Crypto World
Crypto Suffers as Iran Threatens Escalation Despite Trump Pause
Iran’s army warned it would “open new fronts” against Trump and the United States if military operations resume, rattling crypto across the board.
Iran’s army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia warned that Tehran would deploy “new equipment and new methods” if the US restarts strikes, according to Iran’s ISNA news agency. The threat lands as Trump is reportedly meeting national security advisers to weigh options for resuming military action despite having called off a planned attack Tuesday to allow peace talks to continue.
Iran’s influence over Hormuz shipping routes makes any escalation a direct macro risk for global markets. Crypto, already fragile, has no cushion here.
The data points to a market already stressed before this headline hit. Bitcoin ETF outflows approached $1 billion as of May 19, while hawkish Bank of Japan commentary added a second pressure vector. Risk appetite is thin.
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Trump, Iran, Bitcoin, and Crypto
Bitcoin is pinned in the mid-$76,000s despite Trump ceasefire decision. Prediction markets are quoting BTC at $76,750 for the May 19 5pm EDT outcome. A stark reversal from $82,300 on May 6, or a 6.7% drawdown in under two weeks.
First resistance sits at $77,000–$78,000. Reclaiming that band on volume would be the minimum requirement to shift short-term sentiment from defensive to neutral. Failure there keeps the door open to a retest of the low-$76,000 zone and potentially deeper support levels.
Total crypto market cap still managed to hold $2.5 trillion, suggesting altcoin strength is partially absorbing Bitcoin’s weakness. This makes the rotation trade interesting.
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Bitcoin Hyper Targets Early-Mover Upside as BTC Tests Key Levels
When Bitcoin consolidates under pressure and institutional capital rotates toward Ethereum and altcoins, early-stage infrastructure plays start attracting attention from traders who’ve already caught the spot-BTC trade. The question becomes: where’s the asymmetric upside now?
Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) is positioned at the intersection of Bitcoin’s security and Solana-level execution speed. Hyper is the first Bitcoin Layer 2 with SVM integration that delivers faster performance than Solana itself.
The project also targets Bitcoin’s three core limitations: slow transactions, high fees, and the absence of programmable smart contracts.
The current price is $0.0136, with $32.7 million raised to date, plus the 35% APY staking rewards available during the presale period. Features include a Decentralized Canonical Bridge for BTC transfers and extremely low-latency Layer 2 processing.
The post Crypto Suffers as Iran Threatens Escalation Despite Trump Pause appeared first on Cryptonews.
Crypto World
‘What's happening at the EF?’ Ethereum community looking for answers after high-profile departures

A wave of recent high-profile departures at the Ethereum Foundation has reignited longstanding questions from community members about what is going on inside the organization.
Crypto World
Cardano Price Prediction Stuck 92% Below Peak as Whales Stack Record Holdings, While Pepeto Crosses $10 Million With 150x Profit Math
ADA whale wallets now hold 25.09 billion tokens, 67% of the total supply and the highest share since 2020, yet Cardano still trades 92% below its all-time high.
The Cardano price prediction has turned into a waiting game where the biggest holders keep buying a token that has not paid them back in years, and Pepeto offers very different math with more than $10 million raised and a Binance listing that has not reset the price yet.
ADA Whales Hit Record Levels as SuperTrend Flips to Buy
Wallets holding at least one million ADA now control 25.09 billion tokens according to CoinDesk, the highest whale share since 2020. The buying has been running since December 2023, even as ADA lost 71% of its value over nine months, which means the biggest holders kept adding while everyone else sold.
On May 14 the SuperTrend flipped to a buy signal for the first time since September 2025 according to Coinpedia.
The Cardano price prediction now has a fresh chart signal, but ADA at $0.25 still needs a full market rally to move in any real way.
Pepeto and ADA: Whale Buying Meets Presale Opportunity
Pepeto
While ADA whales keep buying through a crash with no clear end, Pepeto is building a trading platform at a price so low that the listing alone could give profits Cardano cannot match in years, and the person who created the original Pepe coin leads the team alongside a former Binance expert who knows exchange systems from the inside.
The bridge moves tokens between Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Solana with zero fees while the risk scorer checks every token contract before money goes in, so traders entering this presale get both free cross chain access and safety tools that protect their capital before they trade.
SolidProof checked every contract before the first dollar came in, and that safe base is one reason more than $10 million has flowed in at $0.0000001871 during a time when most tokens lost value. Staking at 172% APY grows holdings every day while the Binance listing gets closer, and analysts say 100x to 300x profit could come from the listing alone because the moment trading starts the presale price is gone and a new higher price takes its place.
