The partnership underscores both the rapid growth of equity perpetuals in onchain markets and Nasdaq’s broader strategy to support tokenized equity trading infrastructure.

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Key Takeaways

• OpenAI and its leadership team successfully defended against Musk’s legal challenge after a California jury determined his claims were time-barred.
• Musk’s central argument alleged OpenAI illegally “stole a charity” through its nonprofit-to-for-profit transformation.
• The decision eliminates approximately $134 billion in potential liability that had been looming over OpenAI.
• Microsoft stock edged higher following the announcement, while Tesla stock dropped 3% on Monday trading.
• Despite Musk’s intention to appeal, legal analysts indicate the likelihood of reversal is minimal.

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A California jury has ruled against Elon Musk in his lawsuit targeting OpenAI and its co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. The Monday decision found the defendants bore no liability, determining that Musk’s legal action was filed beyond the applicable statute of limitations.

Regarding the OpenAI case, the judge & jury never actually ruled on the merits of the case, just on a calendar technicality.

There is no question to anyone following the case in detail that Altman & Brockman did in fact enrich themselves by stealing a charity. The only question…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 18, 2026

The proceedings unfolded over three weeks at the US District Court for the Northern District of California in Oakland. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers formally accepted the jury’s determination.

Musk’s complaint centered on accusations that OpenAI‘s transformation from nonprofit to for-profit entity resulted in improper financial gain for Altman and Brockman. He maintained his financial contributions were made with the explicit expectation the organization would maintain its nonprofit status.

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The AI research company was established in 2015 by Musk, Altman, and additional co-founders. Musk departed the organization in 2018, years before its corporate restructuring occurred.

Courtroom Proceedings and Arguments

Throughout the proceedings, Musk’s legal representative Steven Molo attempted to undermine Altman’s credibility. He highlighted Altman’s temporary removal from OpenAI’s board in 2023, when directors cited concerns about his lack of consistent candor. The CEO was returned to his position within days.

“Sam Altman’s credibility is directly at issue in this case,” Molo addressed the jury. “If you cannot trust him, if you don’t believe him, they cannot win.”

OpenAI’s defense attorneys countered these assertions, presenting testimony from numerous witnesses who verified that Musk never imposed nonprofit conditions on his financial contributions. The defense further emphasized the timing issue, asserting the lawsuit was initiated beyond permissible time limits.

Musk declared his appeal intentions on X. “There is no question to anyone following the case in detail that Altman and Brockman did in fact enrich themselves by stealing a charity,” he posted. “The only question is WHEN they did it.”

Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, informed Barron’s that appeal prospects appear unfavorable. “I think the case is pretty much over,” he stated. “It’s all fact specific, so I don’t think there’s any legal question there.”

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Financial Implications for OpenAI and Key Stakeholders

The ruling represents a significant victory for OpenAI and its investment partners. According to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, the decision eliminates roughly $134 billion in potential damages that had been casting uncertainty over the company.

Microsoft, having committed over $10 billion to OpenAI, stands to gain considerably from this outcome. Microsoft stock showed modest gains, trading at $423.33 on Monday. Other major investors including Amazon, SoftBank, and Nvidia also benefit from the resolution, with OpenAI’s current valuation hovering near $1 trillion.

Amazon revealed a $50 billion multi-year commitment to OpenAI this past February. The artificial intelligence firm is aggressively pursuing plans to become publicly traded and is considered among the most anticipated IPO candidates for 2026.

Tesla stock declined 3% Monday in response to the verdict.

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The litigation may ultimately be recalled not for its judicial resolution but for exposing a highly visible relationship breakdown between tech titans. “When billionaires break up it can be expensive and nasty,” Tobias observed.

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XRP is trading in a razor-thin price band around $1.38 as the token absorbs every sell wave without cracking. After Goldman Sachs exited yesterday, XRP is doing surprisingly well.

Two macro catalysts are now converging. One is the CLARITY Act’s Senate Banking Committee timeline, and the other is a brewing weekly Ichimoku cloud breakout.

