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The Kenyan government is seeking to impose a 10% consumption tax on Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) through its 2026 Finance Bill, Cryptopolitan reported. The proposed legislation also requires crypto companies to pay a one-time licensing fee of 150 million Kenyan shillings and an annual renewal fee of two million shillings for local operations. Additionally, the bill includes a requirement for firms to submit annual reports containing user and transaction information.

Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad has refuted a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article on the risks of stablecoins. In a post on X, Shirzad argued that while the WSJ characterized stablecoins as risky "private money," approximately 90% of the U.S. M2 money supply is already privately issued. He contended that the key issue is not whether money is public or private, but whether regulations adequately address the risks, a role he says the GENIUS Act fulfills. Shirzad explained that under the GENIUS Act, issuers would be prohibited from lending, using leverage, or engaging in fractional reserve banking, and must maintain 1:1 reserves with cash and short-term Treasury bonds. He stated that the concerns raised by the WSJ—such as loss of principal, yield-chasing behavior, and undermining the unity of the currency—are all blocked by the bill's design. He also dismissed the WSJ's analogy to the Free Banking Era, noting that unlike the speculative state bonds of that period, the GENIUS Act would require issuers to hold highly liquid assets, maintain segregated custody, redeem at par, and provide monthly attestations.

An anonymous plaintiff named Noah Dora has filed a lawsuit in a New York court claiming ownership of 39,069 dormant Bitcoin wallets, including the address of Satoshi Nakamoto, Cryptopolitan reported. The wallets hold approximately 3.7 million BTC, valued at $290 billion. The plaintiff, who filed the suit through two shell companies established in Wyoming, argues that the Bitcoin constitutes abandoned property under New York's lost property laws.

Selling pressure on Bitcoin is mounting from exchange inflows and spot ETF outflows amid slowing spot demand, according to analysts. On-chain analyst Axel Adler Jr. noted that weekly BTC deposits to exchanges have recently increased by approximately 18,000 BTC, a move he interprets as preparation for selling rather than accumulation, Cointelegraph reported. He added that spot BTC ETFs saw net outflows of around 16,000 BTC over the same period. With institutional capital failing to absorb this supply, risk-off sentiment is growing, creating a combined potential selling pressure of about 34,000 BTC from these two sources, Adler explained. Separately, Glassnode analyst CryptoVizArt pointed out that daily trading volume for spot BTC ETFs has recently fallen below $20 billion, less than half the $50 billion level seen at the end of last year. This signals that speculative buying demand for BTC is weakening and that the market's ability to absorb spot supply has diminished, even during rallies, he said.

Kelp DAO, which previously suffered a $292 million hack, announced it has completed the final stage of its rsETH recovery plan. The project has transferred a final batch of 23,737.72 rsETH to an Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) adapter. In a post on X, Kelp DAO stated that it and Aave have replenished approximately 116,000 rsETH to the OFT adapter over the past two weeks. The project added that since resuming operations, its minting, redemption, and rewards functions are operating normally, and rsETH remains fully collateralized.

According to data from Coinglass, if ETH breaks below $2,009, an estimated $737 million in long positions on major centralized exchanges (CEX) will be liquidated. Conversely, a break above $2,211 would trigger the liquidation of $543 million in short positions.

CoinMarketCap's Altcoin Season Index has risen three points from yesterday to 36. The index measures whether altcoins are outperforming Bitcoin. It is considered an "altcoin season" when 75% of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins and wrapped coins, have performed better than Bitcoin over the past 90 days. A score closer to 100 indicates a stronger altcoin season.

KOSDAQ-listed company Parataxis Ethereum purchased an additional 310 ETH on May 22, Edaily reported. The acquisition increases its total holdings from 8,691 ETH to 9,001 ETH, making it the largest publicly traded holder of Ethereum in Asia.

The address responsible for causing a more than 90% crash in the ESPORTS token has sold an additional 35.13 million ESPORTS, worth $1.5 million, over the past three hours, according to an analysis by Lookonchain. The on-chain analytics firm added that the sell-off is ongoing and that the address had previously dumped 22.73 million ESPORTS for approximately $987,000. Lookonchain raised suspicions of a rug pull following the token dump and subsequent price collapse, which began yesterday evening. In response, ESPORTS token issuer Yuldo Games stated that it is investigating the cause and details of the crash and will announce its findings upon completion. According to CoinMarketCap, ESPORTS is currently trading at $0.04277, down 93.85% over the past 24 hours.

Garrett Jin, founder of the fraudulent cryptocurrency exchange BitForex, purchased an additional 184,182 HYPE, valued at $11 million, today, Onchain Lens reported. Jin is also reportedly maintaining a $38.98 million long position in BTC with 5x leverage, entered at an average price of $77,394. Additionally, he holds a $37.63 million long position in ZEC with 3x leverage, with an average entry price of $626.