The Cardano price prediction debate is about whether ADA can get back to $1 from $0.25, a 4x that takes years, but Pepeto with the same 420 trillion supply that took the original Pepe coin to $11 billion now has a working platform behind it. The wallets that bought today hold the price that late buyers will wish they had for the rest of this cycle, and every day that passes without buying is one day closer to that price being gone forever.
ADA Forecast: Whale Buying Meets Price Resistance at $0.25
The Cardano price prediction for 2026 stays careful as ADA trades near $0.25 according to CoinMarketCap. Cryptopolitan sees a peak of $1.33, while Changelly puts ADA between $0.27 and $0.37 through December.
CoinCodex stays negative, saying ADA may not get back above $1.24. ADA sits 92% below its $3.10 all-time high from September 2021 and fell from $0.44 in January even with whales buying. Even reaching $1.33 is a 5.3x from $0.25, a gain that needs a full bull run.
The Cardano price prediction math shows waiting that pays off over years, while a presale before a Binance listing could give that kind of return in weeks.
Conclusion
Every Cardano price prediction and large coin recovery story comes down to the same thing: time. ADA needs months or years before the profit shows up, and even the best forecast puts the top at $1.33, a 5.3x that needs a full market recovery to happen. Pepeto sits in a completely different spot as a working platform presale with a Binance listing ahead and no price ceiling set.
The cofounder proved the math once when the original Pepe coin hit $11 billion with zero products and 420 trillion supply, and reaching that level from the Pepeto presale is 150x, this time with a working exchange, a SolidProof audit, and 172% APY staking growing positions every day.
The entry at $0.0000001871 does not exist once the listing gives every token a new price, and $10 million from wallets that already made their choice sits in the presale right now. The Pepeto official website shows the numbers for anyone ready to move before the listing closes this window for good.
Click To Visit Pepeto Website To Enter The Presale
FAQs
What is the Cardano price prediction for 2026?
The Cardano price prediction targets $0.27 to $1.33, but ADA at $0.25 sits 92% below its $3.10 peak and needs a full bull cycle before real profits show up.
Is Pepeto a better buy than Cardano right now?
Pepeto is the stronger early entry because it raised $10 million at $0.0000001871 with a Binance listing ahead and 150x profit potential the Cardano timeline cannot offer.
Disclaimer: This is a Press Release provided by a third party who is responsible for the content. Please conduct your own research before taking any action based on the content.
Crypto World
The SEC wants to let newly public companies raise cash instantly in its biggest rule change in decades

The agency is proposing its largest overhaul of public listing rules in over 20 years, cutting compliance costs and giving crypto firms a much easier path to raise cash on Wall Street.
Crypto World
XRP Alliance debuts Flare and D’CENT vaults
The XRP Alliance launched on May 19, linking D’CENT’s 720,000 hardware wallet users to XRP yield vaults via Flare Smart Accounts.
Summary
- D’CENT Wallet and Flare launched the XRP Alliance on May 19, allowing XRP holders to deposit directly into yield vaults from hardware devices using two signatures on the XRP Ledger.
- Two vaults are available at launch: the Monarq XRP Yield Vault targeting 3% to 4% annually through options trading and basis arbitrage, and the Clearstar earnXRP vault for on-chain yield.
- The integration requires no new chain, wallet, or gas token and carries a 0% platform fee for D’CENT users through the Flare campaign running from May 19 to June 8.
D’CENT Wallet and Flare Network announced the XRP Alliance on May 19, a coalition that connects D’CENT’s estimated 720,000 hardware wallet users directly to XRP-denominated yield vaults without requiring a new chain, separate wallet, or gas token.
XRP holders can deposit into vaults directly from the D’CENT app using two signatures on the XRP Ledger, with Flare Smart Accounts minting FXRP and depositing it into the selected vault in a single flow.
Two vaults are available at launch. The Monarq XRP Yield Vault (MXRPY), managed by Monarq Asset Management on Upshift infrastructure, targets 3% to 4% annually through options trading, basis and funding-rate arbitrage, and on-chain XRPFi strategies.
The earnXRP vault, curated by Clearstar, offers the first fully on-chain yield product denominated in XRP, with returns automatically compounded. “Through our partnership with Flare, we are happy to provide the best and easiest way to deposit and manage XRP in the Monarq Yield Vault with top-tier hardware security,” D’CENT said in its campaign announcement.
