged that Ethereum’s upcoming glamstedam hard fork would put rollups “in danger.” The upcoming network upgrade should result in a threefold increase in base-layer capacity and allow clients to pre-fetch block data, thereby enabling parallel transaction execution.

Fierce blockchain competition, ETH whales underwater

Regardless of how straightforward Ethereum’s scaling plans are, most users and investors struggle to understand the need for layer-2 rollups once base-layer scalability reaches a certain threshold. There is also limited visibility on whether these changes will actually generate higher network fees, which ultimately act as a catalyst for higher staking yields.

Related: Ethereum backers pledge up to 30,000 ETH to rsETH recovery after bridge incident

Institutional investors’ perception of Ether has also been negatively impacted as Bitmine (BMNR US), the largest publicly listed holder of ETH, remains underwater in its corporate reserves. The company, led by chairman Tom Lee, spent $12.2 billion to acquire ETH, but its position is currently valued at $10.8 billion. While this does not pose an immediate sell-off risk, it reduces the asset’s institutional appeal.

None of these factors is an absolute impediment for Ether price to reach $2,800. However, declining onchain activity, fierce competition in the DApps industry, and reduced institutional appeal continue to contribute to its underperformance relative to the broader crypto market.

This article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice or recommendations. All investments and trades carry risk; readers are encouraged to conduct independent research.

US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand indicated at the Consensus conference in Miami that the fate of the digital asset market structure bill hinges on lawmakers meeting three practical conditions before the Senate can consider a vote. Speaking on the record, she identified consumer protection, illicit finance controls, and ethics provisions as essential elements that must be addressed prior to any action on the CLARITY Act. She suggested that if Congress can merge the market structure framework with the version already advanced by the Senate Agriculture Committee and attach robust ethics language, a vote could occur before the August recess that begins on August 10.

“There will be no one voting for this bill if we don’t have an ethics provision,” Gillibrand said, underscoring that integrity standards are non-negotiable in a landscape where public officials’ involvement in the industry could raise conflicts of interest. “Because the truth is, we cannot allow members of Congress, senior administration officials, presidents or vice presidents, to get rich off of these industries because of their insider status. It is the worst form of pay for play.”

While Gillibrand did not name specific individuals, the remarks come amid renewed scrutiny of ties between public figures and crypto ventures. The broader political debate surrounds the CLARITY Act as lawmakers weigh how to regulate a fast-evolving sector, including stablecoins, DeFi platforms, and tokenized equities, within a cohesive federal framework.

Beyond the ethics question, the evolving policy conversation has touched the linkage between regulatory risk and industry structure. Last week, senators on the Senate Banking Committee announced a deal on stablecoin yield issues that could help move the market structure legislation forward, although the agreement did not address language on potential conflicts of interest among public officials. The development signals that it is possible to find bipartisan consensus on certain technical elements while leaving other concerns to future negotiations.

In the broader policy discourse, industry voices have pressed for timely progress. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse pointed to a narrow window for legislators to address the bill before it becomes entangled in electoral-year dynamics, a sentiment echoed by other executives who argue that delay raises uncertainty for infrastructure planning, product launches, and institutional compliance programs.

From the regulatory side, former Commodity Futures Trading Commission commissioner and Blockchain Association chief executive Summer Mersinger described the current moment as a critical juncture—the window to act could open briefly, and if missed, there is no guarantee it will reappear in the same form. Her remarks highlighted the practical implication for compliance teams and legal professionals who must map to evolving standards and potential licensing regimes.

Key takeaways

• The CLARITY Act’s path to a Senate vote depends on three conditions: consumer protection, illicit finance safeguards, and ethics provisions.
• Lawmakers aim to merge the market structure bill with the Agriculture Committee version and attach ethics language, with possible action before the August recess.
• Ethics provisions are framed as essential to prevent conflicts of interest and pay-for-play risks in crypto policymaking.
• Recent discussions on stablecoin yield could facilitate movement on the bill, though work remains on public official conflicts language.
• Industry voices view the timing as delicate: act now to avoid entrenchment during the midterm cycle and potential political headwinds.

