Privacy tokens gave back the loudest share of the gains crypto markets had been holding onto.

Zcash (ZEC) dropped 5.2% over 24 hours to $619, the biggest pullback among the top 20 by market cap, though the token is still up 8.2% over the past seven days, per CoinDesk data. Monero (XMR) fell 4% to $378.

Both have been among the strongest performers across crypto over the past several weeks, with ZEC drawing institutional attention after Multicoin Capital’s stake disclosure earlier this month and the broader narrative around privacy tokens.

A 5% drop after that kind of run reads as profit-taking rather than fresh selling, since the structural buyers in privacy tokens have been adding through the rally, not distributing into it.

Hyperliquid’s HYPE token traded above Dogecoin’s market cap during Asian hours before pulling back, with HYPE down 4% to $59 and DOGE$0.1011 off 0.8% to $0.1009. HYPE is still up 23.6% over the past seven days on the back of last week’s SpaceX pre-IPO perpetual launch on Hyperliquid.

Tron (TRX) was the lone gainer among the top 10, up 2.6% to $0.3739 and 4.8% over the past seven days. Bitcoin held near $76,500, ether sat at $2,087, and Solana traded at $83.97, all in tight ranges with no major move in either direction.

The macro backdrop drove the cautious tone. US Central Command confirmed strikes on missile launch sites in Iran and boats attempting to place mines in the Strait of Hormuz, describing the action as defensive.

Brent crude rose almost 2% to $98 a barrel, bouncing back from Monday’s 7% slump when London and New York were closed for holidays. The dollar strengthened against all G-10 peers, gold pulled back 0.6% to $4,545, and S&P 500 futures held a 0.6% gain after Monday’s US market closure.

BitMine Immersion Technologies has appeared on the preliminary list for Russell 1000 inclusion, according to Fundstrat’s Tom Lee. 

The move has drawn attention because BMNR is one of the largest public Ethereum treasury plays.

Lee said FTSE Russell published its preliminary index additions and deletions on May 23. He added that BitMine’s market value was above the roughly $5.7 billion minimum for large-cap inclusion. Current market data places BMNR’s market capitalization near $8.58 billion.

FTSE Russell published their preliminary index inclusions and deletions

– Bitmine is on this list for inclusion for large-cap Russell 1000
– $BMNR market cap above the minimum $5.7B for large-cap inclusion
– Many active managers only buy equities on the Russell 1000… pic.twitter.com/bNDXM9jwhk

— Thomas (Tom) Lee (not drummer) FundstratDirect.com (@fundstrat) May 23, 2026

BitMine enters Russell 1000 watch

FTSE Russell started its June 2026 semi-annual Russell U.S. Indexes Reconstitution by publishing preliminary lists of companies expected to enter or exit the Russell 3000 and Russell Microcap indexes. The changes will take effect after U.S. markets close on June 26.

The Russell 1000 cutoff has also moved higher this year. LSEG data shows the smallest Russell 1000 company had a market capitalization of $5.7 billion as of April 30, 2026.

Lee said many active managers only buy stocks inside the Russell 1000. He also said passive index funds and ETFs often hold an estimated 20% to 25% of a company’s market cap.

Passive funds may add BMNR exposure

Index inclusion can matter because funds that track Russell indexes may need to adjust holdings after the reconstitution becomes final. FTSE Russell said preliminary lists are updated through May and June before the new indexes take effect after the market close on June 26.

That timeline makes BMNR a stock to watch through the final reconstitution window. The listing is not only a stock market event. It also brings attention to BitMine’s Ethereum-heavy balance sheet.

Crypto Banter framed the setup as a possible “hated rally” trade because Ethereum sentiment remains weak. The comment refers to a market where bearish sentiment is high, but positioning or forced flows can still support a rebound.

BitMine added to the preliminary inclusion list for the Russell 1000 large-cap index.

Market cap clears the ~$5.7B threshold, with official addition expected June 26.$BMNR is a major Ethereum treasury play holding over 5.28 million ETH.

Russel 1000 inclusion typically… pic.twitter.com/S42R3NXnEg

— Crypto Banter (@crypto_banter) May 25, 2026

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BitMine holds 5.28 million Ethereum

Crypto.news reported that BitMine added 71,672 ETH in one week, raising its holdings to 5.28 million ETH. The position represented about 4.37% of Ethereum’s total supply at the time of the report.

