Crypto World
CLARITY Act would grant crypto developers strongest protections
U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis has sharpened her defense of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY), arguing that Title 3 would deliver the strongest protections yet for DeFi developers and non-custodial innovators. In recent remarks, she contended that bipartisan changes to the bill would fortify safeguards for DeFi insiders and urged lawmakers to advance CLARITY in order to unlock these protections under the BRCA framework.
The comments come as crypto-savvy lawyer Jake Chervinsky challenged the bill’s current design, arguing that Title 3 could undermine protections by imposing Know-Your-Customer obligations on non-custodial software developers. Lummis responded by asserting that the ongoing revisions to Title 3 are aimed at strengthening DeFi defenses, while noting that the latest draft text has not yet been released publicly.
“Don’t believe the FUD,” Lummis wrote in a Friday posting, adding, “We have worked on a bipartisan basis for the last few weeks to make changes to Title 3 that make this bill the strongest protection for DeFi and developers ever enacted. We have to pass the Clarity Act to get these protections.”
The precise revisions to CLARITY—described by Lummis as a path to stronger, clearer protections for DeFi—have not been published, leaving observers to await the official language.
“Don’t believe the FUD. We have worked on a bipartisan basis for the last few weeks to make changes to Title 3 that make this bill the strongest protection for DeFi and developers ever enacted. We have to pass the Clarity Act to get these protections.”
Chervinsky has emphasized that DeFi protections in Title 3 have been overshadowed by attention to stablecoin-related provisions within CLARITY. His central concern is that the bill’s money transmitter definitions could still place many non-custodial DeFi builders at risk of liability, even as the BRCA’s Section 604 language clarifies that non-controlling developers and providers of non-custodial software should not be treated as financial institutions subject to Bank Secrecy Act KYC obligations.
The broader legal landscape isn’t lost on industry figures. The contrast between intent and enforcement risk is shaping the debate around what forms DeFi protection should take—whether liability shields should hinge on code architecture, custodial status, or the nature of on-chain activity.
The debate arrives amid a climate of high-profile regulatory pushback. In recent months, prosecutors have pursued crypto developers and platforms with renewed vigor, including the Tornado Cash case, where Roman Storm was convicted in August 2025 of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. The outcome has underscored the urgency for clear, workable safeguards for builders who contribute to open-source or non-custodial tooling.
Legislative momentum around CLARITY appears to be advancing in tandem with broader efforts on stablecoins. U.S. lawmakers have signaled that CLARITY’s passage would be instrumental in delivering BRCA-backed protections for DeFi developers, with a Senate Banking Committee markup anticipated in April after progress on the stablecoin rewards provisions. The absence of publicly released text notwithstanding, supporters argue that the package’s architecture is designed to distinguish non-custodial code from regulated financial activity, reducing ambiguity for developers and users alike.
As the clock ticks toward committee consideration, investors and builders will be watching closely how Title 3 evolves and whether the revisions address non-custodial liability concerns without undermining legitimate regulatory aims. The next updates from Congress will determine not only the fate of CLARITY but also the practical implications for DeFi development, funding, and broader market adoption.
Readers should stay tuned for the formal release of the revised draft and subsequent committee milestones, as the balance between protection and compliance continues to shape the trajectory of DeFi regulation in the United States.
Crypto World
Tokenized Treasuries hit $15 billion as BTC price stalls, Fed rate-hike concerns build: Crypto Daily
This is an excerpt from CoinDesk newsletter ‘Daybook.’ Sign up here, if you haven’t already.
While bitcoin remains pinned above $80,000, another interest rate-sensitive corner of the crypto market is booming and may suck capital out of other coins.
The total value locked in tokenized Treasuries has surged to $15.35 billion, topping the mid-April peak of around $15.10 billion, according to rwa.xyz data.
This comes as markets price in a higher probability of a Federal Reserve interest-rate hike (yes, an increase in borrowing costs), a stark shift from expectations for rapid rate cuts baked in earlier this year.
“The June cut just got significantly harder to defend, and the allocator positioning we flagged – capital sat in [BlackRock’s] BUIDL and tokenized T-bills rather than spot crypto – is going to look prescient by Friday,” Iggy Ioppe, CIO at Theo, said in an email.
Flows into yield-bearing tokenized Treasuries could rise further if today’s U.S. producer price index (PPI) points to persistent inflationary pressures in the pipeline. Consensus is for the April print to come in at 4.9% year-on-year, up from 4.0% in March.
