Crypto World
Prediction markets firms take heat in Senate Commerce hearing scrutinizing surge
Prediction markets platforms such as those run by Kalshi and Crypto.com drew two hours of critical questioning in a U.S. Senate Commerce Committee hearing, including scrutiny on the platforms’ advertising practices, regulatory disputes and the cheating they may encourage.
“We want athletes competing on merit, but the opportunity to make money can tempt gamblers — and sometimes even athletes themselves — to guarantee a sure bet,” Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican who chairs the committee, said during the Wednesday hearing. He said high-profile incidents of player cheating “sow doubt in the minds of fans.”
Cruz flagged some recent cases, saying: “NBA players and coaches are accused of manipulating performance and providing insider information to win bets. Two major league baseball pitchers allegedly rigged their own pitches in exchange for money. [Major League Soccer] banned two players for intentionally getting yellow cards to win bets, and the UFC has canceled matches and terminated contracts because of suspected match fixing.”
“It is not uncommon for fans scrolling Twitter on a Sunday afternoon in the fall to see posts speculating that a controversial call by an official was related to gambling,” Cruz said.
Other lawmakers focused on marketing that fosters problem gambling or that has reached youths that are otherwise meant to be blocked from betting. Senator John Hickenlooper, a Colorado Democrat, accused the prediction markets businesses of unleashing the “hounds of hell” in social media and marketing to “prey on our young people.”
Patrick McHenry, who was a prominent member of the House of Representatives until his recent retirement, is now an adviser at the Coalition for Prediction Markets that represents Kalshi, Crypto.com, Robinhood, Coinbase and others. He said trades aren’t allowed for anybody under 18 and that the average age of users is 33.
Problem gamblers
Harry Levant, director of gambling policy at the Public Health Advocacy Institute, testified on Wednesday, telling the lawmakers he was a recovering gambling addict and lamenting the “avalanche of unregulated advertising” from prediction market firms.
“It’s a known addictive product, just like heroin,” he said.
Earlier this week, Kalshi co-founder and CEO Tarek Mansour posted on social media site X to highlight his company’s $2 million commitment with the National Council on Problem Gambling to support an initiative on “trader health and safety.””As retail participation in markets increase, we have a responsibility to balance free markets and individual responsibility with customer education and safety guardrails,” he wrote.
And still other lawmakers on Wednesday dove into the rapidly growing industry’s avoidance of state regulators and competition with regulated gaming on U.S. tribal lands, where revenue is a core support of tribal reservations’ financial health.
CFTC
Even as the senators put the event-contract space under the microscope, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that regulates derivatives trading platforms is pursuing a lawsuit filed on Tuesday to stop a new law in Minnesota that was set to hold prediction market activity as illegal there. The regulator adds this to a growing list of lawsuits the federal agency has filed against states that have sought to limit prediction markets or declare them in violation of state gambling laws.
“This Minnesota law turns lawful operators and participants in prediction markets into felons overnight,” said CFTC Chairman Mike Selig in a statement, who added this suit alongside similar agency fights against Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois and New York.
Selig has led an agency legal campaign to defend his agency’s authority to supervise and regulate prediction markets, which are managed on registered platforms under CFTC rules. Meanwhile, his agency — at which he’s the sole member of what’s meant to be a five-member commission — is also pursuing a formal rule to establish tailored standards for the sector.
McHenry defended the CFTC role on Wednesday.
“The CFTC, as a cop on the beat, has the capacity to oversee this market, just as they’ve done with the broader commodities marketplace that’s been around and well versed for decades,” McHenry said.
Senator Hickenlooper responded, “You’re the first person who’s told me you think that they think the CFTC is up to the standards.”
One of the witnesses, Bill Miller, the president and CEO of the American Gaming Association, contended the federal regulators “are absolutely not competent to handle this, and two, they are absolutely hurting tribes and states financially.” He added that, “it was never Congress’s intent to create a federal department of gambling through the CFTC.”
McHenry argued that these event contracts are derivatives that belong to “fundamentally different business models” from bets placed with gambling businesses. He equated them to long-regulated grain futures contracts, and he added that “our member companies have enhanced surveillance greater than any casino and greater than any sportsbook in the country.”