The same report said BitMine had staked 4.71 million ETH, creating estimated annualized staking revenue of $289 million. The company has continued adding ETH even as the market has traded below stronger resistance levels.

Meanwhile, the Russell update comes as Ethereum faces pressure from weak price action, ETF outflows, and doubts around large ETH treasury positions. Crypto.news reported that ETH was struggling to reclaim $2,150 while leverage clusters sat near $2,000 and $2,150.

At the same time, Ethereum’s network activity remains part of the bullish case. Arbitrum’s 2025 transparency report showed more than 2.1 billion cumulative transactions, about $20 billion in total value locked, and nearly $10 billion in stablecoins.

Vitalik Buterin’s latest comments also added to the Ethereum treasury debate. Crypto.news reported that Buterin said the Ethereum Foundation will sell less ETH and focus its remaining resources on long-term survival, privacy, security, and protocol goals.

Buterin also said the foundation holds only about 0.16% of ETH supply, while nearly 90% of his own net worth remains in ETH.

Strategy added no Bitcoin between May 18 and May 24, according to Lookonchain’s weekly report. 

The pause came during a week when stablecoin liquidity fell by $687 million and spot and perpetual trading volume on decentralized exchanges also declined.

May 18–May 24, 2026 #LookonchainWeeklyReport

🟢 Overview
Stablecoin liquidity fell $687M, and DEX spot and perp volumes both declined. Public companies still added 612 BTC ($47.5M), while Strategy and Bitmine paused buying.

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🟢 Stablecoin Market
The total stablecoin market cap… pic.twitter.com/eJyxjTgLdo

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) May 25, 2026

The update followed a separate report that Strategy bought bonds instead of Bitcoin during the same period. Michael Saylor said on X that the company bought bonds, not Bitcoin, while crypto.news reported that Strategy moved to repurchase nearly $1.5 billion in convertible notes.

Strategy still remains the largest public Bitcoin treasury company. crypto.news reported that the firm held 843,738 BTC, worth more than $65 billion, after years of steady accumulation.

The latest pause does not erase its long-term buying record. However, it shows that the company used last week to focus on debt and capital management instead of adding more Bitcoin.

BitMine adds no Ethereum

BitMine also made no new Ethereum purchase during the same week, according to the Lookonchain report. The pause followed a period of rapid ETH accumulation by the Tom Lee-linked company.

Earlier reports showed that BitMine had already slowed its Ethereum buying pace. crypto.news reported on May 12 that the firm bought 26,659 ETH in the prior week, down from more than 100,000 ETH in each of the three earlier weekly periods.

BitMine’s slowdown came after the firm built one of the largest Ethereum treasuries among public companies. The company had amassed more than 5.2 million ETH, equal to about 4.31% of Ethereum’s circulating supply.

The company also staked more than 4.7 million ETH, making staking rewards part of its treasury model. The latest weekly pause therefore appears tied to a slower buying phase rather than a new sale.

Four public firms still buy Bitcoin

While Strategy and BitMine paused, four public companies added 612 BTC worth about $47.5 million. The buyers were Strive, The Smarter Web Company PLC, DDC Enterprise Limited, and Hyperscale Data.

The four firms together held 21,525 BTC, valued at about $1.67 billion, after the purchases. The data shows that corporate Bitcoin buying did not stop, even as the two most-watched treasury names stayed quiet.

Strive has also drawn attention in recent Bitcoin treasury coverage. A separate crypto.news report said Strive’s SATA raised enough capital to buy 537 BTC in one week, showing how smaller treasury vehicles are using capital markets to build Bitcoin exposure.

That shift matters for market watchers because treasury demand is no longer limited to Strategy. Smaller public firms are still adding Bitcoin, even when the largest buyer pauses.

Stablecoin liquidity weakens

Lookonchain’s weekly report also showed that stablecoin market cap fell by $687 million. The same report said DEX spot and perpetual trading volumes declined during the May 18 to May 24 period.

The weaker liquidity backdrop came as Bitcoin and Ethereum traded lower on crypto.news price pages. Bitcoin was near $76,559, while Ethereum was near $2,089 at the time of writing.

