Crypto World
ICE to Launch Oil Perpetual Futures With OKX
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), is working with crypto exchange OKX to launch trading of oil-linked perpetual futures.
OKX said Friday it plans to introduce perpetual futures based on ICE’s Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude benchmarks, two of the world’s most widely used oil price indicators, according to a release shared with Cointelegraph.
“These new OKX perpetual contracts, based on ICE’s deep, liquid, transparent, and global oil markets, allow OKX’s customer base […] to access energy benchmark products,” said Trabue Bland, ICE’s senior vice president of futures exchanges.
An OKX spokesperson told Cointelegraph the contracts represent the exchange’s first product collaboration with ICE and will settle against ICE’s Brent and WTI benchmark prices, which are widely used across traditional energy markets.
The collaboration is the first product announced under a broader partnership with ICE and OKX unveiled in March when ICE invested in the crypto exchange at a $25 billion valuation.
Availability limited to licensed jurisdictions
The oil-linked perpetual futures will only be available in jurisdictions where OKX is licensed to offer perpetual futures trading, the announcement said.
OKX global managing partner Haider Rafique said the products will be aimed at retail traders, giving them access to energy benchmarks in a regulated and transparent environment.
Source: OKX
Oil trading moves into crypto perps
Perpetual futures, often called “perps,” let traders bet on whether the price of an asset will go up or down without actually buying it. Unlike traditional futures, these contracts do not have an expiration date, allowing traders to keep positions open continuously.
Some centralized exchanges (CEXs) have expanded into oil-linked derivatives in recent months. Binance launched perpetual futures tied to WTI crude, Brent crude and natural gas in April, while Bybit also introduced oil perpetual contracts alongside other commodity-linked products for round-the-clock trading.
Related: Surging oil prices have been driving Ether selling pressure: Tom Lee
Activity has been particularly strong during periods of rising oil volatility linked to geopolitical tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.
ICE presses regulators to clamp down on oil trading on Hyperliquid
Decentralized derivatives exchange Hyperliquid has emerged as a notable venue for oil-linked perpetual trading amid the rapid growth of decentralized derivatives trading.
In the first quarter of 2026, Hyperliquid entered the top 10 derivatives exchanges by trading volume, recording roughly $500 billion in activity and ranking alongside major venues such as Binance and OKX.
According to Hyperliquid data, Brent crude oil contracts rank among the platform’s top five most traded markets over the past 24 hours, with about $352 million in daily volume at the time of publication.
Top five most traded markets on Hyperliquid. Source: Hyperliquid
As the platform’s perpetual futures activity has expanded, ICE and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) have reportedly urged US regulators to take action against Hyperliquid over its expansion into commodity trading in mid-May.
The companies reportedly cited the platform’s “anonymous” and “unregulated” structure as a risk to critical energy markets such as oil and gas, warning it could potentially be used by state actors to bypass sanctions.
Magazine: 5 tech predictions the mainstream media got horribly wrong
Kevin Warsh, then U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee for Chair of the Federal Reserve, delivers an opening statement during his Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs confirmation hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on April 21, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Images
Incoming Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh‘s talk about “regime change” at the central bank has generated speculation about everything from interest rates to major personnel changes to fundamental alterations in the way it operates and communicates.
But what that eventually might look like is subtler though perhaps more consequential – a rethink of how the Fed manages the financial plumbing in the U.S. economy and the mammoth balance sheet it has built through some 18 years of crisis fighting.
Interviews with former Fed officials and economists, along with a growing library of research, suggest Warsh could guide the Fed to a smaller role in day-to-day financial markets, while also setting clearer rules for how and when it should intervene.
Simply stated, the debate centers on whether the Fed should continue using its balance sheet as a regular tool for influencing financial conditions and supporting markets — as it has through much of the post-financial crisis era — or reserve it for periods of market dysfunction and more pernicious economic stress.
Rewriting the Fed playbook
The debate over the $6.8 trillion balance sheet is technical in nature and tucked away from the more common discussions about Fed policy. But the stakes are substantial.
Since the financial crisis that exploded in 2008, the Fed has aggressively used its holdings of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities to stabilize markets and influence broader financial conditions.