There is a near-term breakout odds at 60%, and 40% for a clean breakout, a split that explains the indecision: RSI sitting at the 50 level, a flat MACD histogram, and open interest down to $430 million as some smart money quietly trims exposure despite whales running 75% long. The buy/sell ratio of 0.87 confirms the tension. Something has to give.

Discover: The best crypto to diversify your portfolio with

Can XRP Price Break $1.40 Resistance?

XRP currently trades at approximately $1.38, hugging the upper Bollinger Band that could start a sharp directional move. The 20-EMA sits at $1.41 as our prediction model projects a 24-hour range of $1.37–$1.39.

Resistance is stacked and tested. $1.40 is the immediate ceiling; $1.51 has been rejected three times and remains the line that matters most. Clear that, and $1.65 opens up on the medium-term chart. Support is thinner: $1.35 is the first defense, $1.32 is the line bulls cannot lose.

Xrp (XRP)

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However, if the CLARITY Act advances through the committee before the month-end, it could spark a weekly close above $1.50.

Right now, net-sell taker flow dominates, and open interest has been dropping, further as price retests $1.38, which invalidates the near-term breakout thesis.

The CLARITY Act Senate markup deadline is the single biggest binary event on XRP’s calendar. Institutional interest via ETF structures adds another demand layer — but institutions wait for regulatory certainty before deploying size.

Discover: The best pre-launch token sales

LiquidChain Targets Early-Mover Upside as XRP Battles Supports

XRP is a known asset, a known market cap, and a known risk profile. The upside math at current prices requires moving billions in market cap to deliver multiples. That’s the ceiling that early-stage infrastructure plays are built to sidestep.

LiquidChain ($LIQUID) is a Layer 3 infrastructure protocol doing something structurally different: fusing Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana liquidity into a single execution environment.

Its Unified Liquidity Layer enables single-step cross-chain execution with verifiable settlement. With Liquid, there’s no bridging friction nor fragmented capital pools. Developers deploy once and access all three ecosystems simultaneously.

The presale is currently priced at $0.01461, with more than $770K raised to date. Not to forget, Liquid offers something that no coin could, a huge 1,400% APY bonus for early buyers.

For traders watching XRP consolidate and weighing where asymmetric upside still exists in this market cycle, researching LiquidChain is worth the time.

The post XRP Price About To Break Out? CLARITY Act and XRPL Upgrade Change Everything appeared first on Cryptonews.

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• Echo Admin key compromise enabled $76.7M unauthorized eBTC minting.
• The attacker used fake eBTC to borrow and bridge real crypto assets.
• ECHO token dropped sharply as panic selling hit the market fast.

The ECHO token came under severe pressure after a major security breach tied to the Echo Protocol led to the unauthorized minting of roughly $76.7 million worth of eBTC, triggering a sharp loss of confidence across the ecosystem.

The exploit centered on a compromise of privileged access controls, allowing an attacker to bypass normal minting restrictions and generate synthetic assets without collateral.

The exploit quickly escalated from a technical breach into a full-scale market disruption.

Within hours of the attack becoming known, the ECHO token recorded a steep double-digit decline as traders rushed to exit positions amid uncertainty over the protocol’s stability and the status of the inflated eBTC supply.

Admin key compromise enabled unlimited minting of eBTC

The core of the exploit was a compromise of an admin-level private key, which granted the attacker control over minting permissions inside the Echo Protocol system.

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With that access, the attacker was able to mint approximately 1,000 eBTC tokens without depositing any collateral.

These tokens were not backed by real Bitcoin reserves, meaning they functioned as artificially created supply inside the system.

The sudden expansion of eBTC supply to roughly $76 million in value created immediate imbalance risks across any integrated lending or trading platforms that accepted the asset as collateral.

Once minted, the attacker began routing the assets through decentralized finance applications.

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A portion of the fake eBTC was deposited into lending markets such as Curvance, where it was used to borrow wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC).

From there, the borrowed funds were bridged across networks, converted into ETH, and partially routed through privacy tools, including Tornado Cash, in an attempt to obscure transaction trails.

Blockchain investigators tracking the movement of funds noted that approximately 955 eBTC remained under attacker control, representing the vast majority of the illicitly minted supply.

