Global cross-asset marketplace LMAX Group has launched Kiosk, a hosted portal that lets institutional clients deposit digital assets into LMAX Custody and use them as collateral to trade across its FX, metals, derivatives and crypto markets.

The product allows clients to post digital assets as collateral for spot foreign exchange, precious metals, contracts for difference, perpetual futures and digital assets, the company said Tuesday.

Kiosk includes tools for deposits, withdrawals, API credential management, WalletConnect, security controls and treasury management, according to LMAX.

The launch is part of LMAX’s broader push to connect traditional and digital markets by allowing crypto holdings to support trading activity across multiple asset classes.

“Hyper-efficient collateral will be the foundation of modern, converged capital markets,” said David Mercer, CEO at LMAX Group, adding that the new platform offers a compliant way for institutions to “integrate digital assets into their core trading infrastructure.”

The new platform is part of a broader trend to build more onchain collateral assets, following similar initiatives from institutions such as the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and Franklin Templeton. 

LMAX Digital cryptocurrency platform. Source: Lmaxdigital.com

Institutions are experimenting with onchain collateral

Some of the largest financial institutions are experimenting with tokenized securities and onchain collateral assets.

Earlier in February, investment manager Franklin Templeton announced the launch of an institutional collateral program with crypto exchange Binance, which lets clients use tokenized money market fund (MMF) shares as collateral for trading activity, while the underlying assets remain in regulated custody, Cointelegraph reported.

Franklin Templeton said the model was designed to let institutions earn yield on regulated money market fund holdings while using the same assets to support digital asset trading, without giving up existing custody.

Related: Capital B raises $17.8M to expand its Bitcoin treasury

On May 4, the DTCC announced plans to launch a pilot for trading tokenized securities in July, aiming for the full launch of the service in October, Cointelegraph reported. DTCC said the service will offer tokenized real-world assets with the same investor protections and ownership rights as the assets held in traditional form.

Magazine: Strategy reveals why they would sell BTC, Trump Media posts loss: Hodler’s Digest, May 3 – 9

TLDR

• SparkLend increased its wBTC deposit cap from 3,000 to 30,000, effective May 11, 2026.
• The previous 3,000 wBTC limit was reached shortly after the asset was listed on March 31, 2026.
• SparkLend uses an automated system that raises the cap by 500 wBTC every 12 hours.
• The protocol will take about 27 days to scale the limit fully to 30,000 wBTC.
• SparkLend reported total value locked of approximately $3.55 billion in May 2026.

SparkLend has lifted its Wrapped Bitcoin deposit cap from 3,000 to 30,000 wBTC, effective May 11, 2026. The DeFi lending protocol operates within the MakerDAO ecosystem and confirmed the update after reaching the previous ceiling. The change expands borrowing capacity and increases available liquidity for Bitcoin-backed positions on the platform.

SparkLend and wBTC: Deposit Ceiling Expands Tenfold

SparkLend listed wBTC on March 31, 2026, and users filled the 3,000 wBTC cap within weeks. The protocol was then approved for a tenfold increase to meet sustained demand. The new limit sets the maximum deposit level at 30,000 wBTC.

The platform uses a cap automator to adjust limits in scheduled increments. It increases the ceiling by 500 wBTC every 12 hours. At that pace, the system will require about 27 days to reach the full 30,000 wBTC threshold.

SparkLend confirmed the update took effect on May 11, 2026. The protocol stated that the automated process will continue until it reaches the new cap. The system does not raise the full amount at once but follows programmed intervals.

The protocol reported total value locked of about $3.55 billion in May 2026. Reports showed TVL reached $3.6 billion in April 2026. The figures reflect on-chain data tracked across supported assets.

Bitcoin-Linked Assets Shape Platform Growth

SparkLend also supports cbBTC and LBTC as Bitcoin-linked collateral options. These assets allow users to access decentralized borrowing across different networks. The protocol integrates them to expand liquidity sources tied to Bitcoin.

The expansion of the wBTC cap removes previous access limits for new depositors. Before the change, users could not deposit once the 3,000 wBTC ceiling was reached. The revised structure now permits additional participation over time.

wBTC maintains a 1:1 peg with Bitcoin through custodial backing. The asset depends on reserve transparency and operational integrity. Any disruption in that structure can affect protocols that hold wBTC.