Prior to the crisis, the Fed had a minuscule balance sheet relatively speaking – about $800 billion – but expanded it at one point to about $9 trillion. The Fed’s asset holdings now equate to about 23% of the U.S. economy, or some seven times where they were pre-financial crisis.
Any effort to change the system could have wide ramifications, potentially impacting Treasury yields, mortgage rates and other interest-sensitive areas of the economy, while influencing the way policymakers respond to future crises.
“It’s a debate we’re going to be seeing later this year. But one thing that’s encouraging about all of this is that nobody, including Kevin Warsh, is arguing that any of this could be done rapidly,” said Lou Crandall, chief economist at Wrightson ICAP and a longtime Fed watcher.
“It’s got to be done carefully, and some of the changes … would probably take time to implement,” he added. “Everyone’s looking at this as a medium-term project rather than part of the day-one agenda.”
Warsh called the balance sheet, in a Wall Steet Journal op-ed piece last year, “bloated” and said it could be reduced while at the same time allowing the Fed to lower interest rates.
What ‘regime change’ might entail
While Warsh has spoken in broad strokes about shrinking the Fed’s footprint, Wall Street already is gaming out what a new operating framework could look like.
Among the more provocative ideas comes from TS Lombard’s chief U.S. economist, Steve Blitz, who argues that a Warsh Fed could place greater weight on the overnight repo market — the short-term funding system that underpins the Treasury’s market function — rather than relying solely on the federal funds rate — which banks charge each other for overnight lending — as the key transmission mechanism for policy.
“The repo rate becomes the policy rate,” Blitz said in a client note.
In practice, that could create an unusual dynamic: Warsh might be able to satisfy Trump’s push for lower interest rates while still maintaining tighter underlying financing conditions as policymakers grapple with persistent inflation pressures.
However, he’s likely to run into quick opposition from his fellow policymakers, some of whom are skeptical of both the Fed’s ability to significantly reduce its holdings and the benefits this might provide.
“I think shrinking the balance sheet is the wrong objective, and many of the proposals to meet this objective would undermine bank resilience, impede money market functioning, and, ultimately, threaten financial stability,” Fed Governor Michael Barr said in a speech last week. “Some would actually increase the Fed’s footprint in financial markets.”
Barr’s thesis essentially is that looking merely at the size of the balance sheet is too narrow – that other issues, such as how it is comprised with respect to duration and composition also matter. Neglecting those issues, he asserts, could have “perverse” consequences such as increased volatility and even the possibility of more interventions from the Fed. At the same time, he said, lowering reserve requirements for banks could destabilize the system.
Understanding how it works
The balance sheet mechanics regarding reserves are straightforward.
When building the balance sheet, the Fed credits itself with digital cash and uses it to buy assets from banks, creating reserves. That provides the banks liquidity that then theoretically flows through the financial system. Conversely, when the Fed is reducing the balance sheet, it is no longer buying assets while also allowing the proceeds of the bonds it has purchased to roll off, rather than reinvesting them.
On the other side of the operation, the Fed is using its trading desk to achieve the interest rate it targets. The central bank also has a slew of other tools, such as the interest it pays on reserves, its discount window rate and, critically, overnight reverse repurchase operations that keep the financial flows moving.
The Fed has been operating under a system of “ample” reserves, a nebulous term that essentially means more than typical but not excessive — that would be “abundant.” Warsh has implied that the Fed can go back to its precrisis policy of “scarce” reserves, with the option to add when needed.
“Reasonable people can disagree on this,” said Bill English, the Fed’s former head of monetary affairs and now a professor at Yale. “The Fed could certainly go back to a system with scarce reserves, it would work perfectly well. Might be a little complicated to get there. You’d want to do it slowly, but I think they could do it.”
After spending much of the past 18 years depending on the Fed’s balance sheet to keep operations running smoothly — and, critics would argue, support the bull run in stocks — markets will be watching closely.
“I would very much expect the Fed to have an open discussion about establishing a framework for future operations, so the market doesn’t just assume that they’ll do unlimited amounts,” Wrightson economist Crandall said. Doing so “would allow the market to form more sensible expectations about what would happen.”
As things stand, the Fed has never communicated clear rules about when and how the balance sheet will be used.
Markets have adopted terms for the balance sheet operations – quantitative easing, or QE, for expansion and quantitative tightening, or QT, for reduction – but the Fed has never set out clear guidance about when either will be used. That’s particularly true when distinguishing between addressing financial market functioning and supporting its dual inflation and employment goals.