BlackRock has recorded more than $1 billion in Bitcoin sales over the past week as U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs posted their largest weekly outflow of 2026.

According to data shared by Arkham Intelligence on Monday, BlackRock sold Bitcoin every trading day last week, bringing its total weekly disposal to nearly $1.01 billion. The withdrawals came during a sharp downturn across crypto markets, with Bitcoin and major altcoins remaining under pressure for most of the week.

Arkham Intelligence data showed the outflow was BlackRock’s biggest weekly Bitcoin reduction since November 2025. At the same time, the entire U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF market recorded combined weekly outflows of roughly $1.26 billion, suggesting BlackRock accounted for most of the capital leaving the sector.

The sell-off unfolded as market volatility intensified following renewed weakness in crypto prices and fading appetite for risk assets. Bitcoin briefly slipped below key support levels during the week before staging a modest rebound heading into Monday trading.

Why are institutions pulling money from Bitcoin ETFs?

Several analysts and market trackers linked the ETF withdrawals to defensive positioning by institutional investors as uncertainty continued to weigh on digital assets.

According to the original market data referenced by Arkham Intelligence, institutions appear to be reducing exposure amid concerns that bearish momentum in Bitcoin could deepen if macroeconomic conditions worsen. Bitcoin (BTC) was trading near $77,230 at press time, relatively neutral over the previous 24 hours, though still well below levels seen earlier this month.

Meanwhile, the decline in ETF demand comes after months of strong inflows that helped push Bitcoin toward new highs earlier this year. As reported earlier by crypto.news, spot Bitcoin ETFs had previously attracted steady institutional allocations during periods of easing inflation expectations and improving market sentiment.

Recent outflows now indicate that some large investors are choosing to rotate capital away from crypto-linked products while waiting for clearer market direction. Data from CoinGlass and SoSoValue over the past several weeks has also shown weakening momentum across derivatives markets, including softer open interest and fluctuating funding rates during major price swings.

How does BlackRock’s crypto strategy continue beyond Bitcoin ETFs?

Even as BlackRock trims Bitcoin exposure through its ETF operations, the asset manager continues expanding into blockchain-based financial products elsewhere.

BlackRock recently filed a second tokenized fund application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission using infrastructure developed by Securitize. The filing follows the rapid growth of BUIDL, BlackRock’s tokenized U.S. Treasury fund launched with Securitize in March 2024.

BUIDL has grown to around $2.3 billion in assets and currently stands as the largest tokenized Treasury fund globally. Securitize, which operates as both an SEC-registered transfer agent and broker-dealer, provides the compliance and tokenization framework supporting the fund.

The new filing signals that BlackRock is continuing to develop blockchain-based investment products even while institutional demand for spot Bitcoin ETFs weakens. At the same time, firms including Franklin Templeton, Fidelity, and State Street are also exploring tokenized asset products as competition in the real-world asset sector accelerates.

The filing also comes as the CLARITY Act moves toward a full Senate vote after clearing the Senate Banking Committee in a bipartisan vote earlier this month.

Ondo Finance said its founder, Nathan Allman, has died unexpectedly, creating a sudden leadership change at one of the best-known names in tokenized real-world assets. 

The company announced the news on May 25 and said its thoughts were with Allman’s family and loved ones.

In its public statement, Ondo said “Nate’s brilliance, humility, and drive shaped every part of what Ondo is today.” The company did not disclose further details about the cause of death. Allman founded Ondo in 2021 after working on Goldman Sachs’ digital assets team.

It is with profound sadness that we announce the unexpected passing of Nathan Allman, Ondo’s founder. Our hearts are with his family and loved ones.

Nate’s brilliance, humility, and drive shaped every part of what Ondo is today. His belief in the power of technology to create a…

— Ondo Finance (@OndoFinance) May 25, 2026

Ian De Bode takes over as Ondo CEO

Ondo Finance named longtime President Ian De Bode as CEO. The company said De Bode had been leading strategy, product, and daily operations for more than two years and had the confidence of the leadership team.

De Bode also said the company’s direction would not change. In a statement, he said “The mission of Ondo, Nate’s mission, has not changed.” He added that Allman would have wanted the team to keep executing with care and discipline.

It’s been an incredibly sad day for Ondo Finance. Nate was not only an incredible founder and visionary, but also a very close personal friend. He will be missed dearly.