XRP Alliance brings yield infrastructure to hardware wallets
The alliance also includes Doppler, Banxa, and Squid alongside D’CENT and Flare, with the stated objective of building distribution and interoperability across the XRP ecosystem.
As crypto.news reported in February, Flare expanded modular lending for XRP via Morpho and Mystic earlier in 2026, establishing the vault infrastructure that the D’CENT integration now makes accessible to hardware wallet holders for the first time.
For most of XRP’s history, holders have had limited ways to put the asset to work in programmable finance. As crypto.news documented, XRP ETF products pulled in $81.63 million in net inflows in April 2026, the best month of the year, reflecting growing institutional demand for XRP exposure.
The D’CENT integration extends that institutional-grade infrastructure toward the self-custody retail and semi-institutional holder base, which stores an estimated billions of XRP in hardware devices.
What the 0% fee campaign means for XRP yield adoption
D’CENT is offering a 0% platform fee through June 8, meaning users pay only Flare’s standard base fees. The firm noted that most other platforms charge an additional platform fee on vault deposits.
The Monarq vault carries an initial deposit cap of 500,000 FXRP, with both vaults accessible to non-D’CENT users through the Upshift platform. The XRP price page at crypto.news tracks the live market conditions that affect vault returns, given that yields vary with XRP price movements and strategy performance.
Crypto World
NEAR price climbs amid 32% volume spike: what’s the near-term outlook?
- NEAR price surged to $1.66 amid a notable volume spike.
- AI tokens bounced sharply, including Injective, Theta Network, and Akash Network.
- The near-term outlook for NEAR suggests a retest of $2 if momentum holds.
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) has traded higher in the past 24 hours as bulls eye near-term gains.
The uptick for the artificial intelligence-related token aligned with a broader AI tokens surge on Tuesday, with NEAR seeing a notable rise in trading activity.
NEAR price gains amid 32% spike in daily volume
NEAR is trading at $1.62, up about 7% over the past 24 hours and roughly 4% higher on the weekly chart despite Monday’s brief plunge beneath $1.50.
The price appreciation coincides with a 32% surge in daily volume, with intraday action putting the metric at $295 million as of writing.

Notably, that spike in activity has allowed NEAR to outpace many peers as the broader market navigates renewed downside pressure.
Likely, rotation into projects tied to on-chain compute and decentralized application ecosystems is driving the uptick.
The bounce in AI-related tokens provided additional strength to Injective, Theta Network, and Akash, each of which delivered gains of more than 5% in the past 24 hours.
Render also showed signs of eyeing a retest of a critical resistance level.
Crypto AI is trading up ahead of Nvidia’s first-quarter earnings results.
The industry heavyweight will report on May 20, and tokens across crypto are up amid broader anticipation.
Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang recently traveled to China with President Trump, with the US president meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in a key summit.
NEAR price prediction
Technical indicators suggest a short-term bullish bias for NEAR.
On the daily chart, price action is forming what appears to be a cup-and-handle pattern.
This is a consolidation structure that often precedes continuation to the upside if the handle resolves on renewed volume.
NEAR also currently trades above major moving averages, an arrangement that typically favors buyers. But that’s not all.
Momentum metrics bolster the constructive outlook, with the average directional index (ADX) on the daily frame pointing to a strengthening trend.
Elsewhere, the relative strength index (RSI) sits near 64, indicating momentum with room for further appreciation before reaching overbought territory.
The Awesome Oscillator and MACD indicators both show bullish readings that align with a buying opportunity in the near term.
Price targets and risk levels
If bullish conditions persist, NEAR could extend above the $1.70 level.
Near-term upside targets would be in the $2.00 to $2.50 range, should volume maintain its recent lift and the cup-and-handle pattern get validated.
On the flipside, the initial support band lies around $1.50. The region marks a key consolidation zone, below which could be $1.20.
Crypto World
Ethereum News: The Ethereum Foundation ‘Brain Drain’ vs. Tom Lee’s Bullish 2026 ETF Outlook
Ethereum News: The Ethereum Foundation is losing another wave of senior researchers, Carl Beek and Julian Ma are both departing, adding to exits by Barnabé Monnot, Tim Beiko, and Josh Stark in a churn that now spans every layer of the foundation’s Protocol Cluster.
Yet Fundstrat’s Tom Lee is calling the governance turbulence short-term noise, pointing instead to Spot ETH ETF inflows and institutional accumulation as the dominant 2026 signal.
The tension between those two reads, structural fragility versus decentralization-as-feature, is the trade active ETH holders are pricing right now.
