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A Russian court has sentenced Vladimir Smerkis, the former head of Binance Russia, to five years in prison on fraud charges, Bits.media reported. Smerkis led Binance's operations in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) from early 2022 to September 2023, after which he launched the Telegram-based clicker mini-game Blum. According to Russian prosecutors, Smerkis accepted approximately $110,000 from a crypto blogger for promotional services but failed to deliver the promised advertising, instead using the funds for personal expenses.

Erik Voorhees, an early Bitcoin supporter and founder of crypto exchange Shapeshift, purchased an additional 494 ETH worth approximately $1.12 million nine hours ago, Lookonchain reported. The address now holds a total of 127,716 ETH.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has risen above $81,000. BTC is trading at $81,092.53 on the Binance USDT market.

Aave (AAVE) announced it has completed the first phase of the technical recovery for rsETH. This work included burning the rsETH held by the hacker on Arbitrum (ARB). The project plans to gradually supply liquidity to the LayerZero (ZRO) OFT adapter and sequentially resume rsETH services. The move follows Aave's previously announced follow-up measures in response to the rsETH hacking incident at KelpDAO.

An anonymous wallet has purchased 2,750 ETH, worth $5.81 million, after being dormant for a year, according to Lookonchain.

CoinMarketCap's Altcoin Season Index has fallen one point from the previous day to 48. The index determines whether Bitcoin or altcoins are outperforming the market. An 'altcoin season' is declared when 75% of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap, excluding stablecoins and wrapped tokens, perform better than Bitcoin over a 90-day period. A score closer to 100 indicates conditions are favorable for an altcoin season.

Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at Bitwise, has analyzed a surge in demand from institutional investors for privacy-focused cryptocurrency infrastructure, CoinDesk reported, citing a blog post by the executive. He noted that projects like Circle's (CRCL) Layer 1 chain Arc, Canton (CC), and Tempo have collectively raised over $1 billion. Hougan attributed this trend to several factors: the need to meet U.S. regulatory requirements, growing demand for privacy blockchains, and intensifying competition among enterprise-focused crypto networks. While existing blockchains struggle to balance speed, cost, and security, institutions are seeking chains that are fast, cheap, privacy-preserving, and compliant, he explained. "Privacy could become the crypto industry's 'killer app,'" Hougan argued, because institutions are uncomfortable with having all their transaction details publicly visible.

Digital asset infrastructure company BDACS has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Layer 1 blockchain Aptos (APT) to expand the ecosystem and infrastructure for the KRW stablecoin "KRW1," Yonhap News reported. The two companies plan to increase real-world use cases for KRW1 by leveraging the domestic and international payment and partnership networks established by Aptos.

The following is an analysis of the BTC/USDT spot pair order book using the Spot Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) chart. The top section shows a volume heatmap, while the bottom displays the CVD. - The volume heatmap at the top tracks trading volume at specific price levels. The background color brightens when the price consolidates or moves significantly, with these brighter areas indicating potential support and resistance. - The Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) indicator at the bottom shows buy and sell orders categorized by size. A rising line indicates an increase in buy orders for that category. For example, the yellow line tracks orders between $100 and $1,000, while the brown line tracks large orders between $1 million and $10 million.

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, calculated by data provider CoinMarketCap, has fallen three points from yesterday to 49, maintaining its neutral status. The index measures market sentiment on a scale from 0 (extreme fear) to 100 (extreme optimism). It is calculated based on several factors, including the price movements of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, market volatility, derivatives market data such as the put/call ratio, the Stablecoin Supply Ratio (SSR), and CoinMarketCap's proprietary search data.

An anonymous whale, address 0x4E53, purchased an additional 151,000 HYPE worth $6.09 million two hours ago and staked the tokens, Lookonchain reported. Over the past week, this whale has acquired and staked a total of 500,998 HYPE.

According to Santiment, the number of wallets on the XRP Ledger holding at least 10,000 XRP has reached an all-time high of 332,230. This figure has been steadily increasing since June 2024.

The Hyperliquid (THYP) ETF from 21Shares recorded approximately $1.8 million in trading volume on its first day. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart noted that while this is a decent level for a typical new ETF launch, it does not represent an explosive success. Meanwhile, the industry is watching for the possibility that Bitwise could be the next to launch a Hyperliquid ETF.