Only a small fraction of the stolen value was successfully converted into liquid assets during the early stages of the exploit.

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ECHO token drops sharply as panic spreads across the market

As the exploit became public, the ECHO token reacted with a rapid sell-off.

The price dropped by over 11% within a short period, reflecting immediate market concern over the protocol’s security and the potential impact of the inflated eBTC supply on the broader ecosystem.

The market reacted to two key risks.

The first was the possibility of further minting or continued exploitation if access controls were not fully secured.

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The second was the uncertainty surrounding potential bad debt created in lending markets where the unbacked eBTC had already been used as collateral.

Liquidity conditions tightened as participants reduced exposure to both ECHO and related assets.

The sudden exit of capital intensified downside pressure, accelerating the token’s decline and amplifying volatility across connected trading pairs.

Echo Protocol halts operations and begins investigation

In response to the breach, Echo Protocol moved to pause cross-chain operations, aiming to limit further movement of stolen funds and prevent additional exploitation pathways.

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The suspension affected bridging and cross-chain functionality, which had been used by the attacker to move assets between networks during the laundering process.

The incident did not affect the underlying Monad blockchain, which continued operating normally.

The issue was isolated to Echo Protocol’s access control layer, specifically the privileged permissions tied to minting authority.

Security researchers assessing the breach have pointed to the admin key compromise as the central failure point.

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Rather than a flaw in token mathematics or smart contract logic, the attack exploited centralized control privileges that allowed unrestricted issuance of synthetic assets once the key was exposed.

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• Serious investors are prioritizing tokenized real-world assets, stablecoins, institutional trading systems, and AI-linked compute networks.
• Allocators still face major friction around custody, banking access, compliance, legal structure, due diligence, and internal reputation risk.
• Platforms like Arcanum aim to support capital entry through investor control, real-time reporting, documented strategies, and exchange-based fund access.

In an exclusive interview with BeInCrypto during Hong Kong Web3 Festival, Michael Ivanov, CEO of Arcanum, Ciara Sun, founder and managing partner of C² Ventures, and Ivan Ivanov, founder of UVECON.VC and RWA SUMMIT, discussed how capital enters crypto in 2026.

The conversation covered family offices, allocator demand, operational friction, tokenized real-world assets, and the trust gap still slowing institutional participation.
Let’s open up the topics.

What Serious Investors Want in 2026

BeInCrypto: What does the capital journey into crypto look like from your side of the market?

Michael Ivanov: It is a thorny road full of rocks and holes.

Ciara Sun: A few years ago, many investors entered crypto mainly for exposure and upside. Today, they are looking for real demand and a better understanding of how liquidity works.

BeInCrypto: What kind of crypto opportunities are serious investors looking for in 2026?

Ciara Sun: Serious investors in 2026 are looking at sectors where crypto solves real problems rather than creating new narratives. From my experience in exchanges and venture investing, the strongest interest is around tokenization, stablecoins, institutional trading systems, and the intersection of AI, compute, and energy.

BeInCrypto: Ivan, what types of capital are showing the most interest now?

Ivan Ivanov: It depends on which kind of crypto you mean. We should separate BTC, ETH, altcoins, and tokenized real-world assets. It also depends on the region.

I am based in Hong Kong, so I am familiar with the Asian market. Family offices here are quite conservative when it comes to digital assets. One of the largest Asian multi-family offices says less than 5% of the capital its clients invest is allocated to crypto, and most of that goes into BTC, ETH, and ETFs.

Funds are a different story. The most active are hedge funds focused on crypto asset management. Investors usually select those that are licensed and well known in the market.

Institutions are definitely interested in digital asset investments, but they remain cautious. Tokenized RWAs will lead over the next couple of years because they are regulated, have substance, and are protected by law.

What Happens When Capital Enters a Platform Like Arcanum

BeInCrypto: When a family office allocates into a platform like Arcanum, what actually happens operationally?

Michael Ivanov: Every user, retail or institutional, can run our product with ease. With Pulse, the user adds API keys to our Telegram Mini App, and the process is done. We do not ask offices to sign unnecessary documents to use our products.