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Ethereum News: ETH Governance Under Pressure as Protocol Cluster Reshuffles
Carl Beek’s final day is May 29, 2026, closing a seven-year tenure that included foundational work on the Beacon Chain and Ethereum’s proof-of-stake transition.
Julian Ma, exiting after roughly four years, leaves behind two pieces of infrastructure that matter: FOCIL (EIP-7805), a censorship-resistance mechanism built around inclusion lists, and the Fast Confirmation Rule, which compressed bridging time between Ethereum Layer 2s and mainnet to 13 seconds.
The mechanism here is worth understanding precisely. FOCIL allows a distributed set of validators to independently propose inclusion lists, making it structurally harder for block builders to censor specific transactions.
Ma’s Fast Confirmation Rule directly addresses one of the biggest UX friction points in the L2 ecosystem. These are not peripheral research projects, they sit on the Hegotá roadmap alongside Verkle Trees and account-abstraction upgrades.
Beek’s public statement framed the exit with characteristic understatement: “Ethereum’s strength remains with the people building it.” He recently welcomed a child and said he plans to take time with his family before deciding his next move.
Ma made no announcement of a destination either. Neither departure reads as adversarial, but the timing compounds a broader pattern confirmed by the Ethereum Foundation’s own May 11 blog post, which disclosed that Monnot and Beiko are also moving on and Alex Stokes is taking a sabbatical.
The governance read here is layered. Vitalik Buterin’s 2025 restructuring explicitly repositioned the Ethereum Foundation away from top-down roadmap ownership toward a focused research and grants hub, with execution pushed outward to client teams and independent organizations.
Buterin himself has been pushing execution further into the ecosystem, funding external research capacity through EF’s Academic Grants program rather than scaling internal headcount.
The departing researchers, Dankrad Feist to Tempo, Tomasz Stańczak briefly as co-executive director before stepping back, largely remain in the ecosystem as advisors or external contributors, blurring the line between brain drain and planned decentralization.

Will Corcoran, Kev Wedderburn, and Fredrik are the new Protocol Cluster leads. How cleanly they absorb Glamsterdam, Hegotá, and FOCIL delivery timelines is the live test of whether EF’s institutional memory transferred or evaporated.
ETH sentiment is already under pressure from separate market headwinds, any roadmap delay compounds the narrative risk.
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Tom Lee’s ETH Price Prediction: Why Institutional Crypto Ignores the Noise
Fundstrat’s Tom Lee has consistently argued that Ethereum governance churn is a feature of the decentralization thesis, not a bug.
His ETH price prediction for 2026 rests on three pillars: Spot ETH ETF inflows continuing to mature as institutional allocators build regulated exposure, Layer-2 fee revenue compounding as the network scales, and ETH’s emerging framing as an “Internet Bond” for institutional crypto portfolios seeking yield-bearing infrastructure exposure.
The institutional crypto bid is not theoretical. Spot ETH ETF products have drawn sustained inflows since approval, and institutional appetite for regulated crypto exposure is broadening across multiple assets.
For Lee, the departure of individual Ethereum Foundation researchers, however senior, does not register as systemic risk in a network maintained by dozens of independent client teams and thousands of contributors outside the EF payroll.
ETH is currently consolidating in the $2,400–$2,600 range, with near-term resistance at $2,700 and support holding above the 200-day EMA. RSI is neutral. The chart is not confirming the bearish governance narrative, but it is not breaking higher either.
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Crypto World
Nasdaq partners with Polymarket to list private-company contracts
Polymarket has unveiled a new class of prediction markets tied to private companies, enabling bets on events around pre-IPO firms. The offering, developed in partnership with Nasdaq Private Market, leverages Nasdaq’s data feeds and market infrastructure to price contracts around fundraising rounds, valuation shifts and other corporate milestones in the private sector.
The initiative marks a strategic shift for Polymarket, broadening its product lineup beyond politics, macro events, and publicly traded companies. The goal is to bring more price discovery to private markets, where data is typically scarce and opaque, and to broaden participation among traders who track private-company dynamics.
The project is anchored by Nasdaq Private Market, which will provide the underlying data and the market infrastructure for the new contracts. Polymarket argues that the private-capital universe is swelling, with unicorns — privately held startups valued at $1 billion or more — attracting growing attention from investors and the broader market thirsty for forecast tools tied to private companies. There are nearly 1,600 unicorns worldwide with a combined valuation exceeding $5 trillion, the platform notes, even as access to these firms remains largely restricted to private investors.
