In the midst of its playoffs surge, the top professional hockey league has agreed to coordinate oversight of betting on popular prediction markets with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, securing a new memorandum of understanding similar to the one recently struck with Major League Baseball.

The National Hockey League, which had officially linked itself last year with both Kalshi and Polymarket as the league’s official prediction market partners, has agreed to share information with the regulator on event contracts tied to its games, according to a Thursday statement from the agency. The CFTC has been pursuing similar arrangements with all of the professional sports leagues, Chairman Mike Selig said at an event last week.

“This agreement is another step toward safeguarding the integrity of sports and protecting market participants in prediction markets from insider trading, fraud, and other abuses,” he said of the NHL arrangement in a statement.

Selig has made it a point to foster the industry and to defend his agency’s role as its sole regulator.

Prediction market betting has seen explosive growth in recent years, and along with its popularity has come concerns that the wagering is being abused and is encouraging cheating. In a Senate Commerce Committee hearing this week, lawmakers criticized the dark side of the industry. Bad actors — including among the athletes themselves — threaten to “sow doubt in the minds of fans,” said committee Chairman Ted Cruz.

“Integrity has always been and remains paramount to the NHL and fundamental to the trust our fans and partners place in our game,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, in a statement released by the CFTC. “Our agreement with the CFTC enhances the comprehensive integrity monitoring systems already in place and strengthens our ability to identify, deter, and address potential risks.”

According to the new MOU, the league and regulator will “endeavor to share information, upon request, regarding the integrity of professional hockey and the event contract markets related thereto or other matters deemed appropriate.”

Read More: Prediction markets firms take heat in Senate Commerce hearing scrutinizing surge

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken moved closer to a launch in the United Arab Emirates after its operator, Payward, received preliminary approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), according to the company.

Payward on Thursday announced its UAE expansion alongside receiving preliminary approval for a broker-dealer, investment and management licence from VARA.

A spokesperson for Kraken told Cointelegraph the preliminary approval was granted on Thursday, with a full launch date to be confirmed.

At launch, Kraken plans to offer UAE dirham (AED) funding, along with a full suite of services including margin and over-the-counter trading, as well as access to Kraken Prime for institutional clients, the representative added.

The move builds on Kraken’s earlier regulatory footprint in the region, including its 2022 approval to operate in the UAE under Abu Dhabi’s financial free zone framework.

Dubai’s VARA register now includes 49 active crypto firms

Dubai’s public VARA register currently includes 49 active companies spanning exchange, broker-dealer, custody and lending businesses.

The list includes major global crypto players such as Binance, Crypto.com, OKX, Deribit and HashKey, reflecting Dubai’s push to position itself as a regional hub for companies in the digital asset industry.

Source: Kraken 

Kraken and parent company Payward do not yet appear on the regulator’s public register. The latest company recorded on the list was centralized crypto exchange CoinCorner, which received approval to operate virtual asset broker-dealer services on May 5.

Related: Crypto.com receives UAE license for Dubai government crypto payments

Dubai remains a major crypto hub despite recent Iran-linked tensions

Kraken’s expansion in Dubai adds to signs that the UAE continues to emerge as a major global crypto hub, even as recent Iran-linked regional tensions have unsettled some investors and disrupted major events across the Gulf.

Industry executives have increasingly pointed to regulatory clarity as a key reason crypto firms are choosing the UAE over jurisdictions with more fragmented or uncertain rules.

“Dubai wrote a rulebook for crypto before most jurisdictions even acknowledged the asset class,” Payward and Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said in the announcement. “That clarity is why real liquidity and institutional capital now sit in the UAE,” he added.

Magazine: Crypto scammers face death, Aussie CGT makes Asian hubs attractive: Asia Express

Zcash has emerged as the market’s primary breakout performer, logging a 15% single-day advance to trade at $660.21.

Investor sentiment has rapidly pivoted from cautious accumulation to aggressive risk-on expansion, fueled by a perfect convergence of long-term structural chart breakouts and an abrupt vacuum of regulatory downside risk.

This localized rally comes at a time when aggregate digital asset volumes are shifting toward utility and sovereign privacy preservation. As institutional market makers recalibrate their portfolios ahead of upcoming macroeconomic policy decisions, Zcash (ZEC) has decoupled from legacy layer-1 assets. The sudden spike in spot purchasing volume indicates that market participants are aggressively positioning for an extended multi-week extension vector.

What catalysts are driving institutional accumulation into Zcash?