For clients who want to delegate full control of funds to Arcanum, we accept two main structures. The first is a license agreement with proper profit-sharing terms. The second is a joint company for operating the required amount of capital. With this type of client, flexibility is essential.

What Gives Investors Confidence

BeInCrypto: What gives investors enough confidence to deploy capital into crypto today?

Ciara Sun: Investors need proof that the team can execute with discipline. Confidence usually comes from real traction, clean token and cap table design, and a path to liquidity or revenue.

The right question for investors is whether the team can survive, manage risk, and continue growing when the cycle turns.

BeInCrypto: Ivan, what makes a crypto project investable for allocators?

Ivan Ivanov: Substance, track record, the right legal structure, and protected investor rights. The times of ICOs are gone. The market now looks much closer to traditional finance and venture capital.

How Arcanum Helps Allocators Enter Crypto

BeInCrypto: How does Arcanum help allocators and investors enter crypto more efficiently?

Michael Ivanov: We provide clear strategies and methodologies where the key points are simple. With Pulse, there is strong historical data for potential profit, an almost fully automated process, and real-time tracking. It gives clarity.

Pulse runs on Bybit subaccounts controlled by allocators, so the money always remains in their hands. Users can access it at any time.

The next step is a wider ecosystem with our own broker, new algorithms such as Wave, our own terminal with lower commissions, and early access to new products. We give investors an easy entry point through one of the largest exchanges, with an ecosystem designed to keep them active after that.

Where Capital Gets Stuck

BeInCrypto: Where does capital get stuck between investor interest and actual deployment?

Michael Ivanov: For projects like ours, there are four main blockers: custody, mandate, due diligence, and sizing.

Custody is a challenge because institutions will not hand assets to a counterparty they cannot audit. Mandate is another issue because many funds simply do not have a crypto allocation category, and adding one can take months.

Due diligence is also difficult because many crypto products fail institutional review when the strategy is poorly documented or lacks independent validation. Sizing is the final barrier. Without a clear risk model, allocators cannot decide how much capital to deploy.

BeInCrypto: Ivan, what is the hardest part for allocators bringing traditional capital into crypto?

Ivan Ivanov: Compliance, for sure, and the reliability of the systems around it. Recent DeFi exploits damaged trust. Centralized exchanges and providers look more reliable, especially when they are licensed.

Traditional banks are also a barrier. Dealing with crypto assets remains a serious issue for any company. Try to open a bank account in Hong Kong and say you want to invest company funds in crypto. You will likely be rejected, even if you work with licensed providers.

The key issues are banking, investor protection, and compliance.

BeInCrypto: Ciara, where do strong crypto projects still lose investor confidence?

Ciara Sun: Details. The idea may be strong, but confidence weakens when the token design is unclear, the go-to-market plan is vague, or the team cannot explain how liquidity, revenue, and risk will be managed.

Why Platforms Like Arcanum Interest Allocators

BeInCrypto: Why can platforms like Arcanum be interesting for allocators in the current market?

Ivan Ivanov: The track record is key. Arcanum also works with one of the market leaders, Bybit, and has official partner status.

If Arcanum can build the right compliant setup with strong security, privacy, investor protection, and a good market reputation, capital will flow in.

BeInCrypto: Ciara, would you view a platform like Arcanum as access, capital management, or market technology?

Ciara Sun: To me, Arcanum is both access and technology. It gives users a simpler way to access trading strategies through trading bot services, while also sitting on top of execution and risk management. Traders care a lot about risk management and transparency, aside from profits.

BeInCrypto: Michael, how do you position Arcanum for B2B partners, allocators, and private investors?

Michael Ivanov: I do not think positioning is the right word. Each audience has a different problem we work with.

B2B partners can use a white-label model that helps them reduce the cost of running their own branded product. Allocators get clear real-time statistics and instant fund management. Private investors get the product as well as access to a warm community of traders we work with.

Control, Reporting, and Transparency

BeInCrypto: How does Arcanum handle control, reporting, and transparency for investors?

Michael Ivanov: For us, this is quite simple. Part of it is solved by architecture, and part of it is solved by UX.