The move comes as part of Polymarket’s broader push to reach financially oriented users and to extend prediction markets into private markets where pricing signals are less transparent than in public equities. The partnership with Nasdaq Private Market promises to deliver curated data feeds and a robust settlement framework that could give traders greater confidence when pricing private-company scenarios.
Key takeaways
- Polymarket launches a new category of private-company prediction markets in collaboration with Nasdaq Private Market, using Nasdaq’s data and trading infrastructure for the contracts.
- Markets will focus on pre-IPO events, such as fundraising rounds and valuation changes, alongside other corporate milestones for startups and late-stage private companies.
- Retail traders continue to drive the majority of activity in prediction markets, but institutional interest is rising as data quality and market infrastructure improve. A Bitget Wallet and Polymarket study from April pegged retail share at about 80% of volume.
- The private-market landscape is shaped by the unicorn phenomenon, with about 1,600 unicorns globally and a combined valuation above $5 trillion, underscoring demand for forecast tools in a relatively opaque segment.
Polymarket’s private-market expansion and what it changes for traders
Nasdaq Private Market’s involvement brings a structured data backbone and settlement capability that could help translate private-company events into tradable derivatives on Polymarket. The agreements aim to lower barriers to participate in forecasting around funding rounds, valuation shifts, and other milestones that typically occur behind closed doors or in limited private markets.
The approach reflects a broader push within the crypto and prediction-market ecosystem to broaden participation beyond traditional public markets. By connecting private-company events to a formalized data feed and trading framework, Polymarket seeks to create more transparent price signals for a segment that has long been difficult to price accurately due to limited disclosure and liquidity.
Polymarket has framed unicorns as a driver of this shift. The ecosystem’s acknowledged unicorn count and the scale of private valuations imply substantial interest in market-based forecasts tied to private companies. With roughly 1,600 unicorns worldwide and valuations that exceed $5 trillion collectively, the appetite for tools that forecast private-market outcomes appears robust, even as access to these firms remains restricted to a subset of investors.
Industry observers will be watching how data quality, settlement reliability, and regulatory clarity evolve as private-market prediction contracts gain traction. The arrangement with Nasdaq Private Market could offer a degree of credibility and standardization that helps attract more serious traders to private-company forecasting, while still preserving the accessible, on-demand nature of Polymarket’s platform.
Related reporting has highlighted ongoing institutional interest in the sector. Analysts have noted growing attention from large traders and asset managers seeking to hedge or speculate on private-market outcomes, a trend that aligns with broader market infrastructure improvements and a more favorable regulatory path for certain prediction-market activities. For instance, a milestone cited in industry coverage was Kalshi’s first institutional block trade, framed by Bernstein as a signal of deeper capital participation to come.
As anticipation builds around the private-market category, some observers caution that regulatory and mechanics questions remain. The debate around listing prediction-market ETFs, for example, underscores ongoing complexity in aligning these markets with mainstream financial-market structures. These dynamics suggest that while private-market predictions are gaining traction, the path forward will require careful navigation of risk, transparency, and investor protections.
Related coverage from Cointelegraph notes that institutional interest is rising in tandem with improvements in market infrastructure and regulatory clarity, an encouraging sign for platforms pursuing similar expansions. Linkages to related stories emphasize the broader context in which Polymarket’s move sits, including discussions around institutional participation and the evolving policy landscape that could shape future products.
Retail dominance, shifting capital dynamics, and what to watch next
Even as institutions begin to show more interest, retail traders still account for a substantial share of activity in prediction markets. The April Bitget Wallet and Polymarket analysis found that retail participants generated about 80% of the volume, underscoring the continued appeal of these markets to individual traders seeking alternatives to traditional equities or cryptocurrency investments.
Nevertheless, the conversation around private-market forecasting is gradually shifting toward institutional participation. As data transparency improves and trading infrastructure becomes more sophisticated, professional investors may increasingly incorporate private-market signals into hedging strategies and relative-value trades. Observers will want to monitor how much volume actually migrates from retail to more sophisticated, capital-intensive trades and whether any new products emerge to facilitate larger, privately negotiated positions.
The regulatory backdrop also matters. While there is momentum toward more permissive, structured innovation around prediction markets, questions about mechanics, risk controls, and potential ETF equivalents remain active. The sector has already faced scrutiny and delays in related product approvals, a dynamic that could influence how quickly private-market predictions gain mainstream traction.
Earlier reporting highlighted related institutional interest that could foreshadow broader adoption. For example, coverage of Jump Trading’s stake-building in Kalshi and Polymarket signals indicates that major trading firms are evaluating how to participate more deeply in prediction markets as infrastructure matures.