Legislative status and the regulatory backdrop

The market structure bill, which seeks to establish a comprehensive federal framework for digital assets, has become a focal point of regulatory policy debates in Washington. As of the week described, the Senate Banking Committee had not yet rescheduled a markup after postponing it earlier in the year. The postponement followed public criticism from some industry participants who argued that the bill, in its current form, may unduly constrain innovation in areas such as decentralized finance, stablecoins, and tokenized equities.

Coinciding with legislative momentum, industry leaders have stressed the need for precise and enforceable rules that align with existing financial oversight while safeguarding innovation. The stance from Coinbase’s leadership earlier this year, which signaled reservations about certain provisions, illustrates the sensitivity around DeFi and crypto token classifications. In this context, the ethics language Gillibrand emphasized would address concerns about potential corruption risks in the legislative process and strengthen the bill’s legitimacy from a governance perspective.

On the regulatory horizon, the interplay with cross-border and domestic regimes remains a strategic consideration. In the European Union, MiCA represents a parallel trend toward centralized regulatory clarity for crypto assets and stablecoins, influencing how U.S. policymakers think about licensing, supervision, and market integrity. Although the CLARITY Act is a U.S.-centric initiative, its design and potential impact will be evaluated against international practice, especially in areas related to consumer protection, AML/KYC requirements, and orderly markets.

In public commentary, industry participants have flagged specific policy areas requiring careful calibration. Regulatory and enforcement considerations—ranging from disclosures and fiduciary duties to anti-money laundering controls and executive ethics requirements—shape what compliance teams must prepare for. The need for robust governance language is underscored by discussions about conflicts of interest and the integrity of public decision-making when it touches crypto markets.

Timing, signals, and practical implications for institutions

Timely action on the market structure bill matters for exchanges, banks, and institutional investors that seek clear, predictable rules for custody, settlement, and product structuring. A stable policy framework can reduce the risk of ad hoc enforcement actions and provide a stable basis for licensing, risk management, and operational compliance. The recent stablecoin yield discussions—though not sealing language on conflicts of interest—underscore efforts to resolve key technical issues that affect product design, liquidity management, and capital treatment for regulated entities interacting with crypto assets.

From a market perspective, traders and risk managers have tracked predictions about the bill’s prospects. Prediction-market platforms reflect divergent expectations: one platform assigns a higher probability to passage by year-end, while another assigns a more immediate likelihood of action within the August window. These signals influence how institutions calibrate internal roadmaps for product launches, governance reviews, and regulatory reporting.

Industry advocates argue that progress on the CLARITY Act could harmonize U.S. oversight with evolving international standards, reducing fragmentation across markets and jurisdictions. The emphasis on consumer protection, illicit finance controls, and ethics aligns with a growing consensus that credible crypto regulation must balance innovation with oversight, a balance that institutions require to manage risk, ensure compliance, and preserve customer trust.

Enforcement, compliance, and policy implications

Legal and compliance teams should monitor the potential alignment between the CLARITY Act and broader enforcement priorities. The proposed ethics provisions would likely shape internal governance policies, whistleblower channels, and disclosures related to political contributions, corporate sponsorships, and senior leadership ties to the industry. For banks and regulated intermediaries, the framework could inform licensing expectations, disclosure regimes, and risk-based AML/KYC programs tailored to crypto assets.

lawmakers are also weighing how to articulate standards for consumer protection—ranging from product disclosures to protections against misrepresentation and fraudulent schemes. The delicate balance between enabling new financial products and safeguarding consumers will influence how firms structure disclosures, marketing materials, and relationship-based risk controls. The discussion also intersects with anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism regimes, where clarity in definitions, reporting obligations, and enforcement mechanisms matters for integration with existing financial compliance ecosystems.

On the enforcement front, the CLARITY Act would potentially interact with actions by the SEC, the CFTC, and the DOJ as agencies delineate jurisdictional boundaries and supervisory expectations. Institutions would need to map regulatory requirements across agencies, ensuring that liquidity management, custody, and trading activities align with the evolving standard for crypto assets and digital securities. The outcome could also influence cross-border operations, especially for firms with global exposures and interconnected stablecoin initiatives.

