Strive Bitcoin treasury holdings reached 16,500 BTC after an $85.4 million buy that leapfrogged both Coinbase and Riot Platforms.

Strive, Inc. disclosed via an 8-K filing on May 26 that it purchased 1,109 Bitcoin (BTC) between May 19 and May 22 for approximately $85.4 million at an average cost of around $76,988 per coin.

The acquisition brings Strive’s total Bitcoin holdings to 16,500 BTC, pushing the company ahead of Coinbase and Riot Platforms in the public corporate Bitcoin holder rankings.

“Strive acquired an additional 1,109 BTC for ~$85.4 million at an average cost of ~$76,988 per bitcoin,” CEO Matt Cole posted on X alongside an internal snapshot of the company’s performance metrics.

How Strive climbed to seventh place among public Bitcoin holders

The $85.4 million purchase follows earlier May acquisitions of 382 BTC for $30 million on May 18 and 444 BTC for $33.9 million in early May. Strive completed its acquisition of Semler Scientific in January 2026, entering that transaction with 12,798 BTC and ranking eleventh among public corporate holders. It has since added more than 3,700 BTC to climb to seventh.

Strive funds Bitcoin accumulation primarily through at-the-market equity sales and its Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Preferred Stock instrument, the SATA shares, which carry a 13% annual dividend.

The SATA offering raised more than $225 million in an oversubscribed January 2026 round that attracted over $600 million in demand, providing a sustained capital base for continued purchases.

The company reported a year-to-date Bitcoin yield of 23.4%, a quarter-to-date yield of 11.0%, and an amplification ratio of 45.2%. Strive defines Bitcoin yield as the percentage change in Bitcoin per share outstanding, its primary performance metric against a Bitcoin benchmark.

Crypto.news has reported on Strategy CEO Michael Saylor saying a Bitcoin sale is “not unlikely” before year-end, providing context for how corporate Bitcoin treasury strategies are diverging as holdings mature.

What Strive’s position signals about the corporate Bitcoin accumulation landscape

Strive’s 16,500 BTC places it just above Coinbase’s 16,492 BTC and well above Riot’s 15,680 BTC. Strategy remains the dominant corporate holder by a wide margin with 818,334 BTC.

The gap between Strategy and the next-largest holders illustrates how concentrated the corporate Bitcoin (BTC) accumulation story remains, with a handful of firms accounting for the overwhelming majority of publicly held BTC.

Crypto.news has covered MARA Holdings selling $1.5 billion in Bitcoin to fund its AI infrastructure pivot, a contrasting approach to Strive’s pure accumulation model.

Hyperliquid has added validator-settled outcome markets for offchain events under its HIP-4 upgrade, expanding its trading system beyond perpetual futures into prediction markets.

Hyperliquid said the new markets will be published through automated newsfeed software that validators run as part of normal chain operations. The exchange said validators will vote on which canonical markets are deployed and how those markets are settled after the event ends.

The system gives Hyperliquid validators a role that other prediction market platforms usually assign to a separate oracle service or an internal settlement process. Hyperliquid said validators will assess market rules, correctness, and market quality before deployment and during settlement.

“Validators vote on deployment and settlement of canonical markets based on a variety of factors, including unambiguous rules, correctness, and subjective quality of the market,” the team said.

Hyperliquid uses Validators for event resolution

Under the HIP-4 design, market resolution happens inside Hyperliquid’s own network. Validators act as the source for settling real-world events, rather than sending disputes or settlement decisions to an outside system.

Hyperliquid developer Yaugourt said on X, “Hyperliquid just removed the need for external oracles on prediction markets. The validator set itself is now the oracle.” In the same post, Yaugourt said Hyperliquid had made real-world event resolution “a native chain function.”

The model differs from Polymarket and Kalshi. Polymarket uses UMA’s Optimistic Oracle, where users can propose outcomes and dispute them through a separate protocol layer. Kalshi, which operates as a regulated exchange, handles settlement through its own exchange framework under regulatory oversight.