The foundational spark for the immediate price expansion is the official and unconditional closure of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s multi-year investigation into the Zcash Foundation. 

Originally initiated in August 2023 to evaluate the compliance parameters of private decentralized protocols, the regulatory agency concluded its probe with zero penalties, enforcement mandates, or restrictive settlement conditions. This development removes a multi-year institutional discount factor, effectively greenlighting compliant capital deployment into the asset from risk-averse American entities.

Following the regulatory clearance, corporate and venture-scale accumulation has accelerated rapidly, drastically altering the token’s supply-side dynamics. Web3-focused investment titan Multicoin Capital publicly disclosed a substantial long-term spot position in ZEC, describing it as an essential, un-seizable, and cryptographically private alternative store of value against mounting sovereign wealth taxes and global capital controls.

Concurrently, Nasdaq-listed digital asset deployment firm Cypherpunk Technologies revealed it has expanded its balance sheet holdings to 314,185 ZEC—accounting for roughly 1.88% of the total circulating supply—while committing an additional $5 million to the Zcash Open Development Labs (ZODL) alongside Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Coinbase Ventures.

Institutional infrastructure expectations are further amplified by structural movements surrounding Grayscale Investments’ digital asset vehicles.

Market intelligence trackers indicate that Grayscale is actively advancing internal operations to convert its existing $150 million Zcash Trust (ZCSH) into a fully regulated U.S. Spot Zcash Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) on NYSE Arca. The realization of an institutional bridge of this scale would establish the world’s first programmatic vehicle for shielded transactional exposure, introducing a permanent source of baseline structural buying pressure that traditional digital asset exchanges cannot replicate.

On-chain transactional velocity highlights that this price movement is heavily backed by real network utilization rather than superficial retail speculation.

Data from Glassnode verifies that the volume of transactions interacting with shielded addresses—utilizing Zcash’s core zk-SNARKs technology—hit an all-time high this week. This migration toward maximum privacy architecture is being systematically driven by global high-net-worth market participants attempting to shield their transaction trails from tracking algorithms amid escalating international financial monitoring.

How high can the confirmed technical breakout push ZEC?

From a structural perspective, the daily chart confirms a textbook continuation pattern that points toward aggressive near-term upside. After an initial parabolic impulse leg that extended from the $240 localized floor up to an interim high near $640, the price entered a brief, descending consolidation channel.

This temporary cooling period successfully formed a structural “bull flag” pattern, which has now been decisively broken to the upside on expanding buying volume, signaling the commencement of a secondary macroscopic expansion wave.

The underlying momentum is strongly supported by a bullish alignment across the asset’s primary moving average ribbon. Zcash is trading safely above its 20-day, 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day Simple Moving Averages (SMAs), with the 20-day SMA ($545.86) acting as dynamic trailing insulation.

The wider geometry of the moving averages displays a widening parallel separation, confirming that the long-term trend has completely shifted from historical accumulation into structural distribution and price discovery.

Secondary momentum oscillators corroborate this structural strength, demonstrating that buyers maintain clear control over price delivery. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator reveals the MACD line sitting at 4.43, positioned well above the signal line (55.75) following a clean bullish divergence crossover at the zero-bound axis.

While the histogram shows expanding positive green bars, the daily Relative Strength Index (RSI) is holding steady in the low 70s, indicating that despite the rapid price expansion, the asset has not yet exhausted its buying power and retains technical clearance to extend toward its primary resistance target at $745.

Derivatives data obtained from CoinGlass indicates that the current spot extension is being amplified by a structural short squeeze in the perpetual futures market.

Open Interest (OI) for Zcash contracts surged by 38% within a 48-hour window, while funding rates flipped deeply positive, demonstrating that leveraged traders are aggressively chasing the breakout velocity. This intense buying velocity forced the liquidation of over $14.2 million in legacy short positions, creating a mechanical feedback loop where forced buy-backs continuously strip liquidity away from sellers, leaving a clear path to the psychological $700 ceiling.

What downside risks could invalidate the bullish thesis?

Despite the overwhelmingly bullish technical framework, a series of acute macroeconomic and systemic risks could invalidate the current expansion model. The global bond market is exerting significant pressure on speculative risk assets, with the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield climbing to a multi-month high of 4.58% following consecutive hot core consumer price inflation prints.

If the Federal Reserve maintains a restrictive interest rate stance longer than the equity markets currently project, macro liquidity will likely pull back into risk-free yields, severely stalling the capital inflows necessary to sustain Zcash’s upward momentum.