Closing perspective

As policymakers continue to refine the bill, the central questions revolve around how to reconcile innovation, investor protection, and governance integrity within a coherent legal framework. The window for consensus appears to be narrowing as the August recess approaches and midterm dynamics intensify. Observers should watch for developments on the ethical governance provisions, the final alignment of the House and Senate market structure texts, and any forthcoming language on conflicts of interest that could determine whether the CLARITY Act advances in its current form. In practice, the outcome will influence not only regulatory clarity for crypto markets but also the risk and compliance posture of a broad set of financial institutions engaging with digital assets.

Bitcoin dominance jumped to 61% on Wednesday, the highest reading since November 2025, signaling that BTC remains the market’s main driver even as altcoins attempt a gradual revival. The move follows a slower start to April, when dominance sat at 58.44%, underscoring a renewed tilt toward Bitcoin amid improving but uneven participation across the wider crypto space.

In tandem with the BTC-led momentum, activity within the altcoin space showed encouraging signs of life. Binance data over the past two months illustrate a substantial uptick in altcoin liquidity, with altcoin trading volumes rising 49% and 12.6% of altcoins reclaiming their 200-day moving average. While these are notable shifts, analysts caution that the pace remains selective and does not yet resemble the vigorous rotations seen in past altcoin cycles.

Key takeaways

• Bitcoin dominance reached about 61% this week, its highest level since November 2025, up from 58.44% at the start of April.
• Binance altcoin volumes surged roughly 49% over the last two months, while 12.6% of altcoins reclaimed their 200-day simple moving average.
• TOTAL3, the market cap excluding Bitcoin and Ether, rose 17% to a two-month high of about $765 billion, signaling a broad but uneven recovery in non-BTC assets.
• CryptoQuant data show rising altcoin activity on centralized exchanges, with the altcoin share of volume on Binance increasing to 49% from about 31% in March, indicating growing participation beyond BTC and ETH.

Bitcoin leadership amid a cautious altcoin revival

Analysts note that Bitcoin’s outperformance is translating into a higher dominance metric, reflecting a movement of capital back into the benchmark asset while other crypto assets attempt to catch up. Crypto analyst Darkfost attributed BTC’s strength to a roughly 36% rally from its February 6 low near $60,000, a move that helped push the dominance measure above the 61% mark. That perspective aligns with the sense that BTC remains the anchor of sentiment even as market participants monitor signs of a broader altcoin bounce.

On the broader market, TOTAL3’s 17% ascent to $765 billion over two months signals that traders are rotating capital away from BTC and ETH into a wider mix of non‑ETH/NBC coins, even if the pace lags the earlier altseason highs. The mid-April improvement in altcoin performance is being watched closely for indications of a sustainable shift, rather than a temporary liquidity-driven rebound.

Alternative momentum and what it could imply for markets

Market data providers have pointed to shifting exchange dynamics as a potential indicator of a broadening cycle beyond the top two assets. CryptoQuant’s analysis shows a measurable uptick in altcoin activity, driven in part by higher volumes on centralized exchanges. The firm’s metrics show that altcoin trading volume, excluding the five largest cryptocurrencies, has increased steadily in recent weeks, with their share of Binance’s combined BTC and ETH futures volumes rising to 49% on Wednesday from 31% in March. The shift suggests growing participation outside of Bitcoin and Ether, although it remains moderate compared with prior altcoin cycles.

“The AltSeason Index is moving higher, but there hasn’t been a full-blown AltSeason yet. The peak of the last cycle was earlier in 2024, and even then, the value was relatively modest by historical standards,”

CryptoQuant’s 90-day AltSeason Index reached 28.6, its fastest upturn in months. While this demonstrates improving altcoin performance relative to Bitcoin, analysts caution that it does not yet signal a traditional AltSeason. The data imply that while more traders are exchanging altcoins for BTC and ETH, the market remains in a transitional phase rather than entering a sustained multi-month equity-like cycle.