“They’ve never really set up a framework for when to use quantitative easing,” said former Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester. “The Fed hasn’t done a very good job, I think, over time of distinguishing and explaining when it’s using asset purchases for a monetary policy reason.”
Changing the message
This is where Warsh especially can come in.
Setting the tone for policy guidance is right within the chair’s wheelhouse, and Warsh could try to diminish market expectations that the Fed is going to crank up asset purchases when Wall Street starts to get the jitters.
In addition, he has spoken in favor of efforts that Michelle Bowman, the Fed’s vice chair for bank supervision, has undertaken to ease some banking regulations. Part of that would alter what kinds of assets banks could claim as reserves and use in times of crisis, an effort that Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan cited in a recent speech, saying she looks forward “to seeing how that work progresses.”
Logan has firsthand experience with the dynamics that go into balance sheet management. Prior to her current position, she ran the trading desk at the New York Fed, which is charged with executing the central bank’s open market strategy.
Logan also noted, in the speech delivered April 2, that the Fed has other tools at its disposal to help the flow of liquidity — essentially using components from both the Warsh and Barr sides of the argument.
Like others, she spoke in favor of moving slowly to address the issue.
“I’d emphasize that any changes in the balance sheet should be gradual and planned carefully,” Logan said.
The work has begun
Internally, Fed officials are girding for debate.
Central bank researchers have released several papers on the issue, including one titled “A User’s Guide to Reducing the Federal Reserve’s Balance Sheet.”
The paper concluded, without an endorsement in either direction, that up to $2.1 trillion in reductions could be achieved through the current policy framework, with further cuts possible should the Fed change direction into a scarce reserves approach to banking. The paper also contends it would take “at least a year and quite possibly several” before the process could even begin.
All of these proposals are likely to be on the table after Warsh takes over Friday.
He inherits a Fed facing not only economic challenges but also high political expectations from a president who regularly attacked outgoing Chair Jerome Powell, nicknaming him “Too Late” as he repeatedly threatened to fire him for not carrying out Trump’s desire for lower rates.
For all the discussion about “regime change,” former officials caution against expecting a dramatic overnight overhaul, with Warsh’s lofty goals about to meet central bank reality.
Warsh will inherit a Federal Open Market Committee built on consensus, where even major policy shifts typically move deliberately and only after lengthy internal debate. Political considerations, these officials say, are left outside the central bank’s walls.
“I was going to FOMC meetings when [Alan] Greenspan was chair, so that’s a long time. Politics never enters that room,” said Mester, the former Cleveland Fed president. “Political considerations never enter the discussion.”
Hyperliquid's spot exchange-traded funds have accumulated over $69 million in total net inflows, with $16 million entering the funds yesterday alone. The two ETFs—$THYP and $BHYP—continue to attract significant capital from institutional and retail investors seeking exposure to the Hyperliquid… Read the full story at The Defiant
Institutional adoption continues to reshape the digital asset landscape, even as geopolitical tensions underscore crypto’s sensitivity to broader macro conditions. This week saw digital asset investment products suffer more than $1 billion in outflows as traders pared risk amid fading hopes for a durable U.S.-Iran ceasefire. At the same time, Tether tightened its grip on Twenty One Capital by purchasing SoftBank’s stake, Bernstein highlighted a shift in Bitcoin mining toward AI infrastructure, and Polymarket teamed up with Nasdaq to launch prediction markets tied to private companies. The week’s developments illustrate how institutions still sit at the heart of the evolving crypto ecosystem, even as macro shocks drive short‑term sentiment swings.
Key takeaways
- Digital asset funds posted over $1 billion in outflows last week as geopolitical tensions fueled a risk-off environment, led by Bitcoin and Ether products tracked by CoinShares.
- Despite the weekly pullback, crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) have recorded nearly $4.9 billion in year-to-date inflows, signaling ongoing institutional interest on a longer horizon.
- Tether extended its influence in the Bitcoin market by acquiring SoftBank’s roughly 26% stake in Twenty One Capital for an undisclosed amount, consolidating a major corporate vehicle for Bitcoin treasury exposure.