For Hyperliquid, the “canonical” label refers to markets vetted and settled by validators. The exchange’s announcements said validators consider whether market rules are clear and whether the market meets quality standards before it becomes part of the official outcome market system.

HIP-4 brings fully collateralized Prediction markets

Hyperliquid said outcome markets went live on mainnet on May 2 through an initial release with limited features. The HIP-4 upgrade extends the exchange’s product range from perpetual futures to event contracts tied to real-world outcomes.

According to Hyperliquid, these outcome contracts are fully collateralized. They settle within a fixed range and do not involve leverage or liquidations. The exchange said this structure separates them from perpetual futures while keeping them within the same trading environment.

On Monday, Hyperliquid launched its first off-chain event market, titled “May CPI year-over-year.” According to its trading page, the market had recorded $11,268 in volume.

The first market shows how the exchange plans to use HIP-4 for public events that happen outside blockchain networks. Economic data releases, such as inflation figures, are one category of events that can be priced by traders before final settlement.

Shared collateral adds trading desk use case

The new market format also gives Hyperliquid users a way to hold event market positions and perpetual contracts in one account. A single account can use shared collateral across different types of positions on the platform.

Sunny Shi, an investor at Syncracy Capital, said, “Sophisticated traders will be able to take advantage of portfolio margin and figure out ways to generate alpha from these two different market types.”

The structure may be relevant for trading desks that compare capital use across standalone prediction markets and derivative venues. Hyperliquid’s setup keeps outcome markets inside the same exchange system that already supports perpetual futures trading.

Several Bitcoin mining stocks rallied Tuesday, reflecting a broader equity surge driven by optimism around artificial intelligence productivity gains as more miners pivot toward AI and high-performance computing workloads.

In addition to TeraWulf (WULF), which rallied by as much as 17% on news of a Kentucky data center acquisition site, Hut 8 (HUT), IREN (IREN) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) closed more than 5% higher on the day.

The rally underscores growing investor enthusiasm for Bitcoin miners that are repurposing parts of their energy infrastructure and data center capacity to support AI and high-performance computing applications — businesses viewed as potentially more stable and lucrative than crypto mining alone.

The gains came as the S&P 500 index hit fresh record highs above 7,500, led by a sharp rally in information technology and semiconductor stocks.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which tracks the performance of major US chipmakers and semiconductor companies, surged 5.6% on Tuesday and is now up nearly 77% this year. 

Year-to-date returns for the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX).
Source: Yahoo Finance

The semiconductor boom has also boosted sentiment around Bitcoin miners expanding into AI infrastructure, given their access to large-scale power capacity and data center operations needed to support high-performance computing.

Related: The real ‘supercycle’ isn’t crypto, it’s AI infrastructure: Analyst

Bitcoin miners emerge as AI infrastructure players

The link between Bitcoin miners and the AI infrastructure buildout is becoming increasingly pronounced as miners leverage their large-scale power access and data center expertise to support high-performance computing workloads.

Recent research from Bernstein found that 11 publicly traded Bitcoin miners control a current and projected power portfolio of roughly 27 gigawatts — a resource analysts believe could become critical as demand for AI data centers accelerates.

11 public Bitcoin miners have a planned power portfolio of roughly 27 gigawatts. Source: Bernstein

The report posited that access to reliable electricity, rather than semiconductors alone, is emerging as the primary bottleneck for scaling AI infrastructure. That dynamic positions Bitcoin miners as strategic partners for hyperscalers and AI companies seeking ready-made power capacity and operational infrastructure.

In a separate note, Bernstein analysts said the shift is already evident among large-scale miners, citing IREN as an example of a company increasingly pivoting away from Bitcoin mining toward AI infrastructure. The firm pointed to IREN’s recent agreement with Microsoft, which Bernstein estimates could support an annualized revenue run rate of roughly $3.7 billion for the company’s AI cloud infrastructure business.