The mission of Ondo, Nate’s mission, has not changed. If Nate were here, he would want to continue… https://t.co/0Qpl24qX7w

— Ian De Bode (@iandebode) May 25, 2026

The appointment gives Ondo an internal successor at a time when users, partners, and investors are likely to look for clear communication. De Bode had already been involved in the work that shaped Ondo’s product roadmap and market expansion.

Ondo’s RWA business remains in focus

The leadership change comes as Ondo remains a major player in the tokenized real-world asset market. Its products include OUSG, USDY, and Ondo Global Markets, which links crypto wallets and apps to tokenized U.S. stocks, bonds, and ETFs.

Related market coverage shows Ondo has been expanding quickly. A May 19 report said Ondo Finance’s total value locked had moved above $4 billion, up from about $1.95 billion at the start of the year, while Ondo Global Markets had passed $1 billion in TVL.

Ondo also built a wider distribution base through wallet and exchange integrations. Earlier reports said MetaMask added access to more than 200 tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs through Ondo, expanding access for eligible users in supported regions.

Wider tokenization growth

Separate reports also show why Ondo’s next steps remain central to the RWA market. crypto.news recently reported that tokenized real-world assets had reached about $31 billion to $34 billion by May 2026, with U.S. Treasuries and Ethereum-based products leading the sector.

Ondo has also expanded into tokenized stocks and ETFs through several partnerships and integrations. Recent coverage said the platform brought 35 tokenized assets to Hyperliquid’s HyperEVM, while earlier reports noted Franklin Templeton’s tokenized ETF partnership with Ondo.

Ondo said it would continue building what Allman started. For the company, the near-term focus now shifts to leadership continuity, product execution, and maintaining trust across its RWA ecosystem.

Bitcoin BTC$76,612.97 hovered near $76,500 mid-day Hong Kong time, according to CoinDesk market data, holding a narrow range as trading remains muted after a long weekend in the U.S.

Prediction market traders on Polymarket see BTC as likely to hold above $74,000 this week, with a 60% chance it finishes the trading week above $76,000. In a note to CoinDesk, Singapore-based market maker Enflux wrote that the “bid is there” but no one is adding size.

A Glassnode weekly report adds the same split: buying and selling pressure is becoming more balanced, but weaker trading activity points to a cautious market waiting for the next macro catalyst.

Traders are not positioning for a sharp breakdown, but they are equally unconvinced that a breakout is imminent.

Enflux argues the current range says as much about what bitcoin has not done as what it has. Despite recent macro shocks, including Moody’s downgrade of U.S. sovereign debt and retailer Walmart warning that geopolitical fuel costs and weaker consumer spending are hitting margins, BTC has barely moved.

For some traders, that kind of muted response could signal resilience. Enflux sees something closer to exhaustion.

The missing ingredient is fresh institutional demand.

After pulling in $2.44 billion in April, U.S. spot bitcoin ETF inflows have cooled, and exchange reserves remain near decade-low levels at roughly 2.3 million BTC, suggesting the structural supply backdrop remains supportive. But tight supply alone does not push prices higher if buyers are not stepping in.

Next week’s Personal Consumption Expenditures inflation report, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, could reshape expectations for U.S. interest rates. A hotter-than-expected reading could reinforce the higher-for-longer rates narrative, lifting the dollar and Treasury yields while pressuring bitcoin.

A softer print could do the opposite, reviving hopes for easier monetary policy and bringing institutional buyers back into crypto exposure.

Ethereum liquid staking protocol Kelp DAO says its restaked Ether token has been restored with a five-week recovery effort after the protocol suffered a $293 million exploit by North Korea’s Lazarus Group on April 18.

Kelp DAO posted to X on Monday that the final tranche of 20,373.7 Kelp DAO restaked ETH (rsETH) tokens was sent to the LayerZero smart contract responsible for locking, minting, burning and releasing rsETH during cross-chain transfers. 

“This closes the operational part of the rsETH recovery plan,” Kelp said. Several crypto protocols contributed funds to help restore rsETH’s backing under the DeFi United initiative.

Source: Stani Kulechov

The Kelp DAO hack in April caused a ripple effect throughout the crypto lending market that disrupted billions of dollars in liquidity and resurfaced concerns about the interconnectedness of decentralized finance protocols.