- Twenty One Capital has amassed a substantial Bitcoin position, reportedly over 42,000 BTC, bolstering Tether’s strategic footprint in the space. BitcoinTreasuries.NET pegs the position at about $3.34 billion.
- Bernstein argues that Bitcoin miners are increasingly becoming strategic AI infrastructure partners, leveraging large-scale power access and data-center capacity to host AI workloads as block-reward economics evolve.
- Polymarket partnered with Nasdaq to launch prediction markets focused on private, pre-IPO companies, expanding event-based forecasting into the venture-capital arena and underscoring growing institutional openness to non-traditional price-discovery tools.
Geopolitics weigh on crypto funds while institutions stay engaged
Recent data from CoinShares shows digital asset investment products experiencing more than $1 billion in outflows during a week shaped by renewed tensions in the Middle East. The sell-off was broad, with Bitcoin- and Ether-linked products accounting for the bulk of redemptions, as investors reassessed risk allocations in a volatile macro environment. While this marks a sharp contrast to the earlier resilience seen in some markets, it also reaffirms a fundamental dynamic: macro shocks and geopolitical headlines can rapidly pivot sentiment around crypto, even for assets with perceived hedging properties.
Nevertheless, the longer-term trend remains nuanced. CoinShares noted that year-to-date inflows into.crypto ETPs remain constructive, totaling close to $4.9 billion, suggesting that institutional allocators continue to differentiate between short-term volatility and longer-term strategic exposure to digital assets.
Tether strengthens Bitcoin treasury exposure via Twenty One Capital
In a move that tightens the convergence between stablecoins and Bitcoin treasuries, Tether acquired SoftBank’s roughly 26% stake in Twenty One Capital for an undisclosed amount. Twenty One, led by Strike founder Jack Mallers, launched with support from Tether, Bitfinex, Cantor Fitzgerald and SoftBank, and has built a balance sheet of more than 42,000 BTC.
The transaction reinforces Tether’s influence over one of the industry’s largest corporate Bitcoin holding vehicles. Twenty One’s expanded scope signals a continued appetite among institutions to hold and deploy Bitcoin through centralized, treasury-focused vehicles rather than through dispersed, purely retail channels.
Public data tracked by BitcoinTreasuries.NET places Twenty One’s Bitcoin pile at roughly $3.34 billion, highlighting the scale of the networked holdings that backstop institutional strategies in the space.
Miners as AI infrastructure partners, according to Bernstein
Industry researchers at Bernstein have framed Bitcoin miners as more than just energy users — they’re becoming strategic infrastructure players in the AI race. The analysis points to two scarce resources miners typically enjoy in abundance: large-scale power access and data-center capacity. As AI developers demand ever-larger compute grids, mining outfitters are repurposing portions of their energy-intensive operations to host high-performance computing workloads for AI customers.
Bernstein suggests this shift could unlock new revenue streams and lift valuations for miners, particularly as the economics of block rewards wane after future halving cycles. The convergence of crypto mining and AI infrastructure is painting a picture of a broader, multi-use asset class that can weather cyclical crypto dynamics by anchoring itself to two capital-intensive, growth-oriented sectors.
Industry data indicate that a growing share of publicly traded miners has expanded their power portfolios to accommodate future demand, underscoring a tangible trend toward diversification beyond pure mining profitability.
Polymarket teams with Nasdaq to introduce private-company bets
In a move that expands the reach of event-based forecasting, Polymarket has partnered with Nasdaq to launch a new category of prediction markets focused on private companies. The markets will allow participants to bet on milestones such as private company valuations, IPO timing and secondary-market activity, extending Polymarket’s reach beyond elections and macro events into venture-backed ventures.
The collaboration reflects growing institutional interest in forecasting tools as a potential complement to traditional price discovery. By aligning with Nasdaq’s infrastructure, Polymarket aims to lend greater legitimacy and liquidity to prediction markets, particularly in segments tied to venture capital and startup activity.
What comes next
As institutions continue to shape the crypto landscape, investors will watch how geopolitical risk, macro developments, and the evolving economics of mining intersect with the growing role of Bitcoin treasuries and AI-focused data-center use cases. The emergence of private-company prediction markets also raises questions about regulatory contours, risk controls, and the long-term viability of alternative forecasting mechanisms in mainstream financial ecosystems.