Another key signal comes from CryptoQuant’s observation that, on average, altcoins are trading about 23.47% below their 200-day moving average, an improvement from roughly 44.4% earlier in the cycle. Historical readings of this nature have appeared near the end of bear markets in 2022, suggesting residual reversion tendencies as confidence gradually returns to risk assets beyond Bitcoin.

For investors, these indicators point to a few important takeaways. First, BTC remains the dominant driver in the near term, which can support risk-off sentiment in broader market downturns but may also provide a stabilizing anchor during periods of volatility. Second, the early signs of altcoin engagement on major exchanges hint at increased liquidity and curiosity among traders, though sustained momentum will depend on continued demand and favorable macro and regulatory conditions. Finally, the mixed pace of the altcoin recovery underscores the ongoing challenge of achieving broad, durable rotation rather than selective, stock-like rebounds within a handful of tokens.

As the market watches for confirmation of a durable shift beyond Bitcoin, traders will be looking for continued improvement in altcoin price action, more sustained cross-exchange activity, and a clear move above relevant moving averages across a broader basket of altcoins. The next few weeks will be telling: will the altcoin revival gain steadier traction, or will BTC’s leadership reassert itself in a market still seeking a clear directional signal?

Investors should monitor evolving on-chain signals and exchange volumes to gauge whether the current rotation can translate into a meaningful, lasting shift or simply reflect a temporary liquidity reallocation. While the data point to growing interest in non-BTC assets, the path to a robust altseason remains uncertain, requiring cautious positioning and ongoing scrutiny of market structure developments.

Box Elder County commissioners approved Kevin O’Leary’s 9GW Stratos AI campus in Utah on May 4, amid loud public protests from hundreds of local residents.

Box Elder County commissioners in Utah voted unanimously on May 4 to approve the Stratos AI campus backed by Kevin O’Leary Digital, the infrastructure arm of O’Leary Ventures.

The approval came over the objections of hundreds of residents who chanted “Shame!” as the vote was announced and who said they had been given too little time to raise concerns before the decision.

The campus, designated through Utah’s Military Installation Development Authority, spans more than 40,000 acres and will reach 9 gigawatts of generation capacity at full buildout.

Phase one calls for approximately 3 gigawatts. Kevin O’Leary told Fox Business the site will be powered entirely by an on-site connection to the Ruby Pipeline, a 680-mile natural gas line crossing northern Utah, rather than drawing from the state grid.

China as the stated rationale

O’Leary made the competition framing explicit. “China built 400 gigawatts of new power over the last 24 months, and much of it is powering AI data centers,” he said, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. “We’re in a race with them.” He described the project as providing compute power for US AI companies and national defense.

Utah’s MIDA cut Stratos’s energy use tax from 6% to 0.5% and agreed to rebate 80% of property tax revenue to attract the project. Environmental critics raised concerns about water use near the already-depleted Great Salt Lake and potential weather pattern changes.

O’Leary said the facility would use closed-loop water recycling and air-liquid cooling. No hyperscale tenant has been publicly named. Initial delivery is expected in Q4 2026, with full buildout spanning approximately ten years across multiple phases.

NFTs are due for a “rebirth” as AI agents force the internet to solve new identity and trust problems, Reid Hoffman told CoinDesk’s Consensus Miami conference on Wednesday.

The Greylock partner and LinkedIn co-founder said agents transacting with other agents will require trustworthy digital identity systems that resemble what NFTs originally tried to solve. Hoffman said he began revisiting NFTs as he considered a future in which AI agents outnumber humans online.”When you begin to think we’re going to have more agents than people, what does the identity layer look like? What is the notion of, hey, when your agent’s talking to my agent, and we book this talk here, is it a trustable transaction?” Hoffman said. “And that got me back into thinking about NFTs.”

Hoffman said identity systems will exist inside companies, but the harder problem will be identity for agents operating across the open internet.

“It’s going to be kind of free range on the internet, and how does that work? And crypto is the obvious answer,” he said.