An elevated reading would add to Fed rate-hike expectations and pose a headwind to risk assets. How bitcoin reacts remains to be seen, especially as it held largely steady above $80,000 after Tuesday’s hotter-than-expected CPI print.
While noting BTC’s resilience, analysts at Marex warned that further gains may be difficult if inflation continues to climb.
“That is the constraint for crypto: it can hold, but it will struggle to trend higher if real [inflation] rates keep grinding up,” analysts at Marex said.
Miners, too, present a potential headwind.
“If large miners are reporting big losses and pivoting toward AI, it usually means they may need to manage balance sheets more actively, which can translate into more spot supply on rallies. That is not a crash trigger, but it can cap upside in a choppy macro tape,” they noted.
In the broader market, smaller coins such as ING, DOT, ATOM and TRUMP added 5% or more, pointing to a rotation of capital into selective tokens. Majors like ether (ETH), solana (SOL), and XRP remain choppy.
Bitcoin and ether volatility indexes continue to point to near-term calm ahead of three major events: the PPI report, the Clartiy Act vote and the meeting between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jingping.
In traditional markets, WTI crude oil futures bounced back above $100, while copper rose to near-record highs, both pointing to more commodity-led inflation ahead. Stay alert!
Read more: For analysis of today’s activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today . For a comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
What’s trending
Today’s signal

Bitcoin appears to be at an inflection point, with the recovery from February lows stalling near the 200-day simple moving average (SMA) at around $82,300 and the upper boundary of a rising channel.
The momentum has stalled just as macro uncertainty around inflation and Federal Reserve policy intensifies.
A bearish resolution would involve BTC failing to break above the 200-day average and slipping below $75,000, which was widely cited as a key level in February-March. That could encourage systematic sellers back to the market, particularly if rising Treasury yields continue to tighten financial conditions and weigh on risk appetite.
On the bullish side, a decisive move above the 200-day average would confirm a bull market, potentially yielding a rally to as high as $92,000.
CORRECTION (May 13, 7:07pm ET): Updates Iggy Ioppe’s title.
Crypto World
What is the Next Resistance Level For Bitcoin Price?
After spending several sessions consolidating above the $72,000 level, Bitcoin briefly reclaimed the $81,000 mark before correcting. The 10% recovery over the past month has pushed Bitcoin back into a critical resistance zone that has capped the latest recovery attempt.
The real test for Bitcoin lies just ahead, with the $83,000 to $85,000 range emerging as the next major barrier.
A failure to maintain this zone would likely shift attention back to lower demand areas around $75,000 and $73,000, with the 100-day moving average near $72,000 acting as a key support level.
Bitcoin price tests key resistance zone
In the first 2 weeks of May, Bitcoin trading activity has also picked up, with 24-hour volume rising 4%.
For context, reviewing the broader Bitcoin price history shows that similar consolidation phases near key resistance levels have often preceded larger directional moves.
A break above the 200-day moving average, currently positioned between $83,000 and $85,000, would likely open the path toward $89,000.
Beyond that, the $94,000 level stands as the next technical checkpoint before any potential move toward the $100,000 psychological barrier.
Bitcoin’s MACD Signal Points to Strengthening Momentum
One of the more closely watched signals right now is the weekly MACD crossover, which flashed bullish on April 13.
Since then, Bitcoin has gained approximately 15%, indicating a shift in momentum after an extended recovery period.
Historical comparisons add context to this setup. Previous MACD crossovers have often preceded strong rallies.
The October 2023 signal came before a 147% move, while the October 2024 crossover was followed by a 75% gain. A similar signal in May 2025 resulted in a 35% rally.
While past performance does not guarantee future results, the consistency of these signals has drawn attention as Bitcoin approaches another major resistance cluster near the 200-day average.
A confirmed breakout above this level would likely bring $89,000 into focus, followed by $94,000.
From there, market participants would start evaluating the probability of a broader move toward $100,000.
Miner Behavior Suggests Limited Sell Pressure
On-chain data provides additional support for the current recovery structure. The Miners’ Position Index (MPI) dropped below -1.0 during the February lows near $60,000, a level historically associated with miner accumulation rather than distribution.
This suggests that miners were not aggressively selling during the market’s weakest phase, which helped reduce downward pressure as Bitcoin established a base.
Although the MPI has since recovered, it remains below zero. This indicates that miner selling is still relatively subdued compared to conditions typically seen near market tops.