The coming weeks could reveal whether these structural shifts translate into sustained demand for Bitcoin treasury exposure, diversified mining revenue streams, and broader adoption of event-based markets by institutional players. In the meantime, readers should monitor policy signals, energy-market dynamics, and the pace of AI compute demand as key drivers of the sector’s trajectory.
Anatoly Yakovenko told an applauding Consensus Miami 2026 conference earlier this month that Solana would be upgrading to Alpenglow, heralding a live testnet within a week as evidence that it’s “basically due sometime this year, I think next quarter.”
According to developers implementing that upgrade, Alpenglow actually broke while going live.
Anza, the Solana development outfit leading the rollout, left that error out of the mainstream press cycle.
Alpenglow is supposed to be the largest consensus change in Solana’s history, and is supposed to replace proof-of-history which has cryptographically ordered Solana’s network since launch.
Validators approved it in September 2025 with 98% voting in support. Anza, the dev shop, marketed the upgrade as a “100x” improvement to transaction finality, allegedly cutting transaction finalization from 12.8 seconds to about 150 milliseconds.
Yakovenko spoke at Consensus Miami on May 5, praising the potential of Alpenglow. Days later, as promised, it went live on a cluster — and promptly broke.
That day, Anza spokesperson Max Resnick broke the news about the testnet launch to Decrypt, claiming it was “a really exciting milestone” while omitting that it had actually failed and restarted.
On the Solana Foundation’s May 14 weekly validator call, Anza engineer Ashwin Sekar admitted to the real story. Over 40 nodes joined the May 11 cluster running Alpenglow.
Then the migration broke.
‘The next go-around, we were able to successfully perform’
“As usual, the first try did not work,” Sekar admitted on a May 14 call to a niche audience.
He went on to describe the incident, “There was a bug in, you know, the most recent master commit of TowerBFT and proof-of-history.”
TowerBFT is Solana’s proof-of-history-compliant consensus algorithm.
Anza pushed a hotfix and tried relaunching. Sekar added that engineers were hard at work, “We patched it.
The next go-around, we were able to successfully perform the migration.” He also disclosed a second bug, a validator that accidentally banned peer connections, which Anza patched as well.
None of those errors made it into mainstream press cycles.
Read more: Solana validator logs 32 delinquencies, foundation still claims ‘100% uptime’
Solana could upgrade beyond Proof-of-History by September
Outlets covering the May 11 activation, including TheStreet, Decrypt, CoinMarketCap, and many others reported it as a clean success. Anza’s initial framing of a well-executed migration carried through the news cycle unchallenged.
Coverage of the bug existed mostly within a small audience on YouTube who bothered to watch a recording of a validator meeting.
Yakovenko’s next-quarter claim, which he made in early May, implies a Solana mainnet activation of the Alpenglow upgrade by September 30, 2026.
Solana’s mainnet has halted multiple times in its six-year history, including at least four outages within one 12-month period.
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Latest developments: Emmer joined CoinDesk’s The Policy Protocol and said the Senate’s bipartisan movement on the Clarity Act shows crypto legislation still has momentum despite growing uncertainty in Washington.
- Emmer pointed to the Senate Banking Committee’s 15-9 vote advancing the bill, arguing support extended beyond Republicans.
- He said the House has spent years refining crypto market structure legislation and described CLARITY as the fifth or sixth iteration of the effort.
- Emmer said lawmakers are trying to create clear distinctions between digital assets regulated as securities, commodities or cash equivalents.
- He predicted Congress would ultimately send the legislation to President Trump’s desk.
The debate: Emmer forcefully defended the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA), which would shield some noncustodial software developers from money transmitter rules.
- Law enforcement groups have raised concerns that the provision could weaken oversight or hamper investigations involving decentralized finance tools.
- Emmer called those objections a “red herring” aimed at slowing the broader Clarity Act.
- He argued developers who do not custody customer funds should not be treated as money transmitters.
- Emmer said inconsistent state-by-state treatment of blockchain software developers is creating legal uncertainty for innovators.
What this means: Emmer argued the U.S. needs clearer crypto rules to remain competitive globally.
- He said companies want to innovate in the U.S. but need to understand “the rules of the road.”
- Emmer criticized former SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s enforcement approach under the Biden administration.