In the end, Chairman Cruz said, “The Supreme Court may have to decide the issue.”
Market analysts say Ether’s (ETH) price may drop to $1,000 if a breakdown from a bearish chart pattern is confirmed.
Key takeaways:
- Ether’s bear flag targets 50% ETH price drop to $1,075.
- Ether risks over $1.70 billion in long liquidations if the price breaks below $2,000.
- Whale accumulation weakens as major ETH holders reduce exposure.
Ether’s bear flag targets $1,000 ETH price
Ether’s downtrend could accelerate if the price breaks below the lower trend line of a bear flag at $2,000 on the daily chart, where a similar breakdown in January led to a 41.5% ETH price drop.
Related: Ether taker volume turns negative for first time in two months: Will ETH fall under $2K next?
A bear flag pattern is a bearish continuation setup that forms after the price consolidates inside an up-sloping channel following a sharp price drop.
The measured target of the flag, derived from the previous downtrend’s height added to the breakdown point at $2,000, is $1,075, down 49% from the current price.
ETH/USD weekly chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
“$ETH is about to break the bear flag pattern,” analyst Coin Signals said in a Monday post on X, adding that if the price fails to hold above the lower trend line at 2,000, a “sell-off to $1800 or a new low” would follow.
Fellow analyst Keith Alan told his followers to be “prepared for the nasty scenario,” involving the confirmation of a death cross between the 21-day simple moving average (SMA) and 50-day SMA, and validation of a bear flag in the daily time frame.
“Momentum indicators also show deterioration on both daily and weekly RSI timeframes,” the analyst said in a recent article on X.
“Failure to establish support, however, opens the door to a sequence of progressively lower technical support levels” toward the measured target of the bear flag structure around $1,300, he added.
ETH/USD daily chart. Source: X/Keith Alan
Fellow analyst Crypto Patel said that ETH’s validation of a rising wedge pattern was underway, with a downside target of $1,500.
“Ethereum has lost a key rising trendline. As long as the price stays below it, weakness can continue.”
ETH/USD daily chart. Source: X/Crypto Patel
Meanwhile, Ethereum’s liquidation map shows that a correction below $2,000 would trigger over $1.70 billion worth of leveraged long ETH liquidations across all exchanges, according to CoinGlass data.
ETH exchange liquidation map. Source: CoinGlass
Ethereum whale accumulation drops
Ether’s latest rebound to $2,400 did not trigger broad-based accumulation across major wallet cohorts, Glassnode data showed.
For instance, the number of mega-whale wallets holding more than 10,000 ETH has declined sharply to a 10-month low of 1,050, with the 30-day change dropping to as low as -70, levels last seen in early February.
Ethereum mega-whale address count balance (>10K ETH). Source: Glassnode
In other words, large players are taking advantage of recent liquidity to de-risk, reflecting a lack of mid-term confidence.
The picture looks similar among smaller wallet cohorts.
Ethereum wallets holding 1,000 to 10,000 ETH have also been declining, falling to a nine-month low of 4,750 on May 8. The 30-day change remains negative, hovering around -50 at the time of writing.
Ethereum whale and shark address count balance. Source: Glassnode
Taken together, the data suggest ongoing distribution and weak conviction across key ETH holder cohorts, reinforcing the risk of a deeper drop if $2,000 breaks.
This reduction in whale counts aligns with the recent inflows into exchanges, indicating the path of least resistance remains down in the immediate future and selling pressure mounts.
The European Commission opened a consultation on May 20 about the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). The review asks the public and industry how the rules are performing nearly two years after rollout.
Stakeholders have until August 31 to submit feedback. Brussels will weigh the responses against shifting digital asset markets and competing global regulators.
What the MiCA Review Will Examine
MiCA, in force since 2024, was the first comprehensive crypto framework adopted by a major jurisdiction. It established harmonized rules for asset-referenced tokens, e-money tokens, and crypto-asset service providers across all 27 member states.
The Commission wants to assess whether the framework still fits a fast-changing sector. The consultation has a public track for individuals and a technical track for issuers, exchanges, banks, and policy bodies.
Stablecoins remain the most contested element. Industry tracking shows close to 30 approved fiat-backed tokens under the rules.
The parallel category for asset-referenced tokens has yet to clear a single product.