In the base scenario, clients have full control over their funds on their own exchange subaccounts. Arcanum operates and monitors the strategy through its solutions. We sit above the exchange with intuitive functionality.

Transparency is where we put the most effort, because this is where crypto products often fail institutional review. We provide a clear history of every trade and documented strategy data.

BeInCrypto: Ciara, how important is operational transparency when investors assess crypto opportunities?

Ciara Sun: Very important. In crypto, investors can accept risk, but they cannot accept a black box. Transparency turns performance into trust.

Investors want to know where the money is, how decisions are made, what risks are being taken, and whether the numbers can be verified.

BeInCrypto: Ivan, what do family offices still need to understand before they feel comfortable allocating?

Ivan Ivanov: They need to understand how they are protected legally and make sure everything is structured properly.

The Most Expensive Blocker

BeInCrypto: What is the most expensive blocker for institutional capital entering crypto today?

Michael Ivanov: The most expensive blocker is reputational inside the institution itself.

Every allocation has to go through boards and committees. There is still limited trust in information from crypto projects, especially with new projects and strategies. Even when interest is real, no one wants to be the first person to stake their reputation on it.

The cost is huge but invisible. It shows up as deals that never close and allocations that keep getting pushed to the next quarter.

BeInCrypto: Ciara, what is the biggest hidden cost for serious investors entering the market?

Ciara Sun: The biggest hidden cost is the operational burden behind every decision. Serious investors need custody, compliance, reporting, risk control, liquidity planning, and sometimes token unlock management. Many people underestimate this part.

BeInCrypto: Ivan, what needs to change for allocators to move capital faster?

Ivan Ivanov: Banking infrastructure, for sure. With the latest regulations in multiple jurisdictions, I believe regulated and compliant stablecoin systems will solve many issues.

Where Demand Goes Next

BeInCrypto: Which crypto sectors are most likely to attract serious capital in 2026?

Ciara Sun: Serious capital in 2026 will go to sectors where crypto becomes real financial or operating technology. The main areas are tokenization, stablecoins, institutional trading and liquidity systems, and AI-related compute and energy networks.

BeInCrypto: Ivan, where do you expect the strongest allocator demand over the next year?

Ivan Ivanov: Definitely tokenized RWAs. This is where traditional investors will follow banks and institutions.

BeInCrypto: Michael, where do you expect Arcanum’s strongest demand to come from?

Michael Ivanov: We expect the strongest demand to come from Asian allocators and funds of funds.

They have already been active in crypto for a while, and they are used to putting part of their capital with quant trading funds running different strategies. What we build fits a workflow they already understand.

In the US, even with anticipated legislation, the picture still lacks enough transparency for decisions at that level to happen at size. Asia is further along in the process.

Trust Comes First

BeInCrypto: What needs to improve first for more capital to enter crypto?

Ivan Ivanov: Trust in the crypto market and market players. There are still too many bad actors.

Ciara Sun: Trust. More capital will enter when crypto has better transparency, cleaner risk management, and more reliable systems around custody, compliance, liquidity, and reporting.

What needs to improve is the confidence that capital can enter, operate, and exit safely.

Michael Ivanov: Trust is the new gold in crypto. We still need to earn it, even when the whole project is clear and transparent.

The post How Capital Really Moves Into Crypto in 2026 appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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The Bitcoin-focused DeFi protocol suffered an attack whereby about 1,000 unauthorized eBTC $77 million were minted on the Monad blockchain

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On the cusp of the global 16th anniversary of Bitcoin Pizza Day, ZOOMEX, one of the leading global digital asset exchanges, today officially announced the launch of its Pizza Week campaign. This initiative honors the historic milestone of Bitcoin’s first real-world transaction. ZOOMEX’s campaign directly targets the original vision of cryptocurrency. By showcasing its core product matrix—including ZoomCard, ZoomexStocks, and the 0-Cost Trading Competition — the platform aims to drive a comprehensive ecosystem transition for digital assets, shifting them from speculative tools to practical, everyday applications.