- He said the Clarity Act is designed to establish clearer distinctions between assets regulated by the SEC and the CFTC.
- Emmer argued the legislation would encourage more companies to operate inside the U.S. regulatory framework.
Reading between the lines: Emmer sought to frame crypto policy as a bipartisan issue rather than a partisan fight.
- He said “Republicans and Democrats agree on this stuff” despite ongoing Senate negotiations.
- Emmer argued some senators are using negotiations around the bill to gain leverage on unrelated issues.
- He said the crypto industry supports candidates based on policy positions rather than party affiliation.
- Emmer described crypto and digital assets as part of the future of “21st century finance.”
Worth watching: Emmer said Congress is still debating how much authority regulators like the SEC and CFTC should have over crypto markets.
- Renato Mariotti raised questions about whether the CFTC would need additional funding or staffing under a new regulatory framework.
- Emmer said he favors “light touch regulation” and less authority for federal agencies.
- He said Congress should focus on consumer protections and preventing fraud.
- Emmer argued digital assets can provide more transparency than cash-based transactions.
The most crypto-friendly Federal Reserve chair in history is being sworn in today, and markets are waiting for this weekend’s catalyst. Kevin Warsh, the pro-crypto guy, backed by Trump, confirmed by the Senate 54-45 on May 13, officially replaces Jerome Powell at the world’s most powerful central bank.
Warsh’s swearing-in ceremony is being hosted by President Trump at the White House today, capping a nomination process that began in January 2026. The incoming chair holds more than $100 million in personal crypto investments spanning over 30 digital asset projects from Bitcoin to decentralized exchange dYdX, among them.
Warsh has also publicly stated that Bitcoin “does not make him nervous” and has pushed for treating digital assets as legitimate financial infrastructure. For an institution that spent years treating crypto like contraband, this is a regime change.
People are now waiting for Warsh’s first post-swearing-in statement on rate policy and balance-sheet direction. That single signal could determine how this weekend goes for the crypto market
Discover: The Best Crypto to Diversify Your Portfolio
Will Crypto Move on Kevin Warsh Catalyst?
Crypto markets are pricing in a risk-on interpretation of the Warsh appointment before he’s delivered a single policy statement.
Warsh is widely characterized as an inflation hawk who favors a narrower Fed mandate, which cuts against the narrative of an easy-money pivot. His criticism of aggressive balance-sheet expansion suggests he won’t simply open the liquidity taps.
Markets, however, are weighing his crypto-native perspective and his reformist track record against his hawkish reputation on rates.
On the technical side, Bitcoin and large-cap altcoins have been building on momentum established through May. Any definitive dovish signal from Warsh, even a nuanced comment on financial stability, would likely trigger an upside momentum heading into low-liquidity weekend trading.
Check the latest Bitcoin price prediction analysis for updated technical levels as the swearing-in develops.
Discover: The Best Token Presales
LiquidChain Positioning Early as Macro Shift Reframes the Crypto Infrastructure Thesis
A pro-crypto Fed chair changes the institutional risk calculus. But for traders who missed Bitcoin’s run from four digits to six, the asymmetric opportunity isn’t at the top of the cap table; it’s in what gets built underneath it. Infrastructure plays at early-stage pricing tend to capture the next wave, not the current one.
LiquidChain ($LIQUID) is a Layer 3 infrastructure project that fuses Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana liquidity into a single execution environment, effectively collapsing three fragmented ecosystems into one unified settlement layer.
Built differently. Moving accordingly — LiquidChain (@getliquidchain) May 21, 2026
⟁https://t.co/vqvBcdSQYC pic.twitter.com/Ij2V9s94Pz
The architecture includes a Unified Liquidity Layer, Single-Step Execution, Verifiable Settlement, and a Deploy-Once model that lets developers access all three networks without rebuilding across chains. The presale is currently priced at $0.01462 with almost $800K raised to date.
The Warsh appointment, and the broader regulatory shift it signals, alongside ongoing changes at the SEC, create a macro environment where crypto infrastructure investment carries less institutional headwind than at any prior point in the asset class’s history.
Research LiquidChain here before the next price increase.
The post Pro-Crypto Kevin Warsh Set for Trump Appointment Today: Big Weekend Rally? appeared first on Cryptonews.