Sharp Bitcoin price declines can trigger loan liquidations tied to wBTC collateral. Liquidations can increase selling pressure on underlying assets. This mechanism remains standard across decentralized lending platforms.

SparkLend stated that support for cbBTC and LBTC spreads exposure across Bitcoin-linked instruments. The protocol continues to operate within MakerDAO’s framework. The cap expansion process remains active as of May 2026.

Osero, a stablecoin yield infrastructure project incubated by Stablewatch and Soter Labs, raised $13.5 million in a round led by the Sky Ecosystem and co-led by Plasma.

The round included angel investors representing USDT0, Maple, Accountable, Four Pillars, RedStone, The Rollup and Kairos Research, according to an announcement.

Stablecoins have grown to more than $300 billion, according to DeFiLlama data. Most yield from the assets backing those stablecoins still goes to issuers like Circle and Tether, leaving holders with no direct return and fintech firms with limited ways to offer stablecoin savings products without managing assets themselves.

Osero is launching three products. Osero Earn which lets wallets, neobanks, custodians and exchanges embed the Sky Savings Rate into their own interfaces. Osero App, which gives users direct access to the rate across chains, and Osero Foundry, which gives asset managers and structured product issuers a way to bring yield products onchain.

Osero Earn is meant to be integrated with roughly 10 lines of code, according to the company. The product routes deposits into the Sky Savings Rate while Osero handles the underlying asset-management, routing and risk infrastructure.

Osero Foundry will provide up to $2.5 billion in allocation capacity for anchor funding, swap liquidity and lending liquidity. Each deployment will go through a Basel III-inspired risk review, Osero said.

The $13.5 million raise will fund capital requirements for Osero’s first Foundry allocations. The capital will be used to underwrite the first cohort of deployments under the risk framework used for the Sky Protocol’s assessment process.

Sky, formerly MakerDAO, has been expanding the balance sheet and distribution network around USDS and sUSDS. Sky received a B- rating from S&P last year, in the first credit rating assigned by the agency to a DeFi protocol.

Sky-backed projects have also pushed into yield-bearing real-world asset products. Obex said in March it was spreading $1 billion across credit, energy and AI assets to expand stablecoin yield.

Plasma, which co-led the round, is building a stablecoin-focused blockchain. Its token sale drew $373 million last year in an oversubscribed sale.

Ethereum’s new ERC‑7730 Clear Signing standard replaces hex gibberish in wallet prompts with human‑readable, auditable transaction summaries to slash phishing and blind signing losses.

The Ethereum Foundation’s Clear Signing working group has published a new open standard designed to replace the cryptic, machine-readable hex data that wallets currently display when users are asked to approve a transaction, according to an official Ethereum Foundation blog post. Built on the ERC-7730 specification, Clear Signing standardizes how transaction intent is described, displayed and verified across wallets, aiming to give users a plain-language summary of what will actually happen on-chain before they click approve.

ERC-7730 and the end of unreadable transaction prompts

The problem Clear Signing addresses is one of crypto’s oldest and most exploited UX failures. When a user interacts with a smart contract — whether approving a token spend, listing an NFT, or authorizing a DeFi position — most wallets today display raw calldata or a partial ABI decode that is unreadable to anyone who is not a developer. That gap between what the screen shows and what the transaction actually does is the core mechanic behind a significant portion of phishing attacks, where malicious dApps present a benign-looking interface while the underlying transaction drains a wallet. Ledger, which co-developed ERC-7730 alongside the Ethereum Foundation working group, has described the standard as a direct response to that attack surface, noting that “blind signing” has been one of the top two causes of significant user losses in hardware wallet incidents.

Clear Signing’s architecture has three components. First, a unified JSON-based description format tied to ERC-7730 that dApp developers use to annotate their contracts with human-readable explanations of each function call and parameter. Second, a public registry where those descriptions are stored, versioned and linked to deployed contract addresses so wallets can pull the relevant metadata at signing time. Third, an independent verification and auditing layer where third parties can review and attest to the accuracy of a contract’s descriptions, creating a trust chain between the dApp developer’s intent and what the wallet ultimately displays.

WYSIWYS: what changes for users and what stays the same

The standard is explicitly designed to be non-breaking. Clear Signing does not alter how transactions are structured, broadcast or settled on-chain, meaning existing smart contracts, Layer 2 networks and DeFi protocols require no changes to benefit from it. The improvement is entirely in the wallet presentation layer: instead of showing a raw hex string or a partial parameter dump, a Clear Signing-compatible wallet will display something like “Approve Uniswap to spend up to 500 USDC from your wallet” or “List CryptoPunk #4156 for sale at 40 ETH on OpenSea” — a precise, audited, human-readable description derived from the ERC-7730 registry entry for that contract.