Related: CoreWeave’s $8.5B loan shows how AI is replacing crypto mining finance

U.S. President Donald Trump said it was “critically important” that the CFTC keep “exclusive authority” over prediction markets, echoing CFTC Chair Michael Selig in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform, late Tuesday afternoon.

“Under my leadership, we are setting ‘rules of the road’ that are the Gold Standard for the States,” he posted. “We cannot have SCUM like Chris Christie, Letitia James, Tim Walz, and JB Pritzker setting the rules!”

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has defended states’ authority to regulate gambling products, which he likened to prediction markets, on various occasions.

New York Attorney General Letitia James filed lawsuits similarly alleging that some prediction markets are violating state gambling laws; Illinois, headed by Governor J.B. Pritzker, sent a cease-and-desist; and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz last week signed a law enforcing criminal penalties for operating prediction markets.

The CFTC, led by Selig as the sole commissioner on the agency, has filed lawsuits and amicus briefs against various states, including the ones tied to the officials mentioned by Trump, defending its jurisdiction over prediction markets.

At the heart of the legal dispute is the question of whether prediction market contracts tied to sports and entertainment are really just gambling products dressed up as a novel financial instrument. The CFTC has taken the position that all prediction market contracts offered by regulated designated contracts markets (DCMs) fall under its jurisdiction, and that states do not have the right to infringe on that.

States, meanwhile, have taken the position that these contracts are actually gambling, and therefore should be supervised by state gaming regulators or banned entirely in states that don’t allow such products.

Court cases have gone up to the federal appellate court level, and the issue is likely to appear before the U.S. Supreme Court at some point.

Beyond states

“Other Countries are after this new form of Financial Market, and we want to remain at the top,” Trump’s post continued.

A number of countries have recently banned prediction markets from operating within their borders, including Indonesia, Spain and India in the past week.

The U.S. government is also probing prediction markets, with a House of Representatives committee investigation being confirmed last week.

Over the weekend, The New York Times reported that the CFTC, under former Acting Chairman Caroline Pham, sidelined officials at the agency who raised concerns about approving crypto and other companies — specifically with ties to Trump’s family businesses — that had applied for DCM approvals.

Neither the CFTC nor a spokesperson for Moonpay, Pham’s current firm, immediately returned a request for comment on the article.

Trump’s family has ties to various prediction market providers, with Donald Trump Jr., one of the president’s sons, acting as an adviser to both Polymarket and Kalshi. Gemini, the crypto exchange launched by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, both public Trump supporters, also launched a prediction market platform and filed to self-certify parlay-type contracts late last week.

Trump also referred to his campaign trail pledge to make the U.S. the “crypto capital” in his post on Wednesday.

“Likewise, and even more importantly, where we are currently the Crypto (Bitcoin, etc.) Capital of the World, other Countries are trying diligently to replace us in that capacity, but we won’t let that happen,” he posted.

UPDATE (May 26, 2026, 21:56 UTC): Adds links throughout.

Near Protocol’s native token, NEAR, has the potential to grow 20x by 2027, according to Arthur Hayes, co-founder of the crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX.

Key takeaways:

• Hayes said NEAR Intents could make privacy coins like Zcash more usable across blockchains without bridges or multiple wallets.
• NEAR has surged more than 90% since Hayes publicly highlighted the token alongside ZEC and HYPE in May.

NEAR makes privacy coins like ZEC usable: Hayes

Speaking on The Rollup podcast, Hayes said NEAR’s bullish case rests on NEAR Intents, a feature that lets AI agents move assets privately across blockchains without dealing with bridges, multiple wallets or fragmented liquidity.

The same infrastructure also supports NEAR’s broader AI-agent thesis, where autonomous apps can execute payments and trades on-chain.

Hayes linked NEAR’s upside to Zcash (ZEC), the privacy-focused cryptocurrency that has rallied more than 1,000% over the past year and revived investor interest in private money.