Ondo Finance (ONDO), a platform for tokenizing real-world assets (RWA), has announced the death of its founder, Nathan Allman. In a message of condolence on its official X account, the company stated it was announcing the founder's sudden passing with deep sadness. The statement noted that Allman had helped build a robust organization with experienced leaders to manage all aspects of the business. Ondo Finance affirmed its commitment to continue building on what Allman started, describing it as the most meaningful way to honor him.

Whale Alert reported that 250 million USDC has been minted at the USDC Treasury.

South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index opened at 8070.91, marking a new all-time high.

The Spot CVD chart analyzes the order book for the BTC/USDT spot trading pair. It consists of two main parts: the Volume Heatmap at the top and the Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) at the bottom. - The Volume Heatmap (top) tracks trading volume at specific price levels. The background color brightens in areas where the price lingers or moves significantly, indicating potential support or resistance zones. - The Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) indicator (bottom) shows buy and sell orders categorized by trade size. A rising line indicates an increase in buy orders for that category. For example, the yellow line represents orders between $100 and $1,000, while the brown line tracks large orders between $1 million and $10 million.

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index from data provider CoinMarketCap is at 40, up one point from yesterday, shifting from Fear to Neutral. The index indicates extreme fear as it approaches 0 and extreme optimism as it nears 100. CoinMarketCap's index is calculated based on the price movements of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, market volatility, derivatives market data such as put-call ratios, the Stablecoin Supply Ratio (SSR), and the platform's own search data.

An anonymous whale with an address starting with 0x7be1 has opened a $6.45 million, 10x leveraged long position on NEAR, equivalent to 2.34 million NEAR, over the past ten hours, Lookonchain reported. The same address has also placed an additional buy order for 813,000 NEAR, worth $2 million, at the $2.46 price level.

Prominent Hyperliquid trader James Wynn has declared that the memecoin market is effectively over. In a post on X, Wynn argued that while memecoins will not disappear entirely, the market has become saturated, which will lead to further fragmentation of market capitalizations. He stated that the opportunity to turn a few thousand dollars into millions is now equivalent to winning the lottery. According to Wynn, the current structure more closely resembles a profit model for top participants, and the community has become extremely divided. He concluded that a new meta alone is not enough and that the memecoin market must evolve into a new form.

The U.S. military conducted a self-defense airstrike in southern Iran on May 25, Fox News reported, citing a U.S. Central Command spokesperson.

Investor sentiment in the XRP market has soured considerably, according to an analysis by Santiment. The crypto analytics firm noted that the ratio of positive to negative mentions for XRP is currently around 1.1 to one. Historically, Santiment explained, such conditions have often been followed by an easing of selling pressure, leading to a short-term rebound or price stabilization.

Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal argued on X that the crucial factor for stablecoins is not who issues them but how the associated risks are managed. Comparing stablecoins to private healthcare and transportation systems, he stated that privately issued money is not inherently more dangerous than other private services. According to Grewal, what matters is the effectiveness of risk management and regulatory oversight, adding that the U.S. CLARITY Act provides the necessary framework for this.

Near Protocol (NEAR) is rallying on the success of its cross-chain trading system, NEAR Intents, CoinDesk reported. The outlet noted that NEAR Intents, which allows users to swap cryptocurrencies on the Ethereum (ETH) network for assets on other chains, has generated a cumulative trading volume of $19 billion and $32 million in fees. Additionally, institutional demand is growing, with assets under management for the Europe-listed Bitwise NEAR Staking ETP increasing to around $40 million. Investors are also watching for the introduction of dynamic resharding, an update scheduled for this June that is expected to improve scalability.

WTI crude oil has fallen below $90 per barrel for the first time since May 7.

The ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran, first reached in early April, has been extended for another 60 days, Nikkei reported. The extension allows ships from all nations to resume free and safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

Yooldo Games, the operator of ESPORTS, announced via its official X account that it is aware of the recent sharp decline in the token's price. The company stated it is actively investigating the cause and details of the drop and will release its findings upon completion of the inquiry. According to CoinMarketCap, ESPORTS is trading at $0.05639, down 92.2% over the past 24 hours. The price collapse was preceded by a deposit of $13.9 million worth of ESPORTS to Kraken from an address associated with the token's deployer.

The United States and Iran have reached a draft agreement, according to Arab satellite broadcaster Al Arabiya. The draft includes provisions to guarantee free passage and remove mines in the Strait of Hormuz, with navigation to be normalized within 30 days. Additionally, the U.S. has agreed to ease its blockade on Iranian ports and permit the sale and export of Iranian oil. The deal also outlines specific sanctions waivers for Iran's oil exports, with a phased easing of sanctions contingent on Iran's compliance. Both sides have also committed to continuing nuclear negotiations to achieve a long-term agreement.