Global Pressure Builds for MiCA Updates
The review arrives as the EU faces accelerating moves in Washington and Asia. US lawmakers advanced the GENIUS Act stablecoin bill last year.
The push prompted European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde to publicly back a euro stablecoin response.
European banks are preparing a MiCAR-compliant euro stablecoin for 2026. Smaller crypto firms argue compliance costs are pushing activity toward more flexible jurisdictions.
Germany and the Netherlands are seen as the strictest enforcers.
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“We should not treat in the same way the global trade crypto exchanges coming from the US and listed on the US stock exchange market with the same rules that we treat a small startup company running a crypto business,” Ondřej Kovařík told BeInCrypto.
According to Kovařík, there should be two additional fixes:
- MiCA’s stablecoin rules are too strict for European issuers, he argued, leaving the market dominated by US dollar tokens.
- The framework should also add provisions to recognize equivalent regimes from countries such as the UK or Switzerland.
Kovařík was Renew Europe’s shadow rapporteur on MiCA, making him one of the key architects of the world’s first comprehensive crypto regulatory framework.
He also maintains memberships with the European Parliament (representing the Czech Republic) and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.
The August deadline gives Brussels a narrow window to gather positions before any legislative proposal.
Minor technical fixes or a broader MiCA 2 effort could follow. The outcome will shape the EU’s competitiveness in digital asset rulemaking.
The post EU Launches MiCA Crypto Rules Review as Key Negotiator Urges More Proportionality appeared first on BeInCrypto.
A long-time Ethereum investor and community figure has pushed back against growing alarm over the string of departures from the Ethereum Foundation (EF), arguing that the organization’s commitment to the network is as firm as ever.
Ryan Berckmans, who has worked full-time in the Ethereum space for eight years, offered one of the more detailed community-level defenses of the EF’s current direction since the exits started mounting this year.
Departures Caused by Differences of Opinion
According to Berckmans, people are misreading the situation.
“The EF departures are not because the people departing feel differently about Ethereum and our trajectory vs. the people staying at EF or vs. community folks like me,” he wrote.
What actually drove them, in his view, was a mix of internal disagreements over sub-strategies rather than any loss of faith in Ethereum itself, plus a deliberate generational shift.
“Some folks disagreed. Some tiny number were asked to leave for Reasons. Some few others left immediately due to Reasonable Net Feelings. Some more are leaving because the Wheel is Turning,” he explained.
Further, Berckmans added that new, younger contributors are ready to step into leadership across teams and departments. He also addressed a persistent piece of community frustration, that the EF and Vitalik Buterin do not care about ETH’s price, calling it a misconception.
According to him, they care deeply, but across a much longer time horizon than most community members track.
“They want to know, ‘How will Ethereum remain dominant after quantum computers?’ and, ‘How will Ethereum be the world’s economic hub for trillions in assets and thousands of L2s across a hundred countries?’”
His conclusion was that these are questions that can only get asked if you believe the outcome is achievable, and the EF’s programs in response to them are “gigabullish.”
Four Prominent Contributors Left in Just Four Weeks
The wave of exits has included Carl Beek, Julian Ma, Barnabé Monnot, Tim Beiko, Trent Van Epps, Josh Stark, and former co-Executive Director Tomasz Stańczak.
Stańczak’s departure, in particular, drew quite a lot of attention, considering that it came just 11 months after he’d taken the role. In addition, the exits have been concentrated, with four of the more prominent ones landing within roughly four weeks of each other in April and May.
Meanwhile, a detailed analysis by crypto researcher Nick Sawinyh pointed to unconfirmed claims circulating online that staff were asked to formally align with the Foundation’s new mandate. However, the EF has not publicly confirmed those claims, and none of the departing contributors cited the mandate as their reason for leaving.
People are also focusing on the coming Glamsterdam upgrade to Ethereum that is still under test. The protocol update includes changes tied to scaling and validator infrastructure, although some anticipated features, including FOCIL and native account abstraction, have already been delayed to a later upgrade cycle.
Despite this, many Ethereum backers believe that the entire ecosystem can now take leadership changes in stride without posing a risk to the network as a whole. One of them, author William Mougayar, described the Foundation’s shrinking role as a deliberate attempt to remove Ethereum’s remaining central point of control rather than a sign of institutional decline.