Wall Street investment bank and research firm Benchmark has reiterated its 'Buy' rating for Coinbase (COIN), raising its price target to $270 from the previous $260. Benchmark noted that Coinbase is evolving beyond a simple cryptocurrency exchange into a core infrastructure platform for the on-chain economy, encompassing stablecoins, derivatives, tokenization, DeFi, prediction markets, and AI commerce. The upgrade comes despite Coinbase reporting a first-quarter net loss of $394 million and revenue of $756 million, which fell short of market expectations. However, Benchmark highlighted that Coinbase's global crypto trading market share has climbed to an all-time high of 8.6%, with assets under custody on the platform increasing to approximately $294 billion.

The tokenized asset (RWA) market could see rapid growth over the next few years if the U.S. Congress passes the CLARITY Act, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart. He explained that regulatory clarity, in particular, could trigger an influx of institutional capital and drive the expansion of markets for tokenized securities, bonds, and funds.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a legal brief supporting prediction market platform Kalshi in a lawsuit in Ohio, The Block reported. The CFTC argued that Ohio's move to classify Kalshi as an unlicensed sports betting platform infringes on federal jurisdiction. CFTC Commissioner Michael Selig stated that prediction markets require federal-level regulation because they operate across state lines. He added that the agency will not allow excessive state government intervention to undermine its authority. The CFTC is also engaged in similar legal disputes over regulatory authority with several other states, including Wisconsin, Illinois, Arizona, and New York.

JPMorgan is reportedly planning to launch an Ethereum-based money market fund (MMF), according to Unfolded. The fund, to be managed by Kinexys Digital Assets, will invest in U.S. Treasury bonds and ultra-short-term repurchase agreements (repos). The fund is also reportedly designed to be usable as collateral for stablecoin reserves under the GENIUS Act. Market analysts suggest the move is a strategy to meet growing demand from stablecoin issuers for on-chain, highly liquid assets. However, the fund's size has not yet been disclosed, and its actual market impact is expected to depend on its future adoption by stablecoin issuers.

Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin mining company MARA Holdings (MARA) announced that it sold 20,880 BTC for approximately $1.5 billion in the first quarter of this year. According to Decrypt, the company used about $1 billion of the proceeds to repay convertible bonds, reducing its debt from approximately $3.3 billion to $2.3 billion. MARA also added that it plans to use the funds for the acquisition of Long Ridge Energy, a 505 MW power plant operator in Ohio.

The three major U.S. stock indices closed mixed today. - S&P 500: -0.16% - Nasdaq: -0.71% - Dow Jones: +0.14%

According to Solid Intel, major U.S. bank Citigroup has expanded its investment in Bitcoin treasury company MicroStrategy (MSTR) to approximately $138 million.

Bitcoin (BTC) dominance has recovered to around 58.5% after rebounding from a recent low near 55%. According to The Block, a rise in dominance is typically associated with a correction or consolidation phase where Bitcoin shows relative strength against altcoins. BTC dominance peaked around 62-63% in the middle of last year before declining to as low as 54% amid an altcoin rally. However, with some altcoins such as TON, ZEC, and DOGE recently showing relative strength, the market is now viewing a potential renewed decline in BTC dominance as a key indicator for the start of an alt season.

More than 3 million ETH have been withdrawn from Binance since the beginning of May, with daily outflows at times exceeding 500,000 ETH. In a contribution to CryptoQuant, crypto analyst Arab Chain explained that the market is taking note of this movement, as it coincides with the price of ETH stabilizing around $2,300. This has led to analysis suggesting that large-scale investors and institutions may be moving ETH off exchanges for long-term holding and accumulation. Typically, a decrease in ETH reserves on exchanges can reduce the available supply on the spot market, which is interpreted as a factor that eases medium- to long-term selling pressure.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Baghaei stated on May 12 that an end to the war and the lifting of the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz are preconditions for any negotiations with the United States. Baghaei criticized the U.S., claiming it is not seeking genuine dialogue but rather Iran's "complete surrender." The spokesperson also asserted that the U.S. is responsible for the blockade, which he described as an act of war under international law.

Mobile investment app eToro saw its first-quarter revenue from crypto assets fall to $2.15 billion, down from $3.5 billion in the same period last year. The company also reported a 32% year-over-year decline in the number of crypto transactions for the quarter. Despite the downturn, eToro noted it has expanded its crypto trading services in New York and acquired crypto wallet Zengo for $70 million to grow its DeFi business. The results mirror a broader trend, with Robinhood and Coinbase also recently reporting decreases in crypto trading volume and revenue.

U.S. President Donald Trump said that either Iran makes the right choice or the U.S. will resolve the matter itself.