Although it continues to have its fair share of non-believers, doubters, and critics, many of whom are within the broader Pi Network ecosystem, the team behind the project insists that it does certain aspects better than (almost) all other digital asset protocols.
In the latest post on X on the matter, the Core Team highlighted one of the key components of their infrastructure that is a better version of their counterparts.
Pi Says it Again
The problem itself was also targeted by Pi Network’s co-founder, Dr. Chengdiao Fan, at the 2026 Consensus conference in Miami. During her speech, she doubled down:
“Tokens issued advanced financial mechanisms running, but there is a lack of underlying utility and substance. There are tokens used mostly to raise capital without actually [providing] product innovation. People have too easy and immediate access to capital without actually doing the hard work to finish the building. There’s too much value extraction without equivalent value creation in the crypto space.”
Instead, she and the team claim that Pi Network has undertaken a contrasting approach as its own token can be “treated as tools that can support user acquisition, product engagement, and long-term utility.”
She added that Pi uses crypto tools, including payment ability to issue tokens and smart contracts, and aligns them to address and fix the ‘quick exits’ problems.
As mentioned above, the team made a similar claim last month, highlighting the issue while simultaneously indicating that 1 million verified users on Pi is not the same as 1 million users on other networks, since they have a more thorough verification process.
Enter Pi Launchpad
All of the above led to one of Pi’s solutions to this problem: the Pi Launchpad. The team described it as their design for “ecosystem tokens and launch mechanisms that aim to help products acquire real users who engage, provide feedback, and use those tokens within actual product experiences.”
As with a few other of the broader Pi Network products in recent months, Pi Launchpad will have a touch of artificial intelligence in it, as “AI makes it easier to build applications,” and the limiting factor “is no longer creation.”
However, it added that it operates as a combination of AI, blockchain infrastructure, innovative token and launch mechanisms, identity verification, and a large, engaged network of “real users” to directly address the gap in distribution and usage.
The post Pi Network Says It Has Solved One of Crypto’s Biggest Problems appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Bitcoin (BTC) faced familiar selling pressure on Friday as US stock markets began setting fresh record highs.
Key points:
- Bitcoin and crypto markets diverge from US stocks, with the Dow Jones pushing into price discovery at the Wall Street open.
- Analysis sees further potential upside for stocks coming next, including S&P 500 participants.
- BTC price action battles weak US demand as Binance buyers take the lead.
Bitcoin slumps at US open while Dow Jones beats records
Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD retreating below $77,000 at the Wall Street open, down nearly 1.2% on the day.
BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
The move continued a trend seen throughout the week where the start of US trading pressured crypto markets.
BTC price action thus diverged from stocks, which began the day with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting fresh all-time highs — a move noticed by US president Donald Trump.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 also coiled below new record high levels.
Source: Truth Social
In its latest market commentary, trading resource Mosaic Asset Company argued that conditions could soon favor a broader stock-market push higher.
“The average stock has been diverging negatively to the major indexes, which has been limiting breakout trading opportunities,” it wrote.
“But an oversold breadth condition is already forming, which is also being confirmed by the MACD applied to the stocks trading above their 20-day MA. That could help spark a rally at least in the near-term and see the average stock catch up.”
S&P 500 data with MACD. Source: Mosaic Asset Company
Mosaic referred to the moving average convergence/divergence indicator and stocks’ 20-day simple moving average.
US Bitcoin buyers “unable to keep up” with Binance
Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s Coinbase Premium Index continued to circle monthly lows in a sign of weak US demand.
Related: Bitcoin price record 90-day uptrend ‘resembles bull market rally:’ New analysis
Source: Cointelegraph/X
Commenting, pseudonymous commentator Exitpump noted that unlike those on Coinbase, Binance traders were “stepping in” as buyers.
“The negative value of the $BTC Coinbase Premium is growing larger,” trader CW wrote on X the day prior alongside data from onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant.
“US investors are unable to keep up with Binance’s buying power.”
Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Index. Source: CryptoQuant
CW suggested that the actions of Bitcoin whales may mean that current prices become a “buying opportunity.
“Generally, whales utilize negative premiums to accumulate at relatively lower prices. This means that Coinbase whales are in a situation where they can accumulate at slightly lower prices,” they added.
TLDR
- A top Cardano DRep warned he may sell his ADA and leave the ecosystem if the proposal fails.