The post ETH Insider Explains Wave of 2026 Ethereum Foundation Departures appeared first on CryptoPotato.
MAP Protocol’s Butter Bridge suffered a severe exploit on May 20, 2026, with attackers minting 1,000,000,000,000,000 MAPO tokens, roughly 4.8 million times the legitimate circulating supply of approximately 208 million.
The MAP Protocol token has fallen over nearly 30% in the immediate aftermath.
MAP Protocol Hit by 1 Quadrillion Token Mint
Security firms PeckShield raised immediate alarms, highlighting a vulnerability in Butter Bridge V3.1’s OmniServiceProxy contract that allowed unauthorized minting on Ethereum and BSC.
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The attacker triggered the mint via a spoofed cross-chain message on the Butter Bridge, directing 1 quadrillion MAPO from the zero address to wallet address 0x40592025392BD7d7463711c6E82Ed34241B64279.
On-chain data shows the exploiter swapped portions of the fake supply, extracting approximately 52.2 ETH (~$110,000) and pulling over $180,000 in liquidity from Uniswap pools before the price collapsed.
Most of the inflated tokens remain in the attacker’s wallet.
This incident adds to a troubling 2026 trend: PeckShield has tracked multiple bridge exploits draining hundreds of millions across DeFi this year.
Market Impact: MAPO Price Crashes
MAPO, the native token of the Bitcoin Layer-2 and omnichain interoperability project, traded around $0.003 prior to the attack. The massive dilution triggered sharp sell-offs and liquidity evaporation.
As of this writing, MAPO traded for $0.001558, down almost 30% following the incident.
Holders and liquidity providers faced immediate losses as trading pairs destabilized.
MAP Protocol positions itself as a secure infrastructure for BTC, stablecoins, and tokenized assets using light clients and MPC-based verification.
The bridge flaw exposed gaps in message validation despite these safeguards.
The project team has not yet issued a formal statement on mitigation steps, such as contract pauses, token blacklisting, or supply adjustments.
Investors should avoid interacting with MAPO pools or the affected bridges until official updates emerge.
This event highlights persistent risks in cross-chain infrastructure. As bridge exploits continue in 2026, users and protocols must prioritize audited verification layers and rapid response mechanisms.
The post 1 Quadrillion MAPO Minted: Bridge Exploit Crashes Token appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Key Takeaways
- SMCI shares climbed over 8% Wednesday following a Q3 FY2026 non-GAAP EPS of $0.84, surpassing the $0.62 estimate by 35%
- Quarterly revenue hit $10.24 billion, marking a 123% year-over-year increase, despite falling short of analyst expectations
- Company executives elevated full-year FY2026 revenue projections to $38.9B–$40.4B
- Super Micro disclosed concerns including significant cash outflows, increasing debt obligations, inventory accumulation, and an export compliance probe
- Despite Wednesday’s gains, SMCI remains down 24% over the trailing twelve months, while Dell surged 112% and HPE climbed 89%
Shares of Super Micro Computer (SMCI) experienced a notable surge exceeding 8% during Wednesday’s trading session on May 20, positioning it as the top performer among AI server manufacturers that day.
Super Micro Computer, Inc., SMCI
The upward movement followed the company’s disclosure of Q3 FY2026 financial results that demonstrated substantial outperformance on the earnings front. The firm posted non-GAAP EPS of $0.84, handily beating analyst projections of $0.62.
Quarterly revenue totaled $10.24 billion, representing a robust 123% year-over-year expansion. The top line figure, however, failed to meet Street expectations.
Investors looked past the revenue shortfall and instead concentrated on the company’s improved outlook. Leadership increased its full-year FY2026 revenue guidance to a band of $38.9 billion through $40.4 billion.
Chief Executive Charles Liang emphasized that the organization’s “transformation into a total datacenter infrastructure provider is accelerating,” highlighting margin improvements and expansion in the DCBBS segment as indicators of underlying strength.
The organization has also broadened its manufacturing capabilities internationally, a move executives characterized as essential to meeting surging demand for AI infrastructure solutions.