Lower distribution from miners can help stabilize prices during upward moves.
That said, traders are monitoring whether the MPI climbs above 0.5. Such a shift could signal increased selling activity as prices rise, potentially slowing the rally’s pace.
Profit-Taking Activity Reflects Strong Demand Absorption
Data from Santiment shows that Bitcoin’s net realized profits recently reached $207.56 million as the price moved above $80,000.
This marks the highest level recorded in the current cycle and reflects increased profit-taking near a major psychological level.
Profit realization during upward price movement is not necessarily bearish. In many cases, it indicates that new demand is strong enough to absorb selling pressure from existing holders.
In this scenario, Bitcoin continued to push higher despite increased selling, suggesting that buyers are actively stepping in at current levels.
A weekly close above $81,000, followed by a successful retest of this level as support, would strengthen the bullish case.
If confirmed, this structure could pave the way for a move toward the $86,000 to $89,000 range, with $100,000 emerging as the next major upside target.
The post What is the Next Resistance Level For Bitcoin Price? appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Crypto World
Ether May Soar to Five-Digit Prices Fueled by Rising Institutional Adoption
Market analysts said Ether (ETH) was ready to continue its uptrend following moves by JPMorgan and BlackRock to launch tokenized funds on the Ethereum network.
Key takeaways:
- Institutional adoption is underway as JPMorgan and BlackRock plan to launch tokenized funds on Ethereum.
- Strong technical structures in multiple time frames suggest ETH price is bottoming out.
ETH traders anticipate the price to “outperform”
Data from TradingView showed ETH/USD trading at $2,320, up 2% over the last 24 hours.
The pair failed to crack through resistance at $2,400 last week, as spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) outflows and rising balance on Binance derailed Ether’s recovery.
As such, bulls must push and hold the ETH/USD pair above $2,400 to continue the uptrend.
In a Wednesday post on X, analyst CryptoJack said ETH is “getting ready for a pump” as it consolidates inside a symmetrical triangle on lower time frames.
“A breakout could lead to a strong move soon.”

ETH/USD chart. Source: X/CryptoJack
Crypto Patel’s chart shows ETH trading inside an ascending triangle that has guided its price action since 2020. ETH is bouncing off the triangle’s lower trendline around $1,800, a zone that previously acted as a launchpad for large upside moves.
The analyst sets the upside target for Ether at $10,000-$15,000, saying:
“$ETH will outperform this cycle.”

ETH/USD two-week chart. Source: X/Crypto Patel
Fellow crypto analyst Celal Kucuker also shared a bullish argument, laying out a long-term roadmap that places ETH on course for a possible move above $24,000.

ETH/USD one-month chart. Source: X/Celal Kucuker
Momentum indicators support the rebound thesis. Ether’s monthly relative strength index (RSI) has cooled toward a historical support area near 42-455, similar to levels that preceded past rallies.
As Cointelegraph reported, buyers will be back in control once the ETH/USD pair breaks above the $2,450-$2,600, confirming a trend shift.
Institutional adoption fuels Ether’s bullishness
As Cointelegraph reported, JPMorgan is set to launch a tokenized money market fund on Ethereum, allowing stablecoin issuers to hold reserves backing their stablecoins while earning interest.
Related: Bitmine slows Ethereum buys, targets December to own 5% of supply
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has also filed for tokenized versions of its Treasury liquidity funds, where official ownership records will be maintained on Ethereum using ERC-20 token standards.

Source: Cointelegraph
“Institutional adoption just hit another level,” analysts at Ethereum Daily said in a post on X on Wednesday.
“This is the most bullish news for Ethereum,” X user Borovik said in a reaction to the news on Wednesday.
Tokenized funds on Ethereum, bulls argue, will drive onchain activity, increase gas demand and total value locked (TVL). This will, in turn, boost the blockchain’s legitimacy, making ETH the preferred settlement layer for trillions in TradFi capital.
Data from RWA.xyz shows that global tokenized funds already exceed $31 billion, with Ethereum dominating approximately 55% of the space.

Total global RWA value. Source: RWA.xyz
These were not the only bullish news for Ethereum. MN Capital founder Michael van de Poppe said that the approval of the CLARITY Act, which is scheduled for markup on Thursday, would be a “massive trigger for the markets.”
Market analyst Ethprofit.eth said the CLARITY Act “looks extremely bullish for Ethereum,” while Bitcoin Mami said “institutional demand is going insane post CLARITY Act,” pushing ETH price to $10,000.