Geopolitical developments across the energy sector present an additional layer of capital distribution risk. Recent complications in global trade negotiations have sent crude oil prices higher, driving fears of a secondary supply-side inflation shock.

Historically, sharp escalations in geopolitical tension trigger immediate de-risking cycles across the tech and digital asset ecosystems, forcing mechanical fund liquidations that ignore underlying project fundamentals.

From a localized technical perspective, the primary invalidation trigger sits at the lower boundary of the recent breakout flag. If a sudden market-wide selloff forces Zcash to collapse back inside the consolidation channel and break beneath the critical 20-day SMA at $545.86, the immediate bullish continuation model will be entirely neutralized.

A daily candlestick close below the $480 structural support line would confirm a macro-scale fakeout, exposing the asset to a deeper corrective phase back toward the 50-day SMA at $414.74.

An in-depth investigation into insider trading by Bubblemaps analysts reveal how accurate bets on U.S. attacks on Iran were, exposing a trend that experts fear poses immense risks to the United States’ national security.

In an interview with CoinDesk, Nicolas Vaiman, Bubblemaps co-founder and CEO, expressed deep concern over the national security implications of this new alleged wave of insider trading. He warned that if those observing the predictions markets can spot irregular trades, so can enemies of the United States.

“The issue here is they can make war plans accordingly,” Vaiman said. “Just to put it bluntly, this could potentially expose the lives of many people.”

Vaiman said U.S. adversaries could easily spot the insider trading patterns and use that information to plan their own military strategies.

Luck alone cannot explain the accuracy

The warnings come as he and his team uncovered 80 bets on Polymarket that were so accurate that “luck alone cannot explain” the numbers.

Driven by geopolitical tensions, bets on military plans and outcomes have skyrocketed, with more than $1 billion alone this year. The ability to wager on global conflict creates an entirely new category of insider trading.

Onchain data showed that several major, high-conviction bets were placed days before the Feb. 28 surprise attacks on Iran, the removal of its supreme leader and the announcement of a ceasefire.

According to Bubblemaps, nine accounts connected to Polymarket made more $2.4 million betting almost exclusively on U.S. military operations.

“They just didn’t bet on U.S. strikes days before they took place, but across multiplate later dates to maximize profit,” Vaiman said. They also placed smaller losing bets on Feb. 20, likely attempting to avoid attention.

A 98% win-rate is hard to miss

However, executing dozens of bets with a 98% win rate is hard to miss. “During the Iran strikes, civilians were reportedly checking Polymarket to decide whether they should sleep in bunkers or not,” Vaiman added. “So yes, governments and potential enemies are probably watching that closely.”

When asked if he had any indication those insider traders were connected to the U.S. government, Vaiman responded “we have no proof these are military insiders or even Americans.” He said, “the data is suspicious and may indicate someone with an unfair informational advantage.”

Rep. Mike Levin recently said on X that the “insider trading problem with prediction markets is bigger than any of us could have known,” which is why he and Senator Adam Schiff introduced the DEATH BETS act to ban contracts on war.

One insider trading arrest has been made. A U.S. army green beret, Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke, made $400,000 on Polymarket bets he placed on the Venezuela raid to extract President Nicolas Maduro in which he participated. Later that month, a study found that only 3% of “informed” traders drove accuracy, while 97% did not.

Bubblemaps first made their investigation public on May 18 via a series of X posts, in which they share graphics and images as evidence that confirms the statistically impossible accuracy of the timing on each of the bets.

Two weeks prior to its findings, Polymarket announced a partnership with Chainalysis to bring Wall Street-grade supervision to its platform, in a clear signal by the prediction markets provider that it is serious about clamping down on insider trading and market manipulation.

Potential for manipulation

According to Vaiman, all this brings up other questions and concerns, such as the potential for prediction markets to be manipulated.

“A government could intentionally place bets to create a false signal and mislead adversaries into thinking something is about to happen,” he said. “Prediction markets are intelligence and information warfare tools.”

He also noted prediction markets do not just predict the future, “they can change it.” He mentioned cases where journalists faced extortion threats from bettors trying to protect their financial positions.

On the other hand, Vaiman defended Polymarket’s structural design and the transparency it provides, while refusing to blame the platform for the compliance failures.

“I don’t want to dunk on Polymarket,” Vaiman stated. “Realistically, anybody can use a cheap VPN or buy a KYC’d account. That is not just a Polymarket problem. It is an internet-wide problem.”