On May 22, 2010, a Florida programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz posted a message on the BitcoinTalk forum offering 10,000 Bitcoins for two large pizzas. A British forum user accepted, and the transaction was completed. At the time, those 10,000 BTC were worth roughly $41. At Bitcoin’s all-time high in May 2025, they would have been worth over $1.1 billion.

But the dollar value is not the story ZOOMEX is telling this week.

“The industry has spent sixteen years fixating on what that pizza would be worth today, and in doing so, it walked straight past the more interesting question,” said Fernando Lillo, Marketing Director at ZOOMEX. “Laszlo wasn’t making a trade. He was running a test. And the result of that test wasn’t a loss — it was proof that the entire idea could work. A technology that cannot interact with daily life remains a technology, not a currency. That distinction is what Pizza Week is about.”

That question has been answered repeatedly over the past 16 years. MicroStrategy, the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder, now holds 818,869 BTC — nearly 4% of all Bitcoin that will ever exist — acquired at a total cost of over $68 billion. The U.S. government maintains a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Sovereign wealth funds have disclosed exposure. Global crypto market capitalization stands between $2.5 trillion and $2.7 trillion, with Bitcoin representing roughly 60%. What began as a pizza order has become an asset class that governments can no longer ignore.

ZOOMEX argues that the industry has, in some ways, drifted from Laszlo’s original intent. The dominant message for years has been to hold and accumulate — to never repeat the “mistake” of spending Bitcoin. That is now changing. Monthly transaction volumes for crypto payment cards grew from approximately $100 million in early 2023 to over $1.5 billion by late 2025, posting another 211% year-over-year increase as of March 2026. A quarter of U.S. Adults now use crypto for everyday transactions, payments, and financial management.

ZOOMEX has built a comprehensive product ecosystem to address the modern era’s need for utility:

• Arena 0-Cost Trading Competition: Now open with a 600,000 prize pool. Arena provides every participant with $100–$200 in platform-funded trial capital. Zero entry cost. Same starting line. Results determined by trading volume and ROI — not by who brought the deepest pockets.
• ZoomexStocks: U.S. stock-linked assets — including Apple, Tesla, and Nvidia — accessible directly from a crypto account. No fiat conversion required. No separate brokerage account needed. The same idea as Laszlo’s pizza, evolved for 2026: crypto as a gateway, not a walled garden.
• ZoomCard: A multi-currency virtual Mastercard built in partnership with licensed financial institution UR. Supports USD, EUR, CHF, SGD, HKD, and JPY. Zero card issuance fees. Zero annual fees. Compatible with Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. Crypto that leaves the chart and enters the checkout line.

The Pizza Week campaign will run across ZOOMEX’s global social media channels and include a dedicated space panel. To drive ecosystem adoption, ZOOMEX is launching a dedicated community reward pool featuring thousands of dollars in USDT incentives alongside exclusive trading coupons for all participants. The company is also producing localized content with teams in Spain and a ZoomCard promotional video demonstrating real-world crypto payments.

You can join Zoomex here

About Zoomex

Founded in 2021, Zoomex is a global cryptocurrency trading platform with over 3 million users across more than 35 countries and regions, offering 600+ trading pairs. Guided by its core values of “Simple × User-Friendly × Fast,” Zoomex is also committed to the principles of fairness, integrity, and transparency, delivering a high-performance, low-barrier, and trustworthy trading experience.

Powered by a high-performance matching engine and transparent asset and order displays, Zoomex ensures consistent trade execution and fully traceable results. This approach reduces information asymmetry and allows users to clearly understand their asset status and every trading outcome. While prioritizing speed and efficiency, the platform continues to optimize product structure and overall user experience with robust risk management in place.

As an official partner of the Haas F1 Team, Zoomex brings the same focus on speed, precision, and reliable rule execution from the racetrack to trading. In addition, Zoomex has established a global exclusive brand ambassador partnership with world-class goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez. His professionalism, discipline, and consistency further reinforce Zoomex’s commitment to fair trading and long-term user trust.In terms of security and compliance, Zoomex holds regulatory licenses including Canada MSB, U.S. MSB, U.S. NFA, and Australia AUSTRAC, and has successfully passed security audits conducted by blockchain security firm Hacken. Operating within a compliant framework while offering flexible identity verification options and an open trading system, Zoomex is building a trading environment that is simpler, more transparent, more secure, and more accessible for users worldwide.