Polymarket bettors are pricing in a 60% chance that the CLARITY Act will be signed into law in 2026, down 5% over the last 24 hours.

Odds of the CLARITY Act being signed into law in 2026. Source: Polymarket
If the CLARITY Act becomes law, Ether is expected to rally, as seen in July 2025, when the signing of the GENIUS Act into law preceded a 65% ETH price rise to its current all-time high of $4,950 from $3,000.
Crypto World
BeInCrypto Institutional Research: 15 Digital Asset Products Driving Crypto Investment
Best Digital Asset Product is a category within the BeInCrypto Institutional 100, an annual research-driven program recognising institutional digital asset excellence across 26 categories and six pillars.
This category sits under Pillar 3: Access to Digital Assets. The 15 products below are listed alphabetically by issuer and are not ranked. Each entry is anchored on the specific product, not the issuing firm. A shortlist will be named in May 2026, with the winner announced at Proof of Talk in Paris on June 2–3, 2026.
Key Facts
- Long list: 15 products across spot crypto ETFs, tokenized MMFs, tokenized treasuries, private credit and PE funds, tokenized equities, bonds, and regional product stacks
- Initial pool: More than 30 firms screened; 15 advanced to the long list
- Order: Listed alphabetically by issuer, not ranked
- Scoring: 50% quantitative data · 50% Expert Council
- Criteria assessed: AUM, net flows, product structure, regulatory licensure, multi-jurisdiction footprint, on-chain reach, fee structure, distribution channels, institutional holders, innovation signal
- Data sources: SEC EDGAR, ETF flow trackers, SFC, VARA, FCA, FINMA, BaFin, MAS, MiCA-CASP registers, audited reports, ratings agencies, PitchBook, Tracxn, and Crunchbase
| Product / Issuer | HQ & Listing | Reach | Product Structure | Representative Work |
| Apollo Global Management — ACRED | New York · NYSE: APO | $1.026T AUM Six chains live |
Tokenized private credit fund Apollo Diversified Credit Securitize Fund |
ACRED tokenizes Apollo Diversified Credit Fund via Securitize Live on Aptos, Avalanche, Ethereum, Ink, Polygon, and Solana |
| Backed Finance — bCSPX, bIB01, xStocks | Zug, Switzerland FINMA-aligned; Kraken-owned |
$25B+ transaction volume since June 2025 100 tokenized stocks live |
Tokenized equities and bond products xStocks tokenized equity suite |
bCSPX tokenizes S&P 500 ETF exposure; bIB01 tokenizes short-term Treasuries xStocks Alliance includes Bybit, Gate.io, KuCoin, Talos, and 360X |
| BlackRock — IBIT, ETHA, BUIDL | New York · NYSE | $14T+ platform AUM IBIT $66.9B; BUIDL $2.5B–$2.85B |
Spot crypto ETFs Tokenized money market fund |
IBIT became the fastest ETF to cross $80B AUM BUIDL expanded across eight chains |
| Bitwise — BITB, BSOL | San Francisco · NYSE Arca | $11B client assets 40+ investment products |
Spot Bitcoin ETF Solana ETP with staking exposure |
BSOL launched on NYSE Arca in Oct 2025 Built direct SOL exposure with staking rewards target |
| Fidelity — FBTC, FETH | Boston, USA Fidelity Digital Assets OCC conditional charter |
$15T+ platform AUA FBTC $13B–$15B AUM |
Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs Vertically integrated custody model |
FBTC and FETH combine Fidelity asset management with Fidelity Digital Assets custody Product stack differs from pure ETF issuers through internal custody infrastructure |
| Franklin Templeton — BENJI/FOBXX, EZBC, EZET | San Mateo, CA · NYSE: BEN | $1.74T AUM BENJI deployed across 8+ chains |
Tokenized money market fund Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs |
FOBXX/BENJI was the first US-registered fund using public blockchain record-keeping Franklin built multi-chain tokenized fund distribution |
| Hamilton Lane — SCOPE, Secondary Fund VI, Direct Equity | Conshohocken, PA · Nasdaq: HLNE | $1T AUM and supervision 780 professionals globally |
Tokenized private credit and private markets funds Securitize-based access structure |
SCOPE went multi-chain on Ethereum and Optimism Secondary Fund VI feeder reduced minimums from $5M to $20K |
| Hashnote / Circle — USYC | New York Bermuda-regulated; Cayman fund structure |
$3B+ AUM Largest tokenized MMF globally by AUM |