This argument carries a throughline from Hoffman’s earlier work at LinkedIn, where real-world professional identity was central to the network’s design. Hoffman said actual identity can create “more responsibility, more reliability,” while also acknowledging that pseudonyms have legitimate uses in some contexts.

Hoffman, who said he bought his first Bitcoin over a decade ago and has never sold any, framed crypto as the natural answer to the deepfake-era trust problem. He cited his own AI clone, Reid AI, which he has sent to speak at conferences, as an example of why provenance will matter more as generative media improves.

“When I bought my first Bitcoin in 2014, it was like, actually, in fact, this is part of a design feature, that this is how DNS should work. This is how identity should be working, generally when you get to the internet,” he said.

That identity problem, Hoffman explained, extends beyond agent-to-agent commerce. He pointed to AI-generated content, bot farms, manipulated polls and paid political influence campaigns as examples of why proof-of-humanity is becoming harder to ignore online.

In a politically calibrated stretch, Hoffman urged the crypto industry not to overcommit to Republicans on policy.

“If the industry goes, oh, we’re overly reacting against Gensler, et cetera, and then being kind of, as it were, anti-Democratic Party on this, the problem is that the pendulum swings,” he said. “It’s good to be bipartisan from a viewpoint of what we care about is the ecosystem. We care about how it plays a good role in society.”

Hoffman also disputed the prevailing narrative that AI is driving Big Tech layoffs.

“What I’ve seen so far in every company that says, ‘I’m doing layoffs because of AI,’ maybe other than Meta, is not out of productivity, but is just out of reshifting,” he said. “We’ve overhired because of the pandemic. We need to change. We’re going to call it AI for a position of strength.”

As an investor, Hoffman said he is looking for crypto ideas that may have been tried too early during prior market cycles but could return as AI changes the internet. NFTs are one such area, he said, while “DAOs and other areas” could also see renewed relevance.

Asked at the close what his Bitcoin exit price was, Hoffman didn’t name a number. “Is there such a thing as an exit price?” he asked.

Samsung SDS, Samsung’s information technology services subsidiary, will reportedly build a token securities platform for the Korea Securities Depository (KSD), moving South Korea’s central securities depository closer to operating blockchain-based securities infrastructure as the country prepares a legal framework for tokenized assets. 

Samsung SDS won a contract to build and operate the platform for KSD, according to local reports from Yonhap News Agency and The Korea Times. The project is expected to be completed by February 2027 and will convert a technology verification testbed into a formal system capable of stable service operations. 

KSD plans to link its existing electronic securities account system with blockchain-based distributed ledger data to strengthen tokenized securities issuance and rights management, according to the reports. 

Samsung SDS previously worked on KSD’s tokenized securities efforts, including function-analysis consulting in 2024 and testbed platform construction in 2025, Seoul Economic Daily reported. 

The news comes as South Korea is preparing the market infrastructure needed to support tokenized securities once its incoming legal framework takes effect.

South Korea prepares its tokenized securities framework

On Jan. 15, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) said amendments to the Electronic Registration Act and the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act had passed the National Assembly, paving the way for the issuance and circulation of security tokens.

The FSC said the amended Electronic Registration Act legally recognizes blockchain-based distributed ledgers as securities registries. The regulator also said token security issuers will be required to follow legally mandated procedures and apply for electronic registration with KSD, placing the depository at the center of South Korea’s future token securities infrastructure. 

Related: South Korea crypto sector warns AML proposal goes too far: Report

On March 4, the FSC launched a public-private consultative body on security tokens. The consultative body will work on rules and infrastructure for security tokens across four areas: technology and infrastructure, issuance, circulation and payment and settlement. 

In the announcement, the FSC also said that the framework is scheduled to take effect on Feb. 4, 2027, after updates to subordinate rules and the setup of relevant infrastructure. That timing closely matches Samsung SDS’s reported February 2027 target for completing the KSD platform.

Magazine: North Korea denies crypto hacks, Upbit’s bank tests Ripple: Asia Express

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.