As Polymarket rolls out its private-market contracts, market participants should watch for how data feeds handle real-time corporate events, how settlement works in volatile private markets, and how the platform handles updates in private-company disclosures and valuations. The evolving regulatory and market infrastructure landscape will shape the pace and scale of adoption for these new contracts, potentially redefining how private equity markets are perceived and priced in the digital age.
For now, the launch signals a notable shift: as private-market data becomes more accessible through established exchanges and venues, forecast-based tools could increasingly become a fixture alongside traditional due diligence and valuation methods used by investors, advisors, and corporate insiders.
What happens next could hinge on two intertwined factors: the reliability of private-market data and the appetite of institutions to engage with these instruments at scale. If the Nasdaq Private Market-backed contracts prove robust in data quality and settlement, Polymarket’s private-market category may become a litmus test for how far price discovery can travel into private capital — and how quickly traders adapt to a world where private events are priced in near real time.
Readers should keep an eye on upcoming updates from Polymarket and Nasdaq Private Market, as well as ongoing regulatory developments that could either accelerate or temper the growth of private-market prediction contracts. The next few quarters will reveal how this blend of data-rich infrastructure and market-native forecasting translates into real-world liquidity and actionable intelligence for investors and builders alike.
Crypto World
Vitalik Buterin Says AI Could Strengthen Crypto Security
Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, has responded to increasing concerns that AI-based bug hunting will overwhelm developers and create non-stop exploitation opportunities on blockchains.
According to him, in the near future, the use of this technology might actually make crypto systems more secure. He says that AI-assisted formal verification may become one of the strongest defenses against security failures in crypto and internet infrastructure.
AI Could Strengthen Security Instead of Breaking It
Formal verification is the practice of writing mathematical proofs about software that a computer can automatically verify instead of people reviewing them. This concept has been available for decades; however, it has never caught on because generating such proofs manually was rather tedious for software developers, so many of them never bothered.
Now, Buterin is saying that AI has changed this equation, and instead of developers writing the proofs themselves, they can ask an AI to write both the code and accompanying proofs. They then simply check that the final statement proved is actually the thing they wanted to prove.
The developer described a scenario where AI models become powerful enough to automate finding bugs in existing code and then asked what that would mean for systems where a single flaw can cost users everything.
His answer was that formal verification, done end-to-end, lets you mathematically prove that a piece of code behaves exactly as intended, so that a sufficiently powerful AI looking for flaws would be looking at code that has already been proven not to have them.
He also called out specific Ethereum infrastructure projects where this approach is already being attempted. One of them is Arklib, which is working toward a fully formally verified STARK implementation. Another is evm-asm, which is building an EVM written in low-level RISC-V assembly and verifying its correctness against a human-readable reference implementation.
On the question of which AI models are actually useful for this, Buterin said he found Claude and Deepseek 4 Pro both sufficient for writing Lean proofs.
He also flagged Leanstral, a smaller open-weights model fine-tuned specifically for Lean, as capable of running locally and outperforming much larger general-purpose models on formal verification benchmarks.
But There Are Limitations
Despite his enthusiasm for formal verification, Buterin also devoted a substantial part of his essay to explaining the ways it has failed in practice.
This includes bugs in verified compilers; libraries where only part of the code was proven, and the unproven parts turned out to be the problem; and specifications that were technically proven but simply did not capture what the developer actually wanted to guarantee.
However, his broader framing is that formal verification is not a replacement for all security practices but one powerful tool in a longer-running trend toward fewer bugs per line of code.
The background is relevant here, considering that on the day Buterin’s post appeared, the crypto sector was reeling from a third major exploit in just four days after a hacker made off with more than $76 million worth of crypto from the cross-chain bridge of the Echo Protocol.
Days earlier, reports emerged regarding a hack on THORChain, which cost the platform more than $10 million.
Another attack happened after that one, targeting the Verus-Ethereum Bridge, whereby a hacker took advantage of the lack of a validation check to steal $11.58 million. That is the kind of specific, localized flaw that a formal proof check may have caught.
The post Vitalik Buterin Says AI Could Strengthen Crypto Security appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Crypto World
Hyperliquid’s HYPE one of crypto’s most undervalued assets, says Bitwise

The crypto asset manager argued the market is mispricing Hyperliquid as a niche derivatives exchange instead of a fast-growing “super-app” for global trading markets.