Headwinds Persist Despite Rally
The earnings report wasn’t without blemishes. Super Micro cautioned about substantial cash outflows, mounting debt obligations, and inventory accumulation as it works to satisfy customer demand.
Company leadership also acknowledged persistent supply chain limitations. Additionally, the firm revealed it’s subject to an export-related regulatory inquiry, introducing further uncertainty for market participants tracking the equity.
These complications have contributed to SMCI’s challenging twelve-month performance. Shares remain down 24% over that timeframe, stemming from filing delays and auditor transitions that rattled shareholder confidence.
Market sentiment had been gradually improving before Wednesday’s advance. Social media sentiment data from Reddit during the May 9–10 weekend indicated bullish indicators for SMCI recovering to the 68–72 range following bearish readings earlier that month.
SMCI Performance Versus Dell and HPE
Wednesday’s price action gave SMCI the daily lead among its industry competitors. Dell Technologies (DELL) advanced approximately 3.9% while Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) gained roughly 2.7%.
However, the longer-term comparison tells a different story. Across the past year, Dell has surged 112% and HPE has climbed 89%, whereas SMCI continues trading in negative territory.
Dell disclosed AI-optimized server revenue of $8.95 billion in its most recent quarter, representing a 342% year-over-year jump, with a $43 billion AI order backlog entering FY27. The company is scheduled to announce fiscal Q1 2027 results on May 28.
HPE delivered non-GAAP EPS of $0.65 last quarter, exceeding internal forecasts, with networking revenue soaring 152% year-over-year to $2.71 billion. Its upcoming earnings announcement is set for June 1.
Extending the timeline to five years, SMCI maintains sector leadership with a 751% advance compared to Dell’s 417% and HPE’s 134%.
Dell Technologies’ May 28 earnings report will provide the next significant benchmark for evaluating the AI server industry’s trajectory.
Bitcoin (BTC) halted its latest recovery at Wednesday’s Wall Street open as US traders sold off.
Key points:
- Bitcoin nears $78,000 before the US open spoils momentum, continuing a trend from earlier in the week.
- US stock markets await Nvidia earnings amid a tense macro atmosphere.
- Bitcoin’s Coinbase Premium sees multi-month lows in a sign of “soft” US demand.
BTC price stops short of $78,000 ahead of Nvidia numbers
Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD reaching $77,678 on Bitstamp before the US trading session sparked fresh losses.
BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Copying its moves from the week’s first two trading days, Bitcoin faced tailwinds as US market sentiment stayed bearish on the macroeconomic outlook.
The S&P 500 fell 1.3% before rebounding, with traders waiting for the week’s key potential volatility catalyst: Q1 earnings from tech company Nvidia.
On Monday, trading resource The Kobeissi Letter described the numbers as the “biggest earnings event of the quarter.”
Continuing, it noted the role of tech stocks in driving S&P 500 strength — even as the US-Iran war and associated inflation risk spooked other markets.
“A handful of tech stocks are driving the entire market,” it summarized in a post on X.
S&P 500 one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Bitcoin Coinbase Premium reflects “soft” demand
In crypto circles, attention focused on the Coinbase Premium Index, which highlighted the ongoing lack of bullish sentiment during US trading sessions.
Related: BTC price ‘bull trap’ at $76.5K? Five things to know in Bitcoin this week
The Index, which measures the difference in price between Coinbase’s BTC/USD and Binance’s BTC/USDT pairs, fell to its lowest levels since February on the day.
Commenting in one of its QuickTake blog posts, onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant said that spot Bitcoin demand “remains soft.”
“The latest Coinbase Premium Gap reading stands near -$66.8, meaning Bitcoin is trading at a lower price on Coinbase Pro’s USD pair compared with Binance’s USDT pair. This is deeper than the late-March reading of around -$62.6, when Bitcoin was trading near $68,000,” contributor Amr Taha wrote.
“The comparison is important because Bitcoin is now trading much higher, around $77,200, yet the Coinbase discount versus Binance is wider than it was when BTC was nearly $9,000 lower.”
Bitcoin Coinbase Premium gap (screenshot). Source: CryptoQuant
Others monitored familiar trend lines, including the 21-week exponential moving average (EMA).
As Cointelegraph reported, BTC/USD reclaimed that level on weekly time frames in late April, only to lose it again this week.