Tokenized institutional money market fund Backed by Treasury bills and reverse repos |
USYC overtook BlackRock BUIDL in Jan 2026 Integrated with USDC for 24/7 collateral movement |
| Janus Henderson — JTRSY, JAAA, SPXA | London · NYSE: JHG | $457B AUM 25 offices worldwide |
Tokenized treasury and index funds Rated tokenized fund products |
JTRSY received S&P AA+f / S1+ rating SPXA launched on Base as S&P-licensed tokenized index fund |
| KKR — SKHC / HCSG II | New York · NYSE: KKR | $700B+ AUM Underlying HCSG II fund at $4B |
Tokenized private equity fund Avalanche and Securitize structure |
KKR tokenized Health Care Strategic Growth Fund II as SKHC Product remains available to qualified investors |
| Ondo Finance — OUSG, USDY, Ondo Global Markets | New York Private company; ONDO publicly traded |
$1.81B+ platform TVL 265 tokenized securities and ETFs |
Tokenized treasuries, yield products, tokenized securities Multi-chain market access |
SEC investigation closed without charges in late 2025 Ondo Global Markets reached significant tokenized stocks share |
| OpenEden — TBILL | Singapore BVI feeder fund; BNY-managed |
$260M+ AUM 10x year-on-year growth |
Tokenized US Treasury bills Investment-grade rated product |
First tokenized T-bill product with dual Moody’s and S&P investment-grade ratings BNY appointed investment manager and custodian |
| OSL — Tokenworks, HK Spot ETF Servicing, Taikang MMF | Hong Kong HKEX-listed parent; SFC-licensed VATP |
Sub-custodian and exclusive VATP for Hong Kong spot crypto ETFs Supports BTC, ETH, and SOL ETF servicing |
Tokenization platform and ETF servicing stack Hong Kong institutional product infrastructure |
Distributor and custody partner for Hong Kong’s first tokenized MMF under unit-trust structure Tokenworks serves Tier-1 Hong Kong asset managers |
| Superstate — USTB, USCC, FundOS | New York SEC-registered investment adviser and transfer agent |
USTB $967M AUM USCC $267M AUM |
Tokenized US Treasuries and crypto carry fund White-label tokenization infrastructure |
USTB transitioning to Invesco Advisers as investment manager FundOS powers Coinbase Asset Management’s CUSHY stablecoin yield fund |
| T. Rowe Price — TKNZ | Baltimore, USA · NYSE: TROW | $1.7T–$1.8T platform AUM ETF pending approval |
Active crypto ETF filing 5–15 eligible crypto assets |
TKNZ S-1 filed for active crypto ETF on NYSE Arca Anchorage Digital Bank named as crypto custodian |
About This List
The BeInCrypto Institutional 100 — Best Digital Asset Product (2026 Long List) identifies named institutional products giving investors access to digital assets. The category covers spot ETFs, ETPs, tokenized money market funds, tokenized treasuries, tokenized private credit and equity funds, tokenized securities, and regional product stacks.
Unlike asset manager categories, this list focuses on the product itself. A firm may appear because of one specific ETF, tokenized fund, treasury product, or integrated product suite that meets the long-list threshold.
Methodology
This category is evaluated under Track A of the BeInCrypto Institutional 100 methodology: 50% quantitative data and 50% Expert Council scoring.
Assessment spans AUM and cumulative net flows, product structure, regulatory licensure, jurisdictional footprint, on-chain reach for tokenized products, fee structure, distribution channels, institutional holder concentration, and innovation signal.
Data was verified using SEC EDGAR, ETF flow trackers, SFC, VARA, FCA, FINMA, BaFin, MAS, MiCA-CASP registers, audited reports, Moody’s tokenized product ratings, S&P Global Ratings tokenized fund ratings, KBRA/Kroll, PitchBook, Tracxn, and Crunchbase.
The post BeInCrypto Institutional Research: 15 Digital Asset Products Driving Crypto Investment appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Crypto World
Anthropic, OpenAI tokens plunge as AI firms say pre-IPO share transfers are invalid
The Solana-based tokens marketed as a way to gain exposure to Anthropic and OpenAI before they go public got an unwelcome reality check this week.
The two companies said the transfer of privately held shares to the special purpose vehicles (SPVs) that back the tokens is invalid because any such move requires approval by the corporate board.