For more info: Website | X | Telegram | Discord

The post Moving Beyond HODL: ZOOMEX Launches Global “Pizza Week” Campaign Honoring Bitcoin’s First Real-World Trade appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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Key Takeaways

• Bitmine acquired 71,672 ETH in recent purchase, expanding total reserves to 5.278 million ETH (valued at approximately $11.05 billion)
• Chairman Tom Lee views current ETH prices under $2,200 as compelling entry point
• Ethereum has declined 8.7% in the weekly timeframe, currently hovering between $2,100–$2,128
• Long-dormant Ethereum whale resumes accumulation after selling entire position twelve months ago, according to Lookonchain data
• Critical support zone at $2,108 remains in focus, with additional floors at $1,909 and $1,741 if breakdown occurs

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Bitmine Immersion Technologies executed a substantial acquisition of 71,672 Ether tokens over the preceding week, elevating the company’s aggregate position to 5.278 million ETH. Based on prevailing market valuations, this cryptocurrency reserve represents approximately $11.05 billion in total value.

On Monday, Chairman Tom Lee publicly disclosed the acquisition, characterizing Ethereum’s recent descent beneath the $2,200 threshold as “an attractive opportunity.” This positions Bitmine as the world’s preeminent corporate holder of ETH and establishes it as the second-largest institutional cryptocurrency treasury globally, trailing only Michael Saylor’s Strategy.

🚨BITMINE BOOSTS ETH STACK TO 5.28M

Bitmine acquired 71,672 ETH in one week, bringing its total holdings to 5.28 million $ETH, 4.37% of Ethereum’s supply.

The company now holds $12.6 billion in crypto and cash, including 4.71 million staked ETH worth about $10.3 billion. pic.twitter.com/Ibo3mHW5pT

— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) May 18, 2026

The firm has established an ambitious objective: controlling 5% of Ethereum’s circulating token supply, which currently stands at 120.7 million coins. To achieve this benchmark, Bitmine requires an additional 756,538 ETH, bringing the target above 6 million tokens. Lee projected the company would reach this accumulation goal “sometime in 2026.”

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Additionally, Bitmine has deployed 4.71 million ETH through its Made in America Validator Network (MAVAN), producing annualized staking returns of $289 million.

Market analyst Daan Crypto Trades shared observations on X, highlighting that ETH experienced a breakdown following its failure to penetrate the $2,400 resistance zone. He suggested a bullish retest of that threshold remains feasible in the early week period, though a bearish retest scenario could push ETH beneath the $2,000 mark. He emphasized that Bitcoin’s trajectory will likely dictate Ethereum’s directional movement.

$ETH Breaking down after failing to break that $2.4K area.

But as it’s early in the week it can be good to keep watching closely here. Often you get some retest to try and break back within the structure. If successful, this will likely test 2.4K again I’m assuming.

If not, and… https://t.co/ViDXcW6sEB pic.twitter.com/8s12SLht4D

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— Daan Crypto Trades (@DaanCrypto) May 18, 2026

Historic Whale Re-enters Market

Bitmine’s buying activity wasn’t isolated. On Saturday, blockchain intelligence firm Lookonchain identified an original Ethereum whale—who maintained holdings for more than ten years before liquidating their complete position twelve months prior—has reinitiated accumulation. This wallet acquired 1,951 ETH at an average price of $2,182. Lookonchain indicated the address “may keep buying.”

Over the last seven days, ETH has fluctuated within a $2,081 to $2,341 trading range. As of Tuesday, the asset was exchanging hands near $2,128, representing an 8.7% weekly decline.

Technical Analysis and Support Zones

From a technical perspective, Ethereum is currently challenging the $2,108 support threshold. The 20-day, 50-day, and 100-day exponential moving averages are positioned above current pricing in the $2,256–$2,338 band, forming a resistance cluster.

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The Relative Strength Index has dropped into the low 30s while the Stochastic Oscillator indicates deeply oversold conditions. Should the $2,108 level fail to hold, subsequent support zones emerge at $1,909, $1,741, $1,524, and $1,405.