- The warning followed disagreement over a $33 million treasury funding proposal submitted by IOG.
- Chris O criticized another DRep for abstaining and urged a reconsideration of the vote.
- He said those opposing the proposal could be blamed for harming Cardano’s progress.
- The proposal includes funding for Leios development and quantum resistance research.
A leading Cardano DRep has warned he may sell his ADA holdings and leave the network. The statement follows growing opposition to a $33 million research funding proposal submitted by Input Output Global. The proposal has triggered debate across the Cardano governance community as voting continues.
Cardano DRep Clash Intensifies Over Research Proposal
Cardano DRep Chris O issued the warning in response to a voting decision by fellow delegate YUTA. He said he has prepared to exit the ecosystem if the proposal fails.
Chris O criticized YUTA’s abstention vote in a public post on X. He described the reasoning behind abstaining as “ridiculous” and called for reconsideration.
YUTA explained that parts of the proposal lacked efficient use of treasury funds. He also suggested splitting the proposal into smaller submissions for separate evaluation.
Chris O rejected that suggestion and argued it could harm progress. He warned that those opposing the proposal could be blamed for “killing Cardano.”
The proposal seeks nearly 33 million ADA from the treasury. It aims to fund Leios-related development and research on quantum resistance.
Several DReps have already voted against the proposal. Current figures show 13.28% support and over 86% opposition among votes cast.
Voting remains open until June 8. The final outcome will depend on the remaining DRep votes.
Cardano Founder Signals Consequences if Proposal Fails
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson addressed the situation in recent comments. He confirmed that IOG will not resubmit the proposal if it fails.
Hoskinson said rejection could lead to the closure of some research labs. He also warned that engineers may leave the project.
He added that the network’s research-driven model could face disruption. This could impact ongoing blockchain development efforts.
The proposal includes multiple initiatives tied to Cardano’s future upgrades. These include scaling improvements and security research.
The debate reflects broader governance tensions within the Cardano ecosystem. DReps continue to weigh cost concerns against long-term development goals.
Chris O’s statement has added urgency to the ongoing vote. His position highlights divisions among key governance participants. As of now, opposition remains dominant in the vote count. DReps have until June 8 to determine the proposal’s fate.
Financial headlines continue to warn of macro risks, yet bitcoin’s volatility metric seems to think it’s all noise.
The cryptocurrency’s annualized 30-day implied volatility index, BVIV, continues to slide, hitting 38%, its lowest reading since October 2025, according to data source Volmex. When implied volatility falls, it signals that traders expect calmer price action and fewer large moves ahead.
“Bitcoin volatility has collapsed, and you can see it clearly in the BVIV levels, which we track closely to monitor market complacency,” said Shiliang Tang, Managing Partner at Monarq Asset Management.
“First, the geopolitical risk from the Iran conflict is finally moving into the later stages. Second, the continued BTC buying from Strategy (MSTR) and its perpetual preferred STRC complex is dampening downside BTC volatility by acting as a structural floor,” Tang added.
He also blamed systematic “call overwriters” for driving the yield lower. Overwriting involves selling a higher strike out-of-the-money call option to earn an additional yield on top of the spot market holding. BTC is currently trading near $77,300, so anyone holding BTC and selling calls above that price is a call overwriter.
Systematic overwriters, typically institutional funds running yield-enhancement strategies, continuously sell bitcoin options to collect premium income. This steady supply of options suppresses implied volatility and dampens expectations for large price swings.
“Finally, because Bitcoin has underperformed other risk assets to the upside, systematic overwriters are aggressively selling options for yield, keeping a heavy lid on the entire volatility complex,” Tang noted.
Bitcoin is currently trading around $77,000, while oil markets, often used as a proxy for geopolitical risk, remain relatively contained, with WTI crude trading below $100 per barrel.
Meanwhile, Strategy has purchased 171,238 BTC in 2026, significantly outpacing the roughly 63,450 BTC mined during the same period. That imbalance reinforces persistent institutional demand and reduces market supply.
Bitcoin’s declining volatility also reflects its maturation as an institutional asset. As adoption expands across ETFs, asset managers, corporates, and treasury allocators, liquidity deepens, and ownership becomes more diversified, naturally reducing the extreme volatility that characterized bitcoin’s earlier years.
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