The tokens slumped. Anthropic PreStocks (ANTHROPIC), issued by Solana-based platform PreStocks to represent Anthropic shares, dropped 34% in seven days, while OpenAI PreStocks fell 39%, CoinGecko data show.
PreStocks uses SPVs, legal entities set up specifically to hold something on behalf of investors, to hold the shares, and issues tokens on Solana that represent indirect economic exposure to those shares.
“We do not permit special purpose vehicles to acquire Anthropic stock and any transfer of shares to an SPV are void under our transfer restrictions,” Anthropic said in an updated investor warning page.
Any third party claiming to sell its shares through “direct sales, forward contracts, tokenized securities, or other mechanisms” is “likely either engaged in fraud or offering an investment that may have no value due to our transfer restrictions,” the company said.
OpenAI issued a similar warning, saying unauthorized transactions may violate U.S. securities laws and could result in the invalidation of the underlying equity. Both companies named several intermediaries. Anthropic listed Open Door Partners, Hiive and Forge as unauthorized to buy or sell its shares.
While PreStocks tokens claim 1:1 backing through SPVs, neither the platform nor any third-party auditor has published the attestation reports the company promised at launch.
Liquidity is a concern as well. Data from PreStocks shows just over $333,000 in stablecoins and $18,000 in solana (SOL) in Anthropic liquidity as of Wednesday, meaning early buyers sitting on big profits might not be able to fully cash out. This exposes the gap between the implied valuations on the platform and what the underlying SPVs can actually deliver.
The dashboard also shows an implied Anthropic valuation above $1.3 trillion against the platform holding roughly $23 million in total assets, a gap that gave the companies the structural opening to push back.
PreStocks debuted in August 2025 with backing from Republic Capital and is led by CEO Xavier Ekkel. The platform is unavailable to residents of the U.S., Singapore, the European Union, and certain sanctioned jurisdictions, and requires know-your-customer processes for minting and redemptions. Partnerships at launch included Jupiter and Meteora, both decentralized exchanges on Solana.
Crypto World
Press Release
Aerodrome voting opens May 28. Mainnet Launch: June 4.
This quarter, AI started writing its own exploits. Tea is shipping the trust layer underneath it. Code Is Abundant. Trust Is Not.
In the span of seven days, the ground beneath the software shifted twice. On May 4, The Conversation published the most widely-circulated post-mortem yet of Anthropic’s Claude Mythos Preview, the frontier model Anthropic itself declined to release, because it can autonomously discover zero-days, generate working exploits, and execute multi-step cyber operations with minimal human oversight.
Days later, Google’s Gemma 4 landed inside Android’s AICore and Google AI Edge, putting agentic code generation, function calling, and offline reasoning on every developer’s phone and laptop under an Apache 2.0 license.
The implication is unavoidable. When any device can generate, execute, and weaponize software autonomously, trust cannot live in the binary. It has to live at the source.
Tea: the value layer for open source
Tea is the provenance, attribution, and verification layer for a world where code is written by agents faster than humans can audit it. Every package, every contribution, every dependency, cryptographically attributed, continuously verified, and economically aligned with the people and systems that built it.
Tea goes live on Aerodrom: the liquidity engine of base meets the trust layer of software
The moment Tea lists on Aerodrome, the two fastest-moving primitives in crypto collide: Base’s deepest liquidity venue and the first on-chain provenance layer built for the agentic AI era. Working with Aerodrome is a statement. It’s known as the place where Base’s most serious assets route. Tea chose Aerodrome because a trust layer for software should launch into the most battle-tested, transparent, community-governed market structure on-chain, not a centralized orderbook pretending to be neutral.
From block one, $TEA liquidity on Aerodrome means: verifiable on-chain routing, deep vote-directed emissions, and a price surface every trader, investor, and builder can see in real time. Aero flywheel + Tea provenance = a launch where the market structure is as credible as the technology’s pricing.
“Code is abundant. Trust is not,” said Tim Lewis, leading Tea’s launch. “Mythos showed us AI can write its own exploits. Gemma 4 put that capability in every pocket. The question isn’t whether agents will ship software (because they already are). The value of contribution will be weighed in inference and tokens and whether anyone can verify what they shipped. That’s what Tea is for.”
About Tea
Tea is building the software verification layer for the agentic era, serving as a decentralized protocol for provenance, attribution, and trust in open-source software. With open source running almost everything today, TEA provides the essential economic infrastructure to help people support it. Validated directly at the source, the protocol enables the community to verify work, understand dependency graphs, and govern what truly matters, ultimately empowering AI agents to build with better context.