Crypto World
Senator Warren Questions OCC Over Ineligible Crypto Trust Charters
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has publicly challenged a key federal regulator over the expansion of crypto-related custody services under a banking charter. In a letter to OCC Comptroller Jonathan Gould, Warren contends that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has approved at least nine national trust charters for crypto companies that appear to exceed the narrow activities permitted by law under the National Bank Act. The dispute spotlights how the line between crypto custody and traditional banking is being negotiated in U.S. regulation, with potential implications for consumer protection, bank safety and soundness, and the separation of banking from commerce.
Warren said she expects the OCC to disclose the full set of charter approvals or conditional approvals issued since December 2025, including entities such as Coinbase, Crypto.com’s parent company, Ripple, Stripe, BitGo, Circle, Fidelity Digital Assets, Protego Holdings, and Paxos, along with communications between OCC officials and U.S. President Donald Trump, his family, or White House staff. She frames these applicants as effectively crypto banks pursuing regulatory arbitrage—seeking to reap the benefits of a national trust charter while avoiding the safeguards that accompany conventional bank charters. The senator warned that the approach could undermine consumer protections, threaten banking system stability, and blur the boundary between banking and commerce.
Cointelegraph requested comment from the OCC regarding the letter and the broader use of national trust charters for crypto firms; the publication reported that the OCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The exchange underscores the sensitivity of the issue as regulators weigh how to apply traditional banking laws to a rapidly evolving crypto custody landscape.
Separately, Kraken’s parent company Payward filed an application with the OCC on May 8 for a national trust charter. If approved, the Payward National Trust Company would provide fiduciary custody and related services primarily for digital assets. A national trust charter permits custodial and fiduciary activities without engaging in deposit-taking or commercial lending, potentially placing such firms under a different regulatory posture than traditional banks and LLCs offering standard depository services.
The evolving custody framework matters not just for a handful of firms pursuing charters, but for the broader crypto ecosystem that interacts with traditional financial infrastructure. National trust charters are designed to enable certain non-depository fiduciary activities while permitting services akin to trust and custodial functions. However, critics argue that granting crypto-focused fiduciary authority outside a full banking license can reduce the visibility of risk controls and oversight that are central to conventional bank regulation. Warren’s letter questions whether these charters align with the National Bank Act and whether the OCC’s approach creates a pathway for crypto participants to offer bank-like services without the corresponding safeguards.
Key takeaways
- The OCC faces congressional scrutiny over its approval of national trust charters for crypto firms, with Senator Elizabeth Warren requesting the full list of approved or conditionally approved applications since December 2025.
- Naming specific entities—including Coinbase, Crypto.com’s parent company, Ripple, Stripe, BitGo, Circle, Fidelity Digital Assets, Protego Holdings, Paxos—and noting potential communications with Trump and White House officials, Warren frames these actions as efforts to expand crypto custody beyond traditional banking safeguards.
- A national trust charter enables fiduciary custody and related services without mandatory deposit-taking or commercial lending, raising questions about regulatory parity and oversight concentration for crypto custody providers.
- Kraken’s Payward applied for a national trust charter on May 8, signaling growing industry interest in a custody-focused charter that could shape how exchanges and other crypto firms interact with the U.S. banking system.
- The developments occur amid broader policy debates on crypto regulation in the United States, including discussions around the CLARITY Act and potential alignment or friction with international frameworks like the EU’s MiCA, as lawmakers consider how to ensure consumer protection and financial stability while fostering innovation.
National trust charters and the regulatory boundary
A national trust charter is designed to authorize a bank-like fiduciary role—allowing a chartered entity to provide custodial and other fiduciary services—without engaging in the full spectrum of depository or commercial lending activities typically associated with traditional banks. In practice, holders of such charters may operate under a lighter regime for certain activities, while remaining subject to specific fiduciary standards, anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) requirements, and periodic supervisory examinations. Critics, however, argue that extending trust-like powers to crypto firms risks creating regulatory gaps if supervisory expectations and capital or liquidity standards diverge from those applied to conventional banks.
The tension highlighted by Warren’s letter centers on whether OCC’s approvals were appropriately scoped and whether the underlying activities of the named entities truly fit within the narrow confines of permissible banking-related fiduciary services. By demanding the full record of approvals and communications, Warren signals concern about potential regulatory arbitrage—where firms might tailor activities to fit a charter category that offers favorable oversight or fewer constraints than a traditional bank charter would entail. The inquiry also raises questions about whether these charters would adequately address issues such as consumer protections, prudential risk management, and the treatment of stablecoins and other crypto assets under a federated U.S. banking framework.