For the broader Ethereum security ecosystem, Clear Signing arrives at a moment when wallet-level phishing and approval scams remain the dominant attack vector for retail users even as protocol-level exploits become harder to execute on mature, audited contracts. A recent crypto.news story on the CoW DAO domain hijacking incident — where attackers redirected users to a phishing site for 4.5 hours and induced them to sign malicious transactions — illustrated precisely the failure mode Clear Signing is designed to mitigate: users who could read what they were signing would have had a much better chance of catching the anomaly before approving the drain. In parallel, a crypto.news story on Ethereum’s Glamsterdam devnet progress detailed how the Foundation is simultaneously advancing execution-layer upgrades and leadership restructuring, with Clear Signing fitting into a broader push to make Ethereum safer and more accessible at every layer of the stack without waiting for protocol-level changes to propagate. As a crypto.news story on AI-enabled crypto fraud noted, Binance’s own security data shows 22.9 million phishing attempts intercepted in Q1 2026 alone — a volume that underscores why making transaction approval legible to ordinary users is no longer a UX nicety but a security imperative.

TLDR

• Ambiq Micro shares soared 30% to reach $59.51 following first-quarter revenue of $25.1 million, representing a 59% year-over-year increase and surpassing the $21.5 million analyst forecast.
• The company’s adjusted loss per share of 25 cents outperformed Wall Street’s consensus projection of a 36-cent loss.
• Edge AI demand fueled growth, with over 80% of shipped units in the quarter executing AI algorithms.
• Second-quarter revenue guidance of $31–$32 million significantly exceeded the $25.7 million analyst consensus.
• AMBQ’s performance contrasted sharply with the broader semiconductor sector, as the iShares Semiconductor ETF dropped 5.8%.

Shares of Ambiq Micro (AMBQ) rocketed 30% higher to $59.51 during Tuesday’s trading session after the Texas-headquartered semiconductor company reported first-quarter financial results that substantially exceeded Wall Street projections across key metrics.

Ambiq Micro, Inc., AMBQ

The company recorded first-quarter revenue of $25.1 million, marking a 59% increase compared to the prior-year period. This figure significantly outpaced the $21.5 million analyst consensus. On a per-share basis, the adjusted loss narrowed to 25 cents, representing an improvement from the 38-cent loss posted in the year-ago quarter and beating the Street’s expectation of a 36-cent deficit.

Since making its public debut last July at an initial offering price of $24 per share, AMBQ stock has more than doubled in value.

Chief Executive Officer Fumihide Esaka highlighted the company’s “exceptional momentum” during the first quarter, attributing the performance to “accelerating demand for edge AI capabilities.” The company specializes in chips engineered to execute AI processes locally on devices rather than depending on cloud-based infrastructure.

Ambiq’s semiconductor solutions are deployed across various applications including smart watches, industrial sensors, portable gaming devices, and connected home products. More than 80% of the units the company shipped during the first quarter were equipped to run AI algorithms.

Second-Quarter Outlook Exceeds Projections

Looking ahead to the current quarter, Ambiq projected net sales ranging from $31 million to $32 million. This forecast substantially surpassed Wall Street’s consensus estimate of $25.7 million.

The chipmaker remains unprofitable at current revenue levels. During the earnings conference call, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Winzeler indicated that quarterly revenue would need to reach approximately $47 million for the company to achieve breakeven status.

Winzeler expressed optimism that the company could attain this milestone by mid-2028, with a possibility of reaching it as soon as late 2027.

The company’s SPOT platform — featuring ultra-low-power chip architecture — serves as the foundation for its edge AI push. Management emphasized plans to broaden the technology’s application across additional form factors, customer segments, and market verticals.

Esaka cited “established technology leadership, positive demand trends, and a robust product roadmap” as key factors supporting his confidence in sustained growth momentum.

Outperformance Amid Semiconductor Sector Weakness

Ambiq’s impressive quarterly results provided a stark contrast to the broader semiconductor industry’s performance on Tuesday.

The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) tumbled 5.8% during the session, marking its steepest single-day decline since October, based on Dow Jones Market Data.