Media contact:
Crypto World
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong Says Clarity Act ‘Closer Than Ever’
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is supporting the latest version of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY) ahead of the US Senate’s markup of the crypto market structure bill on Thursday.
“I don’t think it’s ever been in a stronger or more bipartisan position,” he said about the latest iteration of the market structure bill.
Armstrong said that the banking and crypto industry lobbies have reached a “healthy compromise” on stablecoin yield, which was one of the main issues that stalled the market structure bill in January. He added:
“I think there was a healthy compromise there, brokered by Senators Tillis and Alsobrooks. And you know, it was a good compromise because both sides left a little bit unhappy, but at least we got to a place that we can all live with.”
The latest version of the CLARITY bill also improved provisions surrounding decentralized finance (DeFi), tokenized stocks, and the authority of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to regulate crypto markets, he said.

Source: Brian Armstrong
The comments and the bill’s pending markup follow months of back-and-forth negotiations between the banking sector and the crypto industry over the bill, which stalled in January 2025 after crypto industry players, led by Coinbase, rejected the initial draft.
Related: Latest version of crypto market structure bill raises eyebrows ahead of Senate markup
About 20% of the US population owns crypto, according to industry advocacy groups
About one in five Americans, or 20%, owns cryptocurrency, according to the National Cryptocurrency Association’s 2025 State of Crypto Holders report, which surveyed 54,000 US residents.
The survey found that about 67% of US crypto owners are below the age of 45, while about 15% are over 55 years old.

A demographic breakdown of crypto users in the United States. Source: National Cryptocurrency Association
The top-ranked use case for cryptocurrency was as an investment, with 52% of holders indicating that they use digital assets to “invest in their financial future,” according to the survey.
A HarrisX poll conducted earlier this month also found that 52% of the 2,008 registered US voters surveyed supported passing the CLARITY Act into law, while just 11% opposed the passage of the legislation.
Crypto World
Crypto security firm Ledger pauses IPO plans amid volatile crypto markets.
Crypto wallet provider Ledger put its plans to go public in the U.S. on hold due to difficult market conditions, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
Ledger has not filed any draft S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), one of the people said. A confidential filing is typically the first formal step in the IPO process.
The French cryptocurrency security firm has a number of options, and could decide to raise capital privately, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is not public.
In January, reports emerged that Ledger had hired U.S. investment banks for a potential IPO valued at around $4 billion. Goldman Sachs (GS), Jefferies (JEF) and Barclays (BARC) were said to be advising on the offering, which could have come as early as this year.
A Ledger spokesperson declined to comment.
Ledger is best known for its hardware wallets that let people securely store cryptocurrencies offline. Its core business is protecting users’ private keys, the cryptographic credentials that control access to digital assets like bitcoin (BTC and ether (ETH).
After a wave of crypto listings in 2025, several digital-asset firms began rethinking their IPO timelines as weaker token prices, lower trading volumes and volatile equity markets weighed on investor appetite.
Kraken, one of the largest U.S. crypto exchanges, paused its multibillion-dollar IPO plans earlier this year despite having confidentially filed with the SEC in late 2025.
BitGo (BTGO), the only crypto-native company to go public in 2026, offered an early test of investor appetite for digital asset listings. It raised about $213 million in its January IPO, pricing shares above the marketed range at $18 and briefly surging more than 20% in its New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) debut.
The momentum proved short-lived. After an initial rally, BitGo shares retreated below their IPO price, underscoring the volatility and uneven investor sentiment facing crypto firms seeking to tap public markets.
The shares are currently trading about 36% below their IPO price.
In March, Ledger appointed former Circle Internet (CRCL) executive John Andrews as chief financial officer and opened an office in New York City as part of a broader expansion of its U.S. operations.
Andrews, who previously led capital markets and investor relations at Circle, joined the crypto security firm as demand from banks, asset managers and stablecoin issuers for digital asset infrastructure continues to grow.
The company said the New York office was part of a multimillion-dollar investment in its U.S. footprint and would serve as a hub for Ledger Enterprise, its institutional infrastructure platform. Ledger also said the expansion would create dozens of new jobs across enterprise and marketing functions.
Read more: Kraken parent Payward seeks fresh funding at $20 billion valuation ahead of planned IPO
Crypto World
Crypto firms put IPO plans on ice as listed companies tank
Crypto wallet firm Ledger has paused its initial public offering (IPO) after getting spooked by tanking crypto stocks.