ZEC/USD daily chart. Source: TradingView

He said Near Protocol could become the next major beneficiary of that trend because it helps make private tokens like ZEC usable beyond a single blockchain, allowing users to move value across the broader crypto economy.

“I can now send any crypto asset I want to anyone across the internet in an anonymous way from shielded Zcash using Near Intents,” Hayes said, adding:

“I think NEAR has a 20x potential, where you know Zcash might have a 5x potential over the next year.”

Hayes’ NEAR calls echo his Zcash rally playbook

Hayes’ remarks add to a string of bullish NEAR endorsements from Hayes.

In a May 11 essay, Hayes explicitly positioned NEAR as one of his top speculative bets alongside ZEC and Hyperliquid’s native token, HYPE.

He reinforced that view in a May 22 post earlier this week, calling HYPE, ZEC and NEAR “the holy trinity.”

NEAR’s price has grown by over 90% since Hayes began publicly highlighting the token, as shown below.

NEAR/USD four-hour chart. Source: TradingView

Hayes’ endorsements have historically attracted significant attention from traders, as evidenced by his 2025 Zcash posts.

Related: Zcash is ‘running its own bull market’ as ZEC price paints 88% rally setup

In October 2025, Hayes’ bullish commentary, including “ZEC to $10k” and naming it a core holding, acted as a major upside catalyst. ZEC delivered over 350% gains in the following weeks.

ZEC/USD daily chart. Source: TradingView

NEAR fractal hints at 35% rally next

NEAR’s current breakout is starting to resemble its 2023–2024 recovery setup, when it bounced from the $0.91–$0.99 range before rallying by about 250%.

For instance, in 2026, NEAR has rebounded from the same $0.91–$0.99 bounce zone, while its daily relative strength index (RSI) has surged to around 88, showing aggressive buying pressure.

The token has also formed a golden cross, a bullish signal where the shorter-term moving average rises above the longer-term one.

In NEAR’s case, the 50-day exponential moving average (50-day EMA, the red line) at around $1.646 has been moving above the 200-day EMA (the blue line) at around $1.647.

Traders often view this as an early sign that a downtrend may be turning into a sustained uptrend.

The first major upside target sits near $3.38–$4.00, a former support zone that may now act as resistance. The $4 target sits roughly 35% above current prices and could become NEAR’s next test if the breakout holds.

A decisive move above $4.00 would strengthen the 2023–2024 fractal and open the door to a 250% rally toward the $9–$10 area in 2026.

Conversely, failure to reclaim the $3.38–$4.00 zone may lead to a sharp bearish reversal toward the 50- and 200-day EMAs. That would amount to roughly 45% downside from current levels.

Bitcoin (BTC) saw flash volatility around Tuesday’s Wall Street open as US-Iran nerves rocked risk assets.

Key points:

• Bitcoin briefly taps $78,000 as volatility returns to markets at the Wall Street open.
• US stocks hit new all-time highs, while crypto continues to underperform.
• Positive funding rates spark fresh warnings over Bitcoin’s immediate outlook.

Bitcoin neutralizes longs and shorts in volatile moves

Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting $78,000 — its highest since Thursday — before abruptly heading lower.

BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

In doing so, the pair liquidated both short and long positions, with the 24-hour total at $66 million, per CoinGlass.

BTC liquidation history (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

Macro events once again drove the market, with US strikes on Iran calling the latest peace deal attempt into question.

WTI crude oil headed toward $95 per barrel, while US stock markets again shook off the concerns, hitting new all-time highs and continuing a trend of strength seen last week.

CFDs on WTI crude oil one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Commenting, trading resource Material Indicators said that BTC price action “remains driven by liquidation hunts.”

“Purple Whales are not suddenly flipping macro bullish for fundamental reasons – they are swing trading the range in low timeframes,” it explained in a post on X alongside a chart of Binance order-book liquidity. 

“The bid liquidity at ~$75.5k is attempting to protect key support at the 21 WMA.”