Ethereum reached its all-time peak of $4,946 in August 2025 but has subsequently contracted approximately 57%. Last week, Ethereum-focused investment vehicles registered net capital outflows totaling $249 million, while the past 24-hour period witnessed $322.4 million in liquidations—with long positions accounting for $296.9 million of that figure.

Lee also addressed the CLARITY Act, which advanced through the Senate Banking Committee last week. While acknowledging remaining obstacles, he expressed conviction that passage probability exceeds the 61% currently reflected on Polymarket prediction markets.

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Key Highlights

• Cardano is currently priced at $0.2520, experiencing a 1.88% decline over the past day, maintaining a $9.12 billion market capitalization
• The asset maintains position above critical support within a descending triangle formation, with potential breakout levels reaching $2.67
• Daily trading activity jumped 106.17% to reach $624.58 million, indicating intense market participation
• A new cryptocurrency index futures product from CME Group and Nasdaq launching June 8 will feature ADA
• Founder Charles Hoskinson revealed plans for quantum-resistant security upgrades, with detailed proposal coming soon

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Cardano (ADA) maintains a price point of $0.2520 alongside daily trading volume of $624.58 million, marking a dramatic 106.17% volume increase even as the price declined 1.88%. The network’s valuation stands at $9.12 billion.

Market analyst Jonathan Carter observed that ADA persistently maintains its position above the descending triangle’s lower support line. This consistent defense of the critical support area indicates potential accumulation behavior among investors.

Should ADA successfully breach the triangle formation, market watchers are monitoring resistance thresholds at $0.330, $0.515, $0.810, and $1.275. Extended projections point toward a potential $2.67 target.

Derivatives open interest decreased 1.55% to $508.64 million, indicating that certain traders are scaling back leveraged positions despite rising spot market activity.

Cryptocurrency analyst CryptoPatel presented a compelling argument for long-term Cardano holders, revealing that whales now control 67% of the entire ADA supply — representing the highest ownership concentration since 2020. He established $10 as his extended price target, suggesting that large holders are systematically accumulating while smaller investors exit positions.

$10 $ADA Is My Long Term Target, And Whales Are Quietly Making The Case For Me

67% Of All #CARDANO Is Now In Whale Hands, Highest Since 2020. They Stack The Bottom While Retail Rage Quits.

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NFA & DYOR pic.twitter.com/uTxAhdUPfp

— Crypto Patel (@CryptoPatel) May 18, 2026

Major Futures Index to Feature Cardano

CME Group alongside Nasdaq will introduce a comprehensive cryptocurrency index futures product on June 8. This index will encompass Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, Cardano, Chainlink, and Stellar within a single contract utilizing market capitalization weighting.

Market commentator Mintern emphasized this development as an avenue for institutional investors and hedge funds to access diversified cryptocurrency exposure through a single regulated financial instrument. Cardano’s selection positions it among the premier digital assets selected for this institutional offering.

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Cardano additionally generated attention this week regarding network security initiatives. Charles Hoskinson detailed the blockchain’s proactive strategy for addressing potential quantum computing vulnerabilities, characterizing it as preventive preparation rather than reactive crisis management.

Quantum Security Initiative Moves Forward

Hoskinson revealed that the Cardano community is currently participating in governance voting on a comprehensive quantum security framework. A detailed research document is anticipated next week, outlining migration pathways and cryptographic implementation standards.

He positioned the initiative as a governance exercise, emphasizing that Cardano’s established hard fork mechanisms could facilitate a methodical transition without abrupt network disruption. “The quantum threat is like an asteroid coming towards Earth,” Hoskinson remarked.

Hoskinson mentioned that Cardano might adopt elements from Bitcoin’s BIP-361 framework, which proposes a gradual migration toward quantum-resistant address structures. He emphasized that governance mechanisms exist specifically to manage coordination challenges of this magnitude.

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ADA fluctuated within the $0.258–$0.28 price corridor during intraday trading. The blockchain’s upcoming direction will hinge on the governance vote results and specifications within the forthcoming research document.

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