Aave was one of the hardest hit as the Kelp DAO attacker put a large portion of the stolen 116,500 rsETH up as collateral on its lending platform to borrow wrapped Ether, leaving $190 million in bad debt and triggering a wave of withdrawals.

The Kelp DAO hack was one of 25 crypto hacks in April, which saw a combined $630 million worth of losses, the worst month since February 2025, when crypto exchange Bybit was hacked for a record $1.5 billion.

The first tranche of 25,000 rsETH was transferred on May 13, allowing rsETH bridging between the Ethereum mainnet and the blockchain’s layer 2 networks to reopen. 

Kelp reopened withdrawals for rsETH the following day and said on Tuesday that rsETH mints, redemptions and rewards operations “have been running normally.”. 

Aave’s TVL bleed stops, but has not recovered

The Kelp DAO exploit contributed to Aave’s total value locked falling from $26.4 billion to below $14 billion, losing its long-held position as the largest DeFi protocol by TVL.

Related: Crypto hackers stole $17B over past 10 years: DefiLlama 

DefiLlama data shows that net outflows from Aave’s lending markets have eased over the past month.

However, Aave’s TVL has shown no signs of recovery, hovering between the $13.9 billion and $15.1 billion mark since about a week after the incident took place.

Source: Aave’s change in TVL in 2026. Source: DefiLlama

Magazine: The legal battle over who can claim DeFi’s stolen millions 

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.

Blockaid said it detected an active exploit targeting the SquidRouterModule on Ethereum and Base, with 86 Gnosis Safes drained for about $3 million in roughly two hours.

The blockchain security firm said the stolen tokens were swapped into DAI through attacker-controlled Uniswap V3 pools. The alert listed an exploiter address, a consolidation wallet, and one example drain transaction.

According to Blockaid’s X thread, the exploit targeted Gnosis Safes linked to the SquidRouterModule. The firm said the attack moved quickly, draining dozens of Safes before the stolen assets were converted.

🚨 Blockaid detected an ongoing exploit targeting the SquidRouterModule on Ethereum and Base.

86 Gnosis Safes drained for ~$3M in ~2 hours.
All stolen tokens swapped to DAI via attacker-controlled Uniswap V3 pools.
More details in 🧵

— Blockaid (@blockaid_) May 25, 2026

The alert identified the exploiter address as 0x9bdc730183821b6bb2b51be30b77c964fa645b91. Etherscan data shows that address was funded by Tornado Cash and recorded 52 transactions, with activity listed on May 25.

Blockaid also pointed to a consolidation wallet holding the proceeds. Etherscan data for that wallet showed about 3.07 million DAI, worth roughly $3.07 million, alongside a small ETH balance.

Stolen tokens move through Uniswap V3

The example transaction shared by Blockaid succeeded at 06:25:23 UTC on May 25. Etherscan shows the transaction came from the exploiter address and interacted with another address tied to the reported flow.

The same transaction page shows swaps involving USDC, ENA, and USDT through Uniswap V3 pools. These details match Blockaid’s claim that stolen assets were routed through decentralized exchange pools before being consolidated.

In response, Squid later said the incident was unrelated to its core protocol and contracts. The team said all Squid users and integrators were unaffected and no action was needed. According to Squid, the exploited contract was a third-party Gnosis Safe module verified on Basescan as “SquidRouterModule,” but it was not built, deployed, or operated by Squid.

Squid said the exploit came from a faulty third-party smart-wallet module that victims had added as a trusted Safe Module. The team added that its official router contract was architecturally different and was not touched.

This incident is unrelated to Squid’s core protocol and contracts. All Squid users and integrators are unaffected and no action is needed.

A third-party Gnosis Safe module was exploited today across Base and Ethereum, resulting in approximately $3.2M in losses. The vulnerable… https://t.co/I3gGmdBvE9

— squid (@squidrouter) May 25, 2026

May exploit wave keeps security teams active

The SquidRouterModule incident comes during an active month for onchain security teams. Crypto.news reported one day earlier that StablR’s EURR and USDR stablecoins lost their pegs after a suspected private key compromise let an attacker take control of minting permissions and extract about $2.8 million.