As reported by CoinDesk today, unnamed sources familiar with the listing claim that “difficult market conditions” were behind the pause, and that Ledger still hasn’t filed an S-1 application with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
CoinDesk previously reported that crypto exchange Kraken was delaying its IPO until “market conditions improve.” Kraken’s parent company, Payward, privately filed a draft S-1 registration with the SEC in November 2025.
Across the crypto industry, recently listed firms have seen far from stellar performance.
Stablecoin issuer Circle was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in June 2025 and the price of its stock shot up to $263 within a month. However, it’s since fallen -52% to $126 today.

Read more: Anthropic’s non-existent blockchain shares are tripping up investors
Elsewhere, trading platform eToro, which went public in May 2025, has seen the price of its stock fall almost -42% since its listing, while Peter Thiel-backed exchange Bullish has endured a 53% fall in its stock price since it went public in August 2025.
BitGo went public in January 2026 and has since seen its stock plummet by almost -47%, and bitcoin firm Fold went public in February 2025 and has recorded a drop of 64%.
Greyscale, which filed for an IPO in November 2025, revealed at the time that it had suffered a 20% revenue drop within the first nine months of 2025.
The Winklevoss twin-controlled crypto exchange Gemini also filed for an IPO in June 2026.
However, bucking the trend is Galaxy Digital, which, since it was listed on the US market in May 2025, has enjoyed a 41% rise to $31.
Got a tip? Send us an email securely via Protos Leaks. For more informed news and investigations, follow us on X, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Crypto World
DeFi projects lose $6M in fresh string of exploits this week
A flurry of relatively small-scale hacks continues to wreak havoc on smaller crypto projects, despite flying under the radar when compared to recent mammoth losses.
So far this year, Protos’ hack tracker shows 77 entries, totaling over $1.1 billion in losses.
April was a particularly rough month; the losses across its 33 incidents totalled over $600 million. However, just two incidents, namely the Drift Protocol and rsETH bridge hacks, made up 95% of the month’s losses between them.
While May hasn’t kept up such a devastating pace, an uptick in hacker activity has seen almost $6 million stolen from six projects this week alone.
Read more: Crypto hackers snatch over $1B in 68 incidents this year
Monday May 11: Two (smaller) hacks
On the Polygon network, Ink Finance’s Workspace Treasury Proxy contract was exploited for $140,000 on Monday.
According to crypto security firm SlowMist’s analysis, the root cause was the lack of access control in the PayrollDistribution function.
Huma Finance lost $100,000 the same day, also on Polygon. The team’s statement insists that the losses were from (now-paused) “legacy v1 contracts” and that its Solana-based v2 is a “complete rewrite and this issue does not apply.”
Read more: Hyperbridge exploited less than two weeks after April Fools’ day hack prank
Tuesday May 12: Four hacks
On Tuesday evening, TAC, a “purpose-built blockchain for EVM dApps to access TON,” alerted users to a “security incident affecting the TAC bridge,” which had been paused.
Third-party reports estimated losses at $3 million worth of USDT, BLUM and other tokens.
The following day, security auditor Peckshield drew attention to a hack of Transit Finance, which also occurred on Tuesday, with $1.9 million of DAI held by the exploiter.
Read more: LayerZero among bridges Lazarus using to launder loot
The team issued an announcement, explaining the losses came from “historical vulnerabilities” in a contract deployed on TRON which had been “deprecated since 2022.”
It said users “do not need to take any action” and affected users will be compensated.
The project was previously attacked in October 2022 for over $20 million, though the majority of funds were later returned. According to Decurity, Tuesday’s loss was due to the same vulnerability as in 2022, three and a half years later.
Also on Tuesday, DeFi projects Aurellion and BoostHook were reportedly attacked, losing approximately $455,000 and $200,000, respectively.
Wednesday May 13: One hack, so far…
During the writing of this article, another project was reportedly hacked on the Arbitrum network.
Blockaid flagged the loss of $130,000 from FOX Colony, before highlighting a further $50,000 nabbed by a copycat. The thread notes that other similar contracts are “exposed.”
This latest hack follows today’s news that Code4rena, a long-running audit contest platform, announced it would “wind down.”
Bug bounty platform ImmuneFi stated it will take over Code4rena’s bounty programs going forward.
Got a tip? Send us an email securely via Protos Leaks. For more informed news and investigations, follow us on X, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.
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