Polymarket did not immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request to comment. However, has hit back at insider trading claims in the past, saying that it has strict insider trading rules, AI-powered surveillance and blockchain forensics to identify suspicious activity and report it to relevant authorities. ”Insider trading is not welcome on Polymarket, and those who attempt it will be identified,” the platform has said.

The Hyperliquid (HYPE) rally has intensified a high-stakes dynamic in the market: a single whale remains stubbornly short as the token surges, driving a potential squeeze that could threaten the underwater position. With HYPE trading around the mid-50s to high-50s, the trader’s short position has swelled to well over $100 million in notional exposure, even as funding and on-chain activity push the price higher.

Meanwhile, a wave of new demand around US spot HYPE ETFs has helped lift the token from recent baselines. Since their May debut, these ETFs have drawn notable inflows, while on-chain transfers show large acquisitions from major players. The combination of ETF-driven demand, fresh accumulation, and a disproportionate amount of short exposure creates a complex set of incentives for traders and investors alike.

Key takeaways

• HYPE has surged about 134% year-to-date, a rally that coincides with fresh whale activity and ETF-driven demand that could amplify a squeeze for the underwater short.
• A single wallet identified as a HYPE short seller holds a 5x cross-margin position on 1.8 million HYPE, valued at roughly $102.98 million with an entry around $44.96; current price around $57.30 leaves the position heavily underwater.
• Short exposure has risen compared with earlier in the day, increasing the risk of liquidation if HYPE climbs toward the $69 level.
• US spot HYPE ETFs have drawn about $58.73 million in net inflows since their May 12 launch, as investors seek exposure through regulated vehicles.
• On-chain moves show meaningful accumulation and withdrawals around 694,500 HYPE (roughly $38.7 million), signaling ongoing demand that may intensify pressure on the short seller.

Massive short exposure persists as HYPE rallies

HypurrScan data illustrates the scale of the short position held by a prominent wallet, labeled 0x8ef…, which carries a 5x cross-margin short on about 1.80 million HYPE, valued near $102.98 million at an entry price of roughly $44.96. With HYPE trading around $57.30, the position sits roughly $22 million in the red. The trader has earned around $204,522 in funding so far, but that income is overshadowed by mounting losses as the token extends its rally.

The short exposure appears to have increased during the day, rising from earlier levels to a notional value around $100 million. If HYPE continues to ascend toward key resistance levels, the trader faces heightened liquidation risk. Estimated liquidation pressure would intensify if the price nears approximately $69, a level that would threaten the position’s viability given current funding and fees.

From a market perspective, the behavior of this whale underscores a notable risk dynamic: even as the price rises, a large short remains exposed, creating the potential for a rapid unwind if confidence shifts or if immediate margin calls materialize. The 24-hour risk picture shows a substantial portion of liquidations tied to shorts, reinforcing the squeeze narrative that often accompanies sharp rallies in memetokens and niche plays.

HYPE’s perpetual positions dashboard — HypurrScan

ETF-driven demand and on-chain activity amplify the rally

HYPE’s year-to-date performance has stood out, with a strong outperformance relative to the broader crypto market, which was down over the period cited. A contributing factor has been the May 12 launch of newly launched US spot HYPE ETFs, alongside Coinbase’s role as the official treasury deployer for USDC on Hyperliquid. This combination has helped channel traditional market participation into the Hyperliquid ecosystem, supporting price appreciation while providing liquidity channels for participants.

So far, ETF inflows have been meaningful. SoSoValue reports net inflows of about $58.73 million since the launch, amid a backdrop of rising daily inflows. This steady stream of capital via regulated vehicles can help sustain buying pressure and attract broader attention from investors who previously avoided the space due to regulatory or counterparty concerns.

On-chain activity has also reflected shifting demand. A Galaxy Digital-linked wallet bought 158,100 HYPE worth $8.8 million within a two-hour window, while a freshly created Arkham Intelligence wallet moved 536,247 HYPE worth $29.87 million out of Coinbase over two days. Taken together, these maneuvers account for roughly 694,500 HYPE — valued at about $38.7 million — that could further tilt the risk-reward math for the underwater short.

US spot HYPE ETFs net inflows — SoSoValue

Technical read: signs of exhaustion and a potential range-bound setup

From a technical perspective, HYPE’s ascent has been tested near the upper boundary of its ascending channel, with the price hovering in the high-$50s to around $60. The resistance zone around $59–$60 mirrors the vicinity of HYPE’s September 2025 all-time high before a sharp retrace of more than 65%. The daily RSI has climbed to about 77, signalling overbought conditions and a higher risk of a near-term pullback.