The OCC’s stance on crypto-related charters is part of a broader U.S. regulatory mosaic that includes federal and state authorities, as well as policy debates on how best to supervise digital assets that interact with banking rails. The landscape is further complicated by ongoing legislative proposals and executive actions that aim to clarify which activities qualify for a banking or trust charter and how AML/KYC regimes should be tailored to crypto custodians. The outcome of these debates will influence how crypto firms structure their custody offerings and whether they seek full depository charters, specialized trust charters, or other regulatory designations.
Policy context and enforcement dynamics
The current episode sits at the intersection of hotly debated policy questions about how to regulate crypto custody and whether existing banking laws adequately address the unique risk profiles of digital assets. Senator Warren has been a persistent critic of what she views as regulatory policy that could entangle public institutions with private crypto interests or create incentives for polices with perceived conflicts of interest. In parallel, she has advocated for provisions in the crypto market structure framework, including elements of the CLARITY Act, to inject greater clarity and safeguards into the regulatory process. Her comments also reflect broader concerns about the potential influence of political relationships on regulatory outcomes, an issue she has highlighted in relation to firms linked to former President Trump and the crypto industry.
From a regulatory oversight perspective, the situation underscores the challenge of applying a consistent framework to crypto custody providers that seek to operate as banks or trust entities without the typical deposit-taking license. Regulators are weighing how to ensure robust AML/KYC controls, clear fiduciary responsibilities, and resilience against operational and cyber risks, while not stifling innovation or driving activity offshore. The discourse also intersects with international policy trends, including the European Union’s MiCA framework, which aims to harmonize crypto regulation across member states and establish distinct regimes for issuers, service providers, and stablecoin arrangements. How U.S. regulators position charters for crypto custodians in relation to MiCA-style frameworks and cross-border supervision will have implications for global banking relationships and correspondent banking access for crypto firms.
The governance and enforcement dimension is also evolving as individual institutions pursue charter applications in a climate of heightened scrutiny. Kraken’s bid illustrates that incumbent and new-entrant firms alike view a national trust charter as a pathway to formalize custody services under U.S. supervisory reach. Yet supervisors will need to articulate how such charters align with supervisory expectations, risk controls, and capital adequacy standards appropriate for fiduciary activities tied to digital assets. The interplay of these factors will likely shape future licensing decisions, capital planning, and AML/KYC program design across the crypto custody ecosystem.
Impact on industry, compliance, and regulatory strategy
For crypto platforms, the potential availability of national trust charters could alter the calculus of risk management, product design, and customer onboarding. Exchanges and custodians may pursue custody-focused offerings that emphasize fiduciary services, while limiting exposure to deposit-taking activities. This could influence the way stablecoins and other crypto assets are integrated with traditional payment rails, banking partners, and settlement mechanisms. However, as Warren’s inquiry suggests, there remains a critical need for clear, publicly available disclosures that delineate the scope of each charter approval, the activities authorized, and the corresponding compliance expectations.
From a compliance perspective, the prospect of a growing cohort of crypto firms operating under national trust charters raises questions about consistency of supervision across institutions, the applicability of AML/KYC standards, and the monitoring of fiduciary risk in asset custody. Regulators may need to establish or reinforce supervisory benchmarks, including governance requirements, stress testing for custody operations, cyber risk controls, and incident reporting protocols. The outcome will influence how banks and non-bank financial institutions interact within the U.S. financial system, including access to correspondent banking relationships and participation in integrated custody ecosystems for institutional clients.
For policymakers and industry watchers, the developments emphasize the importance of a coherent policy framework that can adapt to the evolving use cases of digital assets while maintaining robust consumer protections and market integrity. The discussion around national trust charters intersects with ongoing debates on licensing criteria, cross-border regulatory alignment, and the extent to which crypto firms should bear the same or equivalent regulatory burdens as traditional financial institutions. Observers will be watching how the OCC responds to Warren’s requests, what additional disclosures or safeguards emerge, and whether any charter approvals will be conditioned or restructured to reduce potential risks to the financial system.
Closing perspective
As regulators confront the rapid expansion of crypto custody activities, the balance between fostering innovation and maintaining rigorous oversight remains delicate. The current episode illustrates how congressional scrutiny, agency policy, and industry initiatives are converging around the question of what constitutes appropriate banking and fiduciary authority for digital asset firms. The next steps—including OCC responses to requests for full charter records, the fate of Kraken’s charter application, and any clarifying legislative or regulatory actions—will shape the regulatory landscape for crypto custody and its integration with traditional financial infrastructure.
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