While the majority of chip stocks traded lower, AMBQ defied the sector-wide weakness by a substantial margin.

The company’s first-quarter non-GAAP loss per share of 25 cents compared favorably to the consensus projection of a 36-cent loss. Top-line revenue of $25.1 million exceeded analyst expectations of $21.49 million.

Ambiq’s second-quarter revenue outlook of $31–$32 million signals ongoing sequential expansion as the company progresses toward its profitability objective.

Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), Bhutan’s Special Administrative Region for economic development, has introduced an accelerated licensing pathway for companies already regulated in leading global financial centres, including Singapore, Abu Dhabi Global Market, and Hong Kong.

Announced on 12 May, the initiative is designed to allow qualified firms to move from application to full operational readiness in a significantly shorter timeframe by combining expedited regulatory review with immediate access to banking infrastructure.

GMC said the new framework enables firms to incorporate, receive regulatory approval, open a corporate bank account, and begin operations through a single, coordinated process, removing delays often associated with entering new markets.

Accelerated licensing pathway for established firms

Under the new framework, companies that already hold licences in established financial centres such as Singapore, ADGM, and Hong Kong will be eligible for accelerated review, reflecting their existing regulatory standing.

GMC said the approach is intended to reduce duplication, maintain high standards, and help credible firms expand internationally with greater speed and certainty.

“GMC is designed to remove friction from the system. If a company has already demonstrated credibility in leading jurisdictions, we recognize that – and enable them to move faster,” said Jigdrel Singay, Board Member and Digital Assets & Fintech Lead, Gelephu Mindfulness City.

This accelerated pathway, combined with immediate access to banking, fundamentally changes the setup experience. Companies don’t just get approved – they get operational. Our goal is to create a trusted platform for digital assets and financial innovation, where regulation, infrastructure, and execution are aligned from the outset.

GMC said the integrated setup differs from most jurisdictions, where licensing and banking are typically separate and sequential processes, often resulting in months of delay even after regulatory approval.

Banking access integrated through DK Bank

As part of the framework, companies establishing a licence in GMC are guaranteed a corporate bank account with DK Bank, which GMC said removes one of the most common barriers to becoming operational.

The bank said it is designed to support globally active financial and digital asset companies from day one, offering multi-currency accounts across nine major currencies — USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, JPY, SGD, INR, HKD, and BTN — to support international operations.

DK Bank also offers digital asset financial services, including BTC-backed lending and asset swap capabilities, as well as integrated on- and off-ramps for digital assets.

GMC companies will also receive preferential banking terms, including fully waived banking fees for at least the first six months and discounted pricing thereafter.

“In most financial centres, getting licensed is only half the battle – getting a bank account is where companies get stuck,” said Yu Dong Zheng, CEO, DK Bank.

We’ve removed that bottleneck. At DK Bank, companies setting up in GMC can operate from day one, with banking built into the process. Our ambition is simple: to be the most Web3- and fintech-friendly bank in the world.

Tax incentives and institutional framework

GMC said the accelerated pathway is supported by a broader tax and regulatory framework designed to support real business activity, capital formation, and long-term investment.

The city highlighted targeted incentives for priority sectors, including 0% corporate tax depending on company investment levels, a territorial tax system aligned with Singapore and Hong Kong, and no capital gains, dividend, or inheritance tax.

Foreign talent tax exemptions will remain in place through 2030, while double taxation agreements are already in place and expanding, including with Singapore.

Beyond tax, GMC said it offers institutional infrastructure including Variable Capital Company (VCC) structures based on Singapore models, an International Dispute Resolution Centre (IDRC), common law frameworks inspired by Singapore with ADGM regulatory principles, and streamlined company and family office setup processes.

Industry participants also endorsed the initiative.

“The licensing process in GMC reflects a forward-thinking approach to digital assets, one that balances innovation with responsibility. As a custodian, we value jurisdictions that regulate and genuinely understand the infrastructure and risks behind this industry,” said Ian Loh, CEO, Ceffu.

We see this not just as a license, but as a partnership in shaping the future of digital finance.

John Ge, Co-Founder & CEO of BIT, added: “What differentiates GMC is the intentional design of the ecosystem and the alignment of regulation, banking, and operational readiness from day one.

The accelerated review process is both fast and pragmatic, with the GFSO demonstrating a clear openness to engage constructively while upholding high standards. This materially reduces execution risk for firms entering a new market.