That report said Blockaid traced the StablR incident to a compromised multisig owner. The attacker reportedly minted 12.85 million tokens and converted thin DEX liquidity into 1,115 ETH in proceeds.

Crypto.news also reported earlier in May that Blockaid flagged an active smart contract exploit involving ShapeShift’s FOX Colony on Arbitrum. That incident drained $132,700 at first, before a related exploit pushed total losses to about $182,700.

DeFi infrastructure risks remain in focus

Recent exploit coverage shows attackers keep targeting weak points around smart contracts, proxies, bridges, wallets, and key management. Crypto.news reported in April that DefiLlama had logged 518 crypto hacks over 10 years, with total losses above $17 billion.

The same report said recent incidents show attackers increasingly target private keys, signing systems, bridges, and wallets, not only smart contract code. That pattern makes module permissions and Safe integrations an important area for teams to review.

Crypto.news also reported that TrustedVolumes lost roughly $6.7 million in an exploit tied to a custom RFQ swap proxy. Blockaid and other firms said about $5.87 million was drained from the protocol’s Ethereum resolver.

The latest SquidRouterModule alert adds another case where connected DeFi infrastructure became the attack surface.

NEAR Protocol surged about 50% this week to roughly $2.34, outpacing most large cap tokens as traders rotated into Arthur Hayes’s “holy trinity” of NEAR, HYPE and ZEC.

NEAR Protocol has become one of the clearest large cap momentum trades after its price climbed roughly 50 percent in a week to hit a six month high around $2.34, even as the broader market barely moved.

CoinMarketCap lists the live NEAR Protocol price at about $2.40, with 24 hour trading volume above $689 million and a market capitalization in the low single digit billions, placing it around the top 30 crypto assets by size.

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Why is NEAR outperforming other large cap altcoins

According to Changelly, NEAR is currently priced near $2.38 with an estimated market cap of roughly $3.08 billion and circulating supply of about 1.3 billion tokens, after logging around 14.4 percent volatility over the past month.

Fresh data from CoinMarketCap’s AI driven price analysis tool noted that NEAR recently jumped 13.26 percent in 24 hours to about $2.47, massively outperforming a wider market that edged up just over 1 percent during the same window.

MEXC framed the move more starkly, writing in a recent market note that “thanks to a 25.78% price increase, NEAR Protocol was the biggest gainer of the day among the top 200 cryptocurrencies by market cap” as it traded around $2.20.

> Near unlocked ZEC onchain with billions.

> Near powered VVV with the most advanced private & *verifiable* AI inference tech in production.

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> Near shipped Confidential Intents. Live for 35+ blockchains. First time ever this is achieved. 42% rate of confidentiality rate in 1… https://t.co/kB1WDKfd2H

— Res (@resdegen) May 24, 2026

Another MEXC report added that NEAR’s price “surged 50% in seven days, hitting six month highs at $2.34” and gaining about 34 percent in one day alone, highlighting the speed with which traders have piled into the token.

That acceleration came as the total crypto market cap slipped about 0.42 percent to $2.58 trillion and roughly 78 percent of listed coins lost value on the day, suggesting NEAR’s rally is a focused rotation rather than a rising tide.

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In earlier coverage on crypto market leadership, NEAR had already begun to appear alongside other high conviction trades that pulled in liquidity while the rest of the market chopped sideways.

How does NEAR fit into Arthur Hayes’s “holy trinity” narrative

The renewed interest in NEAR is tightly bound to a narrative from BitMEX co founder Arthur Hayes, who recently called NEAR, Hyperliquid and Zcash “the holy trinity of altcoins” in a comment widely circulated on social media.

In an article summarizing his thesis, Stocktwits reported that “Arthur Hayes’ ‘Holy Trinity’ Outperforms Bitcoin – HYPE’s Price Hits All-Time High, While ZEC, NEAR Surge To 6-Month Peaks This Week,” underscoring that all three tokens hit notable milestones at roughly the same time.

Hyperliquid, which is tracked on CoinMarketCap as HYPE, has posted its own aggressive move to an all time high this month, while privacy focused Zcash has rallied to multi month highs on the back of what one crypto.news report described as a “privacy rotation” and fresh ecosystem funding.