“Bitcoin has Weekly Closed below the 21-week EMA (green) which technically positions price to potentially turn it into new resistance on any upcoming rebound,” trader and analyst Rekt Capital told X followers on Tuesday while analyzing the weekly chart.
“Turning the 21-week EMA into new resistance would fully confirm the breakdown from it.”
BTC/USD one-week chart. Source: Rekt Capital/X
Tether International has announced acquiring Japanese multinational investment firm SoftBank’s minority stake in the Bitcoin-focused treasury company, Twenty One Capital (XXI).
At the closing of the transaction, SoftBank’s representatives on the XXI Board of Directors stepped down in line with the shareholder agreement.
Tether Absorbs SoftBank Position
In its official blog post, Tether stated that the transaction “reflects the continued development of XXI as the company builds on its foundation and advances its long-term Bitcoin strategy.” With the transaction finalized, SoftBank’s role in governance has now concluded.
Commenting on the latest development, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said,
“SoftBank’s involvement gave XXI the kind of institutional depth that few early-stage companies ever have. Their experience backing some of the most consequential technology companies in the world brought credibility, perspective, and discipline to XXI during a critical period of formation. They leave behind a company with a stronger foundation, a clearer mandate, and an ambitious path ahead. Tether’s conviction in XXI has only deepened, and we look forward to building on that foundation as the company enters its next chapter.”
In April 2025, Twenty One Capital was launched as a new crypto venture with Strike founder Jack Mallers named as CEO. The company was backed at launch by Tether International and Bitfinex as majority owners, alongside SoftBank Group and Cantor Fitzgerald as initial investors. It was disclosed that the company would begin with about $3.6 billion in Bitcoin held in its treasury. SoftBank was included as a minority stakeholder at formation, while Tether held controlling ownership.
Twenty One Capital went public in December of the same year through a SPAC merger in New York.
Merger Proposal
Last month, Tether put forward a multi-step plan involving Twenty One Capital, which included merging the company first with Strike. After that initial step, the plan proposes a second stage where the combined entity would then merge with the bitcoin mining company Elektron Energy.
Meanwhile, according to the latest data, Twenty One Capital is currently the second-largest public company holder of Bitcoin, with 43,514 BTC. It trails Michael Saylor-led business intelligence firm, Strategy, which holds 843,738 BTC.
The post Tether Acquires SoftBank Stake in Bitcoin-Focused Treasury Company XXI appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Cryptocurrency custody firm Copper has been out shopping itself, seeking a buyer willing to pay about $500 million for the platform, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Wall Street investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald has been appointed to help sell Copper, the people said.
Copper and Cantor didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The jewel in Copper’s crown is the ClearLoop settlement system, which enables network participants to do delivery versus payment (DvP) from within custody without bringing assets onchain, thereby eliminating settlement risk.
Copper closed its enterprise custody business in 2023 to focus on ClearLoop, launched in 2020 and caters to dozens of institutional firms. The firm boasts more than 1,000 active counterparties and over $50 billion in monthly notional trading volume, according to its website.
Copper was said to be weighing an IPO earlier this year, potentially following in the footsteps of crypto custodian Bitgo, with whom Copper forged a partnership on the ClearLoop application. However, with bitcoin trading below $80,000, and artificial intelligence soaking up most of the capital, the crypto IPO market has been on a holding pattern this year.
Meanwhile, the deal-making in the crypto market has been active this year, as crypto-native, traditional and fintech firms are looking to expand their digital asset capabilities through acquisitions.
Earlier this year, Mastercard agreed to buy U.K.-based stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK for as much as $1.8 billion. Kraken’s parent company, Payward, agreed to acquire the derivatives platform Bitnomial, while Bullish, owner of CoinDesk, announced a $4.2 billion deal to buy Equiniti, aimed at combining transfer agency services with tokenization infrastructure.
And just this week, London-based bank Standard Chartered said it will buy the remaining shares of Zodia Custody, its cryptocurrency custodian subsidiary, that it doesn’t already own. The deal came just weeks after the bank’s venture capital division reportedly took a stake in crypto trading firm GSR at a valuation of more than $1 billion.
SoftBank has sold its stake in Jack Mallers-led Twenty One Capital to Tether, according to the stablecoin giant.