Analysts and traders watching the chart see a plausible pullback toward the 0.786–0.618 Fibonacci retracement zone, roughly $51.5–$45, which aligns with the channel’s lower bound. A retreat to this zone would be a technical correction rather than a fundamental shift, but it would also have meaningful implications for the short seller whose entry level sits at $44.96. A decline back into the mid-$40s would reduce immediate liquidation risk for the trader, while a failure to sustain the rally could relieve pressure on the broader market’s longs and relieve some upward price pressure.

The current setup implies a bifurcated risk: continued ETF-driven demand and on-chain inflows could push HYPE higher, potentially exacerbating the squeeze on the underwater short. Conversely, a lack of continuation, combined with profit-taking at the channel top, might provoke a sharper correction that benefits risk-managed participants and neutralizes the most extreme speculative bets.

Liquidation dynamics and market implications

Liquidation data paints a telling picture of market dynamics during this phase. CoinGlass records roughly $36.33 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, with shorts accounting for about $34.29 million of that total — roughly 94% — compared with $2.03 million in long liquidations. This skew toward short liquidations reinforces the squeeze narrative: as HYPE rises, forced covering by short sellers can push prices higher and accelerate volatility, potentially trapping late entrants who bet against the trend.

For investors and traders, the interplay between accumulating long exposure via ETFs and the fragility of large short positions creates a delicate balance. If ETF inflows persist and on-chain demand remains constructive, the probability of continued upside may rise. However, if price momentum stalls near the channel top, the same dynamic could accelerate a correction, testing the resilience of both the new ETF buyers and the existing holders.

Looking ahead, market participants will be watching several developing cues: whether ETF inflows sustain their pace and whether on-chain receipts translate into broader market conviction; how the underwater short position evolves in response to price action; and whether the HYPE price can break above the current resistance without triggering a renewed wave of profit-taking or liquidations. The next few weeks could reveal whether the rally has lasting legs or if the current configuration simply marks a temporary stretch before a more meaningful reassessment.

Readers should monitor the trajectory of HYPE around the $59–$60 resistance zone, the potential pullback targets near $51.5–$45, and any new on-chain movements from large wallets that could signal shifting demand. The unfolding interaction between ETF-driven capital, on-chain accumulation, and a dominant short position will continue to shape HYPE’s risk-reward profile as the market digests this unusual dynamic.

IG Europe has partnered with Bitpanda to offer crypto for European investors, using the Austrian exchange’s infrastructure for liquidity, trading connectivity and market data.

IG’s push to bring spot crypto trading to its European client base comes after launching the service in the United Kingdom in 2025. The new expansion has no confirmed timeline.

“This partnership broadens our product offering across Europe, giving experienced investors access to a wider range of asset classes with the quality and security they demand,” said Esteve Jane, managing director of IG Europe, which is regulated by BaFin in Germany.

IG Group is a London-listed FTSE 100 trading platform with 1.3 million clients globally.

The Bitpanda deal allows IG to offer crypto services to clients across the bloc without building the infrastructure itself. It also comes as MiCA has raised the compliance bar for offering crypto services, with stringent requirements around capital, governance, risk management and custody, making partnerships like this a faster route to market.

Related: Bitpanda targets banks with Vision Chain tokenization platform

IG Group sees minimal crypto revenue

IG Group reported 331.2 million British pounds ($444.5 million) in revenue for the first quarter of the year, with spot crypto contributing just $3.2 million, less than 1% of the figure.

Despite the small revenue, IG Group has been expanding its crypto push. The company acquired Australian crypto exchange Independent Reserve, enabling the launch of spot crypto to IG’s clients in Australia in March. In 2025, it also obtained its Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) license in Germany.

IG Group shares are up 2.7% today. Source: Yahoo! Finance

Meanwhile, in October, IG sold the futures exchange Small Exchange to Kraken as part of a separate collaboration with the global crypto exchange.

Related: Bitget taps ex-Bitpanda legal chief Oliver Stauber to build Vienna MiCA hub

Bitpanda expands offerings

As Cointelegraph reported, Bitpanda is building Vision Chain, an Ethereum layer-2 designed to let European banks and fintechs issue and trade tokenized stocks, bonds and funds under MiCA and MiFID II compliance.

The company has also been expanding beyond crypto. It recently added support for thousands of equities and exchange-traded funds as part of a move toward becoming a full-stack financial platform, and launched in the UK earlier this year. The Vienna-based exchange is eyeing a potential public listing this year.

Big Questions: Is China hoarding gold so yuan becomes global reserve instead of USD?