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The narrative has spilled over into trading commentary on X as well, with market watchers pointing out that NEAR, HYPE and ZEC have all logged sharper percentage gains than Bitcoin in recent sessions, even as the benchmark asset remains near the center of attention.

One MEXC dispatch explicitly linked the three assets, noting that NEAR’s 50 percent weekly surge coincided with strong performance in HYPE and ZEC and concluding that NEAR “was the biggest gainer of the day among the top 200 cryptocurrencies by market cap.”

For NEAR specifically, the backdrop is an evolving story around the protocol’s effort to brand itself as “the blockchain for AI,” with CoinMarketCap describing it as “a high performance, AI native platform built to power the next generation of decentralized applications and intelligent agents” in its project overview.

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The token’s recent outperformance follows a long stretch of underperformance from its 2021 peak, but current data from CoinCodex suggests models still see NEAR trading near $2.30 at year end 2026, only slightly below current levels, which implies the market is now trying to decide whether this latest burst is a new secular leg higher or just another sharp countertrend move.

In earlier analysis on altcoin cycles, NEAR had already been flagged as one of the top gaining assets during a broader market rebound, reinforcing the idea that this week’s rally is part of a sustained period of relative strength rather than an isolated spike.

Kenya’s Finance Bill 2026 has proposed new reporting obligations for crypto platforms and fresh taxes on digital payments as authorities move to expand tax collection powers across the financial sector.

According to an analysis published by KPMG Kenya, the bill introduces measures requiring Virtual Asset Service Providers to file annual returns with the Kenya Revenue Authority containing details on reportable users and controlling persons.

The proposal would also allow Kenya to exchange virtual asset transaction information with foreign tax authorities under international reporting frameworks.

At the same time, the bill expands oversight of digital financial activity through new taxes targeting card transactions and some fintech services. Analysts reviewing the proposal said the changes could raise operating costs for payment firms, crypto platforms, and businesses that rely heavily on digital transactions.

Meanwhile, the Finance Bill also gives the Kenya Revenue Authority broader enforcement authority during tax disputes. Under the proposed framework, banks, SACCOs, and mobile money providers could receive agency notices even after taxpayers have formally objected to assessments, allowing funds to be frozen or redirected while disputes remain unresolved.

What crypto-related changes are included in the bill?

KPMG Kenya’s analysis stated that the Finance Bill expands the definition of reportable financial activity to include virtual asset transactions handled by VASPs. Crypto firms would therefore be required to maintain additional compliance systems and provide annual disclosures tied to customer activity.

Alongside the reporting obligations, the proposal introduces new taxes on digital payment infrastructure. Local card transactions would face a 5% withholding tax under the bill, while some non-resident card transactions could attract a 20% withholding tax. Certain financial technology services would also become subject to a 16% VAT charge.

According to tax advisory firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, the measures form part of Kenya’s attempt to strengthen tax enforcement and improve information sharing with foreign jurisdictions. The firm noted that virtual asset reporting standards are increasingly being adopted globally as regulators seek tighter monitoring of digital asset flows.

Elsewhere in Africa, regulators are also moving toward stricter crypto oversight. In South Africa, the National Treasury’s Draft Capital Flow Management Regulations for 2026 proposed classifying crypto assets as “capital” under foreign exchange laws for the first time.

A joint statement from South Africa’s National Treasury and Reserve Bank said the draft rules are intended to close gaps involving cross-border crypto transactions and illicit financial flows. According to the proposal, certain crypto transfers may require declarations or approvals depending on thresholds set by authorities.

Why are businesses concerned about the proposals?

Financial analysts cited in local coverage said the Finance Bill could increase compliance costs for fintech companies, payment processors, and crypto-related businesses operating in Kenya. Companies that rely on mobile payments, debit cards, and international transaction infrastructure may need to adjust pricing or reporting systems if the measures are approved.

The bill also shortens tax filing timelines and introduces additional disclosure requirements for businesses. Ordinary tax returns would be due before April 30 instead of June 30, while VAT invoicing obligations would extend beyond registered VAT businesses to entities making taxable supplies.

Further changes would alter dividend withholding rules within the East African Community and revise interest deduction treatment for lenders and leasing firms. According to KPMG Kenya, the proposals are part of a wider restructuring of the country’s tax administration framework as authorities look for additional revenue sources during a period of economic pressure.