BTC/USDT order-book liquidity data. Source: Material Indicators/X

Material Indicators referenced Bitcoin’s 21-week simple moving average at $75,800, one of several nearby trend lines on the radar.

Continuing on the topic, trader Daan Crypto Trades noted that the “biggest” cluster of liquidity below price was at $74,000.

BTC liquidation heatmap. Source: CoinGlass

Funding rates see “sharp reversal” versus April

In a potential warning to bulls, onchain analytics platform Glassnode drew attention to rising funding rates on the day.

Related: Here’s what happened in crypto today

Previously negative, these were now “decisively positive,” it reported, as BTC long interest increased.

“The move marks a sharp reversal from April’s heavily short-biased positioning,” Glassnode told X followers.

Bitcoin futures funding rates. Source: Glassnode/X

Overall trading activity, however, remained comparatively modest, crypto analytics resource K33 Research noted.

“Bitcoin has spent the past week consolidating and trading broadly flat, while activity across crypto markets remains muted. Weekly spot volumes are approaching yearly lows, derivatives activity continues to decline across both CME and offshore venues, and open interest has largely stagnated,” head of research Vetle Lunde wrote in its latest Ahead of the Curve update. 

“At the same time, realized and implied volatility have drifted toward historically low levels, reinforcing a broader wait-and-see environment with subdued participation and limited market conviction.”

Bitcoin historical volatility (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

Former New York Fed chief Bill Dudley has warned that the Federal Reserve risks losing its credibility as an inflation fighter after more than five years of missing its 2% target, just as new Fed Chair Christopher Waller is trying to convince markets he can still anchor expectations.

According to coverage of Dudley’s recent remarks, the former New York Fed president said the “most remarkable thing about the last five years” is that inflation has consistently run above target, yet the Fed has behaved as though it has already done enough and can safely talk about cuts. In an earlier column and subsequent interviews, Dudley argued that the neutral interest rate, or r*, is “a lot higher than the Fed recognizes,” which means real policy is not as tight as officials like to claim and that the central bank has “not been doing enough to fight inflation.”

Dudley’s core warning is about expectations rather than backward‑looking data. He has repeatedly cautioned that if Fed officials allow inflation to sit above 2% for an extended period, households and markets will start to assume 3–5% is the new normal, making it much harder to bring inflation down without imposing a severe recession later. That concern is echoed in broader research on the Fed’s credibility: one RSM analysis noted that one‑year ahead expectations measured by the New York Fed had risen to around 3.2%, versus a five‑year, five‑year forward breakeven near 2.34%, a gap that suggests short‑term confidence in the 2% target has already eroded.

Waller inherits a credibility problem, not just an inflation problem

Dudley’s comments land awkwardly for Christopher Waller, who took over the Fed chair role with a reputation as one of the first officials willing to talk about cuts—only to reverse course as inflation stayed sticky. In a speech in Germany this month, Waller said he can “no longer rule out” voting to raise interest rates again if inflation does not slow, adding that he “would not hesitate” to support a hike if measures of inflation expectations show signs of becoming unanchored.

Those lines read almost like a direct response to Dudley’s critique. Dudley and other former officials have warned that cutting too quickly, or leaning on alternative inflation measures to claim victory, would only convince markets the Fed is looking for excuses, undermining its credibility rather than restoring it. One recent commentary noted that using “trimmed mean” or “supercore” metrics to declare the 2% goal achieved “would risk undermining the central bank’s credibility,” especially after years of missing the headline target.

The deeper issue is that the Fed has managed to irritate both sides of the debate. Critics like Dudley and Kevin Warsh say the central bank is underestimating neutral rates and letting inflation fester, risking a future where expectations slip and a harsher tightening cycle is needed. Others, writing in venues like Forbes, argue the entire idea of the Fed as an “inflation fighter” is a mythology rooted in Phillips Curve thinking, and that the central bank plays at best a peripheral role in actual inflation dynamics.

Why the “inflation fighter” brand matters now