Key takeaways

• Stellar continues consolidating between its 50-day and 100-day EMAs. 
• CryptoQuant data suggests a neutral-to-bullish outlook for XLM.

On-chain and derivatives data support a mild bullish outlook

Stellar traded cautiously on Tuesday, but improving on-chain activity and derivatives positioning continued to support expectations for a potential upside breakout in both altcoins.

According to CryptoQuant summary data, Stellar reflects buy-side dominance with largely neutral market conditions, pointing to a mild bullish bias despite the lack of a decisive breakout.

CoinGlass data shows the OI-weighted funding rates for XLM flipped positive on Friday and remained positive on Tuesday at 0.0030%, respectively. Positive funding rates indicate that long-position holders are paying shorts, reflecting growing bullish positioning among traders.

Stellar technical outlook: Consolidation continues between key EMAs

The XLM/USD 4-hour chart is bearish and efficient as it is currently trading at $0.164 per coin. It is currently trading between major moving averages as traders await a clearer directional move.

XLM continues to hold above its 50-day EMA near $0.165 but remains below the 100-day EMA at $0.174 and the 200-day EMA around $0.204. Broader descending trendline resistance also continues to cap upside attempts.

Momentum indicators nevertheless show early signs of improvement. The RSI sits near 57, slightly above the neutral midpoint. The MACD line remains marginally above zero, suggesting mild bullish momentum.

If the rally resumes, the bulls would encounter resistance at key levels, including the 100-day EMA at $0.174, the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement at $0.201, and the 200-day EMA just above $0.204.

However, if the bearish trend persists, immediate support would be seen at the 50-day EMA at $0.165. A daily candle close below this level would expose the major support at $0.136.

As long as XLM maintains support above the 50-day EMA, the current consolidation structure could support a gradual recovery attempt. However, a breakdown below $0.136 would likely reopen the broader bearish trend.

Bitcoin (BTC) saw classic volatility ahead of Tuesday’s Wall Street open as a key US inflation gauge hit its highest levels in three years.

Key points:

• US CPI inflation reaches its highest year-on-year levels since 2023.
• Energy prices fuel the rise, with the US-Iran war continuing to make its presence felt.
• Bitcoin traders retain support levels while a 200-day trend line comes in as resistance.

Bitcoin price on edge as CPI beats multiyear records

Data from TradingView showed BTC price action circling $81,000 as risk assets saw fresh headwinds.

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

These came in the form of the April US Consumer Price Index (CPI), which at 3.8% year-on-year put inflation at its highest since 2023.

“The index for energy rose 3.8 percent in April, accounting for over forty percent of the monthly all items increase,” an official news release from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) noted.

The 12-month increase in energy was almost 18%, continuing to show the impact of the US-Iran war and oil-supply squeeze on prices.

“Conversely, the indexes for new vehicles, communication, and medical care were among the major indexes that decreased in April,” the release added.

US CPI 12-month % change. Source: BLS

Reacting, trading resource The Kobeissi Letter observed that the odds of the Federal Reserve pivoting to interest-rate hikes were “surging.”

“We are now experiencing post-pandemic inflation levels amid surging oil prices,” it wrote in a post on X.

Fed target rate probabilities (screenshot). Source: CME Group

The latest data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool showed expectations anchored around current rates staying in place throughout 2026 and next year.

Crypto and risk assets tend to see downside pressure when rate hikes return, thanks to the implied lower liquidity entering the market.

Questions over Bitcoin’s “momentum” at the 200-day trend line

Bitcoin traders, meanwhile, reiterated lines in the sand that bulls should protect in the short term.

Related: BTC price target becomes $85K next: Five things to know in Bitcoin this week

“The 21-MA is a crucial level to look at,” crypto trader and analyst Michaël van de Poppe told X followers on the day, referring to the 21-day simple moving average (SMA) at $78,800. 

“The $76K area is a crucial support zone that I fancy not to be breached, if that happens, we’ll be going substantially lower.”

BTC/USDT one-day chart. Source: Michaël van de Poppe/X

Trading resource Material Indicators flagged problematic resistance in the form of the 200-day SMA near $82,600.

“Bulls appear to be attempting to establish an R/S Flip at $80.7k to build foundational support for another run at breaking the 200-Day SMA,” it summarized. 

“Do bulls have the momentum to succeed?”

BTC/USD one-day chart. Source: Material Indicators/X