Twenty One Capital (also known as XXI) is a bitcoin (BTC) treasury firm that was founded with Tether providing the BTC and getting the controlling share, SoftBank purchasing a stake from Tether, and the entity being publicly listed by utilizing a reverse merger with a Cantor Fitzgerald-affiliated special purpose acquisition company.
Tether’s announcement details how it has “acquired SoftBank’s stake in XXI,” which it claims “reflects the continued development of XXI.”
Read more: How Tether-backed Twenty One plans to rival MicroStrategy
The combined firm was first listed on December 9, 2025.
Since then, the price of the stock has fallen by 23%, from approximately $10.74 to $7.85.
However, the peak for this stock came after the announcement and before the merger, when it reached a peak value of approximately $49.62 on May 21.
The price has fallen approximately 84% since this peak.
Despite these travails for the equity of this firm, Tether chief executive Paolo Ardoino said, “Tether’s conviction in XXI has only deepened and we look forward to building on that foundation.”
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Crypto World
Nearly 10% of Bitcoin Supply is ‘Structurally Unsafe’ from Quantum Computing: Glassnode
Nearly 10% of the total Bitcoin supply is considered “structurally unsafe” due to a quantum computing breakthrough, as their output type reveals the public key by design, regardless of address management practices, according to data analytics platform Glassnode.
Totaling about 1.92 million Bitcoin (BTC), the group includes BTC from early Satoshi-era Pay-to-Public-Key (P2PK) outputs, legacy multi-sig structures such as Pay-to-Multisig (P2MS) and modern Pay-to-Taproot (P2TR) outputs, which reveal the public key or public key-equivalent by design, wrote Glassnode in a Wednesday X post.
Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto’s coins represent about 1.1 million or 5.5% of the vulnerable supply, following another 620,000 Satoshi-era coins or 3.1% of the supply and about 200,000 coins or 1% of the supply in Taproot addresses.
Choosing how to implement PQC [post-quantum cryptography] and deploy it on-chain should remain decoupled from the question of what to do about coins that remain quantum vulnerable. Yet the two matters often are conflated, the controversy around the latter often clouding discussions of the former – ARK Invest
The findings underscore the need to implement a quantum-proof path for Bitcoin, such as the adoption of BIP-360’s proposed Pay-to-Merkle-Root (P2MR) output type, which seeks to remove Taproot’s quantum-vulnerable key path spend, though it does not itself add post-quantum digital signatures.
While 9.6% of the total supply remains structurally exposed, a significant part of this exposure “could be reduced if wallet infrastructure, address standards, and user behavior evolve,” added Glassnode.
However, this supply would only be vulnerable to quantum theft if quantum computers can break Bitcoin’s elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), which would require about 2,330 logical qubits and tens of millions to billions of quantum gates, according to a March white paper published by US investment manager Ark Invest.
Source: Glassnode
Nearly 70% of Bitcoin’s supply is safe from quantum computing threat
Glassnode estimates that about 13.99 million Bitcoin, representing 69.8% of the total supply, remain unexposed to a quantum computing threat, which is largely in line with Ark Invest’s figures, which show that 65% of the supply was safe, Cointelegraph reported in March.
Still, the analytics provider notes that about 4.12 million BTC, or 20.6% of the total supply, are “operationally unsafe,” meaning that these coins are exposed due to a key or address management issue.
Source: Glassnode
Entity-level data shows that the holdings of some large corporate entities are exposed. This includes 100% of BTC held by Franklin Templeton, WisdomTree and Robinhood, 99% of neobank Revolut’s Bitcoin, 52% of Grayscale’s holdings and just 2% of Fidelity’s Bitcoin stash.
Related: Bernstein says Bitcoin market already priced in quantum risk
Looking at the exposed tokens of cryptocurrency exchanges, only about 5% of BTC held on Coinbase is exposed, compared to 85% of Binance’s BTC and about 100% of the holdings on Bitfinex exchange.
To reduce exposure, exchanges and custodians are advised to reduce key reuse, improve address hygiene and plan a migration into a quantum-proof format to position for a future quantum breakthrough, wrote Glassnode.
Magazine: Bitcoin vs. the quantum computer threat — Timeline and solutions (2025–2035)
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